Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Wikipedia was involved in my synchronicity!

backpocket · 08-03-2008, 06:12 AM

First, some backstory: I've always wanted to write, but never had the balls to do it, because I always thought it will be well too worthless for someone's time anyway, so I always chose the 2nd best option that I enjoy, and people actually approve.

Inspired by Steve's article (aren't we all) What I Learned From Going Bankrupt in My 20s That Proves to Be Immensely Valuable in My 30s, I started writing again. Nothing much, just attempting some short stories, but could never finish anything. It all just felt so hard, like it was a struggle, but I just presevered, thinking I have nothing to lose anyway.

Then a few days ago, while freewriting, it somehow turned into a detective story. For the first time in weeks it was actually enjoyable to write, and I looked forward to continuing it everyday. But somehow I just couldn't find a proper voice for it, and what was cool in my mind turned insipid on paper. I was disappointed, but just continued along, trusting that if I screw this up, I can just rewrite it all over again.

Today, after another writing session, and still frustrated that I couldn't find a proper voice, I went to wikipedia to read up on Tarrasch. I'm currently studying chess endgames, and I love reading about the history of things, plus I wanted to waste time, so I checked.

I skipped a lot of the article, it was pretty boring, then somehow my eye caught a link to The Yiddish Policemen Union at the bottom of it. What's a novel got to do with a chess player? Intrigued, I clicked it, skimmed it again, and it said that the book was a homage of sorts to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. They were familiar names. I bumped into those names a few times when randomly surfing online, but never gave them much thought. I just knew they wrote hardboiled fiction.

Then I saw that the movie would be adapted into a movie by the Coen Brothers. Huh, never read about the Coen Brothers, let me click that. While reading through it, I saw Hammett and Chandler AGAIN, with both of them said to be the main influence of the Coen's.

Then everything just clicked in my mind. Influences, Hammett, Chandler. Ka-ching! Ooh, so the universe has been telling me to go read their books all this time and I never bothered to pay attention. Dumbass!

Haha. Wikipedia is awesome!

08-03-2008, 06:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
backpocket Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Malaysia Posts: 187	Wikipedia was involved in my synchronicity! First, some backstory: I've always wanted to write, but never had the balls to do it, because I always thought it will be well too worthless for someone's time anyway, so I always chose the 2nd best option that I enjoy, and people actually approve. Inspired by Steve's article (aren't we all) What I Learned From Going Bankrupt in My 20s That Proves to Be Immensely Valuable in My 30s, I started writing again. Nothing much, just attempting some short stories, but could never finish anything. It all just felt so hard, like it was a struggle, but I just presevered, thinking I have nothing to lose anyway. Then a few days ago, while freewriting, it somehow turned into a detective story. For the first time in weeks it was actually enjoyable to write, and I looked forward to continuing it everyday. But somehow I just couldn't find a proper voice for it, and what was cool in my mind turned insipid on paper. I was disappointed, but just continued along, trusting that if I screw this up, I can just rewrite it all over again. Today, after another writing session, and still frustrated that I couldn't find a proper voice, I went to wikipedia to read up on Tarrasch. I'm currently studying chess endgames, and I love reading about the history of things, plus I wanted to waste time, so I checked. I skipped a lot of the article, it was pretty boring, then somehow my eye caught a link to The Yiddish Policemen Union at the bottom of it. What's a novel got to do with a chess player? Intrigued, I clicked it, skimmed it again, and it said that the book was a homage of sorts to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. They were familiar names. I bumped into those names a few times when randomly surfing online, but never gave them much thought. I just knew they wrote hardboiled fiction. Then I saw that the movie would be adapted into a movie by the Coen Brothers. Huh, never read about the Coen Brothers, let me click that. While reading through it, I saw Hammett and Chandler AGAIN, with both of them said to be the main influence of the Coen's. Then everything just clicked in my mind. Influences, Hammett, Chandler. Ka-ching! Ooh, so the universe has been telling me to go read their books all this time and I never bothered to pay attention. Dumbass! Haha. Wikipedia is awesome! __________________ They can take our lives, but they can never take our pants! Last edited by backpocket; 08-03-2008 at 06:14 AM.