Ben Peek (benpeek) wrote,
Ben Peek
benpeek
  • Music: augie march's moo, you bloody choir

Bubble Boy Vs Holiday Boy

A while back, I read an article about three authors being put into a public viewing chamber and writing a novel over six months or so, kind of like the Reguritator Band in a Bubble stunt. Does anyone remember this? I hope I'm not making it up. There were also the stunts that Harlan Ellison did, years ago, where he would hole up in a bookstore and someone would give him a slip of paper with an opening line, or an idea, and he'd write a story from it there and on the spot. I always imagined Ellison sitting in a cage elevated above people, his type writer punching away, pausing only when he descended and took a walk through the shop for material, then back up, cage closed, off he went again. I always liked that stunt of Ellison's because it made writing so immediate, so quick, so public. Often you don't need to see what writing looks like--it's a boring thing to the outsider, and will never be a spectator sport. I still have flashbacks to Finding Forrester, where Sean Connery, playing a thinly disguised version of Salinger, stomps drunkenly around his poor, black neighbourhood apartment, screaming at his poor, black protege, that he should "Punch the keys!" as if this would suddenly make the writing better.

Still, I like the idea of writing being public. Being an event. Chain a writer in a cage for two days and make him or her work, push out something. There are a lot of cons nowadays, and it strikes me that you could find one writer out of the many, to do this. You could even maybe get it as a convention thing around the world, have people document it, and then put the stories into one collection at the end of the year. 48 Hours in a Cage or some kind of title a whole lot wittier and cooler. I'm just thinking off the top of my head and I like the idea of caging authors up and making them work on the edge of their comfort. Imagine walking into a convention and up above you is a steal cage holding a respected author. I'd stay for that. Fuck, I'd even do it.

Anyhow, likely that's a thing that isn't going to happen, but still.

I am, now, officially taking some form of holiday. A poor holiday wherein I don't travel anywhere. I've promised a bit of fiction round, so likely I'll write that, but I'm also open to things that I should do. Maybe there's something going on in Sydney I don't know about. Maybe you think I should learn to juggle. Whatever. Whenever. This is your chance to recommend me some thing.

Poll #693258
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None. Participants: 3

Ben Should Do This:

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Results are viewable only to me so let yourself go.
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