The Cure, Disintegration (1989)

All right, you caught me at a temperamental, sentimental moment. What else is new? My life is made up of many such moments.

Anyway, I want to observe I've noticed that some of this writing here has not only been better than some of the previous writing I've done here, it's better than some of the writing I'm doing privately and with which I have the intent to publish. I think I can reasonably speculate as to why this is so.

For one, it helps that when I write here, I write with the expectation you'll be the only one reading it. It's easier to write for one person than it is for a multitude. Kurt Vonnegut said as much and had a much more colorful way of phrasing it. He said, "When you write, write for one person. If you open your window and try to make love to the world, you catch cold."

Another reason I think this as a writing project has been more successful than my private writing is the fact that it's unmediated. I essentially type this, do one proofread at most, and then post it.

A third and related reason. Since I've grown used to the schedule and this way of composing, I've grown less self-conscious about the work that gets completed. I don't worry if it's good or horrible or merely passable. I only write so that it's done. I write and what comes out is what it is.

Connected to these few points, I had an idea a moment ago. Most of my ideas are bad, and this one may very well be. Might not even work out. But here goes.

I'm working on a narrative essay right now, and I keep getting stuck. The trouble is always the same, "trying to get the words right," as Hemingway said. In my very limited experience, I've noticed that once I can get the ball rolling in the right direction, though, I can hit a strike. But it takes a while to get the orientation right. With my current essay, I think it would help if I write it as though you'd be the only person reading it. As I write this here, it's Monday afternoon. I'm going to try to take the rest of the day, reconnoiter, read some good writing for exemplars and comfort food, and then tomorrow and maybe the next day after that try to write the essay as quickly as I can and email it to you. Now, I'd hope you read it soon after you get it, but honestly that matters less to me than the fact that I try this out. Read it whenever you get around to it.

Because I'll be putting all of my time and effort into finishing the essay, these posts here may suffer for a day or two or three. I may even neglect to post. I just don't know. Regardless, this is all just a heads up. This is just to say.

Oh yeah, Disintegration by The Cure is a cool album, by the way, and I'll hold onto it for a while. Though I've listened to my share of these British fogies in Grandma's makeup, I know you're more familiar with them than I am. You probably even own some of their records, am I right? Talk soon.