Thursday, June 09, 2011

In the essence of time

To write something for myself (includes personal emails because mine always end up being fat novels), I need what I think of as pure time.

First, a little while to slow down and quieten, wander aimlessly, watch YouTube videos, daydream or otherwise lie fallow. Then uninterrupted time to start writing. This needs to come in at least one-hour blocks to be of any practical use. And just one innocuous interruption sets me back extravagantly. Then there’s the editing. And sometimes you don’t like what you wrote so it has to start all over again. So much quality time is hard to find in the week, let alone a day.

I’ve been uncomfortably aware that if I didn't want to change the name of my blog permanently to "Things I haven't blogged about", I was going to have to find a way. So I decided to write on my commute, on my phone. (The notes function on the iPhone looks like a ruled, yellow notebook, has comfortable writing space and an effusively user- friendly keypad. It can be emailed to yourself when you're done. There is no end to the magical mystery rewards of this phone.) In fact, I’m doing that right now – I'm standing in a crowded train, typing comfortably with both hands, having amused myself in the pre-blogpost-writing days by learning how to ride without holding on to anything. Unfortunately it’s not that long a commute, nor does it always coincide with my wanting to write. But it’s something to put on my blog until I finish the many real posts that have been in the making for a while!

The title is one of the priceless things that appear in ad agency briefs from time to time. In my spare time – when the work I have is so boring I don’t want to do it – I compile them. New ones are added much oftener than you’d think, but none has so far topped this from a long-ago brief: “Tone of voice: Enchanting and mysterious”. It was for a sale ad announcing massive discounts on printers and scanners.

5 comments:

mudeth said...

That brief is golden. I've heard many like those too (I'm an audio producer). One verbal directive to a VO artist was "You should sound like you're playing a Grand Piano".

Gargoyle said...

hahahahahahahahahaha and did the VO artist manage to sound like a grand piano? But also have to confess I've been guilty of telling a VO artist: "BBC reporter, but like one who actually wants a job at Fox".

mudeth said...

Well, I can't tell you what actually happened, I would be breaching the barricade between producers and creatives, right? ;) Let me just say it ended well.

These things make sense in that person's head, but sometimes when they're out there they just don't.. translate. I'm sure I've said similar things in the excitement of the moment as well. In fact, I remember directing one guy to speak with the cadence of Jeremy Clarkson. I don't even know why. He didn't, of course, but it sounded great. :)

Also, since I'm a first time commenter, just want to say that I really enjoy your blog. Got here from Gautham's post on BikesZone.

Gargoyle said...

By cadence of Clarkson, did you mean the "the best xxxx [LONG PAUSE] in the world"?

Thank you for reading my blog! I kind of figured how you got here because I recognized the "htedum" of BikesZone :)

mudeth said...

"By cadence of Clarkson, did you mean the 'the best xxxx [LONG PAUSE] in the world'?" - Nailed it.

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