Dan
asked
Drew Hastings:
As a comedian and actor, your performances get immediate feedback (audience laughter, actor response, etc.). How did you shift your mindset when writing a book, where the art is so independent and without an audience?
Drew Hastings
Dan,
This is a really good question and not one that most people would think to ask. (At least my cynical mind doesn't think so).
I guess the first thing that comes to mind is trust. I trust myself--and the reader-- that what I'm writing will click with them. Either they will laugh at the sentence, be moved by it, or, if the sentence is simply structural, they will be compelled enough by it to move on to the next sentence. That is the microcosm of the process on a cellular (sentence) level.
But it's other stuff as well. If I compare one of my chapters to a standup bit, it would have this in common: there is a premise--usually in my standup it's a provacative or outrageous premise-- "I'm not only in favor of the electric chair, I think we should have electric bleachers so we can get rid of the backlog..." that gets your attention. It's the same with starting a chapter--I have to grab your attention, so I spend a lot of time crafting the opening of a chapter. Hell, I'm just going to send you an advance copy of my book and you read the chapters and you'll see what I mean. - thanks, drew
This is a really good question and not one that most people would think to ask. (At least my cynical mind doesn't think so).
I guess the first thing that comes to mind is trust. I trust myself--and the reader-- that what I'm writing will click with them. Either they will laugh at the sentence, be moved by it, or, if the sentence is simply structural, they will be compelled enough by it to move on to the next sentence. That is the microcosm of the process on a cellular (sentence) level.
But it's other stuff as well. If I compare one of my chapters to a standup bit, it would have this in common: there is a premise--usually in my standup it's a provacative or outrageous premise-- "I'm not only in favor of the electric chair, I think we should have electric bleachers so we can get rid of the backlog..." that gets your attention. It's the same with starting a chapter--I have to grab your attention, so I spend a lot of time crafting the opening of a chapter. Hell, I'm just going to send you an advance copy of my book and you read the chapters and you'll see what I mean. - thanks, drew
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