June 10th, 2011

I'll name this entry exactly what it is. It's a check in that says I'm still doing this writing thing so that when I include it in my thesis paper, I won't have to go back and make stuff up. I have 58 individual pieces so far, some being really good and some being complete shit. Some are fragments of ideas and that led me to write another piece in the same vicinity of one I didn't like. I still have a brainstorming list that is several pages long that I feel I could write another 75-100 without any effort. I would say 40 of the 58 are off of general ideas of death, forgiveness, hatred, love, survival, shock, recovery, or decision making. The other 18 are quite avant garde and off the wall. I have found ways to add comedy and light hearted moments, but hope to write a few more that doesn't make fun of the day but lightens the mood. Another path I'm crossing is going from feelings and emotions that I don't need to do research on to doing more pieces using very precise data and information. I want to write a piece that really makes it apparent how much terrorism and anti American sentiment came into it, but first I have to understand it myself and have read almost two books about it just so I can write a 5 minute piece on it. I don't want it to be a lecture. I want it to communicate the message while making it interesting and creative.

That's another struggle I'm dealing with. To make the moments active towards someone specifically with a specific want or getting the information out as much as possible, sacrificing the "scene". I want to make each moment a different take on something that has been looked at the same mundane way before. I want to surprise the audience. I also don't want to dumb down the audience and I want to trust them that they'll see what I'm trying to say with the words without slapping them in the face with them. Take the example of someone who is saying goodbye to their family member for the last time. Sitting here I can think of 10 different ways to do that. It's a matter of writing all of them and then getting a feel of what is working the best and then how it compares to the other pieces that I include in the final product. My goal is still to do a full reading on Sept 11th of this year on the 10th anniversary.