I don't often post about writing or the process of writing, because writing about writing makes me feel like a pretentious twat. But it's also rare that I start a week with only one deadline and end up with three.
So at the beginning of last week, as my pants disintegrated, I knew I had a milestone to meet for my script on Thursday. Then I remembered that I had a submission thingy due Wednesday and then on Tuesday, I also picked up some much appreciated freelance work. With a turnaround time of Friday.
I'm not gonna lie. I was a little stressed. As most of you know, I am a uni-tasker and usually having more than one project on the immediate go is a recipe for beady-eyed, sticky disaster. But while I was indeed stressed, I was also oddly confident. Energized. ALIVE. I found the closest coffee in the neighbourhood and dug right in.
I was expecting the usual grind, the constant checking of my e-mail and your blogs, frequent trips to the fridge; not last week. It was like I'd found this well of brilliance and was merely drawing up buckets brimming with bon mots. Grunting? Yes, but minimal. As I alternated between my three projects, the words just kept coming. To quote Randy Quaid in The Paper, "This writes like butter. I mean, there is ACTUAL BUTTER coming out of my pen." I believe I actually chatted my girlfriend with a line of copy at one point and followed it up with "I AM A GENIUS!!"
I sent my submission thingy in Wednesday. Yes! I met with my dramaturge Thursday. Score! By the time I sent off my last piece of freelance biz-nass on Friday, I was on a high. Because I knew that everything I had written last week, from my submission thingy to the angry comment I left on some babe's blog, was pure, unmitigated gold. GOLD!
YEAH!!!
And then, a couple of days later, I went back and I read it all again.
Huh.
So, it's like I've been drunk dialling my computer all week. My script? Well, the lesson I learned there is that just because I'm laughing out loud doesn't mean it's good.
The freelance copy? Actually, I still think it's pretty good. But? The fantasy I had? About winning the Pulitzer Prize? For Best Marketing Copy Incorporating the Words "Car Wash" and "Teflon"? Not going to happen.
The submission thingy was . . . alright, but then, when I was flipping through my notebook, I found a whack of handwritten material for it I forgot that I had written in some coffee shop a few weeks ago. The stuff in the notebook? GOLD, people! The stuff I actually submitted? Sigh.
As for the recipient of my angry blog comment, she had the good grace to approve it and respond to it. And I feel like she did try, in her response, to not come off as completely clueless or condescending. Much in the same way that I attempted, in my comment, not to come off like I was foaming at the mouth. Sadly, neither of us succeeded.
What's the lesson here? More sleep? Less coffee? No more muffin IV? Too few knitting breaks? Not enough Cheetos? If only history could decide . . .
