Hemingway's Shotgun and the Price of Success

Within the past 24 hours I have encountered two cultural references to the unfortunate suicide of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway. While the writer's death by his own hand is common knowledge, I was taken aback by one of these references, while I feel the other must be taken into context to be fully understood.

The first reference to "Hemingway's Shotgun" was in a recent episode of the FOX sitcom Family Guy. In this particular episode three of the characters (Stewie, Brian and Chris Griffin) travel back in time to learn about famous moments in history. Why the writers felt that Hemingway's suicide qualified as such an event seems a bit forced, but that is a topic for another day. The "writer" among the group, Brian, is thrilled at the chance to meet Hemingway and begins pandering to him the moment they meet. In the cartoon Hemingway then brandishes his famous shotgun and takes his own life rather than listen to Brian.

The second reference was in a short story I recently read by one of my own favorite authors, Charles Bukowski. While this story was written fifty years before Family Guy ever existed the punch line concerning "Hemingway's Shotgun" was much the same. Bukowski makes multiple references to his friendship with Hemingway throughout his writing. The fact that he knew Hemingway before his death gives him some room for comment. The way Bukowski quips about Hemingway's choice of weapon (a shotgun) might give the casual reader the impression that Bukowski didn't like Hemingway. As a fan of both authors, I feel that it is clear that Bukowski actually admired Hemingway greatly. He ever refers to Hemingway as "the best among us" on more than one occasion. Anyone who is familiar with Bukowski's work is also familiar with his rather blunt and often intentionally offensive sense of humor. Despite this fact, Bukowski seems to have been more deeply affected by the Nobel Prize winners death than he is comfortable admitting.

While both references were clearly made in jest Bukowski's comments, however comedic, seem to have some actual heart and sympathy behind them. The unnecessary and poorly scripted joke on Family Guy, however, had no such heart. Seth MacFarlane and his contemporaries seem to feel they have dramatic license to mock Hemingway and other great authors. In terms of sheer freedom of speech these comedy writers certain have that right. Charles Bukowski, on the other hand, was a contemporary of Hemingway's. He actually KNEW the man, the author, the artist.

While both jokes seem similar, their intentions are very different. Despite what one might think of Bukowski his writing has a blunt honesty to it. The bottom line is that if anyone has dramatic license to make such comments it would be the man's contemporary, Charles Bukowski not a comedian who never knew the man.

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http://www.amazon.com/Elsewhere-John-Eric-Buckley-ebook/dp/B00QAS3SCS

Writer's Block, Bukowski and the Post Office

Today I would like to suggest yet another tip to becoming a better writer. Today's tip actually has more to do with not writing than actually writing, as odd as that might sound.

BALANCE.

This topic occurred to me while reading Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski. In one particular piece Bukowski attempts to explain a bout of writer's block that he once suffered and indirectly attributes his problems to the existence of daily mail delivery.

Anyone who has read anything that I have ever written knows how much I love Charles Bukowski. I have always been drawn to his direct no holds bar way of writing. The reader never has to wonder what Bukowski is thinking. Make no mistake he is going to tell you and in no uncertain terms. He has been called a bully, a hack, a womanizer and worse. Regardless as to what you or I may think of the man he is clearly one of the most influential writers of the last century.

As a former postal employee, Bukowski has every right to criticize the postal service. He worked for that organization for a decade first as a mail carrier and later as a postal clerk. To put it bluntly, the man paid his dues in that organization and has every right to criticize his former employer.

Despite this fact, I have to wonder if the distraction of daily mail delivery is really a legitimate excuse for writer's block. In this particular exert, Bukowski admits that he became obsessed with reading and responding to his readers' correspondence. At the outset this sounds admirable. He later admits that he usually only responded to the women, and more often to the attractive female readers who included photos of themselves in their correspondence. These admissions lead the reader to question whether the interruption of his daily mail carrier was really the cause of his struggles with writer's block.  Instead, allow me to suggest that the contents of those deliveries and his obsession with certain female fans might actually have been the root cause.

While I doubt that many of us have had this same exact experience we have all experienced writer's block. Whether we write novels, poetry, short stories or even something more technical or business related each of us has stared at a blank screen or sheet of paper in frustration at some point.

May I suggest that rather than blame arbitrary events and distractions (such as daily mail delivery) for our problems that we should all learn to lead a more balanced life. We cannot afford to become our own creations. Balance is the key to everything. If you write in the mornings then by all means write in the mornings. But do something else in the afternoon and evening. If you write in the afternoons or evening by all means be true to your routine but find something different and more social to do during your mornings.

Despite certain stereotypes not all great writers are antisocial recluses.

I hope that together we can continue to grow as writers and as human beings.

It is essential to find a good healthy balance that will allow each of us to become a better writer every day!

Thanks again for reading and as always...

KEEP WRITING!

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http://www.amazon.com/Elsewhere-John-Eric-Buckley-ebook/dp/B00QAS3SCS