tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post8333740793006148161..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: Sad Face Emoji BluesKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-91253253855686133442018-10-18T18:39:11.707+01:002018-10-18T18:39:11.707+01:00Jim, the care you take shines out in each valued c...Jim, the care you take shines out in each valued comment. I thank you.<br /><br />Re play writing. I've learned to just write my lines with intent, not to state that intent, and trust the person on the other end to find that intent or failing that, fine something equally valid and doubly surprising. :)Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-39525485101360392462018-10-15T06:56:53.497+01:002018-10-15T06:56:53.497+01:00You could probably count on the fingers of one han...You could probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve used an emoji and I would imagine in every one of those no-more-than-five instances it would’ve been a smiley face. On the whole I’m pretty much anti-emoji and have been since the early days. In principle I actually think they’re a good idea because as much as I favour the written word I’m also acutely aware of its limitations. I’ve often wished I could incorporate directions into my texts but where do you draw the line? As a playwright you must face this issue with every line you write. Just how much additional information does an actor need to get the line right? How many actors have you heard deliver the opening phrase of the soliloquy spoken by Hamlet in the so-called nunnery scene? It’s only ten ruddy words and yet I’ve never heard two actors approach it the same way: “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” I once tried to notate a text—we’re talking forty-odd years ago—as if it was a musical score. Failed miserably but I learned a while back that I wasn’t the first to try this. Beckett once discussed the possibility with Stravinsky. I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall that day. But you’re right. You can’t predict how any one person will interpret what you say. And most of the time we never know. Which is probably as well. If we did realise how far and how often our words miss the mark we’d never put pen to paper—literally or metaphorically—again.<br /><br />There are a lot of things in life I don’t understand. Up at the top of the list is the desire to hurt another person. I’m not saying I’ve never done it and I have, deliberately, but even when I have there’s always been something a bit half-hearted about it; I never really put my shoulder into it. And invariably on those instances where I have set out to hurt someone it’s been in response to them injuring me in some way first and it’s been a kneejerk, and never fully thought through, response; the more time I let pass the less vengeful I find I am. And it’s never satisfying. Never. <br /><br />Unwittingly saying the wrong thing though, God, yes, or not thinking before I open my gob: how many times? That’s why I prefer the written word because I can go over and over what I want to say. You do realise—or maybe you don’t—that I probably never devote less than an hour to any comment on your blog. I read it over and over again to make sure what I’ve said is what I want to say. Or as near as. As near as usually has to do otherwise I’d never hit the send button.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-10182437660683641252018-10-14T15:51:21.321+01:002018-10-14T15:51:21.321+01:00...and Fever Tree Tonic. :)...and Fever Tree Tonic. :)Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-29296762477990128932018-10-14T14:16:41.272+01:002018-10-14T14:16:41.272+01:00We are so much more than just flesh and blood and ...We are so much more than just flesh and blood and water - there's gin in there too, I think you'll find.Juleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10282029770260743079noreply@blogger.com