I fear your webmistress has been somewhat defatigable this week. Fluency has abandoned me, words flee my questing tongue and ideas shrivel unborn in the desert of my mind. Whatever. Osip Mandelstam coined the phrase "pre-lyrical anxiety" for a similar cluster of symptoms; St John of the Cross described such a state as being close to Englightenment. I draw comfort from these thoughts, but it could just be that my mood button is turned to "stupid".
In the normal run of things, this wouldn't be a bother; but I do want you to know about the Chunky Move/Malthouse show Tense Dave, which I went to see on Tuesday. Like opera singers, dancers seem to wither after a week or so of performance and if you blink, you'll miss this one: it closes on Sunday. If you haven't seen it yet, order your butler to book your ticket this instant. Be brisk, be brave, extend your credit line, mortgage your children: this is one of the must-see shows of the year. I'll tell you why when the cogs unfuse, which I hope will happen in the next couple of days.
Let me add a hearty and enthusiastic "shit yeah" to Alison's advice to see this show. It was every bit as magical second time around. (And this is not my usual lazy, journalistic use of the M word... think wonder and reinflate the word!)
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, Alison, I decided not to tackle Tense Dave. I don't think I can write anything that wouldn't reduce it... to use one of my favourite Beth Orton lines: "You can't pin this butterfly down."
But, hell, I'm sure hoping you try!
I'll give it s shot for sure, Chris, though the last thing I would want to do is to pin it down! Nice to know that I'm not the only one to find words - once again - inadequate...
ReplyDeleteYeah, but did you manage the 2000ww?
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the 2000 words. Everything crumbled on Wednesday; I am now officially 8000 words behind schedule. As Orwell says somewhere, when a writer says they can't write, they are telling the truth: they really can't. Sometimes I think it's an idiotic vocation. Not that I'm complaining. Next week beckons with radiant promise...
ReplyDeleteServes you right ;) I was perfectly happy with my 1000ww/day goal until I found your blog. (Of course my 1000ww frequently comes in at, say, 463 - but who's counting, right?)
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to make small bets on a couple of things...that your books aren't as long as this one, and that you're not nearly as desperate to finish. :) (Not to even think about publishers who will be mighty pissed off if I don't make the deadline.) When I finish this volume, it will be the end of a story that I've been writing since 1999. And the entire story will be around 2000 pages long. I have sworn solemn vows that I will never write another series again. The blithe innocence with which I set out on this quest! Little did I know...If I write another novel, it will be short, and I will write it at 500 words a day like a civilised human being.
ReplyDelete