They're both kind of the same. But they're also both really, really different.
A couple of days ago someone asked me a question that I hadn't personally considered—if there's any difference writing these blogs and the TV bits I do every Monday. Like I said, I had never even thought about that, but her question made me think which, as we all know, can be a dangerous thing.
And the conclusion to which I came is that they're actually quite different.
I mean, both these daily musings and my weekly thing are, at their core, just essays. It's just me rambling about whatever comes into my head (and, as an aside, things keep coming into my head. I rue the day when I sit here with an empty brain.
And keep those snotty comments about that last line to yourself. 8-))
Anyway, the more I thought about it the more I realized the difference between the two, at least from a technical point of view. These things can be as long or as short as I want, and include occasionally tortured syntax, weird ideas, and long, rambling statements.
My TV pieces, though, need to be precise...concise. They need to be two minutes long, give or take a few seconds. I need to write them to be spoken, instead of writing them to be read (which, until you have to do it, is something you don't even think about) And unlike these, with their (occasionally) esoteric topics, the TV bits need to talk about something that interests the entire UP. Or, at least, something that might interest a significant chunk of the UP.
Unlike a fair percentage of these.
I will admit, though, that writing these for over two decades has made writing the TV bits a piece of cake. Well, maybe “piece of cake” isn't quite the correct word, seeing how much work they can occasionally be. But consider these daily ramblings my gateway drug into the world of TV, because like I said--
If you can write one of these every day, then writing another one a week, even with all of its differences, is probably a whole lot easier than starting from scratch.
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