My wife and I are catching up on some seasons of shows that we've missed, and last night we found ourselves working through a previous season of Arrow.
It was during the credits of this particular episode that I noticed something I'd never seen before. It was right there in plain sight the whole time, but it was...elusive...until that moment.
One of the Co-Executive Producers of Arrow is a fellow who goes by the name "Speed Weed".
No. You can check it. I've linked the name above to his IMDB profile. This guy exists. At least, on paper. Well, digital paper.
But does he?
Part of me still feels like I'm being trolled here. Speed Weed? Read the IMDB profile if you like. It's a little too...narrative. It kinda reads like a dossier that would be handed to an FBI Special Agent who has been assigned to prevent the assassination of the silliest named guy in Hollywood.
I think there's a lesson here for me, though. It's not an easy one to accept because, for those who really know me, this could be a little hard to believe that I would say this.
I think I may be too silly myself.
I come by it honestly, I think. My grandmother always saw the ridiculous side of anything, which is one of the things I remember most about her. And her mother, my great-grandmother, who I had the privilege to know until I was nearly twenty years old, was known to laugh at anything, even to the point of embarrassing herself and everyone else around her.
I've been accused many times throughout my life of not taking things seriously enough. They've almost always been right. Except for a very few things, I truly feel like almost nothing deserves to be taken as seriously as most people take them.
But, what if I did? What if I did start taking more things more seriously?
I need you to understand what I'm trying to say today, so I'm going to be more blunt than usual.
I feel like my writing is disconnected, and has failed to hit with most of the people who have read it (and rejected it, too), because I am too silly with it. I see too much to laugh about, too much to make fun of, too little reason to put on a straight face when a smile and a chuckle will do just fine.
Does this mean I simply haven't found my audience yet? Perhaps.
I also have to consider that I'm not near as funny as I think I am. Ego check incoming, eh? My wife gets the credit for that one.
So what does this mean for my writing? My science fiction manuscript has yet to find a home, but there's no truly silly parts in that book. Don't get me wrong on this point, either. I did not write a disingenuous book in order to try to get it accepted. That story is what it is.
I guess I just need to know if the only way to truly succeed is to edit myself to the point that I'm tolerable to everyone else. Perhaps off the page as well as on it.
D.G.