Tired.
This week (month) has been exhausting, which I think comes through in the lackluster quality of my recent pictures. But now I get a three-day weekend because of Presidents' Day -- and not only do I get Monday off, but I get the entire day to myself because Michael's going into the office. I can't remember the last time I had an entire day to myself. What will I do? Ah, the joy of having hours to fill with WHATEVER YOU WANT.
I haven't been doing much writing lately. Lack of motivation is high. But I did go to hear author Chuck Klosterman speak at Butler in January, which got my writing brain running for awhile. He told the audience about a piece he wrote about a childhood enemy; it was a funny, self-deprecating story and a great example of how you can pull material from your own life and psyche. It got me wondering, though. I get urges to write about people I meet or things that happen to me (or others), but I'm always stopped by the thought, "What if this person is offended? What if this comes back to bite me?" Chuck K clearly didn't care about that, and he shouldn't - his story was more about his reaction to this person and the workings of his own brain than something derogatory about someone else. That's how it is most of the time, I think -- you're not really writing about the actual person, you're writing about your interpretation of or relation to that person. It's more about you than them. And I think there's a point where you just have to let go of what other people think, and if you have something to say, gather up the balls to say it.
But. Here's the problem. I usually want to write something about my mother. I love my mother - she's an awesome mom, she's always supported me, and she's a wonderful, admirable person. But she's my mother. That's enough to give somebody lots to say. But I know if I were to say something at all critical of my mom, even if I didn't mean it as criticism, it would hurt her feelings. I don't want to do that, obviously. But my mom and the mother/daughter relationship is also a wealth of content. In a few years, I imagine Michael will also be somebody I constantly want to write about, so I'll have this problem there, too.
So what do you do in that situation? Stop being such a pansy? Tell my mom, "Listen. I am writing about you, but don't take any of it in a negative way"? Do I wait at least 10 years after specific things I want to talk about to diminish any potential sting? Ha. I think I read once that Frank McCourt waited till his mom died to publish Angela's Ashes.
I remember hearing from a professor once that the best things to write about are the things that feel the most uncomfortable, or the things you're most scared of. There are things I'm more scared of than my mom being upset with me -- that's not what I mean. But the bigger question here is maybe this: "When and how do you decide that the content is worth the potential repercussions?"
I haven't been doing much writing lately. Lack of motivation is high. But I did go to hear author Chuck Klosterman speak at Butler in January, which got my writing brain running for awhile. He told the audience about a piece he wrote about a childhood enemy; it was a funny, self-deprecating story and a great example of how you can pull material from your own life and psyche. It got me wondering, though. I get urges to write about people I meet or things that happen to me (or others), but I'm always stopped by the thought, "What if this person is offended? What if this comes back to bite me?" Chuck K clearly didn't care about that, and he shouldn't - his story was more about his reaction to this person and the workings of his own brain than something derogatory about someone else. That's how it is most of the time, I think -- you're not really writing about the actual person, you're writing about your interpretation of or relation to that person. It's more about you than them. And I think there's a point where you just have to let go of what other people think, and if you have something to say, gather up the balls to say it.
But. Here's the problem. I usually want to write something about my mother. I love my mother - she's an awesome mom, she's always supported me, and she's a wonderful, admirable person. But she's my mother. That's enough to give somebody lots to say. But I know if I were to say something at all critical of my mom, even if I didn't mean it as criticism, it would hurt her feelings. I don't want to do that, obviously. But my mom and the mother/daughter relationship is also a wealth of content. In a few years, I imagine Michael will also be somebody I constantly want to write about, so I'll have this problem there, too.
So what do you do in that situation? Stop being such a pansy? Tell my mom, "Listen. I am writing about you, but don't take any of it in a negative way"? Do I wait at least 10 years after specific things I want to talk about to diminish any potential sting? Ha. I think I read once that Frank McCourt waited till his mom died to publish Angela's Ashes.
I remember hearing from a professor once that the best things to write about are the things that feel the most uncomfortable, or the things you're most scared of. There are things I'm more scared of than my mom being upset with me -- that's not what I mean. But the bigger question here is maybe this: "When and how do you decide that the content is worth the potential repercussions?"