Writing With Thorns

Well, just like me.  I start a blog and then I go on holiday for a month.  What will you all do without me?  All one of you that reads this, that is.  Live in quiet, I would assume.  Anyway, I leave tomorrow to drive to Chicago, the first stop in my summery ventures.  Why Chi town?  The Decemberists concert.  Why am I seeing two?  Because this one comes with a full orchestra. Now you will witness me melt into a shivering pile of jelly.  However, before I go, I would like to engage in a small tirade on indie rock.  Or indie anything, for that matter.  Writers, do not immediately discredit this entry as having nothing to do with our favorite topic, I assure you it has words of wisdom for all artists!

Once a very long time ago ‘Indie’ was a respectable word.  All it referred to was one’s label or production company.  And let’s face it, mainstream anything, be it music or movies, is just plain terrible.  It spends too much time pandering to critics and audiences.  While yes, we must sometimes bow down to the powers that be because, let’s face it, they pay our bills, we must not make art for them only.  In comes Indie.

Too oft do I read a new play or see an indie movie or listen to some hip new indie group and they are all trying too hard to be as unconventional, off-the-wall and/or existential as they possibly can be.  I think I hit an all time low when I was handed a play that actually spelled out ‘this is an existential play.’  We had a student being quizzed on schools of thought from Keirkegaard to Camus and then later were all reenacted to the last dotting of the ‘i.’  Another great example would be music that tries so hard to be different that it usually ends up sounding like a toddler let loose in the instruments room.  If I were a music group I would be insulted if anyone called me ‘Indie.’  Now there are some categorized in this group (a lot of people still call the Decemberists indie even though they are now on a major label) who are perfectly wonderful and I find them a joy to listen to.  These are all groups who don’t try.  They just are.  They have found a sound that suits them, something they like, something that impassions them, not something they think is going to be the next big thing.  They are creating something that moves them and have allowed us to be a part of it.  We should be so blessed.

I implore each and every one of my fellow artists to follow this example.  Too often I come across plays that could have had magnificent potential if they’d been approached from the right angle.  ‘Message plays,’ are a common term for these.  They are plays that try to be an allegory, try to make you listen and learn.  Okay, it’s an admirable thing to teach through art, I’ll admit that’s one of its functions.  Just don’t do it consciously.  I promise you if you just write your story, pay attention to your characters and your plot rather than your message, it will all come out they way you’d hoped it would.

Just create.  Don’t try to make something, and for the love of the deity of your choice don’t try to make something unconventional or poignant, just create.

Side note:  This has nothing to do with The Decemberists, if I have given the impression I was complaining about their style.  The Decembersits are gods.  They are the perfect example of what I have been trying to illustrate art should be.