There is No Line
On what I've learned about writing from Hacks (HBO)
Friends, foes, and other h*es,
What’s up and what’s good? I hope you’re reading this not in a weird ass mood like I am. I’ve found myself in a rejection of other media — well, all media except the hit HBO series Hacks.
I’ve got more to say but first, updates.
Updates on My Life & Stuff
I’ve got my first ever fiction publication out with Hayden’s Ferry Review!
Buy you a copy of this gorgeous issue here.
I got into the Community of Writers’ Summer Fiction Workshop!!
This is my second ever acceptance to a fiction workshop. The first time I got into one, I got COVID on the literal first day of the workshop so couldn’t attend the rest :( so I’m feeling very vindicated & excited to go!
I was on The Moth Radio Hour (segment 2)! I told a story that was based on a chapter from Pretty. Much love to Chloe Salmon for producing this segment and asking me to tell my story. This one’s for all the former band geeks!
Speaking of Pretty: an excerpt was just published in Queerty! In this piece, I put the whole “telling lesbians they haven’t met the right guy” thing to bed — literally and metaphorically.
I’ve got new headshots (s/o to Johnny Swoopz!), and they are quite cute:
From January-March, I was HELLA stressed. I was stressed about getting a job, finishing a book, selling another book, finding an apartment, yada yada yada. This stress bled over into other parts of my life in interesting ways — the most surprising being less media consumption.
I didn’t want to listen to music nor watch TV/films. I didn’t want to go to museums, go to drag shows, see any plays. I didn’t do anything except write, prep for interviews, read a few books for a book club that I’m in, and listen to a few podcasts for literally three months. This is highly unusual given that I’m always consuming SOMETHING.
But I just… couldn’t.
I couldn’t ingest other people’s stories while mine felt so up in the air. I don’t come from money, and my current job ends in May, and my family relationships are not great to the point where I could move back home if I become jobless. I don’t have a book currently under contract, so I HAD to find a job or sell a book (ideally both)! I’ve been writing stuff, also, that stretches my current literary abilities. It’s been scary, tbh, to look my own inadequacies in the face. So I, subconsciously, shut out all other art to figure out my own.
That is until I saw that Hacks was back on air.
This is a show that I first started watching as a joke; when I told folks I was moving to Vegas for a fellowship last spring, someone offhandedly asked “Have you seen Hacks?” I hadn’t, but from the first episode (which includes the scene above), I became a superfan.
The back-and-forth here is brilliant because it shows what makes this show so magnetic: it has no line. And not in the Dave Chapelle-esque, “nobody can make any jokes anymore way.” Its characters manage to be funny without punching down; instead, they punch left, right, any place where we can feel it. It is one of the only shows out there that implants jokes so character-based, so of-the-moment, that I know good writers are behind them.
With my writing, I’m always aiming for the same thing. I’m always imagining a reader that has similar taste, similar want to read something that will make them laugh, or cry, or reflect. I want someone to pick up one of my books and say “Damn, you’ve called me out specifically” or “Damn, I’ve never heard it put like that but that’s so clever, so smart, so meaningfully KB.”
In the scene after the above one, Deborah chases after Ava to ask why she’s really begging her for a job. Ava discloses the offensive joke that got her cancelled and that her joked “crossed a line.”Deborah replied, rather beautifully, that “There is no line. It’s just not funny.” That very much sums up my philosophy on writing. There’s no such thing as unsayable, unknowable, too much, etc. It’s the cleverness of the words you put together. It’s what you dare to say on the page, and how it makes an audience feel.
I started watching Hacks’ season 5 and was re-reminded of the importance of letting other art in. I’ve learned so much about (and been reminded of) who I am as a writer from it. Watching Hacks in April gave me the courage to trudge on on the page — plus it reopened the floodgates of my media consumption!
(I watched, read, and listened to a lot of stuff last month. Head over to my last post to read my thoughts on each.)
So people: keep your eyes and ears open to other people’s art. Sometimes, that art sends you messages about your own stuff, and sometimes you just watched a really cool movie. It helps to stay abreast on what people are putting out. I’ve also found that art like Hacks has made me more willing to make jokes and observations that I otherwise would be too scared to make.
Our bodies crave art, so let it in. You might be surprised by what it gifts you.
Alright, team! That’s it & that’s all. What are the TV shows/movies/music that you’ve been loving lately? What has it taught you about your art?
Till next time!
Love, Peace, & Chicken Grease,
KB
Love this and 100% agree that it's about what you dare to say on the page. I'm currently pushing myself in exactly the same way!
loving your fiction era!