Zed's Dead

Just read an article on the Wall Street Journal with Conor Oberst (named the best songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine). In this article he calls himself "a good thief". He goes, explaining that many of his lines and concepts are collected from aspects of conversations he has with friends or books that he happens to be reading. Last year I watched a Q&A with writer Chuck Palahniuk where he said something similar. He said that he would be at a party and overhear a conversation and then run to the bathroom to frantically write down what he'd just heard word for word. I find that I work the same way. If I here something interesting I'll write it down on my phone (notebook feature). It's a lot less conspicuous than carrying a paper and pencil with you and everyone will just assume that your texting someone.

Watched Breakfast At Tiffany's for the first time the other day. Love Audrey Hepburn, love the atmosphere of the movie, loved most of the script, didn't really like the pseudo-Hollywood ending. Didn't feel fitting but I suppose I'll have to read the book to see how Capote told the story. Also, really strange Chinese stereotype character seemed forced and weird.

Reached 61,000 words today. Trying to get to about 100,000 by the end of March so that I can start the editing process and hopefully have a first draft on my hands by late May. Love what I have so far.

Found a menial job to work at. Finished the hiring process this afternoon.

Speak easy,

Neil

PS - Watching Pulp Fiction

50k

Don't have a job at the moment but I have been writing on a daily basis. I just passed 50,000 words towards my manuscript but most of that is unedited. I feel like I'm probably about halfway done with completing my first draft. The work just doesn't seem to end.

The three hardest things I've come across while writing...

A. Content - What is worth writing about?

B. Editing - What was I trying to say? How am I going to turn this into something seamless?

C. Atmosphere - Did I include enough details to make this scene work? Did I include too many?

Here's a short list of stuff I like at the moment...

1. On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardener

This is both interesting and helpful. It's not very long either, running at around 150 pages. Sometimes Gardener's input seems tedious or obvious but most of what he says about being a novelist is worth reading.

2. A More Perfect Union by Titus Andronicus

Not as brutal as its namesake but Titus still pulls off some raw and fun punk hooks. This is the first track from their new album The Monitor, a concept album about the Civil War.

3. Batman: The Long Halloween (Graphic Novel)

The book that was the inspiration for The Dark Knight. I'm not that far into it right now but I'm finding it pretty interesting, despite the fact that super hero comics are not my personal preference.

4. Dungeons & Dragons

The game, not the movie. I joined a D&D group that meets every Monday night. It's a lot more fun than most people would think.

5. The IT Crowd

Clever English sitcom that I first saw on my flight back to from England. What really makes the show is the character Moss. Funny stuff.

Speak easy,

Neil