A Texas town is for sale, exclusively on eBay. I'd write a fictional story about that, but who'd believe anyone would ever pay for a piece of that state? The other thing is, it's already been written. There's a Donald Barthelme short story called, "I Bought a Little City," and I listened to a reading of it in a New Yorker podcast on my way home from Chicago last weekend. It's an odd, wry piece, the kind of writing that a part of me feels as if I might have inside myself somewhere, although the rest of me realizes that's just wishful thinking. It's a funny story, but with a little bit of menace. Listen to it here.
I've always had it somewhere in the back of my mind that I'd like to be a writer. I never really did anything about it, and although I enjoy working on this blog, I doubt one or two silly posts per week will ever get me anywhere. I heard "I Bought a Little City," then read it, and it seemed so easy, as if I could just come home, sit down at my laptop, and knock out something just as good. I guess that's what the pros do, though -- they make it all look simple.
And that brings me to another New Yorker podcast I heard on the same trip: Richard Ford reading John Cheever's "Reunion." It's an amazing story, "economical," as they say in the podcast commentary. And talk about making it look easy.
Writing like that is inspiring and discouraging at the same time. Know what I mean? I guess I'll keep plugging away at this blog, knowing what my limits are, but allowing myself the occasional delusion.
6 comments:
mWhat kind of non-blog writing do you do? I used to have hopes of actually making money from writing but I'm hoping for an Emily Dickinson-esque appreciation in the future.
you know what the common theme among almost all of my friends - both real and cyber - is that they all "think they should have, or could have, or might have, at some point been a writer" - except, they are all self-actualized enough to see themselves as being "too lazy, and maybe too talentless."
You know what my advice is to all of them? Just quit whining and write something. Or else, don't write anything and keep whining. those are really the only two options. And, i also remind them this "I'll still like you, and your writing, either way."
Sedaris can do the same thing- make it look easy. Maybe that's the sign of a good writer. I suspect you have to work very hard ot make it look effortless. Richard Ford is speaking at the American Library in Paris in a few weeks-
Would you have any interest in a book about supernatural/paranormal law (real law cases based on ghosts, UFOs, and Bigfoot)? I have a draft of it that's been rejected by three publishers but everyone I talk to says it's a good subject. I've been in academia so long, I can't get rid of a "scholarly-look-at-the-Loch-Ness-Monster" vibe.
Mark, have you really written a book?
I have potentially a couple of books (one novel and combinations of short stories) but the only one that I thought was ready for prime time is a three-time loser with publishers.
I still think it has potential and if you're interested, I could e-mail you parts of it (actually I could e-mail the whole damn thing but it's very rough in places).
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