Thoughts and Explanations...

So, I've gotten some solid feedback from several of you and the common consensus is that my sentences can get a little... out of hand. More than one person mentioned that they had to read sentences a couple of times, which is not what I'm going for. So, I thought I should explain what I'm trying to do, and maybe you guys can help me figure it out.

My concern over heavy sentences is from a reader's perspective. There's a writer whose name I forget who wrote a couple of really awesome books- in concept. Too bad I couldn't read them in their entirety because her thoughts, sentence structure and arrangement of thought were so heavy that I felt like I needed a beer and a nap after two paragraphs. Needless to say, I appreciate what she was going for, but I don't anticipate returning to her work until say, a natural disaster strikes and I can't leave my house. Meanwhile, I'll keep the books because they make me look hipster-smart.

The other comment I've heard a few times is the need for humor. Which I acknowledge whole-heartedly. I can be a funny writer, and would definitely like to be. The problem with this, is that I tend to draw to the darker, more emotional sides to a story. I want a reader to have a feeling that matches the situation being described. For instance, the day I decided to quit my job was not a funny day. It was awful. And many of the days that came after it were distinctly not funny, either. In situations like that, the best I can often manage is sarcasm, or dry descriptions of ordinary scenes. Humor tends to occur in the context of the unexpected. Like, the way you don't expect a little kid to let out a string of curse words.

As for the form of the blog itself- I have to apologize that this last post ended suddenly. I basically ran out of time to round it out, but wanted to get it posted. Sometimes things will be out of context, but I'll do my best to put them all in the right order. Also, the next segment of this story potentially involves the details of my exit from my job. I'm conflicted because, as my Mom pointed out, people can sympathize with the desire to leave a corporate environment. True. On the flip side, I have to ask myself how much of that particular story is worth telling. Does re-telling the story give some sort of value or credit to the so-called people I was dealing with? What's worse- to be spoken ill of or not be spoken of at all? So, I'm toying with that idea... one idea I had was to write it with their spoken dialog and my internal dialogue. I think that could be funny... Think the movie High Fidelity- the scene where Tim Robbins comes in to John Cusack's record shop and there is this repeat montage of various acts of imagined violence-one scene, they pick up the phone and hit him in the face with it, next one air conditioner, and so on. The end of the scene is John Cusack simply telling the guy to "get your goddamn patchouli scented ass out of my record shop."

Thoughts?!