I wonder how much damage I do to my writing ability by watching TV as opposed to reading books. Even my own policy states clearly that TV makes you stupid, and books make you incomprehensible. I suppose there is some irony to be found in that I frequently seem to be both. I like to read. I have a tendency to gorge when I read, skipping whole sentences in an effort to absorb the core meaning of the passage. Sometimes I'll feel like reading only dialog, and I'll have my eyes skip to quote-marks. Other times, I'll feel like soaking up descriptions, and I'll look for long passages of solid type. In both cases, I'm terribly critical of what I read. I often feel as if I am listening to the author read to me, and mentally I'll chide him or her for their cliches or predictable plot twists. I live to reach those parts, or whole books even better, where I feel myself sucked in completely.
I absorb TV in the same way I absorb anything. I absorb it, let it run through me, and eventually I shit it out. Most people would be most familiar with the ass end of that process, wherein I'm talkin' shit. Back in the PC Accelerator days, that would be called "keeping your finger on the pulse of pop culture," and it was an Ouroboros that all pop authors participated in. I like watching horrible made-for-TV movies, cop shows, old sitcoms, after-hours infomercials, Sunday morning religious programs, documentaries, 80's action movies, moralistic noir shows, and so on. I like it all.
Somewhere in all those stories there is a tapestry of human connection waiting to be woven from the laughter and tears, boredom and excitement they inspire. I can't help but hear the whispering of those threads when I watch, or listen, or read and try to pass on the cords I inevitably tie together. You're reading one of them right now, in fact.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Posted by Matt at May 31, 2003 12:27 AM