You're such a cut up

Back in college, for about a minute and a half, I was really in to the literary "cut-up" method, practiced by such authors as William S Burroughs.

The method is really quite interesting, at least to me (that's not saying much; I think NPR is interesting); you write perfectly good prose, then randomly cut and paste words and phrases around until you get something you like.

Since Burroughs and his contemporaries used typewriters, they were literally cutting and pasting words on a piece of paper; ransom note style.

Sometimes you end up with words that paint a beautiful abstract painting, and sometimes you get an indecipherable mess; but it's generally interesting. A sometimes frustrating read (SEE: "Naked Lunch"), but interesting nonetheless.

Anyway, I mention this because I was going through some old files on my computer and remembered that I used to write, then cut-up, hiakus when I was trying to get myself into the mindset of writing a script.

Here are some I put together; I preferred a more random way of cutting; without much thought put into which lines I placed where; Too much thought and you lose the spontaneity of it. For this, I would close my eyes, pick a line, then without looking, paste it. The only thing I tried to keep a mind on was the haiku structure.

ORIGINALS:

quiet confusion
for some it clogs up the mind
for me, clarity

time like ticking clocks
words are wordless afterthoughts
circling above

smile like curves of lips
expressionless desire
until teeth are chipped

closing eyes rolled tight
desire fades into the night
silhouetted spite.


CUT UPS:

for me, clarity
words are wordless afterthoughts
smile like curves of lips

until teeth are chipped
expressionless desire
quiet confusion

circling above
desire fades into the night
time like ticking clocks

closing eyes rolled tight
for some it clears up the mind
silhouetted spite.


Kinda interesting. Something I might want to return to one day. It's a very web2.0 thing to do. I wonder if there's an iPhone app for it? Maybe a youtube plug in to cut-up different vloggers' videos.

Now we're talking masterpieces of Western culture.