Saturday Update

Today's short is a bit of an odd one. It's sort of an experiment in getting a story across in a sort of stream of consciousness type way. The short is all dialogue, or should I say monologue. Basically a character recounting a story to someone else, or just the reader. I really wish the indents worked becasue it makes it much easier to read. As it is, it sort of looks like a bit of a block of text.

Also if anyone thinks there is too much use of the word "like" or things such as ending sentences with the questions "right?" and "you know?" then try reading it out loud as a monologue, it flows better that way. While writing it, I had to read it out loud to make sure the commas are all in the right spots, even if they aren't gramatically correct. Also I found myself adding more "like"s when I read it out loud.

Partly inspired by one of my favourite films of all time Waking Life, Directed by Richard Linklater and mostly created by letting the main character/narrator go off on whatever tangents he thought necessary, and no, I didn't have the dream described in the story.

Heres a clip from Waking Life. Great scene, the whole movie is like this, rotoscoped animation and interesting interviews/dialogue. Amazing.

And a music video: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs directed by Spike Jonze. Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs was my favourite of 2010.

Also Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance the Way I Feel. Great song, made number 3 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2010.


Monologue
By Tim Harvey


“So, I've been having this recurring dream recently. Like, the last few nights, right?
Anyway, so in the dream, I'm like at the video store, right? And I'm leaving the video store.
It's like night-time, and anyway, I'm walking across the parking lot to my car.
So, it's dark and there are a few people around and whatever, and I notice there is a cop car in the parking lot.
The video store is like on the same block as this pizza place, right? And, so they like share the same parking lot, you know?
Anyway, so I'm walking across this parking lot, looking at the cop car, and it's got the tail-lights on and all that, the reversing lights and whatever.
So, I'm like; 'Oh, okay, these cops are like, getting dinner,' and I'm thinking; 'Geez, guys. Like, pizza, am I right?'
Because, you know, they're like cops right, but whatever.
So as I'm like getting into my car I see these two shady looking guys walking across the parking lot. And they're like, eyeing up the cop car, and they're looking at each other, and like eyeing up this cop car.
So, I'm like thinking to myself; ' These dudes look like real shady,' I mean, these dudes look like the type to start trouble, right?
Anyway, so now I'm getting into my car and I have to like, turn my back on these guys, and I get this thought, like; 'This is the perfect time to get mugged.' Right?
I mean, dark parking lot, not many people around and all that.
But I'm not scared or anything, because, like, the cop car, you know?

“So, anyway, that thought sticks in my mind, and I'm like driving home thinking about doing some writing. Anyway, I'm like; 'This would be a great story.' I mean, you know? Lone guy gets mugged in the parking lot, and there was a cop car like, right there. I mean, that's pretty funny right, these guys must be pretty stupid, right?
But then I'm like; 'What if the cops didn't notice?' Right?
So, the guy gets mugged, with a cop car like, right there, and you know?
I mean, the guy's getting bashed and, like I'd imagine it as being really brutal, right? So, he's getting kicked in the head and like, broken jaw, and like, real violent, like fractured eye sockets and all that, you know?
And the guys are like taking his keys and, you know, jacking his car and all that, with these cops right there in the parking lot!
So, like, I'd imagine it as like, the guy's on the ground, and his face is like swollen and all that, and he looks up and sees the cop car pull out of the parking lot.
Like, they didn't see anything, right?
And, even, they like stop and he sees the brake lights go on and he's like; 'Oh, thank God!' And all that. And then, the cops like, drive off.
I mean, It's like heartbreaking.
Imagine like, the soul-destroying, like, feeling of being in that situation, you know?
Just like, crushed, you know?
So, anyway, then like the hero of the story, the guy, you know, goes to hospital and all that. And he's like in a coma for months, with the tubes and all that, all that stuff.
So he gets out of hospital and he's like, vowed to get revenge.
But, here's the twist, right? He's vowed to get revenge on the cops who left him there.
So, I don't know, he becomes like, a supervillain, or something.
Probably, not that much, more like a bad version of like, Batman, or something, you know?
So, I'm like imagining the story as being from his perspective, right? But the reader like, gets that he's wrong, right? I mean, that whole origin story, his whole like, origin was just a mistake. I mean, the cops probably couldn't see him in the dark, or something, you know?. Chances are they couldn't hear him, or whatever, you know?

“So, like, this whole guy's life, his motivations, his plans and all that, his whole life! It's all like, just based on a mistake. And I want like the audience to pick that up, even though it's like from his point-of-view and all that.
The book is like, I don't know, and indictment on society, right? But it's like masquerading as like, an indictment on corrupt, or like... That's not right, not corrupt.
Like... Inept policing? Yeah, like you know, police being like, understaffed and all that, like you know, like incompetent police.
So the guy that the reader follows, is like one of those unreliable narrators, right? I mean, it's obvious that he's in the wrong, but he doesn't know that, right? He's like all caught up in his life having meaning and all that, you know?
But here's another cool twist, right? By the end of the book, and it's like written as like his journal or something. So at the end of the book, he like admits to the reader that he knew what he was doing was wrong, right?
So, he's like; 'Yeah, I knew that the cops weren't deliberately like, screwing me over. I just wanted to have a purpose in life, you know?'
And, so then the audience has to like choose to sympathise with him, or like not.
But he's like totally killed the cops or something, or maybe just bashed them like he got bashed, you know?

“Wow, so where were we?
Yeah, like anyway, I'm making this story up in my head as I'm like driving home from the video store. And, like, it's all coming to me like, rapid fire, you know? I mean, like the whole thing is just falling into place, like the whole novel. I mean, I'm seeing the characters, the twists and all that.
So I'm driving home and I'm getting all excited, you know? As you would be, right? I mean, this is like pure inspiration, right? Like, I saw something in the world and my mind, like, my imagination just went into rapid fire and I pulled a fully formed story out of, well out of nowhere, right?

“So I get home and I rush inside and start typing it up and it's just flowing, I mean really flowing.
And I'm sitting there writing for hours and hours, like, it feels like hours, right?
And all of a sudden it's done.
A full novel, right? Well manuscript, anyway. But you know, I've written a full manuscript in one sitting.
So I sit back and, I'm like exhausted, like really exhausted. I'm like panting and sweating, and all that.
Then I like sit back, like this.
And fold my arms behind my head, like this, right?
And I look over at my bookshelf, like, you know, just looking around my room, and something grabs my eye, right?
I look at the bookshelf and there's only one book on it.
And, I'm like; 'What happened to all my books?' Right? Because they're all missing.
Anyway, so I get up and grab this book, and start flipping through the pages and guess what.
It's the same book! I mean like, word for word the same story that I just wrote down.
I'm like; 'What? What the hell?' Right? And I close the book and check the cover, I mean, this must be some mistake, right?
And get this, the author's name?
Yeah, it's me.
And then I wake up.

“So, I like had this dream every night for like the last week, right?
I'm like; 'What does that mean?' You know?
I think it is like something to do with my like, thinking I'm unoriginal or something. Or like, I keep writing the same ideas down, or something? You know, like my subconscious self like, giving me shit for being unoriginal or something, right?
But I don't know, I mean, sometimes it feels like just this external force like telling me; 'Nothing is original,' right? Like; 'Even when something feels truly inspired, it's still been done before.' Or something like that. Not like God or anything, no, nothing like that. But maybe like, collective consciousness or something.
I don't know.
The weird part is like the vividness, right, of the dream. Not really the ideas or anything, but the emotions, you know?
I mean, when I start thinking up the book, I'm like super-excited, you know? Like really excited. And when I see that I already wrote that story it's just, like, total depression. Like, the depression is so much that, it like, wakes me up.

“Well, I don't really know.
What do you think?”