Seems I'm one of the few people who likes Philip Glass's music. I enjoy listening to the slow rhythmic builds and segues and vague monotony that isn't really monotonous. So last night, since I couldn't make myself focus on BC3 or DL, I watched "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts" and not only learned a bit about the man, but had my own method of writing justified in a way. He refers to writing his music as hearing a river that runs underground, and you can hear it but you can't find it. Still you keep looking.
That's how I feel sometimes when I'm writing. I can hear the story being told to me but when I put it down on paper (or input it into my desktop) it's not quite right, yet, and I have to let my characters show me the way to completion. I'm not sure why the shift from the ephemeral to the emphatic causes so much to vanish from the tale until I've gone over it a dozen times -- basically dug my way down to find that friggin' river -- but it does. That's why I rewrite my work so much -- to catch every inflection I can that the story offers.
He also has the attitude that if you don't like his music, don't listen to it. There's lots of other music in the world; go listen to that and be happy. That's an attitude I started to cultivate in my screenwriting...which is not the way things get done in Hollywood. Writers have to be complete whores to get started and if you offer ANY hint of trouble, they chuck you aside. I've even had friends do that to me, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised I got nowhere fast. The positive thing about writing the books I write and dealing with the publisher I have means I can do and say just about anything I want to. And I do.
Once I'm done with POS, I think I'm going to try and shift one of my scripts into book form but not in the usual way. I want the music and imagery to work with the words to build an experience in the reader's mind...a bit like what's happening with this short story, just bigger.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Last summer at the Hollywood Bowl they played Koyaanisquatsi. With a full choir and the film. Before the conductor introduced Mr. Glass, he said his music isn't played often because it's hard to get an orchestra willing to play the repetitive notes.
It really is an impressive piece of music and I for one, would have enjoyed it as well without the movie in the background. The sound hits you in the chest near the end and is completely captivating. The Bowl had a huge young crowd that night that came just hear his music.
No THAT is something you never get in Texas. Damn, I miss LA.
Post a Comment