If you don’t have anything to say you’re writing will
suffer. Let me rephrase; if you’re just
writing to expel some sequence of events you’ve constructed for your characters
it’s gonna be SHIT. It is. There’s no
way around it. No matter what you’re writing. I’ve got a couple things I’m
working on and while I’ve got the string of events ready to roll I’m still fine
tuning what exactly it is I want to say, using the aforementioned events.
I’ve been watching a lot of stand up recently and I’m of a
mind that the best comics shine when they’re trying to say something. For stand-up
it’s usually about themselves, but can reach universal themes on occasion. Even
on that small personal level it makes everything you say connect with your
audience. A funny premise and pay off that comes and goes in thirty seconds
inside a ten minute set carries everyone in the room further if you give it an
underlying meaning (it doesn’t have to be some great meaning, just something
other than surface). That funny story
about you on your couch at four in the morning with a tub of Bull Bell watching
NCIS on Hulu might be funny if you make it sound pathetic enough. Dig in
though, why is it pathetic? What does the fact that it is pathetic say about
you or about society? Is it pathetic
because NCIS is a drab, cookie cutter, mind numbing, barely excusable example
of entertainment which the masses, for some reason, devour like slop in a pig
trough? Oh, so that is what you want to say? Great, now just make sure it is
both hilarious and snappy because that’s your job, you do stand-up remember.
I do not do stand-up, I can drag my shit out if it’s good
enough (this ain’t so I need to start wrapping it up). But dragging shit out
makes it worse if you’re not saying anything. If you’re not proving a point or
constantly reminding your audience what it is you want to get across to them
what you’re doing is a futile fucking effort.
Oh, but your prose is lyrical and your characters are well defined. Well done, but that’s all window dressing.
Say Something.
