"Writers," "Reviewers," and other Nominal Titles

By JPGriffin · Dec 11, 2011 · ·
  1. Would I consider myself a writer? That all depends on how I decide to look at it. Compared to the rest of my classmates, my community, and amongst some of my friends, then yes, I do call myself a writer. When I look at all of these famous people that made their living in the written work, though, I always find myself laughing at the notion. How could I, a high-school workaholic, procrastinator, and self-proclaimed geek (Trust me, I have my reasons... Anyone ever hear of LARPing?) ever make it to the top? How will I ever make my million dollars needed to travel the world, explore the untamed wilds of South America, Australia, and Africa, and get out of the United States? The goals seem unrealistic, the tasks seem monumental, and where I once had hope I found myself lost, staring at a stone wall. One of my classmates had written an entire novel over the course of a year. I've been dabbling, and nothing as much as a few chapters exist because of it. I'd say, "Maybe it's time to put away the pens and trash the flash drive," but then I'll have to face the fact that I've as much chance of making it to a CEO position than I do as being discovered as the next Walt Disney or Michael Buble, either one depending where I go from here.

    So, now I'm stuck with this problem. I like to think of myself as having a good sense of taste in culture, in stark contrast with the rest of the dumbed-down society. I despise newer artists such as Justin Beiber (an icon only to pre-teen girls that will be embarrassed to admit that they listened to him as a child), Lady Gaga (Successful only because of her dramatic take on style- there's only one song that I'll admit to liking, and I don't even remember the name), and... ugh... in general, all of these TV-stars-to-music-superstars. Miley Cirus (Sirus? Spellcheck is AWOL at the moment) would have been great as either a music icon or a TV star, but I hate her instant popularity because of any television success. Selena Gomez? Her sense of music is unoriginal, and way too edited and autotuned to be called "music." Whatever happened to the good old singers? Whatever happened to songs like good old "American Pie," "Brown Eyed Girl," and "Rocket Man?" AWOL, just like my spellcheck?

    Film and animation are starting to suffer the same... I'm going to coin a new term here- "deculturization", as the music industry? Disney still has the right idea, but they're beginning to run out of material. "Toy Story 3" was an instant success, in my oppinion, and even going back to hand-drawn animation with "The Princess and the Frog" was a good move. And then there are the few exceptions- I'd call "Legends of the Guardians" one of the most visually-stunning animations I've seen, and that's saying a lot, but beyond these once-or-twice-in-a-blue-moon hits, I'm findind animations to be a dying art. Live-action (if that's the correct term)? I've never been a fan, but most of it is based off of prequals or other sources, and then those "original" stories end up very similar to those seen elsewhere. Horror: Either everyone dies, or the killer/monster dies after a long, deadly struggle. Action: The government is always the enemy, but is never successful. Romantic Comedy/Romace: It's a miracle (always...)! True lovers come together, finally realizing that their love is real and eternal. Either that, or one or both lovers die in a tragic fashion. See what I mean?

    Yes, there are always different plots and twists, but there's a lack of originality. And I digress... a lot. Whatever, it's a blog. So, as I was saying, I find myself thinking of everything analytically, sports included. So should I consider myself a reviewer? At first I do something to enjoy the experience, but if I get to then I'll always revert to my analytical mind-set. I'll take a look at the film as a fellow film-maker, or listen to the music as a fellow musician, and apply that to books as well, and then I'll find myself thinking of the subject's strong and weak points, where improvement can be had, and so on and so forth. Ultimately, I lead to this:

    1) Either I go into film or music, both a longshot, and get rich quick while still trying to keep a grip on reality,
    2) Go into writing as a novelist, writing large quantities over large spans of time, travel to be inspired and make a living, or possibly
    3) Go into writing as a reviewer, with my "contravertial" views making me seem like a bit of a villian, but with strong, accurate reviews and make a killing without risking much more than some small publicity?

    P.S., Does anyone know how much a good critic gets paid?

Comments

  1. akexodia
    Agreed! Every piece of it!
    Simply Love it!! Amazing piece, i must say.
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