Perhaps I should be writing something about the state of politics? I used to do that a lot, but it started to feel too much like writing about the composition of animal dung, and I kept going even then for a time, until my nose and stomach rebelled, so I’ve mostly set it aside for now in favor of art.
And I like the art stuff a lot more, even if none of it’s that hot. At least I can see a result. Which is to say, at least there’s reinforcement to it. It’s something where I can take a glance at the pieces and know it was something done and real and meet with it on whatever level I’m feeling at the moment.
I’ve had this notion, and it’s probably been seen before, that artists and creators have envies of other media for what’s simple about the other that’s hard about their own. A poet or musician wants to tell a bigger tale, so they have to do a whole book or a whole album, where the novelist would have to do a short story. Or the film director says, “TV can spend so much time on character!” Or the TV producer says, “Film gets to put all that budget into just a few scenes, we have to spread it out over eight episodes.”
And I’m sure it’s not exclusive to creative work, either. Building a car versus a house? I’m sure the engineers and architects, anyone putting stuff together, has some level of wonder at the other’s work and in how they itch to distribute their own labor in a different way.
So why not do it? You might not be able to in your usual craft, but draw a picture. That’s part of why I’m doing the art now. So I can see a result in a way that my longer writing doesn’t let me. Another part is hoping to weather the current media+political world long enough for a better one to come along. One worth spending more time to write about.
