I like writing. Mainly due to my rubbish memory, I still write reminders to myself on my phone every day, and taking two essay subjects has meant I've had to write a lot in college. Unfortunately, my attention span most of the time is mashed potato, so if I can't write an essay I'm going to write this. It's writing, still, and that's what English is all about really. Spending my time writing on here's going to do me no worse in the long run than gaining a deep understanding of Tony Harrison poetry. Probably.
When I was eight, we used to be read a bible story every week in RS and we had to write it out again in workbooks in our own words. For reasons I've since forgotten (or maybe never knew), I wrote everything in rhyming couplets, creating gems such as:
"When Jesus was twelve years of age,
Joseph flew into an excited rage.
He declared: 'the time has come
to travel to Jerusalem"
These were often pages long and took whole lessons to write, often spilling into the following break time just so I could think of something to rhyme with 'Passover', but ever since then my attention span for writing has grown shorter and shorter. Obviously this couldn't possibly be because of my laziness so I'm blaming social networking. Through Facebook, and then Twitter, we're all encouraged to condense our thoughts into something simple enough to be digested in 140 characters or less, and though I love the flexibility this gives, sometimes it's good for us to have to focus for longer than is needed for the instant gratification writing a new tweet gives us. I probably love the ridiculous accounts of New York comedy writers and improv actors more than anyone I know, but the frantic need to reduce everything down so that it can be read, appreciated, and forgotten about in less than ten seconds is starting to spread into my wider life and influencing my whole way of thinking.
Every new social media website that has become popular in the last decade has forced its input to be more slimmed down and concise than the last, and so they're a great procrastination tool. People spend so much time focusing on projects that demand concentration that a tumblr post of a cat with crosses over its eyes is a welcome relief from all the effort that they're putting in. If you spend a load of time in a workplace committing to things that have a timespan of days or weeks then something short and disposable is exactly what you need.
The problem with someone in my situation is that, as a child of the internet growing up in a surrounding that prizes succinctness over everything else, I haven't had the chance to learn the concentration skills that make these disposable websites such a welcome relief. My mind doesn't see the reward in committing to an essay that won't be finished for a few hours when I can click on the web browser icon and be easily pleased in a matter of seconds. Twitter and Facebook have become the main focus of my spare time rather than just a fun distraction.
I got Vine and initially loved it. There's a charm and humour that comes with the shortness of the clips that longer videos can't replicate. I made about forty vines in the space of about a week and followed all the New York comedy writers and improv actors, spending my time laughing at how their twitter jokes crossed over onto video. Analysing poetry for English coursework is a hearty and fulfilling meal but it doesn't compare to the sherbet rush of a video of Will Sasso spitting a lemon out of his mouth.
Then I realised I don't use vine in the same way that these comedians do. These comedians all have bigger projects that they're able to focus on. A TV show to write for or to pitch, or a stand up gig to write material for. The project that they're attaching value to is what is taking up most of their time and their vines and tweets are merely the offcuts off the bigger picture. For me, however, Vine and Twitter are the whole picture. Detached from the benefits of a hearty meal of essays, I deal in sherbet, and while sherbet is fun at the time, a life lived on sherbet is a life spent crying at the dentists with a headache and no teeth. Vines may make everyone laugh but no-one would consider paying for a six second film at a movie store, whatever its artistic or comedic value. No matter what the content is, the form of the video itself makes it appear worthless.
So after a lifetime of running away from essay writing, (which I still do, otherwise this blog post wouldn't exist) I'm starting up this blog to try and start investing in longer term ideas. I'm meant to be starting an English degree next year and minimum word count essays clouded with the mind fog of writing at 3AM probably won't cut it as well as it does at the moment (and it hardly cuts it at the moment.) So here's to the start of many blog posts that last for more than 140 characters! Yay! This has been a good evening. Maybe I'll make a vine about it.
Jesus at the Temple
Joseph flew into an excited rage.
He declared: "the time has come
to travel to Jerusalem"
Not in a Ford, not in a Rover,
but by foot for Passover.
And here's a treat for Jesus this Spring,
we are going to take the twelve year old king.
"Father!" Jesus cried. "I can't believe my ears!
I've been waiting for years and years!"
So off they went to pack their things,
stone tools and bits of strings.
After a day they lit a fire
and snuggled down to sleep with tire.
Every day it turned out the same,
it seemed to be a bit of a game.
At last they arrived at the place,
you should of seen Jesus' face.
There were games to play and stories to tell
and lots of things to make as well.
The feast was over and everyone left,
Jesus felt very bereft.
Mary and Joseph had been travelling a day
when they realised that Jesus was away.
"Oh no!" they cried. "What shall we do?
We are in a terrible stew.
We must go back to the feast
To find Jesus to the South East"
So off they went right back again,
they found him talking with holy men.
"Oh Jesus, you're safe, I'm quite thankful rather"
"Surely you knew I was in the house of my Father?"
