When I was in my early twenties, I fooled around with writing different things: slam poetry, short stories, essays about the things that are important to a guy in his early twenties . . .
Soul Coughing, William Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, my friends Dave and Dave, and a bar called The Two of Clubs all combined to inspire me . . . but nothing I wrote back then was any good.
This week, I’ve been listening to far too much Soul Coughing (as if there is such a thing!) and it’s inspiring me again. I feel this mixture of inspiration and compulsion well up inside me — I actually feel it press out against the inside of my chest — and I want to write a smoky, whiskey-soaked story about a guy who gets into a lot of trouble.
Tonight, I was listening to Ruby Vroom right after I dropped Ryan at baseball practice. I drove home straight into the setting sun, and I heard this character in my head say, in an exhausted voice, “I wondered if I could drive fast enough to catch the Sun, and I didn’t mean chase it around the world. I meant drive right into the heart of that motherfucker, and melt. I looked into my rearview mirror, and pressed my foot into the floor.”
I don’t know how that guy got there, and I don’t know what the scratch mark will reveal when it traces across the surface of my mind, but it’s going to be interesting to look.
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Wow Wil,
You have two wonderful books out- and you STILL don’t think you’re a good writer? I think that after 30 years, it’s time that you let go of that self-consiousness and pat yourself on the back for all the cool stuff you’ve done! As a child, I adored you. No lie. You and Robin Williams were my icons, and thankfully still are. I’m so glad to see you back on the scene again… I just popped in “Stand By Me” the other night… it brought back nice memories…
I got off track… but anyway– Stop Whining- because YOU’RE AWESOME!
*Melinda G.* =)
It’s funny that you mention driving to catch the sun. (And Whiskey) I’ve been reading this for quite some time and never felt compelled to write until now. Perhaps you will find this the quote to respond to out of all the others. But for now, I feel (perhaps) that same compulsion to burn in a pure fire and light up the night. Maybe it is the whiskey or maybe it is the ego or maybe it is the connection to a mid-twenties man or maybe it is karma or maybe it is… something else. Nevertheless. The feeling is mutual in this particular moment. Eugene, signing off… J.
Hey Wil! Yep, it’s me, from “A Long Way Home”…how have you been? Didn’t even know you had a blog until I saw it listed under Margaret Cho’s “Outstanding Blogs”! Very cool site.
Wil,
I’m sure your new story will turn out great. Just to help you along, I will stop this comment in order to allow you more time to keep writing.
FG
dude, what have you been drinkin’?
Thank you thank you thank you for introducing me, via this entry, to Soul Coughing. I had my head buried in a cubicle in the late 90’s, and somehow (despite being listening to music 24/7) missed them.
They are now in rotation with my G Love and Sun Ra collections on the iPod.
thanks again. -a