My Writing Playbook: Ellis, Tarantino, and Why I Make It Fun

May 2, 2025 Lehan Edirisinghe

Mapped core influences—Ellis, Tarantino, Mamet, Sandberg—then framed the hook: video-game pacing, black humor, and power narratives I map the ingredients behind my voice and pacing: Bret Easton Ellis, Tarantino, Mamet, and the parts of culture I steal on purpose

The image depicts two men dressed in formal attire, specifically black tuxedos with white shirts and bow ties, pushing carts across a crosswalk. Each cart is covered with a beige cloth and holds silver serving trays, suggesting they are delivering food or drinks. The man on the left has short, light-colored hair and is wearing white gloves, while the man on the right has darker hair styled in a wavy manner and also wears white gloves. Both men appear focused on their task as they navigate the street.

The background features a city street with a mix of vehicles, including a black sedan and a white truck. The setting appears to be an urban area, likely in a high-end shopping district, as indicated by the presence of a store with the name "Bergdorf Goodman" visible on the building in the background. The architecture is characterized by a stone facade and large windows displaying mannequins and clothing, suggesting a luxury retail environment.

The crosswalk is marked with white stripes, and the scene is bathed in daylight, indicating it is likely daytime. The overall atmosphere seems busy, typical of a metropolitan area, with the men actively engaging in their duties amidst the urban hustle. There are no visible signs, logos, or additional text in the image apart from the store name. The focus remains on the two men and their carts as they traverse the street.

Noticing the Bergdorf Goodman Store in the Background

My God, I never saw that Bergdorf Goodman store in the background here

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Listing Writing Influences From American Psycho to Howard Stern

My influences are:

1. Bret Easton Ellis

American Psycho

The dark comedy, is what I love most

The black humor, how disturbing, twisted and evil it is

It just works best

If I was editor, I would cut everything else off

2. Quentin Tarantino

I use that kind of dialogue, or monologue, and it's good for getting people suspended

I feel my take on it, is video game pacing, which is something that keeps audiences hooked and also psychologically comfortable as they have time to rest or slow down

3. Greg ██████

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4. Trump

It's obvious, but my version is fiercely unapologetic, never compromising on Trump's true, authentic super ego

I learned most from Trump, because I weaponized my rhetoric, such as the choice speculation, to criticize and alter perception

5. Lee Kuan Yew

These relate to the political power in my work, it's all got a final goal

What I weaponized most from LKY is crafting "social theories"

In the past, I used Dan Brown conspiracy technique, and also

I dunno

I can't remember

There are too many influences

There is a large, rich literary reference source literature to draw on

Some are harder to see

6. Sheryl Sandberg / Jonathan Hirshon

These are more subtle, but the subtleties are there, it's the empath

The compassion

7. R L Stine / Anne Frank

The page turner power, is insane, it's likely, there is a lot of page counting

Because of how I write in active voice always, in real time, so it just works

What I enjoy most is first person writing

8. David Mamet

I use dramatic writing, which is so good, it's hard to really pick up on it

9. JK Rowling / Pokemon / Lord of the Rings

I plant myself as a hero, on this journey, against adversity, and that conflict hooks

10. Howard Stern

I dunno, it's quite in your face

***

I have to go online soon

I'm working on things

And have a lot of contingencies

The image features a small red airplane flying above a thick layer of white clouds against a bright blue sky. The airplane is seen from a rear angle, showcasing its distinctive red wings and tail. The propeller is visible at the front of the aircraft, and the landing gear consists of two small wheels. The background is predominantly sky blue with a few wispy clouds, creating a serene and expansive atmosphere.

At the bottom of the image, the title "THE RUM DIARY" is prominently displayed in large, bold, white letters. The font is simple and modern, contrasting well with the vibrant colors of the airplane and the sky. The text is centered and spans the width of the image, providing a clear focal point.

There are no visible people, objects, or additional text in the image apart from the airplane and the title. The overall composition conveys a sense of adventure and exploration, typical of aerial imagery. The absence of any logos, trademarks, or identifiable brands beyond the title suggests that this is likely a promotional image for a film or media project. The setting appears to be high in the atmosphere, emphasizing the airplane's flight above the clouds.

Saying Volare

Volare!

The image features a bright red biplane flying at an angle against a cloudy sky. The aircraft has a classic design, characterized by its open cockpit and large wings. The wings are painted in a vibrant red, and the plane appears to be performing an aerial maneuver, possibly a roll or a loop, as it is tilted to one side.

In the foreground, the name "AMBER HEARD" is displayed prominently in a bold, white font. The text is positioned centrally on the right side of the image, contrasting against the background and ensuring visibility. The font style is clean and modern, contributing to the cinematic feel of the scene.

The background consists of a pale blue sky with scattered clouds, providing a soft contrast to the vivid red of the plane. The overall atmosphere suggests a sense of adventure and excitement, typical of aerial scenes in films.

No other objects, people, or identifiable landmarks are present in the image. The focus remains solely on the biplane and the text associated with it. The image does not contain any logos, trademarks, or additional text beyond the name displayed.

Telling Pauline I Am a Good Person

Pauline, I am a good person

I never paid my pr guy

whatever for?

did jesus pay peter??

Finding the Work Boring and Wanting the US Army

I hate this stuff, it's so boring.

Honestly, I just want to do like Hashani and join the US army for fun

It's a lot funner than this

Joking About Playing Games While Sandberg Runs Things

I plan to not do any work as president anyway

We're scheduled to play Helldivers 2 while Sandberg acts as prez and PM

Or Chamath or something

And Halo 3

Imagining a Bigger Halo 3 With NPC Armies

I feel like, they should have done Halo 3, as is, with the Halo Infinite engine or memory processors and stuff

It would have been more fun

And also, go up from 16 or 32 players, to 64 players

And also, I guess

Introduce prize pools

And

We can have npcs, or aliens, grunts, covenant, brutes

Like the League of Legends, the grunts, or the cannons or stuff

Minions

And automatic towers, or stuff, which commanders can control

So we can like

Order our NPCs to help us, and to do stuff

And we can focus on the base element

Where red base and blue base

And we can have more fun with it

All of that unused computing power?

Perfect!

Bungie was so great, they ruined it, at Microsoft, completely

They shouldn't have gone 343 Industries

I also worshipped the music in Halo 3

They shouldn't have fired those composers

The TV show sucked

I don't want to talk about that

I love video games

We're going to do a paintball week

That's how my conscription program in SL will decide elo based ranks and allow in officers or something

And we're doing Levels 1 to 100 because I don't remember and can't (not for a lack of trying) remember army officer and soldier rankings

Hashani is a Captain btw in US Army

***

We should have, figured out a way, where we can command the Scarab (a big Covenant Super Tank), or Scorpions (Tanks) or even flying Banshees (Alien fighter jet) and a swarm of Flood or Forerunner Monitors or Drones

To be summoned, or Hunters (like COD Juggs) and Jackals (Sniper elites), with different ranges of ability, so Easy, Normal, Hardcore and Legendary

So they fight alongside us, and we can direct them

That'd been more fun

Aston Martins, Tesla Engines and Why Halo 3 Was Fun

See, if I buy an Aston Martin, I'm not purchasing a newer one

Never

I'll always buy a James Bond Dr No, DB5 or 6 or something

BUT

It sucks

Without, the gadgets, the whatever inside

We can just take a top of the line electric Tesla engine plus battery

And then use that inside the exterior DB5

This will look good, and run super fast too

***

In same way, just use Halo 3, where the game is fair

Like chess, or League of Legends (somewhat fair, some champions are unbalanced, and have advantage)

And then, add NPCs to control, instead of micro transactions lol

I hate Fortnite, I never play it.

I won once, by luck

But it sucks

I also never play LOL, as there is a toxic environment there

I always played ADC, or team captain

But I hated it

I love Halo 3

FPS

I love how we're all starting fair, equal

And it's about coordination and having fun

What Bungie did so CORRECT was they made a game that was FUN to play

And IS fun to play

Not just free to play, but FUN to play

And I have played 100s of hours of Halo with friends

Those were the glory days for Microsoft

They were cooler than Apple, because even now, Apple fails face first in video gaming, they suck even still

But Microsoft crashed in that domain, with the younger gen, when they held a monopoly on gaming over Apple

I shifted to Apple later, and now use it

I don't play video games, but as president, we will

It's a lot of fun

Hell Divers 2, is -- it sucks now too, ██████████████████████, the gameplay sucks, absurdly, it just sucks

They should have let us control the non playable characters, or soldiers in Halo 3, and give them directions and to choose weapons and maybe introduce currency and mining resources or so, like tiberium maybe, or just points, based on time, or handicap in exchange for elo

So if you are a low ranking team, you get more points, than the higher ranking team, to commit, or make it more fun to see if you can still win, with better weapons or vehicles or even troops