What if I blogged every day in August, at least until I leave for school? And I mean substantial posts. With thoughts about things and more than just lists of daily activities. So today is August 1st and it's the beginning of my last month at home and so it's the beginning on 23ish posts in a row.
I just finished watching a romcom called "Someone Like You" and it was adorable, like all romantic comedies are, but there always comes a point when I'm watching one of these movies where I have this sort of out-of-body experience where I realize that what's making me so happy, what I'm enjoying so much, is crap spewed out by Hollywood big wigs and Nicholas Sparks and whoever. And I know that's really cynical, and I guess what I'm saying is that I really enjoy watching relationships develop in movies and novels and such because when you're living your life and forming bonds with people you don't realize you are until one day you look at who you're sitting next to, and suddenly think, how did I become friends with you?
That's how I've been looking at everything lately, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. To clarify: I'm studying everything and everyone and it all seems like something I could write about. That's the object, isn't it, a really good story? But the problem is that every time I think of something and begin to write it down, I realize I've seen it played out a million times in bad movies and poorly written novels. Which begs the question: if I rewrite
Twilight, or the essence of it at least, changing the names and the vampire into a mermaid and whatnot, and if I write it well, as in really effing good, does that make it okay? Or am I stealing someone's original idea? Are any ideas really original? I once had this quote on a post-it not stuck to my computer screen, something about how if you wanted to bake a totally original apple pie you'd have to go back and plant the first apple tree yourself, or something like that.
So everything is just a recycling of old ideas. I guess my main question here is, if that's true, why are we wasting our time with crap? Why do I watch so many bad movies and read so many crappy books when there is so much more out there? Why do we default to what's easiest? Why do you have to search really hard to find the good books at the bookstore, but the crappy bestsellers (not to generalize that all bestsellers are crappy, because they definitely aren't) are right at the front, on the buy-one-get-one-half-off table? Why is the bookstore the most crowded when everything is 40% off because the store is closing? That makes me really sad. But that's not the point.
The point is: I want to write a really good book. But first I have to read and watch and listen and learn everything I can. So should I be wasting my time with bad romcoms because they're easy to get, or should I work harder to find the good ones? And more importantly, is there such a thing as a good romcom? Who came up with that word in the first place?
