Join the 24-Hour Writing Steam (and How Harlan Ellison Wrote Behind Windows) · 4:00pm Dec 6th, 2018
Meet Harlan Ellison. You may have heard of him, and to equal measure, you may no clue who the fuck he is. Ellison is known for being a writer, an essayist, a scriptwriter, and most important to me, an asshole. He wrote I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream in a night (sorta). Writing almost every day came naturally to him, composing in every genre and commenting on every subject—because why the fuck not?
How does this pertain to a 24-hour stream, you ask?
Simply because, on top of being an asshole, Ellison was a fucking crazy as well. Let me explain. In the late 80's, some bookstores across the states, instead of having a bookshelf at their window display, had a table, a typewriter, and a sign.
Ellison would arrive at these bookstores shortly before opening. There, he would be met by friends, celebrities, and friends who were also celebrities. There, without any idea of what he was to write, or what he was to do, would shake hands with the likes of Robin Willams—who held an envelope in his hand. After a quick hug, Ellison would tear open the envelope, and find either one of two things.
1. The opening line a story he would continue.
2. A prompt which he would have to write.
With that, Harlan Ellison would smile, take a seat at the table, wave to the people beyond the glass, and then get to work. Sliding the paper into the typewriter, he would write before crowds and pausing pedestrians outside the store, peeking through the glass to see what the fuzz was about. They'd see a writer, writing, and that was all.
When a page was finished, it was done so without errors. Don't forget. This is a fucking typewriter. No backspaces on that bitch. You fuck up, that fuck up stays on the page under either a red pen or some whiteout get involved. But this guy. This Harlan Ellison, his pages were without spelling or grammar mistakes. The pages would be taken from his typewriter, taped up on the glass itself, so you could see the story as it was being written.
And that, my friends, is some pretty cool shit.
So when I say to myself: "You should be able to write wherever and whenever," you know why I can't fight that voice back. My wit, at once, summons the image of Harlan Ellison, hard at work with people watching, escaping the outside world and immersing himself in the one inside the story.
No excuses with that shit.
And now, even though it took us a while to get here, we have reached the point of this blog. While I'll never compare myself to the fuckin' man, I do wanna see how much I can measure up against him. Quality has never been my shtick; doing stupid shit was always my deal. Harlan Ellison wrote in public places all to show that writers sit down and work—that they don't go up to the attic and come down with a magical manuscript.
He wanted to take the mysticism away from writing. Everyone could do it. Everyone should do it. And maybe, just maybe, seeing him do it live could urge you do the same. I like to think he hit a few points with that. At the very least, he was able to show off, and to a man like him, that was half the battle.
And now, dear readers, we've come to settle on wittle ol' me. What do I have to offer all of you? What is I hope to do in this example of a man? Will I ever get to the point opposed to always delaying it with needless suspension? Fret not. Point now. On Saturday the 8th (A day before my B-Day), at 8:00 AM, I will be doing a 24-hour writing steam on Twitch.
I do not expect you to join at the beginning. I'd hate you to say throughout the whole thing. But I would love for you to pop in now and then, say hello, call me an idiot, and the leave while screaming: "Ho Boah!" With that being said, for those who join, I will be showing off the way I go about writing, the process of it, as well taking ideas and suggestions and cranking out short fics and shit.
You can also join me in Lands of the Banned, where I will be hosting from. Here's a link to the group.
With that said, I should have the twtich—and everything else neccary—up in a blog post on Friday. Feel free to message me any comments or questions.
Let's have some fun, boys.
Of course the man hit blocks while writing.
Hopefully, I didn't make him sound too much like a god.
Our bdays are coming up! Hm. I should make a title card for your screen about the event!