the Scroll

No, not the lost Gnostic religious scroll. Not even the "Z" Sect (Zaddokite) scroll fragment #28 discovered in my novel, AKS. Nope, I'm talking about a continuous paper roll like the one Kerouac used when he rewrote his Road novel in a three week frenzy. The scroll that Wayne thinks I should toss in the Van and "just get after it." ROFLOL

Thanks to computers – especially laptops -- I don't need a giant paper roll and a heavy old Olivetti typewriter. I have an endless amount of disk space. So, if I do rewrite over 80K words in three weeks, I can just scream, “Yes, Yes!” as Dean Moriarty the maniac would.

I’ve spent years trying to understand what's wrong with my WIP (“Work in Progress” as Joyce called his.) When I finally had the “ah ha” moment, it was this simple -- it’s too adult. I always thought it was too juvenile. It was too juvenile for an “important” work, but too adult for nonsense. It's neither, nor and there lies the problem. If I’m successful (with the roll and rapid rewrite) it will become a blend of reality and nonsense, mixed genres and maybe even a little biography. The best writing, IMHO, delights young and old alike.

It may have taken James Joyce 17 years to write his WIP (Finnegans Wake), but I have to say it’s still not accessible. Dedicated scholars have spent years trying to comprehend it, and can’t. I can say this because Joyce is dead. I once said something critical to a budding young new age writer and he killed himself. I know I’m not responsible for his death, but that doesn’t change how you feel when that happens. Telling someone they aren’t communicating is dangerous and insensitive. Harsh criticism along the way sure set me back (for years), but as they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I endured.

Erudite, important literature has a place. But in a time when only one in four Americans even read a single book (2006), and if print books are on the way out (as I speculated in my last entry), then “nonsense” may be just the ticket. How many million -- or billion -- Harry Potter books have been read? Among our most enduring and most loved works are “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan (aka Peter and Wendy),” and though more popular as a movie, “the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Add to that Harry Potter and maybe someday, “A Kindred Spirit.” I should be so fortunate to ever be in that illustrious company.

I do envision a movie, too, Mr. D, but first things first. I need to move at warp maniacal speed and crank out some nonsense. Those hypno sessions are certainly helping. "You can't wait to write. Your fingers are flying over the keyboard." (something like that.) I'm doing it. Yes, really, I am. The clock is ticking and calendar pages are flying by. 08, can't wait. Let's go...