----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Glover" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2012 11:57 PM
Subject: Re: [MD] Creative Freedom in Jazz
Dan:
See... the rules are the ideas whereas using those rules allows the
artist to express their ideas. I don't think the medium matters so
much as the message the artist attempts to send. I am not a musician
nor do I dabble in the visual arts. I write. But I get the sense all
artists approach their craft in much the same fashion. Those who
succeed perhaps have some natural proclivity but likely as not they've
also worked their asses off learning their craft.
Carl:
Agreed, and the artist succeeds to the extent that s/he can get that idea
across in a way that contians the "Ahhhh" of artistry. If you've been
writing very long, you've no doubt heard that there are 36 basic plots.
If
you go more into it, you find there are 4 basic scenerios, depending on
the
level of education you manage. (Man vs. Man, Man vs. nature, etc.) I did
all that, including working my ass off, and did manage to get some stuff
published, but then made the decision that it wasn't what I wanted to be
doing. I still miss writing, because it was so much a part of my life for
a
long time, but I don't miss dealing with the pinheads you had to deal
with
to get it published.
Dan:
If writing isn't for you, then you are fortunate to discover that.
What is it that appeals to you now?
Carl:
I still write, I just don't try to get it published. What do you write?
Carl:
Would you say it's (art) the act, or the execution? Is there a
difference? Can
you sit down to create art, or is is something that happens while you're
sitting down? i.e. how much intent is involved?
Dan:
I should think it obvious that a vast amount of intent is needed. Art
doesn't just pop into being out of thin air. Remember the motorcycle
shop in ZMM where the narrator took his motorcycle to be 'fixed' and
how the 'mechanic' there began beating on it with a hammer and chisel?
Was that guy an artist? Of course not! He was a hack.
Anyone can be a hack. It takes diligence and perseverance to be an
artist. You mention how hard you worked at writing only to give it up
in the end. If your writing was a motorcycle I suppose it would be a
basket case stuck in the back of someone's garage. I don't mean to be
disparaging but when someone tells me, oh yes, I used to write but
blah blah blah, I can't help but see that as a big pile of crap. So
you learned a few things and found out you couldn't 'hack' it... that
writing was actually hard work. And you gave up. Am I supposed to take
something of value from that?
Carl:
You didn't read very carefully there. I said I had given up on dealing the
with people you have to deal with to publish, I never gave up on writing. I
think it would be easier to walk away from my left arm. I had a problem
that was similar to the problem many doctors are facing. I spent many years
learning to write, and not nearly enough time learning to do the business
end of it. I did manage to achieve some measure of success with it, but it
was fleeting at best. I was writing short stories for magazines, as well as
some non-fiction. (I much prefer fiction.) One of the magazines I
published in regularly was edited by a photographer. He wasn't even a
writer, and had no understanding of writing. His boss apparently told him
to buy some fiction to put between the pictures, so he did. I also did a
lot of features for him, but they weren't my favorite thing to do. I was
actually listed as contributing editor for over a year with that
publication. (Tattoo Magazine, by Paisano Publications. It is published in
five languages.) I could have continued with different publications, and
have published in others, but I don't really like the magazine format. You
can reach a large audience, but it's there for a month, then it's gone. I
have written three books, but they were too different than the mainstream
and didn't find a publisher. One of them found an agent, and it bounced off
25 different publishers, but nobody bought it. I have been thinking of
going the Amazon route with it, but right now I'm pretty consumed with the
classes I'm taking for this Master's Degree. I may come back to it after
I'm done.
Carl:
I'm not sure how to respond to this one. The best story I've ever written
just happened. I sat down to write, like I was doing every day then, and
just started with a line from a country song. I went from there, and
three
hours later I had the story. I'm not even sure how much active mental
whatever went into the story. Do you know what I mean? It wasn't a flash
of anything, it just manifested. I could never just sit down and write a
great story. Frequently, I would start writing, then after while the
story
would show up. I would go back and delete the first three pages or
whatever
and continue on. I wish I could explain that, but I can't. That
experience
would make me question the idea of the unexamined life stuff. I was
pretty
unaware at the time, and in fact I was living in a dissociated state. I
was
a pretty good witness, but not much of a participant. Food for thought.
Dan:
No, I doubt any story 'just happens.' You reached a point in life
where what you fed into your mind paid off. You may not have been
conscious of this activity but you were immersed in a complex web of
social and intellectual patterns we call culture and that story that
'just happened' was the result of all those years spent in that
culture... all the words you might have read, all the movies you might
have watched, all the conversations you might have had... any
interaction that took place between you and the otherness that you
assumed surrounds you. And out popped a story.
Carl:
That's what I'm talking about. I didn't sit down to write that particular
story. It wasn't the type of story that I normally wrote. It just
happened. It was told from the 'innocent eye' narrator, which I don't use.
I wonder to this day how it happened. That's what I meant about intent. I
wanted to write a good story, but just not THAT story.
Dan:
I get the feeling many people cover this up by working a regular job,
by watching television, by playing video games, by endlessly surfing
the 'net... by doing anything that covers up that tiny voice crying
out in the wilderness... that creative urge we all feel if only we
allow ourselves a moment of silence.
Carl:
To a point. I've met people who achieved their greatest bliss making a
car
run. We need to be careful about projecting our values onto other people.
A
lot of them go for numb, (I think I've met most of them) but there are a
few
who are actively involved in creating, but not in creating anything you
or I
would call art. My oldest sister achieved her "Ahhhh" by decorating
cakes.
She is really good at it, and thoroughly enjoys doing it. I think she
would do it for free if someone supplied the supplies. Different strokes
and all that. Now, for Joe Sixpack, it's a different story. It's almost
as
if he has given up on life, or never begun to live it. Maybe he or she
(Jane Sixpack) did when they were young and were snuffed? Someone told
them
that what they wanted to do was impossible, or whatever, and they
believed
the person? I don't know.
Dan:
Your sister is an artist and I suspect you might take a clue from her.
But that is up to you, of course.
Carl:
I will continue to do what I do, but I doubt I'll make a huge effort to get
it published. i.e. no change needed.
Dan:
Ah... but what of that...
Carl:
The difference between a life realized and one just lived? This begs the
question of just how important Quality is to us. How much real difference
does it make in our lives? We are born, we grow, we fulfill the
biological
imperitive, then we die. Our children are born, grow, etc. etc. ad
naseum.
Hmmm, is Quality the "brass ring" we're supposed to go for? More food for
thought, eh?
Dan:
Quality is everything. If you do not understand that, then I cannot
explain it to you. Quality isn't a thing... it isn't the 'brass ring'
everyone seems intent on grasping. Quality is right here! But I do
wonder why it is so hard to see...
Carl:
I guess the obvious question here is why everyone doesn't do it. It's not
hard for me to see at all, and I try to live it as much as possible. I do
ocassionally get lazy, and chose to play computer games rather than chasing
another story, but most people don't even do that. I wonder if they don't
get jaded. Or cynical. Or maybe they never come to believe that it's
possible? Our society is great about dashing dreams and crushing hopes. I
often wonder just how many exceptionally talented people are out there
punching a time clock because they have to do that to keep the tacos on the
table. I don't like to think about that too much, though.
Just more random thoughts,
Carl
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