AuthorJim Harmon

The wife and I were lucky enough to see the climbing documentary Free Solo last night with a Q&A from the director and climber Alex. Spoiler alert: he lives!

The movie was great and I highly recommend it. But of course for me everything comes back to writing and this was no exception.

Alex climbs a crazy difficult mountain face without a rope and the entire time I was thinking about what a puss I am for complaining about struggling to write a paragraph. If he doesn’t climb with absolute perfection he will die and if I struggle to figure out what my imaginary character does in the next scene I take a nap and try again tomorrow.

I suppose it just puts life and my writing career in perspective. Yes, writing is hard, but there’s always something harder. There’s always someone willing to risk far more than I am on a given day. So if you’re a writer like me, just put your head down and keep going. What’s the worst that can happen?

Today I was procrastinating on the socials and saw yet another post featuring an extreme political angle. And I wasn’t angry. In fact, I experienced something I haven’t experienced in a long time when reading something political. Indifference.

I’m done being a victim of the media’s attempts to rattle our cages. I am a good person and everyone I know is a good person. Stop using us as your pawns. The battle is over and we’ve all lost.

It’s time to start talking to each other as people again. It’s time to stop yelling through our keyboards and ruining life long friendships because an article forces us to take sides that are inevitably going to divide us. I’m done and from what I can see on the horizon, I’m not alone.

I’ve worn many hats over the years. I’ve been a radio disc jockey, a film director and cinematographer, a video editor. I worked with a great music supervisor, I created a podcast and I even tried my hand at stand-up comedy. But the one job title that I’ve always carried with me has been that of a writer. In fact, none of my prior jobs has ever not included writing as a key component of it at some point. And yet I’ve fought it endlessly as being a job in and of itself.

A lot of it has to do with a lack of confidence in my abilities to truly be a writer, in particular a published author. And despite the fact that I have written dozens of scripts (mostly short form, but a script all the same) I always viewed writing as a component of another job rather than the job itself.

That changed a few months ago and now I find myself in a daily struggle between past, present and future. I debate embracing my past life as a camera person and video editor. Money is nice I say. And then I read my current draft of my book and one day I love it and the next day I want to burn it to the ground. But when the dust settles on the day I’m still a writer and it’s an incredible feeling. Stressful as all hell? Sometimes. But when the words and stars align, it’s the great feeling ever and I’m incredibly proud.

I guess the point of today’s post is to just stick with it. I’ve stopped everything a few times in my life and said, “I’m a writer!” and then got scared, quit and went back to my normal job and depression soon followed. Apparently I just wasn’t ready yet or I was too scared to commit. Those days are done though. I’m a writer and if you want to be one, just be one and don’t overthink it because you need that brain power to tell your stories.

Happy writing my friends!

I’ve been watching the Neil Gaiman Masterclass lately and he had the simplest, but oh so good, piece of advice. He suggested taking a common cliché and just turn it a little bit to make it different.

In his short story “October Tale”, he wrote about a genie and the woman who rubs the lamp. Rather than following the common beliefs about genies and the three wishes, he asks the big what if, as in what if the person who got the wishes doesn’t need them. It’s such a cute story and adds a completely original twist to a fairly commonplace story.

For me this advice was huge. I’ve been struggling with my book’s second draft because I felt like I was following too many tropes. By turning things just a little bit here and there my entire story is blossoming in a fresh and exciting direction.

Like most people, the day comes when you have to go to the dentist and get a cleaning and all that. Well, unlike most people, I have the most British teeth this side of the pond (aka Los Angeles) so every time I go to the dentist it’s a crap shoot as to what terrible procedure I’ll have to endure. Well today was no different. Cleaning, x-rays, fluoride, check, replace two old crowns with rotting teeth underneath, yep that sounds about right.

Which brings me to today’s personal lesson about writing and going with the flow. I frequently try to plan my writing out, from outlining to character and location sheets along with lists of equipment and specifics my characters would use. In the writing world this is sometimes called a “plotter” though I like to call it “OCD Planner”. The flip side is called a “pantser” as in flying by the seat of your pants. I don’t do well with just going with the flow, but every time I do the results produce random and, quite frankly, my most creative work.

The point being that as I was sprawled across the dental lounge chair it made me think, “This wasn’t how I had planned for my day to go at all! It’s kind of like I’m pantsing the dentist.” Of course I followed this with a laugh which the dentist didn’t understand, but the point was made. Maybe I should try to be more of a pantser with my writing, because it literally isn’t pulling teeth.  Thank you. I’ll be here all night and happy writing!

Short post, quick thought.

It bothers me when people say they hate the Patriots or any other sports team that is consistently successful. This strikes me as a loser mentality. Now I’m not saying that I think those people are losers, I get it, it can be frustrating when you want something and someone else always seems to get it. But the problem here isn’t the winning team, it’s your attitude about them.

Instead of disregarding them, maybe it’s time to start looking at what they do right. Robert Kraft is a good team owner. He doesn’t cave to an ego centric player’s demands, but he is loyal to players who have done him right. On any other team, Tom Brady would be out and Jimmy Garappolo would be the starter (as a Niners fan, thankfully this isn’t the case), but Kraft knows that Brady isn’t just a football player. He’s smart, he’s loyal and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win. Tom Brady also has an insanely dedicated regiment to his life as a football player. Sorry, but he makes sacrifices that most athletes would never make.

I grew up cheering for the Lakers during the Magic and Kobe eras, I get it, people get tired of seeing the same team win all the time especially when you don’t live in a big city. Nowadays, it’s the Warriors era in basketball. Do I hate them? Nope. I want to beat them and I know my Lakers aren’t complacent and sitting back griping about it they’re doing their best to get back on top, because that’s what winners do. And at the end of the day, doing your best has to be enough, even if you’re the Rams.