Chris Fritz's Blog - Posts Tagged "blogpost"

I recently watched a movie called Trumbo. It's a biopic about about Dalton Trumbo a Hollywood screenwriter in fifties and sixties. He was persecuted by the government for his involvement with communist groups. He spent time in prison and was eventually blacklisted from the industry. He ended up winning two Oscars for screenwriting but that's not what fascinated me about his story. When he was desperate for writing work he worked for a shitty movie studio and wrote a metric shit ton of shitty screenplays. All written anonymously. He had an inspiring work ethic and churned out god knows how many screenplays at a speed of approximately one screenplay every four days. To do all of this he worked sixteen hour days, smoked like a chimney and took pep pills. Definitely putting my work ethic to shame as I've only written three screenplays in my entire life. The thing that fascinated me about this was this was in the sixties and they did all of their writing on typewriters. When I think about chucking my computer and replacing it with a typewriter to do all my writing I think I would go insane. Because I make a lot of typos. Typos on a typewriter means you have to throw the page of paper away and write it again only better. This would have to go on and on for five hundred pages until I've chopped down a forest and pulled out all my hair. It makes me think that I didn't have the blessing of modern computer technology then I probably wouldn't have become a writer. To think that someone's life could be changed drastically in this way. So let me ask myself this question. Could I be a writer if I could only write with typewriters? I don't think I can answer that now. I only remember coming into contact with a typewriter once in my life. I was ten years old and I saw one for sale at a garage sale. I remember buying it and taking it home. I found it difficult to get the keys to strike the paper. Also the ribbon was old and I had no idea where to find typewriter ribbon. So I didn't use that typewriter for too much writing. So thank you computers and especially spellcheck. There's one more great question that Trumbo gave me. I ask this question of myself as well as you the audience. Is it better to write a lot of books that are just okay or to write only a handful of books that are masterpieces. Do I go forth and write a metric shit tone of crap or do I write a few glorious and spectacular pieces of literature that will be enjoyed for generations. The choice is up to you dear audience. Hurry with your answer I have a career to think about.