Taking a Break to Watch TV
Posted: Friday, December 23, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
I struggled writing my last essay about Greta Garbo (“Look at That Girl” Louis B. Mayer’s Gambit for Garbo). It required a lot of research and a careful attention to sentence and paragraph structure to say what I wanted to say in the 2,500 words or less that Wryte Stuff requires for submissions. In fact, it was necessary to skip some things I thought should be said, delete a couple paragraphs I’d already put in, then go back over the text and eliminate unnecessary sentences and words. I was concerned that the article might be too long and not interesting for the usual readers we get to the site.
I have been contacted by one very special Garbo fan, an actress/model/writer who is trying to put together a one-woman-show about Garbo in New York City. She asked me for the sources of some of the quotations I used. We’ve continued an email conversation. I appreciate the fact that she found me in a web search thanks to Write Stuff’s promotion of my article “Greta Garbo and Her Pet Fly.” She also appreciated my essay “Garbo, Me and the Trolls,” because her ‘show’ is sort of focusing on Garbo and her troll dolls. {Please visit her website and support her endeavors: LaurenLogiudice.com}
Greta Lovisa Gustafson Garbo has become very important to me. I will be writing more articles about her. Some will be historical sketches like “Look at That Girl,” or “Garbo Remembered.” Others will be more in the line of psychological studies, like “Pet Fly,” or “the Trolls.” A problem I encounter, since the articles stand alone rather than exist as part of a continuous narrative, is redundancy. I think I say something like “She dominated Hollywood for 15 years,” in every essay. I have to, because a new reader may not have seen the previous articles and I’m trying to show (tell), just how BIG Garbo really was.
At any rate, the last two Garbo essays, “The Voice That Shook the World: Garbo in Anna Christie,” and “Look at That Girl,” took me almost two days each to finish. I don't mean 24 hour days, but probably 10 to 12 hours each, total time researching and writing. I’ve been on a tremendous creative streak lately, completing over 140 articles since August first. When I go even a day without posting one, like happened while working on the last Garbo one, I feel negligent, as though I’ve missed a homework assignment. I know, that’s ridiculous. I’m an adult doing this for fun.
This morning, I was still a bit ‘hung over’ from doing “Look at That Girl.” I was up late editing and posting the essay. If you’ve read many of my articles you’ll know that I drive about an hour to work each day. And, as I’ve said, I daydream a lot. Well, this morning I actually was a little late (and I had to stop and put oil in the engine). I didn’t get a chance to read the newspaper so I didn’t check my lottery ticket numbers. Bingo! The idea for “My Christmas Eve Lottery” came to mind.
I finally got a chance to write at lunch time. The way I do articles like “My Christmas Eve Lottery” is, I just sit down and start typing. Once I get going the essay sort of flows out. I have an English Lit and Writing educational background, so I know a little about structure and development. It often comes instinctively. Sometimes, when I drift off track or think of a great metaphor or theme I'd like to emphasize, I have to go back and rewrite some paragraphs to more strongly develop the idea; sometimes not.
So, to satisfy the creative impulse that cannot be sated by a 'hard work' essay like “Look at That Girl,” I knocked out “My Christmas Eve Lottery” in about 45 minutes. I’m happy the Wryte Stuff editors liked it, and I'm real happy they liked the Garbo one. I’m glad that quite a few readers are taking a look at them. I appreciate every single person who has visited any of my articles.
Well, the 45 minutes I allotted to do this one is up. I’m going to take a break now and go watch TV.
(Assignment: Taking a Break)
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Maybe you should write a book, with your 'Garbo' knowledge?I don't know that much. My head is crammed with tons of information. If you remember a previous essay, my memory can be a curse. I have several people hounding me to do a book, but these essays are too easy and a book to hard. I work 50 hrs a week and am lazy. Thanks for reading and commentin- as always.You could take your essays and compile an e book...one or two essays read like a chapter right? Maybe arrange by interest or chronologically....you are talented and thorough on the research. Maybe submit a copy to an agent involved with celebrities.maybe- thanks for your support
I think you have become infatuated in a very deep sense. This is appealing and delightful. I agree you should make more of it.another to be posted soon. thanks
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