“You just have to be ruthless if anything is gonna be good.”
So I have this problem where I’m an exceptionally boring person. See, I was going to draw from my own experiences for this audio essay — until I realized that I’m uninteresting and have no stories of my own. As a result, I decided it would be best if I drew from outside sources instead.
The problem with that is that there’s like 8 million people running around this city. They’ve all got perfectly valid thoughts and ideas and memories and stories. They all think they have they have something interesting to say. I don’t mean to undermine the value of their words or anything, it’s just as an editor/author I have to find what works and what doesn’t.
In part two of his storytelling series, Ira Glass talks about the editing process as applied to web radio. Ira says that when you pursue a particular idea, you have to go out and find stories that support this idea in whatever way. But sometimes, these stories suck. Like there’s no getting around it — sometimes, other people tell bad stories. Maybe they don’t have a purpose, or maybe they’re not thinking about their audience…Or maybe it’s a good story, but it doesn’t help add anything to your overall message.
Ira emphasizes the importance of perseverance in such situations. He says it’s important not to settle for mediocrity, because when you do find something good and useable, it makes the entire journey worth it. You have to be critical and you have to be hard on yourself and others.
So with this piece of advice in mind, I’m going to sort through hours-worth of people talking about what it means to be an American. I know it’s going to get repetitive and annoying, but I have to persevere if I want my final product to be worthwhile. There’s no way I can get people to say what I need them to say, but as long as I push I’ll find something good eventually.
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I used to feel the exact same way as you, I used to feel boring. But then one day it hit me. Everyone has the potential to be interesting, even if they don’t change anything about themselves. Ever heard of Seinfeld? It’s a show about nothing… Below is a script of the episode where George explains his idea for this NBC pitch. (I’m not sure if you’ve seen the episode but the ‘pitch’ for the new show is really just describing the actual show ‘Seinfeld,’ it’s a very clever episode.) Anyway, nothing is really going on, they just talk. But it’s interesting. Anything can be interesting if you give it a little thought. Whatever hobbies you engage in can be interesting. Don’t be so quick to name yourself boring, because if you think boring, then you’ll be boring.
http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/ThePitch.htm
Dear Damla,
You’re not boring, just misunderstood.
Peace and Blessings, Brian.
Anyway, you’re spot-on. Passion and ruthlessness are key to a story. Even if you have something you don’t like, or disagree with, you can still pull off a convincing piece if you just work hard to make it work. Just think of yourself as perfect, and close yourself off from thoughts of being “boring and repetitive.” Sometimes a little ignorance can go a long way…
Not settling with mediocracy, that’s something I heard from Ira and actually contemplated it for a bit. Even though I didn’t write on that piece of advice, it was something that’s difficult to overcome for many people and I personally do agree. It needs to be original and also make people think!