Nearly nine months ago now, I asked Evan to give me some insight into the kind of films that get him ticking, because his essays on film (and, lately, Teen Wolf) are the sort of thing that I aspire to have the depth and wit to write at some point in the future. He sent back a brilliant reply, with a cluster of recommendations, and because my brain has been in a totally scattershot condition over the last year or so I completely ignored it.
I came across it again today. There were a few films by David Gordon Green, who I talked about recently, and others that I’m not so familiar with. I plan to make it a soft New Year’s Resolution to follow up on them all.
I think I’d also like to engage with others on the internet a little more. The explosion of Tumblr as something For Everyone kind of shoved me onto a pedestal in terms of my self-awareness; regardless of how friendly I present myself, there’s a sense that the version of me that exists online is a pre-packaged form of me, not really something for social consumption. I’d like to remedy that, maybe. Re-connect with some from whom I’ve grown apart, and maybe forge the odd friendship here and there. I don’t think it should be that hard. Just needs a little investment.
In the first few months of this year, other than getting settled in the US (and married! Can’t forget that) I want to write more indiscriminately. I poured so much time last year into working on Dystopolis that the idea of any other creative outlet was unthinkable; now that it’s mostly out of the way, I want to just write what comes to mind, no matter how unfinished or outlandish. At some point, I’ll develop something further, but I have a brain bursting full of ideas and too much repression. I think it’s time to get past it.
I suppose something that ties into both of the things above is the spirit of collaboration, which I’ve somewhat lost; I used to write with others, but as I’ve grown distant from my friends in the UK and suffered the awkwardness of Google Docs, that practice has fallen by the wayside. Exposing myself to the style and imagination of others is the single most powerful thing that’s improved my writing, and I hope I can find it again.
I don’t know what all of this. Call them alternative resolutions, maybe. Or just ideas on how to be a better person. Now is the sort of time where every facet of my personality is up for review.