Dream Mentors & The Muse
Guide the Poet Mired in Drunken Despair
Synopsis
1982-1986. The journey of Thomas Roberts, ages 19 to 23.
It’s the early 1980s, and Thomas Roberts has dropped out of university twice, has a terrible job, sex avoids him, he hurts himself, drinks too much and says inopportune things at inopportune times…and he wants to be a writer. He struggles with undiagnosed and undermined depression (“everything’s great!”), but his Dream Mentors and Muse are there to guide him. Will he listen to them and save himself from a life of drunken despair?
Epigraph
“They could not understand him. It seemed to them a kind of blasphemy to refuse such a ‘good’ job when you got the chance of it. He kept reiterating that he didn’t want THAT KIND of job. Then what DID he want? They all demanded. He wanted to ‘write’, he told them sullenly. But how could he possibly make a living by ‘writing’? They demanded again. And of course, he couldn’t answer. At the back of his mind was the idea that he could somehow live by writing poetry, but that was too absurd even to be mentioned.”
George Orwell, from “Keep the Aspidistra Flying”.
Audio Samples & Transcripts
From: 10 – NAS, Poetry, Debauchery, Mainly Debauchery & NAS (21-22). 3rd Draft.
PDF of “Dream Scene: Dancing on the Reactor Core with Radioactive Wizards”. A dream (nightmare?) scene, where a Wizard reveals the horror of Thomas returning to the Reactor full-time.
More 3rd Draft Audio Samples & Transcripts
Words & Drawings
Resources
Writing Groups: Writing is a solitary struggle, but having a community to support you on your journey is invaluable. I was part of a poetry group in the early 1980’s called WUGS (World Underground Society), started a writing group at the Wyoming Library, and currently attend the Writers’ Group at the Burford Library. All of them were/are great! Brant Writes: Brant Public Library.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. I took her “shitty first draft” comment to heart, and it helped me greatly! Just write! Excellent book. Amazon, Goodreads.
Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg. Excellent, out-of-the-box thinking and ideas. Highly recommended! Amazon, Goodreads.
Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark. Every writer will find something useful to help them. Great resource! Amazon, Goodreads, Author Home Page.
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer. An enjoyable and entertaining grammar book…who’d have thought? Amazon, Goodreads, Author Home Page.
Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide by John Cleese. Creativity is fun! Amazon, Goodreads.