No seriously, think about it. How many writers, artists, or musicians have you ever heard of who murder - let alone in a particularly gruesome way?
There have been stories written by - well - writers about writers who kill, (I think there was even a movie in 2006 called Psycho Writer) but how many times have you heard about it for real?
Carravagio, who was a painter and managed to kill a young man in a brawl - one of several he got himself into - is about the only one who comes to mind and he was an artist - not writer.and that was a brawl, probably not premeditated murder. He also didn't live very long himself. Still he was in the creative soup.
Today's post is more of a rumination than out and out instructional though it does have it's educational side. And I'm half serious. If only we could get psychos to write. There is a therapy in writing. It tends to curb aggression and acts as a real therapy for the mind. Soothing. Scatter the corpses on the pages if you like and walk away.
Think of all the characters you, the writer, create in your God-like position of 'creator', 'builder of worlds'. So, in the progress of your story you can contemplate, "who shall I kill today? Who's really ticked me off; and in the fictional world of your creation who deserves to die?! (heh-heh-heh).
Those rare violent impulses inside us all have an outlet through our writing for those of us who indulge in the craft. Even the most easy going need an outlet for frustrations of monumental proportions which occur and what outlet better than writing? Isn't there something of the real in all fiction? I mean what a great release! Fictional characters bite the dust - far and away different from real people. And not just murder, all sorts of mayhem is permissible on the page.
So, wouldn't it be logical to think if we could get psychos to write they could well mellow out? If short-tempered average Joe mellows out when writing wouldn't it have a positive impact on psychos?
I'm all for supplying lots of paper and pens should my theory hold water. I mean shouldn't we have writing programs in prison? Just a thought.
Meanwhile, for the rest of us decidedly non-psychos, what a great way to treat ourselves to some mellow of our own. Channel whatever aggression you have into your craft.
Hey, writers may be a little crazy, possibly prone to being a bit erratic, admittedly sometimes a bit undependable, but at least in general we're non-violent. Except, of course, perhaps on the pages of a novel or short story.
There have been stories written by - well - writers about writers who kill, (I think there was even a movie in 2006 called Psycho Writer) but how many times have you heard about it for real?
Carravagio, who was a painter and managed to kill a young man in a brawl - one of several he got himself into - is about the only one who comes to mind and he was an artist - not writer.and that was a brawl, probably not premeditated murder. He also didn't live very long himself. Still he was in the creative soup.
Today's post is more of a rumination than out and out instructional though it does have it's educational side. And I'm half serious. If only we could get psychos to write. There is a therapy in writing. It tends to curb aggression and acts as a real therapy for the mind. Soothing. Scatter the corpses on the pages if you like and walk away.
Think of all the characters you, the writer, create in your God-like position of 'creator', 'builder of worlds'. So, in the progress of your story you can contemplate, "who shall I kill today? Who's really ticked me off; and in the fictional world of your creation who deserves to die?! (heh-heh-heh).
Those rare violent impulses inside us all have an outlet through our writing for those of us who indulge in the craft. Even the most easy going need an outlet for frustrations of monumental proportions which occur and what outlet better than writing? Isn't there something of the real in all fiction? I mean what a great release! Fictional characters bite the dust - far and away different from real people. And not just murder, all sorts of mayhem is permissible on the page.
So, wouldn't it be logical to think if we could get psychos to write they could well mellow out? If short-tempered average Joe mellows out when writing wouldn't it have a positive impact on psychos?
I'm all for supplying lots of paper and pens should my theory hold water. I mean shouldn't we have writing programs in prison? Just a thought.
Meanwhile, for the rest of us decidedly non-psychos, what a great way to treat ourselves to some mellow of our own. Channel whatever aggression you have into your craft.
Hey, writers may be a little crazy, possibly prone to being a bit erratic, admittedly sometimes a bit undependable, but at least in general we're non-violent. Except, of course, perhaps on the pages of a novel or short story.
No comments:
Post a Comment