"A Rambling On Writing", featuring Gary Miller

Ladies and gentleman, it is my distinct pleasure and privilege to introduce Floodmark's first guest blogger: Mr. Gary Miller, a handsome tiger of a man and an extremely talented poet, actor, director, and all around human. We editors first met Gary in our creative writing classes in college, and it was memorable, to say the least---as are all things that Mr. Miller does. I fully expect he'll be famous in less than 3 years. The proof is in the pudding, my friends, and you'll find a whole lot of pudding here. 

All photos are the original work of Gary Miller himself.
Believe me when I say these are the highlight of my week.

Before we get into Gary's excellent article on poetry, writing, and life, I just want to share with you our text message exchange before I created this article. Just to give you an idea of how beautiful what you're about to read is going to be. 

He was right. I loved it all.

OK. Now, dear reader, you are ready to experience the magic of Gary Miller. Enjoy:

"A Rambling On Writing"

Gary Miller

Storytelling is a tradition found in the bones of every human that has ever lived. I’ve heard some incredible stories from people. Telling stories is an addiction and writing is one such drug I partake in. I don’t try to be the best writer ever, simply the best writer I can be. More often than not, I will write a billion hyperbolic pages and get only a few things I like. I equate writing to that scene in the third Jurassic Park, where they are rummaging through piles of shit looking for a cell phone. They need that cell phone and when they find it, Sam Neil puts that life-saving fucker to his ear. 

“Hello, Hello?”

 A shit covered phone, that’s writing.

Become obsessed with your craft. Life will take care of itself, worry about what you can control. Sometimes that means simply putting pen to paper.

 Inspire Others

Take time to ask people about their lives, sit down and listen. Don’t talk, just listen. Hang on to every word like the ironclad grasp of a newborn baby. My parents wow me on a regular basis with their stories. Realize that nobody else will ever have your exact experiences, they will have similar ones, but not yours. Existing is the first thing you can do to inspire others. One of my favorite moments of performing and writing was doing a wonderful show in Denver called The Narrators. The show’s format is people telling true stories based on a theme. I watched a hilarious human being who you should all check out, Dave Ross, tell a story about his college craziness and finding his personal worth doing comedy. Some of the highlights included a shit-soaked shirt and doing doughnuts in a parking lot with a stolen car. It was my first time ever performing for my parents and my Uncle Dan Pagliasotti. My dad came where the performers were and talked with Mr. Ross for a bit about their lives. It was special for me to see my dad inspired by a total stranger. Dave Ross, an incredible person, shakes my hand, offers advice, and tells me, “I’ll see you again”. A week later on my birthday I saw Bob Odenkirk speak and he gave me one hell of a birthday present: a book about writing that was gifted to him. He shook my hand and said, “I’ll see you again”. Little acts of kindness go a long way.

Trust the Crazy and Have Fun

If there is something going through your mind, write it down. If you read it aloud and it comes off as batshit crazy, sometimes that’s a good thing. Possibly a great thing.  It’s important to seek to be a better writer, but it’s also important to have fun doing it. Writing Bob Mazooka is an example of having a blast writing. Dav Pilkey probably meant a huge deal to everyone’s childhood, and I remember reading a quote from him as a kid about not worrying about doing the right kind of writing, but doing it and being creative. Not everyone can be a Kerouac, but everyone can grab a pen and paper and get crazy. Trust those impulses, there is a reason you want to do the impossible and make mimes a sex symbol. 

Sometimes it’s also nice to write to amuse myself, being the only guy who gets the joke can be fun. Take yourself out of a comfort zone, set up a lounge and chair, put on your favorite robe and post up in the elevator of a local establishment and write. Do something out of the ordinary. Go buy groceries for a homeless man when you’re drunk in Champaign, Illinois. Have a deeply personal conversation with a loved one with megaphones across a park - It’s empowering. Sure, you look like an asshole but as my Uncle Jim says, “Live life for the story”. 

"Live life for the story." -Gary Miller's Uncle Jim.

Go down memory lane. If that street is a one way road poorly lit to the Pandora’s box of demons, be careful. But if you have a bunch of awesome wicked shit that you’ve done, get that on paper and share it. Ask your parents what you were like as a child. Watch your mother pull a grey hair out of her head, throw it to the wind and say, “you did this to me”.

I mean my mom doesn’t have grey hairs, she’s a beautiful woman, but I have become very familiar with the sound of a wooden spoon smacking my ass. Got nothing but love for that woman.

 I’ll start with some personal dirt that may inspire you to write down your own. I thought it was normal to pee in the streets and throw rocks at cars as a young child no younger than 2, no older than 4. The mark of childhood innocence is sticking play-doh in girls' hair and breaking into your neighbors' houses to play with your buddy Daniel’s toys. I’d take lawn chairs and climb fences to steal tomatoes. As a teen I thought it was normal to duct tape my penis in a social setting and pretend to be ROBOCOCK. Not a moment I’d open with in a job interview, but it’s out there nonetheless. 

Don’t judge my parents, they did their best. It’s hard rescuing boys from raging rivers.

 Not a metaphor. 

I’ve had fun telling people true stories from my short but meaningful life. Go through that mind of yours and untangle those repressed cobwebs like you’re Maniac Mcgee scoring free pizza. 

"Don't judge my parents, they did their best. It's hard rescuing boys from raging rivers.
Not a metaphor." -Gary Miller

Get a posse together. Get around passionate people. I’ve been fortunate enough to be graced by amazingly creative and inspiring people throughout my life. Post up cardboard signs around town, tweet at folks, start a fire in a trash can and wait for people to flutter in like moths to tell you a story. Pull a Clint Eastwood and sit on your porch all day, invite the rabble rousers and trouble makers to come converse with you. Grab your buddies and sit around an idea. Muse about life, sports, unshaved belly buttons, whatever gets the bread baked. Crack a beer and enjoy. 

Carry a journal, this goes without saying, but we have to say it anyways. Kind of like don’t put a fork in the toaster. You should know not to do that but there is always a guy like me to do so. Harriet the Spy everything. Do your best to be a fly on the wall and immerse yourself in the environment you’re in. Crush people between your fingers and write about everything with your other hand. Sometimes a great idea will surge into you like a whirling dervish on an Adderall binge, write that idea down. Find worth in the mundane of life. Everything is awesome when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it. 

You know how those guys with ties come door-to-door trying to sell a book about Mormon? Do that, but with your own story. Write something down and go door-to-door telling people about it. Write down a story about the Dixie Chicks stopping ISIS, a poem about a mime losing his friend to clown school, talk to a dog and make out what they’re saying. Ask the people for feedback and if you’re doing it right, you should have a couple bucks. 

Comparing yourself to the great writers will force you to see it as meaningless. Everything has already been said, that is true, but it is important for people to keep doing it. I tend to write more comedy because it comes naturally to me, I enjoy making people laugh and have fun being around people. Performing things I write is blending everything I love about being alive. Having words build up feels like a spontaneous combustion waiting to happen. I have notebooks stocked up with vaguely coherent ideas that I will go back and look through. Sometimes they will bring back memories and other times it will bring a flood of confusion. I enjoy taking things that should not go together and making them click. Trying to doing the impossible is what makes creativity fun. 

"I enjoy taking things that should not go together and making them click."
-Gary Miller

Thank you, Gary Miller. You are a beautiful human being, and your writing advice and biographical anecdotes are on point. (To say the least.) If you'd like to know a little more about Gary, you can find his bio below. Please follow him on Twitter (he will complete your life) and check out his movie (link below!).

Gary Miller is an actor, writer, comedian, and director originally hailing from Denver. He took a midnight train going anywhere and ended up in the Midwest along the banks of the Mississippi. He can be found @marygiller where all the bird chirp. You can check out one of of his original movies, "Bob Mazooka: Fun Time Action Hour for Kids" by clicking here. You will not regret it.