such a fine line between homage and plagiarism

They say writers are

shameless sons-of-b*****s,

filled with hubris.

Or maybe it was just

Norman Mailer, who used to say that.

I dunno.

Anyway, I got a little lazy.

My non-tenured writing instructor was telling

me I needed to lie down

1000 words a day,

5 days a week.

I was stuck.

I’d taken a job at a drive-through

cleaners making two hundred

bucks a week, and I was

just too damn tired to sit down

at the old Underwood and commit

that kind of language to the page.

So I ended up taking a tape recorder

to the streets with me.

I’d record whatever I could.

Let the tape roll.

Arguments, diatribes, monologues, didacticism,

laughter, tears, rambling, mumbling, cursing,

petitioning, prayers, proposals, seductions,

propositions, levity, brevity, serenity, insanity.

I was after something

I couldn’t create or recreate it.

I was tired of my voice on the page;

it sounded too much like

my father and every other

ne’er-do-well I knew.

It had become hoarse,

course,

full of remorse,

everything I’d been fighting against

since my undergraduate days at

Ball State University, where I’d won

a Dave Letterman scholarship

for maintaining a C average.

What my writing teacher didn’t know

wouldn’t hurt her.

So I’d go to Washington Square Park

in New York City,

sit under a tree,

light a Marlboro,

turn on the recorder,

and watch poverty and art

f*****g in public again.

　

　

　

Reviews

[Philip Gaber]

This line struck me. "... hard line view of writing. It should be fun..." Fun is the key. I like to toss language, let it fall on the floor, and be stepped on by Andre the Giant. Thanks for your time, Green, I appreciate it.

[Green]

It may be a fine line, but can you plagiarize real life? All writing is based off your experiences anyway, I wouldn’t think it’s invalidated just because your experience was listening and not the exact thing being described, especially if it’s done mainly to satisfy a demand from someone else. It’s so unfortunate that some people take such a hard line view of writing. It should be fun and yes if it’s your job you should take it seriously but ‘x number of words a day’ still feels like a hard requirement to hit. I for one would fail at it and can’t blame you for seeking inspiration elsewhere.