THE LAST POST?

Words are wonderful when they are communicated to other people. When no one else reads or sees or hears them then it becomes rather irrelevant. As my posts seem to go mostly unheeded, at least unanswered, I may not be writing many more blogs. Time will tell. I may feel more optimistic next time.

Words, new ones, are a thrill to any writer yet when reading the words that make up the names of artists performing at the Byron Bay Blues Festival I had to shiver. For of the dozens of performers listed I knew only a few of the names. Sad. It is a generational thing I am sure. All the same it is a bit scary to be so out of touch with so many of the latest recording artists. Admittedly it is not my kind of music and many are from overseas. I am a Beatles and Beethoven type of person.  But..is there an excuse that these words, these names, so important to so many people, have been completely missed by me? To be a moron or not to be, that is the question!

It was however great to hear words from my short plays spoken on a stage, where they have previously been acted out, performed fully, instead of just being read. It enabled me and the audience to concentrate on the words and this was a good lesson for all of us. For me it brought home how important words are. Sure, the actors enhance a performance with movement and emotional gestures but without the words, to be spoken, to be acted upon, there is little to a story, no matter how short or how long.

For today this story is short. Yet it reveals quite a lot. Let me know your story. Please. Respond in a few words or many.

WORDS; MADE TO HEAR AND TO SEE.

Having just spent two full days at a gathering where producers explained the massive undertaking required to produce major works for either cinema or television release, I began to comprehend that although the WORD is the most critical part of such projects, there is so much more to creating the end product. The organisational skills, the skills of hundreds of cast and crew seemed to be an almost endless list. The actual numbers of people involved can be guessed at when credits roll but it is often difficult to count the actual number. 

Having noted this however, it is still the Writer, with their words, whether in producing dialogue or scene setting or action instructions, that is the beginning of the whole process. As such, this is at least one of the most important components, if not the be all and end all. 

Sadly it is rare that a writer's name is recalled by an audience when often the name of an actor, or a director, or less often the DOP (Director of Photography) is often recalled. Why is this? Is it that Writers, in their metaphorical ivory tower, are rarely visible to the buying public? Is it that their contribution is not appreciated sufficiently, or not understood? Or, that being at the bottom of the pile in terms of worth, they are not seen as all that important. If it is the latter case then this is shameful. A Writer writes the words that solidify any kind of creation, even a painting or a photograph is, generally, titled. Those commercials we are all bidden to watch, whether great or disgustingly bad, begin with ideas written down in words, before the story board drawings.
Even signs in supermarkets are words. Doctors notes are words, even if barely legible. 
So what is a professional writer to do? I guess it is to simply be pleased and grateful if their words end up in a product that many people watch or read. That is about it. And if no one reads these words, that is sad too.