Friday, May 16, 2008

If James Ellroy played with LEGO

Writers tend to pick up traits from what they're reading. Ever live in a place and have vestigial accent traces on certain words? I still say ooot and aboot for "out" and "about" after spending two summers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, nearly a decade ago to the delight of my friends and spouse. Now, try and imagine those verbal tics happening to your writing. Sometimes the only way to get it out of your system is to acknowledge that it's occurring and embrace a style for a short period of time. So, in order to get back my long-winded syntax and inappropriate use of semi-colons, I present to you a quick interpretation of what James Ellroy (author of L.A. Confidential & The Black Dahlia) might write if he was attempting to build with LEGO bricks.

LEGO snares you in a web and then weaves a wicked tale. One brick. The difference between complete and a loss. I built for hours. I built nothing. The mail lady knocked. She was busy. She took no flack. She didn't live here.

The clock ticked. Bricks splashed the floor. I shot a man.


Photo Credit: Bheathr

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