Elsewhere In case you're wondering what happened yesterday, I was largely 'crafting' this review of Heroes. I got writer's block, mostly because the show was so good I was desperate to do it justice. On this morning's repeat of Desert Island Discs, Thomas Keneally talked about how the worse thing about being a writer is that you never think you're a proper writer and that you're never ever happy with anything you've written (I'm paraphrasing). I know what he means.
I wrote, I wrote some more. I threw out the odd paragraph, wrote even more. I'm hyper-critical at the best of times but I just didn't feel like it was working. After a while I submitted it, went shopping, thought some more about it and luckily had the chance to submit the review again. So I wrote a bit more, left it whilst I had tea, came back and then somewhere in middle of listening to the first half of last night's Prom 18 (just as Tippett's Triple Concerto got going) I had a moment of clarity and even though I didn't change much I somehow decided it had been salvaged and that actually it had been worth it because I'll know what not to do next time which is take the whole thing so seriously.
It's ages since I've stressed out and had this kind of crisis of confidence about a piece of writing of any kind, not since university actually. It's my inferiority complex again obviously, the reading of work by professional writers and wondering why my own material doesn't seem to compare, even though in some cases it obviously must. I really hate reviews of anything that amount to just being a synopsis with very little analysis, the kind of thing which often turns up in some nationals. But I also know that people want to know what something is about if they haven't seen as well as your opinion and it's a balance I've always found difficult to find.
And then late into the evening I knocked this out which I was far happier with even whilst I was writing it. What's that about?
2 comments:
Love the title of your post - talk about the inner geek...
Really enjoyed Heroes too, though the similarities with Lost were even more blatent than I'd expected. I suppose there's nothing wrong with copying a format that's been so popular, but it can't help but invite comparisons.
Based on the first two episodes I'd say that the plotting of Heroes is better, but Lost has the more interesting characters and stronger acting. I'm looking forward to seeing where they take it from here!
I'd say they were similar but Heroes isn't really a copy, especially with its expansive approach to character and narrative -- and the mysteries are far better modulated. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like when it's calmed down, but Lost was already a bit listless by the middle of its first season.
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