Back to Work

Well, my script didn’t make it to the semi finals.

I was planning on getting back to the second draft of my novel, but there are some more screenwriting contests with deadlines coming up. So I’ve decided to get to work on revising my script.

Revisions are painful - I find - because of all the choices and fear of making the wrong choices. Do I change this, or that? Do I explore this character, or not?

Ok, not the best examples. Basically, a problem I had with the script for a while was the fact that there are two characters that are mentioned quite a bit, but only one of them shows up for a single scene early on in the first act. The other is never seen or heard from. I know, stupid. What was I thinking? So I’m leaning towards some changes that would…well, I guess this is dumb, but I’m gonna switch it up. But right now, it seems like the right move. I’m not just gonna switch those two characters around; I’m changing them so much that, hopefully, the hypothetical audience won’t need to see one since she’s inconsequential to the protagonist at this point in his life.

Another problem I had was I wasn’t sure if it was exciting enough. So I’m faced with the decision of whether or not to make some changes so I can insert some “action” scenes.

Choices. Whatever. Lack of specifics kind of makes this all difficult. I’m too lazy and am still insecure enough to shy away from getting specific. Some blog.

A few days before I got the latest results from the Script Magazine contest, I finished a rough draft of another script. That feels pretty good, even though the script is a mess. Figuratively, and literally; I write long hand so I gotta get it into the computer still. The revisions on that script are going to be extensive, yet not quite as nerve racking since I have no idea if any of it is working. But I have to admit to being indecisive about some routes I took in the story while I was writing it. Yeah, I’m a big wimp.

Been doing research online, for script number three that I hope to start in a month or so. It all depends on how I prioritize all this stuff. I gotta revise the two scripts I already got; the second being the most time consuming. I gotta send out a couple of short stories and get a couple of more into the computer so I can revise and send those out. Then there’s the novel….

I need a vacation, a life and a couple of more days added to the week.

Still digging Dhalgren. After that it’s Survival by Julie E. Czerneda.

I realize that to some, (if anyone is reading this) that the book lists below might seem a bit varied. It’s just what I’m interested in reading. I’m not trying to be showy; “Oh look at me! Look at the different books/authors I read!”. I hate that shit, and detest people who are like that. Hell, the only reason I put the list up on the blog was…well, I wanted to post something…….

It’s 3am, I’m exhausted, and I’m not making much sense. One of these days, I’ll write a post that’s coherent. Which means it’ll be written at a civilized hour.

This post brought to you while enjoying Robert Plant’s “Dreamland”.

The Cloud Atlas

Just finished the Cloud Atlas. Loved it. At times, lyrical and confessional. Both, a coming of age story, and a memoir of a life that felt – to the narrator – twice as long as it was. A spiritual book and yet….not. It was Spiritual in the sense of ones Spirit. What drives us? What makes us who we are? And all the while the characters ask those "Spiritual questions". (Is there a God? What or Whom, do I believe in?)

Don’t misunderstand me. This is no celestine prophecy. The questions the narrator is faced with are brought on by a boys confusion about the world (at war) he’s in, and an old man coming to grips with a buried secret. It didn’t feel like a spiritual book to me. It’s story was more…human.

These are thoughts swirling in my head at three thirty in the morning. I’ve tried to pluck them out and make some sense of them here. I’m probably not doing the book justice. (Now that I think about it, I’m sure that I’m not). Don’t take my word for it. At the very least, check it out at your local bookstore.

And Now…..Dhalgren
This is gonna be a trip. If you thought what I wrote above, about The Cloud Atlas, was confusing - or dumb – just wait till I finish Dhalgren and start going on about it at length here.

Books, Tunes and A Tired Mind

Still reading The Cloud Atlas. Great book. Not the book I thought it would be, story-wise.

Been putting off buying Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson ever since it came out. Not sure why. Finally picked it up today, in hardcover, before those first editions completely disappear. Don’t know when I’m gonna get to it. So I guess another list is called for. Man have I got some catching up to do.

1) Fortress of Solitude – Jonathan Lethem
2) Count Zero – William Gibson
3) As She Climbed Across the Table – Jonathan Lethem
4) Ship of Fools – Richard Paul Russo
5) Quicksilver – Neal Stephenson

Music. I’m outta touch with music, but it seems like the stuff on the radio is crap(mostly). Now that John Frusciante has put out his ‘six albums in six months’, I don’t know what I’m gonna look forward to. A new Three Fish album would be nice. Fiona Apple’s shelved album would be nice. (C’mon Sony, be adventurous!)

Anyhow, I’m beat. Tired, and not feeling very creative. Kinda drained. It was nice to go to the coffee shop and write tonight without, a) freezing my ass off, and b)not having to deal with weirdo’s who talk/laugh with themselves. The current script is coming along, but it’s a mess. I think it’s working ‘structurally’ (I could be wrong – probably am) but thematically….it’s weak. I’m finding that the lack of a precise, focused theme is giving the script it’s ‘messy’ feel. Got ideas on how to fix that, but nothing solid yet. I guess it’s a matter of me spending a night, or preferably an afternoon, thinking about what this thing is really about. (or to sound cliché; to think about what I’m really trying to say).

This post brought to you while revisiting Rain Tree Crow (self titled)