You know it's ridiculous when you find yourself reading the illustrated complete
Book of Genesis by R. Crumb instead of writing. I've been putting off writing a particularly difficult scene in my current project. I like the word "project" because it makes the chapter sound as difficult as it has been to write it. Some days, the words just come tripping off my fingers, and I'm all champagne-blooded. Other days (or weeks), I open the Word document, and wait for inspiration, or just one good word (like "project"!). These are the days I have to log back in nine or ten times because I've let so much time pass before writing a single word.
So, my computer and I have been on non-speaking terms for whole days at a time. It's on these evenings that I'd rather curl up with a
Paris Review, for instance, than spend my time hitting the delete button on that chapter that really does need to be written. Last week, I read an interesting interview with Crumb in the
Paris Review, and my partner, extraordinary as he is, had already ordered Crumb's newest book,
The Book of Genesis, so I could truly appreciate the interview. For the past five nights, I've been pouring over Crumb's illustrations and that ancient text instead of writing that delicate and upsetting love scene/fight that really needs to happen in Chapter 10.
On the other hand, Crumb's book
has been a pleasant diversion. My suppressed desires to relocate to the French countryside (where Crumb now lives, somewhere in the south of France) for the summers have been renewed . I just need to win a Pulitzer, my French partner reminds me. Oh yeah, that Pulitzer requirement again.
In the meantime, I'm listening to Fleetfoxes. "Lay Me Down" is a good one to start with. Each chapter has an artist that plays on an endless loop until the chapter is finished. The last chapter was music from
The Hours (Phil Glass). The first chapter was the soundtrack to
Amelie. My current chapter is definitely Fleetfoxes. I'm open to suggestions for other good background music for writing. After all, once Chapter 10 is written, I've got Chapter 11 and 12 and the rest. Anyone?
