In Appendix-B of his book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders asks us to write a 200-word story using only 50 unique words, constraints which Saunders suggests typically encourage an escalation of tension. Of course, someone's gone and coded a site to help you do just that, The George Saunders Escalation Exercise.
The GSEE reminds me of David Milch's process for defeating writer's block:
- Write for no less than 20 minutes and no more than 50 minutes.
- Write no description, only dialogue, using the descriptors Voice One and Voice Two.
- Take what you wrote, put it in an envelope, and seal it. Never look at it again.
- Do this every day at the same time until you're no longer blocked.
Believe it or not, this works.
(David Milch is a TV writer, which is why he's focusing on dialogue.)
Anecdote Alert
I believe Milch to be one of the greatest writers of all time. I've loved his work for many years. He's one of my heroes in art and heroes in life. I think Deadwood is as good as any Shakespeare, Picasso, or Dylan.
Years ago, after reading Mark Singer's terrific 2005 New Yorker profile, The Misfit, I reached out to Singer to ask if he still had the transcripts mentioned in the piece. He wrote back quickly to say he didn't.
About a year later I received an email from David Milch's assistant. The email simply said, "I hear you're looking for these." PDFs of the transcripts were attached. Just over 100 pages.
I've owned davidmilch.com for years and one day will make a site about him. I'll be sure to put those PDFs on them.
