Is it too late?
Is the WRITTEN word doomed?
(I ALL CAPPED "written" for a reason. Keep reading.)
I was late coming to computers.
July 2009, to be exact.
At age 65.
(I was also late coming to other "modern" techno products, but that's another story.)
Before entering (Quite reluctantly, I might add! Call me a Luddite!) the "computer age", I was a WRITER!
Yes, that means I used a BIC pen to place words & commas and such on pieces of lined notebook paper.
After a revision or two, I would then TYPE the final copy---on a TYPEWRITER, using 20 lb bond paper.
My favorite writer's quotation speaks to this.
Truman Capote was said to remark on Jack Kerouac's "On the Road"--"That's not writing! That's typing!".
And how close to the truth he was!
For Kerouac actually DID type his signature novel!
It's well known he typed the book in just a few days on a scroll of paper!
My Hero Bob Dylan also used a typewriter---a MANUAL one, no less!!--to write his "memoir" (Chronicles: Volume 1) a few years ago!
But I digress.
Isn't writing---writing---no matter the tools used?
A typewriter.
Pen or pencil.
Computer.
NO!
For over four decades, I wrote my poems, song lyrics, novels, essays, autobiographies, reviews and critiques using that aforementioned BIC and that cheap lined paper.
Only a few times---and then only as an experiment!---did I TYPE my first draft of whatever I was writing.
However, I found typing a first draft to make editing and revision difficult---and in a sense, redundant.
After all, my TYPED copies were normally my FINAL copies!
So I went back to my paper & pen.
Until July 2009.
Then I began putting words on my computer's screen---or monitor.
(Sort of ironic---IMO---that the computer keyboard is the same as the typewriter's!)
I had a printer, which later broke, so I removed it.
But I'm glad it broke, because I didn't like how my words looked on the paper.
Maybe it was my inability (or refusal!) to learn "computer technique"--meaning ways of making your words appear the same as they would coming off a typewriter.
Maybe it was just being used to how those words looked coming out of my Smith-Corona XL1900, a machine I'd been using for DECADES!
I just couldn't see computer-"written" words as WRITING!
The words didn't translate from mind to screen the same way they did from mind to pen & paper.
There seemed to be a deflector that caused my words to veer off course.
They'd not only LOOK different---they WERE different!
As Capote inferred about Kerouac, I was TYPING (but on a computer's keyboard, NOT a typewriter's!), not writing!
The "sound" was wrong.
The "flow" seemed dammed up!
The "rhythm" was off-key, atonal.
There also emerged a problem with continuity of theme or idea.
My concentration, my focus was off kilter.
For the past 6 years, I've "written" most (about 99%!!) of my works using my computer.
But unsatisfied with the appearance of my words on a monitor, I knew I couldn't leave them there.
(For one thing, what if my computer crashed? What if ALL computers crashed?)
Yes, I feared losing my (self-)valued "works of art"!
(Forget my refusal to learn ways to "save" computerized "writings!" See Luddite note above!)
One other misnomer when attempting to define words on a computer screen.
When are those words nothing more than the manic scribblings of a child who has yet to learn the alphabet, let alone any rules of grammar?
(Check out most blogs and Tweets---or writings on Facebook---and you'll find NUMEROUS spelling and grammatical errors! The use of "to" in place of "too", or "their" instead of "there", for example! It's rampant, like a PLAGUE!!)
Before beginning my blogs (Aaron K's Track and Field Record Book and this one, My Cultural World), most of my "writings" were merely comments on various websites, whether of a political, cultural, or sports-oriented nature.
I'd "post" my comments, or reply to another person's "post".
(That---"post"---is another word that was redefined in the Computer Age.)
Most of what I "posted" was drivel!
(Do NOT say a WORD!! I realize and accept that you might believe THIS is drivel!!)
Sometimes, it was one word.
Not to mention a whole other language--especially when I started on Twitter in April 2013.
(One example of how Twitter has messed up meanings is the use of "LOL". I've learned it means "laugh out loud"---OR---"lots of love". How the Hell is your recipient to know which one you meant??)
But I've found a solution!
Since I see MOST of what I "post" as being NOT-writing, I decided to NOT save most of it!
(Wait until the monkey types the Encyclopedia Britannica before copying anything he/she "writes" It's called "discretion"---or "taste".)
That which I deem "art"---or something RESEMBLING art!!--is copied (using my trusty----and CHEAP!!---BIC pens and CHEAP college-ruled lined notebook paper!) onto paper, THEN, after doing my needed revisions, is TYPED---using my refurbished Smith-Corona XL1900---onto my typing paper!
Then---and ONLY then!!---do I see my words as WRITING!!
(Same difference---sort of!---between reading a book that you hold in your hands---made of paper & such---and "reading" a book using "kindle" or listening to an "audio-book". If I were Capote, I'd probably say--"That's not READING! That's HEARING!")
I hope this "Computer Generation" realizes the difference between using a MACHINE to "write", and letting the words flow from your heart and brain using a simple instrument like a pen or pencil.
Imagine a painter trying to paint his landscapes or her portraits on a computer!
Van Gogh might have cut off BOTH ears if he'd lived in this era!!
Even with my strong editing process---and my strict rules of selection---I'm still dis-satisfied with my choice of what I've saved---and count as part of my oeuvre, my "collected works".
I compare my "pre-computer" writing to what came after, and they're two (almost!) entirely different animals!
It's like my writing entered a black hole, and coming out the other side, found itself in a whole different universe, with a whole different form of communication!
I wonder if any other "elders"--especially you fellow Luddites!---understand what I'm saying!
One probable result from this is that I haven't written any poems or song lyrics for many months--in fact, YEARS!!
(And I'd written a couple of THOUSAND of them prior to 2009!! The only ones I "wrote" since were on Skype, during my "cyber-relationship" with an Italian woman living in Texas (!!). They were just part of an on-going conversation we were having.)
Will kindle and computers and "text messaging" and such mark the end of libraries and archives where WRITTEN works are kept?
Not in MY world!
Not in MY apartment!
(Look around, and about HALF of what you see here are BOOKS and a 4-drawer file cabinet FILLED with my WRITTEN works!!)
You know what they say about money?
That it's not worth "the paper it's written on"?
Same with the SHIT that passes as "writing" in the Computer Age!
Alas.
Friday, September 18, 2015
Monday, September 7, 2015
Evoking Emotions
I'm what people call a "heart on sleeve" man.
You know the type--they LOVE Lifetime Channel movies, seek out "tear-jerker" novels, and weep just THINKING about a movie they've seen or a book they've read.
I've always loved Vincent Van Gogh's art.
But upon reading several biographies about him, and then reading his collection of Letters to Theo (his brother), I came to FEEL for Vincent the MAN, the PERSON, the SOUL!
I had a girlfriend in the late 70's--an excellent, serious, and successful artist in her own right--who also loved Van Gogh.
She told me of the time she went to Europe, and saw her first VG painting in person!
She reported having wept for 10 minutes just standing before this great work, mesmerized!
I'm now a lonely old man.
My last girlfriend and I split up over 9 years ago.
(Though I had a VERY interesting "Skype affair" since then that lasted almost 2 years (!!), and involved LOTS of "cyber-sex" and even "words of love". POSSIBLY a post about THAT in the future??)
Anyway, sad to say, my only "involvement" with others (except for casual "Hi, how are you, the weather is....!"-type conversations) is with characters in novels and movies.
But maybe those intimate connections shouldn't be blamed on a lack of "the real thing" in my physical existence.
After all, I've ALWAYS felt this connection with the novels & movies I've immersed myself in!
Ask anyone who's gone to a movie with me---I am 100% involved in that movie--with or without anyone sitting beside me!
Same with a book.
When reading, the rest of the world could disappear, and it wouldn't matter!
Okay, just a WEE bit hyperbolic!!
But you get the picture!
Who ARE these characters, and WHAT is their story--that raw deep feelings emerge through their voice or their image?
Why do I cry because a make-believe person is going through something traumatic in their lives?
Why do I fear for their lives when I see that villain out to kill them?
Why do I care that an abused woman or child finds safety in a shelter or in the sheltering arms of a gentle nice new love?
Sure, it probably takes the ability---and the WILLINGNESS!!--to leave "reality" behind and to dive into the "story" being told.
Most people probably don't become so involved.
They can watch a horror movie and not be scared.
They can read a romantic novel and think only that this match was NOT made in Heaven!!
Why are THOSE people allowed to be entertained by these fictional life tales--without wanting to SAVE the person in danger from harm, or without wanting to offer HIS love to that woman so much in need of a warm hug?
Why can't I just sit there and ENJOY the book or movie--without needing a napkin to wipe my tears away---or even feeling a bit SILLY sitting there CRYING because a FICTIONAL CHARACTER was having a bad day??
I mean, Jeez!!
Of course, seriously, it has to do with the author, or the actors (or a combination of actors & director, etc) being so great and in control of their craft that they evoke these emotions from their audience.
It's not how they place words in a sentence, or images on a screen.
It's not whether the story is "based on a true story" or not.
It's not even on whether YOU are susceptible to the manipulations of the writer or creator of this work of art.
Did Van Gogh ever cry at another's paintings?
(Based on Kirk Douglas's hammy portrait of VG in "Lust for Life", I'd say YES!)
Why did my ex-lover weep standing before one of his paintings?
Why do I cry while reading a Nicholas Sparks novel, or watching a movie based on his books?
Does HE cry while writing such a tome?
The "ability" to FEEL---to have every emotion evoked by a fictional work of art--comes from many places--for several different reasons.
Sure, "craft" has something to do with it.
After all, another novel or film telling the SAME story can leave you cold and tearless.
The images of the facial expressions---especially the eyes, or the quivering jawline--can bring these emotions FROM them TO you!!
Having experienced something similar to their tale in your own life can contribute to such deep involvement!
Especially those rare times you truly believe that THIS book was written about YOU---or FOR you!!
(I've thought that a lot while listening to Bob Dylan!!)
And sure, some of it is just "wish fulfillment"--the living out of a dream or fantasy.
You really BECOME that Detective who always saves the day!
You ARE that friend who tenderly consoles the grieving new widow--and winds up sleeping with her a few hours after she's buried her ex!
But you know what?
I LOVE feelings and emotions being evoked from mere words on a page or connected images in a two hour movie.
I sometimes have asked friends WHY I have to FEEL so much, when life would be so much easier if I could just shovel a movie or book in and out of my life like so much dirt in a field!
No, my friends.
I wouldn't have it any other way!
"The ghost of 'lectricity HOWLS in the bones of her face---where these Visions of Johanna have now taken her place!"
Bob Dylan, from Visions of Johanna
You know the type--they LOVE Lifetime Channel movies, seek out "tear-jerker" novels, and weep just THINKING about a movie they've seen or a book they've read.
I've always loved Vincent Van Gogh's art.
But upon reading several biographies about him, and then reading his collection of Letters to Theo (his brother), I came to FEEL for Vincent the MAN, the PERSON, the SOUL!
I had a girlfriend in the late 70's--an excellent, serious, and successful artist in her own right--who also loved Van Gogh.
She told me of the time she went to Europe, and saw her first VG painting in person!
She reported having wept for 10 minutes just standing before this great work, mesmerized!
I'm now a lonely old man.
My last girlfriend and I split up over 9 years ago.
(Though I had a VERY interesting "Skype affair" since then that lasted almost 2 years (!!), and involved LOTS of "cyber-sex" and even "words of love". POSSIBLY a post about THAT in the future??)
Anyway, sad to say, my only "involvement" with others (except for casual "Hi, how are you, the weather is....!"-type conversations) is with characters in novels and movies.
But maybe those intimate connections shouldn't be blamed on a lack of "the real thing" in my physical existence.
After all, I've ALWAYS felt this connection with the novels & movies I've immersed myself in!
Ask anyone who's gone to a movie with me---I am 100% involved in that movie--with or without anyone sitting beside me!
Same with a book.
When reading, the rest of the world could disappear, and it wouldn't matter!
Okay, just a WEE bit hyperbolic!!
But you get the picture!
Who ARE these characters, and WHAT is their story--that raw deep feelings emerge through their voice or their image?
Why do I cry because a make-believe person is going through something traumatic in their lives?
Why do I fear for their lives when I see that villain out to kill them?
Why do I care that an abused woman or child finds safety in a shelter or in the sheltering arms of a gentle nice new love?
Sure, it probably takes the ability---and the WILLINGNESS!!--to leave "reality" behind and to dive into the "story" being told.
Most people probably don't become so involved.
They can watch a horror movie and not be scared.
They can read a romantic novel and think only that this match was NOT made in Heaven!!
Why are THOSE people allowed to be entertained by these fictional life tales--without wanting to SAVE the person in danger from harm, or without wanting to offer HIS love to that woman so much in need of a warm hug?
Why can't I just sit there and ENJOY the book or movie--without needing a napkin to wipe my tears away---or even feeling a bit SILLY sitting there CRYING because a FICTIONAL CHARACTER was having a bad day??
I mean, Jeez!!
Of course, seriously, it has to do with the author, or the actors (or a combination of actors & director, etc) being so great and in control of their craft that they evoke these emotions from their audience.
It's not how they place words in a sentence, or images on a screen.
It's not whether the story is "based on a true story" or not.
It's not even on whether YOU are susceptible to the manipulations of the writer or creator of this work of art.
Did Van Gogh ever cry at another's paintings?
(Based on Kirk Douglas's hammy portrait of VG in "Lust for Life", I'd say YES!)
Why did my ex-lover weep standing before one of his paintings?
Why do I cry while reading a Nicholas Sparks novel, or watching a movie based on his books?
Does HE cry while writing such a tome?
The "ability" to FEEL---to have every emotion evoked by a fictional work of art--comes from many places--for several different reasons.
Sure, "craft" has something to do with it.
After all, another novel or film telling the SAME story can leave you cold and tearless.
The images of the facial expressions---especially the eyes, or the quivering jawline--can bring these emotions FROM them TO you!!
Having experienced something similar to their tale in your own life can contribute to such deep involvement!
Especially those rare times you truly believe that THIS book was written about YOU---or FOR you!!
(I've thought that a lot while listening to Bob Dylan!!)
And sure, some of it is just "wish fulfillment"--the living out of a dream or fantasy.
You really BECOME that Detective who always saves the day!
You ARE that friend who tenderly consoles the grieving new widow--and winds up sleeping with her a few hours after she's buried her ex!
But you know what?
I LOVE feelings and emotions being evoked from mere words on a page or connected images in a two hour movie.
I sometimes have asked friends WHY I have to FEEL so much, when life would be so much easier if I could just shovel a movie or book in and out of my life like so much dirt in a field!
No, my friends.
I wouldn't have it any other way!
"The ghost of 'lectricity HOWLS in the bones of her face---where these Visions of Johanna have now taken her place!"
Bob Dylan, from Visions of Johanna
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