Quiet Rebel Writer

Welcome to the week, everyone! Let’s push Monday doldrums to the side with our Monday date. If you’ll remember, this date is to give ourselves a little creative kick. Last week, I wrote:

I hate the term writer’s block, because I don’t think this phenomena is limited to writers. No matter your field, there’s the days when work you may normally enjoy, may normally zip through and perform well, is a slog. Creative work, technical work, any kind of work has got to have this feeling.

But there is one method I can use that satisfies my schizophrenic self on days like today, which gives in a bit to the lazy ass but also pushes me back towards that driven lass. I look at writing I love. It reminds me of what’s possible, and why I want to write in the first place. It brings me back to the place where I remember how much I should be grateful for, how I should be ecstatic each day that I get to live out this freelance writing gig. It inspires me to keep working, to keep creating, and to keep dreaming that someday someone else will use my writing when they’re frustrated and stuck to unstick them. I don’t limit myself to novelists or other book writers. I look at songwriters and their songs. I look at screenwriters and their films. I look at magazine writers and their awesome articles. Sure, there’s a lot of crap that you can find in all those fields. But that just makes the quality that much more valuable and special.

So I propose a Monday date. On this most troublesome of days, when inspiration seems lacking and work a thing devoid of passion, I’ll present some specimen of stellar writing. For the writers in the house, perhaps this little piece of perfection can boost your own powers. For the non-writers, perhaps this offering can do something similar, and encourage you to find inspiration from your own field.

Today, how about another video clip?

Elliott Smith was a phenomenal talent, lyrically and musically. This song may have been his most popular, thanks to Good Will Hunting. Here’s the clip, followed by lyrics.

I’ll fake it through the day
With some help from johnny walker red
Send the poison rain down the drain
To put bad thoughts in my head
Two tickets torn in half
And a lot of nothing to do
Do you miss me, miss misery
Like you say you do?

A man in the park
Read the lines in my hand
Told me I’m strong
Hardly ever wrong I said man you mean

You had plans for both of us
That involved a trip out of town
To a place I’ve seen in a magazine
That you left lying around
I don’t have you with me but
I keep a good attitude
Do you miss me, miss misery
Like you say you do?

I know you’d rather see me gone
Than to see me the way that I am
But I am in the life anyway

Next door the tvs flashing
Blue frames on the wall
It’s a comedy of errors, you see
It’s about taking a fall
To vanish into oblivion
Is easy to do
And I try to be but you know me
I come back when you want me to
Do you miss me miss misery
Like you say you do?

If this peaks your interest, I highly recommend his entire library, but particularly Either/Or.

As always, comment with your own creative kicks.