I’ve been reading a lot of the beat generation for classes lately. I read some of them on my own in high school. But I’ve never really understood them. So…I’ve come to the conclusion that I should try to do a free write. I’m going to try to forget about grammar and editing and just keep this going for a page.
So, here we go. Try not to stop, David:
The classes are talking about the importance of inspiration, speed, and spontaneity in which the beat authors write. They try to capture an image like a photograph. But they are trying to do it with a typewriter. They get everything out there and don’t really worry about editing. That’s what editors are for. The author writes. The editor edits. I’m a mixture of both. I’ve already edited this five times now. Subconsciously backspacing, punctuating, right click spell check. These machines are ruining our memories. How do you spell subconsciously? Not the mind part, but the word part. I wanted to spell it “subconscieously,” but that is wrong. The squiggly red line tells me so. Not supposed to stop. But red means stop. Why is there no green squiggly line that tells me to keep going? Maybe there is. I’m not very good at using word. Sometimes I still mess up good and well. I know that good is an adjective, and that well is an adverb, but I don’t really care. Oh, well. I get lost with subject/verb agreement too. I write in my sleep. I type in my sleep and I wake up and it’s all gone. I’ve written entire stories that I forget about when I wake up, because I didn’t really write them. Have you ever done that? Or have you ever fallen asleep reading a book and you kept on reading in your sleep? Only to find out that nothing you read actually exists in the real world? I do that on a weekly basis. I’m a slow reader and a slow sleeper. I started keeping a notepad by my bed to try to catch my dreams because my dream catcher is broken. I don’t really have a dream catcher. That’s the scientist in me. I wish I had a scroll to write on. My aunt is repairing an old type writer for me. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Maybe type random quotes and frame them. I always liked old typewriter font. Courier New, I think. Makes me feel like I’m typing up something for a detective. I never got into much detective fiction. Unless you count the old Hardy Boys book I found when I was a kid. The Mystery of the Flying Express. One of the first books I can remember reading. Not the first, but close. I’m running out of ideas now, which is a funny image if you can picture it. If ideas are a place, why would you ever run out of that place? I guess it would suck to live in ideas every day. Maybe we run out of ideas so we can find some place to write them down? Who knows? If “who” was a person, she’d know. “Who” would be a feminine name, I think. But I don’t know. This could all be gibberish, but it’s good to let out a burst of subconscious stream of thought. I haven’t sworn yet. That’s good. I don’t have tourettes. How terrible would that be? To have tourettess and try to write a book or story? Who knows. Maybe it would turn out great. Maybe all great ideas are a form of tourettess. Getting in the way of normal life. Demanding to be written down on a page. None of this makes sense, but sense doesn’t make cents. And cents turn into dollars. And money isn’t real. You can’t take it with you. If you write for money, you shouldn’t be writing. Everyone should be an accidental revolution. It should come as a surprise to everyone that gets published. You have to go through a lot of rejection. Kings and Queens of Rejection. Accident. I want to be surprised. I want them to be surprised. I want someone to say, “How did you put all of that together?” And I want to answer, “I don’t know. Did you like it?” That’s what I want. But you can never make it better. Revisions usually get no attention. And that’s what everyone wants, right? Write. Once it’s done it’s done. You have to commit to it. Commit to every sentence. It’s not writing; it’s typing. Type. Type. Type. Is someone your type? Can you type? What type are you? Which type would you like? What type of character are you? Can you explain what type by typing? That’s the magic: describing a type by typing without being a slave to adjectives, adverbs, and description to describe. What is it to de-scribe something? Is it the same as un-scribing? Using little to no description?
January 22nd, 2013 at 5:12 pm
That was surprisingly good for a first time and considering how controlled it started off. You really found rhythm in there that conveyed more than words intended. I think you should try it often, relax though; you have wonderful words.
January 22nd, 2013 at 5:16 pm
Holy crap! I read the first paragraph, and I thought, “Oh, great. Beat-style. Here we go.” And then I started reading the body. Holy crap! I snorted, like 3 times! That was hilarious!
Thanks for that, David. Very nicely done!
January 22nd, 2013 at 6:47 pm
good thinking! and I like like like it!
January 22nd, 2013 at 7:17 pm
That was a fun read, I have to say. And just FYI, there is a green squiggly line, but it’s not meant to tell you to go on; it’s meant to tell you that you may have unintentionally made a grammatical error. Anyway, I enjoyed your stream if thoughts & found myself wanting to answer the questions.
January 22nd, 2013 at 7:20 pm
That’s funny. I completely missed that. In my defense, that green squiggly line is wrong almost half the time.
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Agreed. I usually ignore the green squiggly line. But maybe now I’ll be able to view it differently and use it as a means of encouragement to keep on writing. Green means go!
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:33 pm
Nice effort attempting to follow the beats. I studied some beat lit in college and the only writer I found worthy of his salt was Richard Brautigan. He was quite unique in his generation and developed some timeless innovations in poetry and short fiction. To this day, as I complete my first book for publication, I find that it is more a “Brautigan” than a “novel”. Read “Trout Fishing in America” and you’ll discover what I mean.
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:33 am
Nicely done
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:45 am
David, that was so cool!!!!! I loved being in your mind and I actually didn’t want it to end. haha. I will try one of these. I tend to write like that anyways yet I go back and take out all the little yummy parts that are way out there. Like the sticky stain in the back of my fridge. What is that ?
From me to you, Cookie
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:51 am
Well done! I’ll have to try it.
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:55 am
When I was young, I was obsessed with “On the Road.” Later, I felt it was cliche. But last year I was teaching a group of teens writing, and I pulled it out to see if it still resonated. IT was great! The writing so fluid and intense and rich. So – you’ve got it. Keep going.
January 24th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Interesting. Stream of thought just flowing along to a rhythm. Hmmm. Very neat, David.
January 26th, 2013 at 4:26 am
I applaud your effort.
It is however worth pointing out that the most notable beats didn’t just sit down and write and create great stuff. They were well read and understood the traditional writing conventions, which is why they were able to subvert them so well.
Kerouac’s On The Road, for example, was years in the making. It was this effort which allowed him to eventually complete the first draft in three weeks.
It often takes a lot of work to make something look easy.
January 26th, 2013 at 9:48 am
Yep. It’s a very interesting class. The intertexuality in HOWL alone is enough to make my head spin.
January 27th, 2013 at 9:39 am
I love free writing! Good way to, as they say, ‘get the juices flowing.’ (I say ‘as they say’ because I personally don’t like that phrase, but it’s true.)
I know I have never commented on your posts before now, and I apologize. I don’t know if you respond to this sort of thing, but I have nominated you for the Gargie Award. http://girlinabasement.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/the-gargie-award/