Interviewer: “That Moment You Realize” is somehow both boring on the one hand and hilarious on the other. Your assigned emotions, ‘boredom’ and ‘tension’, are at odds with each other; if Victor felt too much tension, he wouldn’t feel so bored after quitting his job as a meme generator. How did you maintain tension without veering into “too exciting”? Furthermore, how did you maintain audience interest while writing about a man who is bored?
David Hammond: When I sat down to write this story, I thought I had made a horrible mistake. What kind of idiot volunteers to write a story about boredom? The last thing I wanted to do was write a boring story. As I scraped together the elements of the story — a guy quitting his job and finding himself at loose ends — I decided to concentrate on that brand of boredom that comes after a period of thoughtless activity, when one is forced to pause and think about what one can possibly do next. It seemed to combine elements of both boredom and tension. You could argue that it wasn’t boredom at all, but something on the verge of boredom. In any case, once I get going on a story, it’s like being dropped in the middle of a labyrinth, and I have no choice but to follow Ariadne’s thread to find my way out. So I did what comes naturally to me — I went for a walk. Every walk is a tug-o-war between discovery and boredom, and so I trusted in that and just tried to have as much fun as I could along the way.
Interviewer: Which other emotion would you attribute to your story, if it wasn’t your own theme?
David Hammond: It touches on curiosity, dislike, disgust, and fun, to name a few.
Interviewer: After finishing your story, what was the single most valuable take-away from the experience?
David Hammond: This was a hard story to write, but I’m actually pleased with how it turned out. I’ve experienced this before, but it was a confirmation that as long as I pay attention and write from a standpoint of honesty, good things, or at least interesting things, can result.
Interviewer: Given that this is a “score” anthology, what representative piece of music would you connect to “That Moment You Realize”?
David Hammond: The first thing that comes to mind is “Jazz From Hell” by Frank Zappa.
Visit David Hammond at his author website.
Buy the Score anthology, which includes David Hammond’s story “That Moment You Realize”, focused on Boredom and Tension.
