The Agony Of Writing - Part II : Rewrite (part 1)

Rewrite.

I think obsession is an important quality to have when it comes time to rewrite. But you also have to know when to turn the obsession off and move on.... If you find a script is laughing at you, I tend to throw it in the corner of the room for a while, to laugh silently at me, until I can work out how to fix the darned thing.

Frustration can be a part of the rewrite process too, it usually means I've missed something really basic - like an aspect of character. Which tends to reveal flaws within my own character.... Oh joy! Isn't the writing process fun! Self-discovery: AARGH! ;)

Stamina is another important quality to have, I'm finding out more about mine all the time. Sticktoitivity is my other word for it. ;) Bums on seats. Get typing! Get it done! ... ... I bought a fridge magnet last year: "The lift to success is broken please use the stairs." - a useful reminder that writing is not a 'get rich quick' scheme, no matter how much you want it to be.*

Plenty of other writers, better than I, have covered Rewrite on their blogs and websites. ... And I'm sure I shall write more on the subject in the future, which is why I have called this part 1.

But right now I'm procrastinating when I'm supposed to be writing (amongst other things)... so, as I said in the previous post, I'd better get on with it!

*NB: I don't write because I want to get rich. I write because I NEED to write. If that should happen to lead to a career that actually pays enough money to live on, that would be a spectacular bonus. But it's not my primary driver.

UK Film Council to be axed

UK Film Council is falling under the axe? This is a huge mistake, surely? They are killing off one branch of an industry that stands a chance of getting us through the financial mess we are in by creating investment and, theoretically, profit.

If Tim Bevan thinks it's a bad idea, that's pretty much good enough for me. I suggest that Working Title have their finger on the pulse, so if he ain't happy....

Well anyway, what ever you reckon, in my book it's a bad move.

When they could save 2 billion (yeah, count those zeros) in the NHS per year, every year, by scrapping the Anti-cholesterol campaign - run by a bunch of nutters with no evidence but a theory they think sounds good? [Lower your cholesterol and the evidence suggests that you are wiping out one of your body's main defense systems and raising your chances of death, from all causes!] Well IMO, the powers that be are nuts for backing such madness.

Want to know more? Read: the Great Cholesterol Con, the truth about what really causes heart disease and how to avoid it by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, ISBN: 978-1-84454-610-7.

Or you could read the books on the subject by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov.

Or if you prefer a layman's take, you could read the works of Barry Groves - although you may find his Trick And Treat, Why Healthy Eating Is Making Us Ill a little too full of scientific references and studies, and disturbing information to be the easiest read in the world, Natural Heath and Weight Loss is a much easier ride.

Personally if you like a dark, mildly sick sense of humour with your science, Dr Kendrick's book is very accessible to the layman, and has a tonne of medical facts and references. This dude knows his stuff. Check it out.

Seriously!

We're are all being taken for a huge ride by big industry, who want to sell more statins - You think you suffer from paranoid conspiracy theories, check out the way these guys operate - It ain't paranoia, and it ain't a theory. They are the dudes that fund the flawed studies by organisations like WHO (not the band), that the government take their expert advice from. !? W.T.F.!!!

Sorry. Platform. GRRRRRRRRRR!!! Anyhow, read the books. Check out http://thincs.org/

I'm off to grind my teeth.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!


...............
EDIT: 27 Feb 2011
The need to rant some more has raised it's ugly head again, so, just to add to the who cholesterol debate - for passers by who may want to know:

The mortality tables show that low cholesterol is linked to a higher death rate from all causes.
You might want to think about that before tucking into your cholesterol lowering death-spread?

Sherlock

Bit like Doctor Who, but different. ?
I really enjoyed it. Gold stars to all involved. :) MORE, PLEASE?

And we were all thinking, "What you do not smell is called iocane powder. It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the more deadlier poisons known to man...."

And the best thing is, we'll never know! (Unless they reveal it next time? I hope not.)

*evil laughter*

What? It's waaay passed my bedtime.

I'm busy doing nothing....

Jason has a great post on THINKING. Which I discovered just now while I was procrastinating as I tried to avoid that very subject - or even as I was immersing myself in it. Not sure which. They tend to be the same thing with me.
You divide your brain up into parts and trick the smallest part into thinking it is actively engaged in something, while the rest of it mulls over stuff. And then suddenly the main part of the brain derails the smaller part, and you put down whatever crap you were distracting yourself with and THE WRITING starts to flow ... At the start of a project this is ideas and inspirations (which I have to write down quick before they vanish); and then later in the project the sieving, refining, focusing, initial plotting; then later again reworking, recombining, replotting, deleting, refocusing, and finally; I start the typing/scribbling part of the process, during which I usually go through all the previous stages several times AGAIN!
Which maybe is why it can take me FOREVER to actually complete a story*.
However when the characters start talking to you it can really speed all of this up, because you already have a 'lock' on the story, whether you realize it consciously or not.
*Or sometimes less than two months (for a two hour feature), start to finish, when the writing really takes over and your active brain has vanished into the mist of creation. And the majority of that two months is thinking time.
Hmmm.

And now I must go write.

Sad bast*rd.

I'm talking about me.

How many years has it been since I first saw the Welsh Whore and fell head-over-heels at first sight? Longer than I like to admit, 1994 ... when was that? Been a while.

And I haven't clapped eyes on him since 1998.

And now, I hear he's out and about again - - and my obession has switched itself from dull glow to fire on the hearth. Luckily it's not back up to full roar, but I guess that's only a matter of seeing his ugly mug again.

*SIGH*

Bollocks. I'm supposed to be writing and recouperating, not pining for someone I can never have. GRRR!!!

'Scuse my language, but FUCK!



What else has happened this month?

Oh yes, Producer No#1 is making encouraging noises about The Grim (A.K.A. The Legend of the Beast) again. :)

So, in the last few weeks:
* 2 books (full swing),
* the American Collaboration Rewrite (full swing),
* The Grim (peering at me from the darkest jungle),
* and the Welsh Whore is hogging all my thoughts.

I have to concentrate on writing.
Someone send me an "anti-love potion"? Please?

[UPDATE 21st November 2009: Thank you for the anti-love potion. :) Greatly appreciated!] *evil laughter*