A Peek Behind The Keyboard
The other day during a massive amount of boredom I sat at my desk and tried to come up with some kind of ballpark figure for the amount of stories I've written in my career…
...not an easy task so I rounded up some, then rounded down some...went and made an espresso…started over…watched YouTube some…started over…and then…came up with a number that could be massively short, or somewhat under…
…Two-Thousand-One-Hundred-and-Three.
2,103 stories.
I think it is short since when you divide that by 40 years it works out to only 52 stories a year…one a week…not close to reality.
So, here’s a very accurate scientific calculation of how many stories I’ve written: A Shitload.
There ya go.
And now to answer the ninnyhammer’s question: "just wondering what you call what it is you do and how do you do it."
Here Goes…
My honest answer: “I just write because I can’t not write.”
And…
“…to me words are music, I hear the story before I type a word.”
Explain that to a 10th grade English teacher.
Here is an absolute direct example of how I do what I do…oh BTW…I also see words as mathematics: Words & Math=Story
Several hundred stories are the genesis of one song: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly (it is blasting in my headphones as I write this).
Here’s how it works:
I take a shower first, no music, time to do the basic layout in my head while getting the stink off.
I have already laid out the donuts and Espresso out by the laptop. Candy on the hotel bed nearest the door (dbl bed room).
The song is already cued on my laptop, my wireless Sennheiser cans at full charge and linked…
…HIT THE GO BUTTON: The song begins on high.
00:00-03:20: I’m standing and possibly playing air-guitar, one foot is tapping to the beat, donut in one hand, heavy guitar with singing, by the 2 minute mark my eyes are closed, focused on music and story as the tempo drops, I sit down in front of the laptop.
03:30-06:15: The guitar solo is when the story open appears, my left hand is playing the desk in front of me as if it were bongos, my right hand scribbles down the 1st and last sentence of the story open. I close my eyes for what’s next.
06:20-ish: The Drum Solo, I scan my story notes/quotes, both hands are drumming, both feet hitting the imaginary drum paddles, my body is focused on the music, my head is focused on one thing…
08:20-ish: …it usually happens between 07:20-07:50…but by this time as the music changes I’ve already written/typed one sentence…the last sentence of the story.
I always begin at the end of the story, got to know where it ends before you begin.
10:30: I understand the story now, I know what quotes to use, what photos to use, I see the story now it is just a matter of transcribing it, I sit back in the chair…
…I listen to the song, it is like I’m in a bubble, music, ideas, numbers and pictures, is all that I’m aware of, if you can be one with all that, I am, it is a high without drugs just a couple of donuts.
12:40: I begin to write.
17:05: The song ends but on REPEAT it starts all over again. I know it is playing but now that the writing has started, I only focus on the words, the story, filling it all in until the end line which is already done.
Usually about 3 times through the song I’m done with the story and hit the send button.
By the time I walk out of the hotel room and on to my next story I’ve completely flushed the story I just wrote out of my head, by the time I get to location of the next story I can’t even remember the title of the last story I sent in.
It’s gone.
The next morning, I do it all over again.
All over again 50 to 70 times a year.
So, you who asked, that’s what I do and that’s how I do it.
You asked what I call it…I call it a privilege.
I get to meet tons of new people, ask them questions, challenge the bad guys, learn from the good guys, and tell their stories.
The currency of this planet are the stories of the people who live on it.
I’ve never met a person who didn’t have a story, you just have to take the time to listen.
The way I do it is not for everyone, I get that, but on the other hand it kind of sucks to write and sound like everyone who does this. Kind of boring if you ask me.
There ya go,
db
“Start [writing] as close to the end as possible.”