It's been more than a while. So what's been going on?
I had to investigate the mysteries of publishing, and have re-released / republished (?) my books.
I have moved house...to a new-build with no cupboards or shelves, and have spent the last two years trying to get that sorted out - with zero funds. Much fun!
Various family problems have been raising their heads, including the death of my step mother last year, and ongoing health problems for several other members of my family - which I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment.
Also my MS has been playing up ... but I am fighting back! My diet had been slipping, however this can not go on. So, it has to be zero dairy, zero gluten, close to zero sugar, and avoid all the rest of the myriad things which my body reacts to, from now on.
I've managed to get most things in my life back under control, and am in the process of getting all the lumps and bumps ironed out. What fun! ... Yes, these last two years have been a challenge, but 2018 has started well and looks set to improve further. YAY!
Have I mentioned the cat that moved in with me many years ago? Pushca, short for Pushy Cat. Apparently her real name is Squeaky. ... I can see why her original owners called her that, she does squeak. LOL. She's a black and white tiger-stripe (one of them) bundle of purrs and love. And she's very, very cute.
Pleasant discoveries on the DVD front: Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Halt And Catch Fire, amongst many others. There have been some great films out as well. I'll try to remember and update my favourites later on when I have some spare time.
Well, it's February 2018 now. How did that happen? I only blinked.
Breakfast and my first cup of tea for the day are calling. Bye for now.
Friday, 2 February 2018
Friday, 25 September 2015
A book to vote for.
My friend Serena Cairns has written a wonderful book called Father of Lies.
If you like a little theological mystery with your paranoid conspiracy theories, you may be interested in reading it?
Lionel Fanthorpe said the story was "A thought-provoking narrative, superbly written, tense and challenging."
Please vote for it in The Book Awards.
thebookawards - Father of Lies
If you like a little theological mystery with your paranoid conspiracy theories, you may be interested in reading it?
Lionel Fanthorpe said the story was "A thought-provoking narrative, superbly written, tense and challenging."
Please vote for it in The Book Awards.
thebookawards - Father of Lies
Sunday, 21 June 2015
This is what fracking looks like:
"It destroyed our lives. It destroyed our communities."
If you've ever wondered what happens when our politicians say yes to dirty energy, here's your answer:
Posted by 38 Degrees on Friday, June 19, 2015
Saturday, 8 November 2014
It's a sad day. Authors Online: R.I.P. - 7th November 2014.
Authors Online have succumbed to Create Space's market killing promises of free publishing for novelists.
If you are based in the United States, or if you wish to indulge in a vanity press publication for you, your friends and your family, what more could you want? Excellent service.
Indeed, the book of short stories I was lucky enough to be involved with, Between Stops, was published via Create Space, and an excellent book it is too! Very happy with the service, for the most part.
[Potential IRS tax issues, as with Kindle, but that's a whole nother ball game, which you can have fun with yourselves.]
What Create Space doesn't mention, is the fact that they appear to be utterly uninterested in linking up with UK wholesalers; and, in turn, UK wholesalers are wary of taking books from them without a guarantee of quality. The result of these two things being that UK bookshops are unable to stock your Create Space published novels.
Create Space have confirmed it is okay to set yourself up as the UK distributor - but that kind of defeats the whole 'I'm a writer living in a cave' scenario. Let's face it, I'm anti-social and lazy, and unwilling to lug my wares all over the country in the vain hope of maybe selling something. But maybe you're up for it?
The key thing to note, is that it is doable, if you have the time and the inclination. ... Good luck!
Instead of doing that, I have updated my book links, and am now trying to work out the ins and outs of Ingram Spark - Lightning Source's publishing arm.
Luckily, Authors Online, the wonderful people that they are / were(?) - even beyond the grave - have been chatting to Ingram Spark, and they should be able to facilitate authors who have registered with Ingram Spark in moving their books across. Apparently with no need to change the ISBN's, they say.
There's probably much more the author will need to do, but I'm still investigating.
If you are one of us several thousand authors affected, there is only a short time window - two weeks - while Authors Online are still going through their death throes and cleaning up the blood and guts, as they fall into their grave. Organised and tidy people that they are.
I will miss them. They made life easy.
The mysteries of cover design and art / artists and colour saturation, and margin width and necessary number of pages to fill the required book width, etc., etc., were all things I'd never even considered before attempting self-publishing. I may have developed vague inklings about the need for them in the last several years, but now I will actually need to know about and understand them.
Still, life is all about learning new things every day. It's interesting.
And complex.
And stressful.
And, ultimately, rewarding and fun.
So while I cry a tear for Authors Online, and thank them for their invaluable help, it is now time for me to take a further step into the dark at the back of the cave. ... I just hope there aren't too many balrogs and other things back there, waiting in the blackness of the unknown.
If you are based in the United States, or if you wish to indulge in a vanity press publication for you, your friends and your family, what more could you want? Excellent service.
Indeed, the book of short stories I was lucky enough to be involved with, Between Stops, was published via Create Space, and an excellent book it is too! Very happy with the service, for the most part.
[Potential IRS tax issues, as with Kindle, but that's a whole nother ball game, which you can have fun with yourselves.]
What Create Space doesn't mention, is the fact that they appear to be utterly uninterested in linking up with UK wholesalers; and, in turn, UK wholesalers are wary of taking books from them without a guarantee of quality. The result of these two things being that UK bookshops are unable to stock your Create Space published novels.
Create Space have confirmed it is okay to set yourself up as the UK distributor - but that kind of defeats the whole 'I'm a writer living in a cave' scenario. Let's face it, I'm anti-social and lazy, and unwilling to lug my wares all over the country in the vain hope of maybe selling something. But maybe you're up for it?
The key thing to note, is that it is doable, if you have the time and the inclination. ... Good luck!
Instead of doing that, I have updated my book links, and am now trying to work out the ins and outs of Ingram Spark - Lightning Source's publishing arm.
Luckily, Authors Online, the wonderful people that they are / were(?) - even beyond the grave - have been chatting to Ingram Spark, and they should be able to facilitate authors who have registered with Ingram Spark in moving their books across. Apparently with no need to change the ISBN's, they say.
There's probably much more the author will need to do, but I'm still investigating.
If you are one of us several thousand authors affected, there is only a short time window - two weeks - while Authors Online are still going through their death throes and cleaning up the blood and guts, as they fall into their grave. Organised and tidy people that they are.
I will miss them. They made life easy.
The mysteries of cover design and art / artists and colour saturation, and margin width and necessary number of pages to fill the required book width, etc., etc., were all things I'd never even considered before attempting self-publishing. I may have developed vague inklings about the need for them in the last several years, but now I will actually need to know about and understand them.
Still, life is all about learning new things every day. It's interesting.
And complex.
And stressful.
And, ultimately, rewarding and fun.
So while I cry a tear for Authors Online, and thank them for their invaluable help, it is now time for me to take a further step into the dark at the back of the cave. ... I just hope there aren't too many balrogs and other things back there, waiting in the blackness of the unknown.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Loncon 3 - ticket for sale £95 ono
I was planning to attend the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention Loncon3 which runs from the 14th to 18th of August, but events have conspired, and I am unable to attend.
If anyone needs a ticket, please get in touch. Normal price for the week is £125, but I am happy to sell for the early-bird rate I paid of £95. A massive saving of £30.
email me, or message me on Facebook?
If anyone needs a ticket, please get in touch. Normal price for the week is £125, but I am happy to sell for the early-bird rate I paid of £95. A massive saving of £30.
email me, or message me on Facebook?
Between Stops - an anthology of short stories
At last! Something to post about that's newsworthy.
A group of us in East Devon have been scribbling away, and eventually came up with a collection of short stories. The five talented authors involved are Serena Cairns, Simon Cornish, Alastair Keen, Viv Laine and... Eleanor Piper - i.e. ME!
But we needed a cover. Luckily Simon is a dab hand with creating covers, so that solved one problem.
Simon also enjoys editing - and proofing was a joint female task. (Usually over coffee and yummy snacks; very enjoyable, despite the occasional "D'oh!" accompanied-by-facepalm and having to reach for a red pen.)
The end result is pretty darned good, even if I do say so myself! ;)
"Between Stops
A collection of short stories for life's travellers. Why not join us on your journey and enter the world Between Stops?"
Available on Amazon.co.uk
(A Kindle version should be available in due course)
You can also take a look at some pictures and quotes from a few of the stories on Pinterest. These will be added to over time. Between Stops
There is also a Facebook page for Between Stops
A group of us in East Devon have been scribbling away, and eventually came up with a collection of short stories. The five talented authors involved are Serena Cairns, Simon Cornish, Alastair Keen, Viv Laine and... Eleanor Piper - i.e. ME!
But we needed a cover. Luckily Simon is a dab hand with creating covers, so that solved one problem.
Simon also enjoys editing - and proofing was a joint female task. (Usually over coffee and yummy snacks; very enjoyable, despite the occasional "D'oh!" accompanied-by-facepalm and having to reach for a red pen.)
The end result is pretty darned good, even if I do say so myself! ;)
"Between Stops
A collection of short stories for life's travellers. Why not join us on your journey and enter the world Between Stops?"
Available on Amazon.co.uk
(A Kindle version should be available in due course)
You can also take a look at some pictures and quotes from a few of the stories on Pinterest. These will be added to over time. Between Stops
There is also a Facebook page for Between Stops
Friday, 3 January 2014
Happy New Year... Already? Where does the time go?
I seem to have accidentally slipped into a sidestream of the timeline, and have spent my whole time editing, writing ... and also either procrastinating or doing research - whichever term you feel happier with.
I've joined a writers' group a while back, which for once is compatible and actually works for me - which is nice. They want the same sort of things I do, and we all bring our own unique take and strengths to the table. :) Lovely stuff.
As a result we are bringing out a book of short stories, which I will tell you more about nearer the time. We are now ready to finalise the number of tales and the story order. It's very exciting.
In addition to working on this, I've been reading up on grammar and punctuation (which I was never 100% utterly amazing at, just fairly good and very patient at combing through things, plus the rules keep effing changing!), and I've been helping to edit both other people's work (the mad fools) and my own. I've even managed a bit of writing. Woo hoo!
A newly proofed version of The Grim will be out later this year - hopefully with fewer gaffs and punctuation errors.
The MS has tried to rear its ugly head a few times, but so far I've managed to bash it back down and get it mostly under control - although the exhaustion is something I'm having to learn to work around.
And I've been adoped by a stray cat. She's a black and white lovely, very demanding, but a purrfect companion in many respects. She replaces my Monster, who was killed in a hit & run nearly two years ago. He and the other ghost cats come and visit regularly, and Pushca (not Russian, its short for Pushy Cat) doesn't seem to mind. Although she does stare at Dereck when he visits.
So what else has been going on?
I loved The Hobbit, and The Desolation of Smaug. Also the new series of Sherlock looks like it's going to be fun. The 50 year anniversary of Doctor Who was great. A little disappointed by the change over episode - in the past they have always been hair-raising stuff. This time it seemed to be more of a by-the-numbers, not-really-trying to worry about the cliff-hanger factor, adrenaline-free afair ... or maybe I'm just getting really jaded in my old age. Having said that some of the episodes have been brilliant.
I enjoyed Vicious. And there have been quite a few comedy and police/crime things on that have been great... titles escape me for the moment. I shall blame my MS and the tiredness factor, which is currently kicking in, for the memory lapse. There have been a lot of good films. Again, the titles elude me at present.
And many other things I've enjoyed too, but I have to go and lie down in a darkened corner for a bit and recoup my energy and get my brain working again. Sorry. Please bear with me.
Have a great 2014, I know I will.
I've joined a writers' group a while back, which for once is compatible and actually works for me - which is nice. They want the same sort of things I do, and we all bring our own unique take and strengths to the table. :) Lovely stuff.
As a result we are bringing out a book of short stories, which I will tell you more about nearer the time. We are now ready to finalise the number of tales and the story order. It's very exciting.
In addition to working on this, I've been reading up on grammar and punctuation (which I was never 100% utterly amazing at, just fairly good and very patient at combing through things, plus the rules keep effing changing!), and I've been helping to edit both other people's work (the mad fools) and my own. I've even managed a bit of writing. Woo hoo!
A newly proofed version of The Grim will be out later this year - hopefully with fewer gaffs and punctuation errors.
The MS has tried to rear its ugly head a few times, but so far I've managed to bash it back down and get it mostly under control - although the exhaustion is something I'm having to learn to work around.
And I've been adoped by a stray cat. She's a black and white lovely, very demanding, but a purrfect companion in many respects. She replaces my Monster, who was killed in a hit & run nearly two years ago. He and the other ghost cats come and visit regularly, and Pushca (not Russian, its short for Pushy Cat) doesn't seem to mind. Although she does stare at Dereck when he visits.
So what else has been going on?
I loved The Hobbit, and The Desolation of Smaug. Also the new series of Sherlock looks like it's going to be fun. The 50 year anniversary of Doctor Who was great. A little disappointed by the change over episode - in the past they have always been hair-raising stuff. This time it seemed to be more of a by-the-numbers, not-really-trying to worry about the cliff-hanger factor, adrenaline-free afair ... or maybe I'm just getting really jaded in my old age. Having said that some of the episodes have been brilliant.
I enjoyed Vicious. And there have been quite a few comedy and police/crime things on that have been great... titles escape me for the moment. I shall blame my MS and the tiredness factor, which is currently kicking in, for the memory lapse. There have been a lot of good films. Again, the titles elude me at present.
And many other things I've enjoyed too, but I have to go and lie down in a darkened corner for a bit and recoup my energy and get my brain working again. Sorry. Please bear with me.
Have a great 2014, I know I will.
Friday, 29 March 2013
How long?!
It's been a while since I posted last. Didn't realise it had been quite that long. I've been busy, busy! ... mostly dealing with bullsh*t, stress, and trying to keep my head above water - oh, yes. Nearly forgot, I've also been writing! Hoorah!
For any writers who happen to have to take MS drugs, one of the side effects I've noticed (aside from my body refusing to let me take any of them) is that they kill the creative part of the brain - including dreaming! So that's not acceptable. Maybe you'll be different? I hope so.
Well, finally ditched the latest drug... And several months later dreaming and creativity are back! Yay! (I'm now thinking the drug approach for MS is probably not for me ... until they come up with something a heck of a lot better.) Oddly enough, the editing part of the brain seems to survive unscathed. So Swank, Jelinek, Graham, Wahls, etc and the diet approach appears to be my main / only option for controlling MS. *sigh* Ah, well. Such is life.
So, writing... yay! I've been having fun on several different projects. And I'm investigating the possibilty of another novel. So, lots to do!
It may be a while before I get around to posting again, so I apologise in advance. In the meantime, Ripper Street. I enjoyed that.
And I spent some money on Person Of Interest - it's much better without the advert breaks, when you can watch the episodes back-to-back. ... And the villain of the series? Hooray! I'll shut up, that episode hasn't aired yet. Looking forward to the next series.
I've also been getting my Vampire research flowing, with Forever Knight and Bloodties. Both Canadian, both well worth watching if you've not already seen them. Forever Knight takes most of the first series to find its stride, but after that... *smile*
Anyhoo, ... I'd better get back to writing.
(If you're that way inclined:) Have fun with the death cult resurrection celebration! - Any excuse for chocolate, eh?
For any writers who happen to have to take MS drugs, one of the side effects I've noticed (aside from my body refusing to let me take any of them) is that they kill the creative part of the brain - including dreaming! So that's not acceptable. Maybe you'll be different? I hope so.
Well, finally ditched the latest drug... And several months later dreaming and creativity are back! Yay! (I'm now thinking the drug approach for MS is probably not for me ... until they come up with something a heck of a lot better.) Oddly enough, the editing part of the brain seems to survive unscathed. So Swank, Jelinek, Graham, Wahls, etc and the diet approach appears to be my main / only option for controlling MS. *sigh* Ah, well. Such is life.
So, writing... yay! I've been having fun on several different projects. And I'm investigating the possibilty of another novel. So, lots to do!
It may be a while before I get around to posting again, so I apologise in advance. In the meantime, Ripper Street. I enjoyed that.
And I spent some money on Person Of Interest - it's much better without the advert breaks, when you can watch the episodes back-to-back. ... And the villain of the series? Hooray! I'll shut up, that episode hasn't aired yet. Looking forward to the next series.
I've also been getting my Vampire research flowing, with Forever Knight and Bloodties. Both Canadian, both well worth watching if you've not already seen them. Forever Knight takes most of the first series to find its stride, but after that... *smile*
Anyhoo, ... I'd better get back to writing.
(If you're that way inclined:) Have fun with the death cult resurrection celebration! - Any excuse for chocolate, eh?
Monday, 29 October 2012
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Writing style...?
A chap I know, friend-of-a-friend, kindly agreed to read The Grim give me some feedback and possibly a review. Which is very nice of him. I greatly appreciate it.
But as we talked he mentioned that my writing style is very different from the writing style I use in this blog.
Hmm. Is it?
Actually that's not the question I asked myself. I was confused...
The question I asked myself was, 'Why would he think that they would be the same?'
The style I use when writing this blog is different to the style I use when writing a film script, and different again from the various ones I use when writing fiction, and different again from the style used when making notes, writing a letter to a friend, writing a letter to a corporation, etc, etc. ... There are going to be aspects in common, but doesn't everyone adopt a different writing style for the specific task they are engaged in?
The syle I use when blogging is, I hope, engaging - and I speak as though chatting to a friend on the internet. (?) Informal. Just a chin-wag, a bit of a natter. ... The mad ramblings of an insane mind!!!
You know the drill, surely?
Anyhow, I'm supposed to be writing, and instead, here I am procrastinating. *sigh*
I'd better get back to it.
But as we talked he mentioned that my writing style is very different from the writing style I use in this blog.
Hmm. Is it?
Actually that's not the question I asked myself. I was confused...
The question I asked myself was, 'Why would he think that they would be the same?'
The style I use when writing this blog is different to the style I use when writing a film script, and different again from the various ones I use when writing fiction, and different again from the style used when making notes, writing a letter to a friend, writing a letter to a corporation, etc, etc. ... There are going to be aspects in common, but doesn't everyone adopt a different writing style for the specific task they are engaged in?
The syle I use when blogging is, I hope, engaging - and I speak as though chatting to a friend on the internet. (?) Informal. Just a chin-wag, a bit of a natter. ... The mad ramblings of an insane mind!!!
You know the drill, surely?
Anyhow, I'm supposed to be writing, and instead, here I am procrastinating. *sigh*
I'd better get back to it.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
An annoyingly 'interesting' year so far...
Well, my writing plan was interrupted slightly - okay, that's an understatement. It was interrupted a lot.
A brief recap of the year so far:
January 2012 - The MS tried to inflict another attack on me while everything medical was shut for New Year. Great. Thanks for that. - - The second everything opened again I was obtaining meds ASAP. Got the MS attack under control. Phew!A little later my day job came to the end of its contract and I set about converting The Grim into a novella. (It is currently available on Kindle The Grim - if anyone is interested in posting a review I'm sure a free copy can be located, please email me? The hard copy of the novella should be out in the next few weeks / months? (depending on whether you prefer to buy direct from the publisher, or wait for Amazon to get their act together.) I'll post again, with links, when it is.
[My contact at the self publishing company - Authors Online said that it was not normally something she would read, but she could not put it down! Hooray!]
Towards the end of the month I got to see my MS spcialist again and this time there was enough evidence for a diagnosis. It's official, I have multiple sclerosis - currently of the relapsing / remitting variety.So life had decided to be "interesting" at me. *Gnashing of teeth*
You may remember that I told myself I should have kept my mouth shut.
... Mind you, I suspect I had my first attacks when I was 15, I would joke with my friend that I had "tripped over the wall!" I was walking next too. There was nothing on the floor I could have tripped on, not even a matchstick! But thankfully stayed in remission for many, many years, at least visibly on the surface. Until August 2011, when it mangled me. Grr!
Ah well, such is life... back to writing!
February - the day job asks me to come back earlier than expected for the spring garden season, so I do - part time because the MS has a fatigue element that prevents anything more strenuous. And I write in my spare time, when I am able to; the text is finally done, and I love the artwork! (Thank you, Siobhan)
All I have to do is apply a final set of tweeks and a read-through to make sure everything is in order ... except ...
... 12th March onwards, The MS meds they have put me on have side effects, as they all do, but because I'm such a delicate flower - - STOP COUGHING AT THE BACK! - - (my specialist nurse knows of only one other person under her care who has had a similar initial reaction to this particular drug.) one of the many wonderful side effects was to destroy my ability to concentrate; as well as highlight all my symptoms; and ... a lovely one ... to destroy my liver ... !Eek! Better come off that drug then. Grr.
So that's March and 10 days of April lost to side effects.(The hope / my hope was that my body would get used to the drug. But the blood tests I eventually took prooved that wasn't happening, and that it was screwing up my liver enzymes. ARGH!)
Having come off the drugs, the effects have wained, and my liver is finally back to normal - mid to late May.
So now it's time to crack on with the writing, when the MS allows - which is not as frequently as I would like, ... mainly because I am devoting a lot of my time to reading up on MS in order to find out how to nutralize this effing disease, since I am unlikely to be able to use the normal interferon modifiers.
Although there is a new tablet coming out in a few months - fingers crossed it might be more suitable to my 'delicate nature';
But in the mean time, diet seems to be a key factor that I've tripped over in my reading. Although it's blinking strict and will take some getting used to, I also need to finish reading up on it. (I bought several tomes that I've only just started to wade through.)
Then there's the house hunting, and the form filling, and the doctors and nurses appointments. Family and friends.
And of course the actual thing I am supposed to be doing, the writing!
Wish me luck!
A brief recap of the year so far:
January 2012 - The MS tried to inflict another attack on me while everything medical was shut for New Year. Great. Thanks for that. - - The second everything opened again I was obtaining meds ASAP. Got the MS attack under control. Phew!A little later my day job came to the end of its contract and I set about converting The Grim into a novella. (It is currently available on Kindle The Grim - if anyone is interested in posting a review I'm sure a free copy can be located, please email me? The hard copy of the novella should be out in the next few weeks / months? (depending on whether you prefer to buy direct from the publisher, or wait for Amazon to get their act together.) I'll post again, with links, when it is.
[My contact at the self publishing company - Authors Online said that it was not normally something she would read, but she could not put it down! Hooray!]
Towards the end of the month I got to see my MS spcialist again and this time there was enough evidence for a diagnosis. It's official, I have multiple sclerosis - currently of the relapsing / remitting variety.So life had decided to be "interesting" at me. *Gnashing of teeth*
You may remember that I told myself I should have kept my mouth shut.
... Mind you, I suspect I had my first attacks when I was 15, I would joke with my friend that I had "tripped over the wall!" I was walking next too. There was nothing on the floor I could have tripped on, not even a matchstick! But thankfully stayed in remission for many, many years, at least visibly on the surface. Until August 2011, when it mangled me. Grr!
Ah well, such is life... back to writing!
February - the day job asks me to come back earlier than expected for the spring garden season, so I do - part time because the MS has a fatigue element that prevents anything more strenuous. And I write in my spare time, when I am able to; the text is finally done, and I love the artwork! (Thank you, Siobhan)
All I have to do is apply a final set of tweeks and a read-through to make sure everything is in order ... except ...
... 12th March onwards, The MS meds they have put me on have side effects, as they all do, but because I'm such a delicate flower - - STOP COUGHING AT THE BACK! - - (my specialist nurse knows of only one other person under her care who has had a similar initial reaction to this particular drug.) one of the many wonderful side effects was to destroy my ability to concentrate; as well as highlight all my symptoms; and ... a lovely one ... to destroy my liver ... !Eek! Better come off that drug then. Grr.
So that's March and 10 days of April lost to side effects.(The hope / my hope was that my body would get used to the drug. But the blood tests I eventually took prooved that wasn't happening, and that it was screwing up my liver enzymes. ARGH!)
Having come off the drugs, the effects have wained, and my liver is finally back to normal - mid to late May.
So now it's time to crack on with the writing, when the MS allows - which is not as frequently as I would like, ... mainly because I am devoting a lot of my time to reading up on MS in order to find out how to nutralize this effing disease, since I am unlikely to be able to use the normal interferon modifiers.
Although there is a new tablet coming out in a few months - fingers crossed it might be more suitable to my 'delicate nature';
But in the mean time, diet seems to be a key factor that I've tripped over in my reading. Although it's blinking strict and will take some getting used to, I also need to finish reading up on it. (I bought several tomes that I've only just started to wade through.)
Then there's the house hunting, and the form filling, and the doctors and nurses appointments. Family and friends.
And of course the actual thing I am supposed to be doing, the writing!
Wish me luck!
Sunday, 1 January 2012
SHERLOCK
I was excited to see that Sherlock is back, for another 3 episodes.
So that's tonight's (this weeks?) TV entertainment taken care of. :) I'm looking forward to it!
UPDATE: Great episode! ... Sadly there were several distractions that pulled me out of the story - - well, they were all the same one: his violin playing. The bowing did not match the music being played - almost all the time!
This is Sherlock Holmes people. The violin is kinda important. The fact that it took me out of the story means it didn't work for me...
Please, Stephen, get Benedict a violin-continuity coach?
So that's tonight's (this weeks?) TV entertainment taken care of. :) I'm looking forward to it!
UPDATE: Great episode! ... Sadly there were several distractions that pulled me out of the story - - well, they were all the same one: his violin playing. The bowing did not match the music being played - almost all the time!
This is Sherlock Holmes people. The violin is kinda important. The fact that it took me out of the story means it didn't work for me...
Please, Stephen, get Benedict a violin-continuity coach?
Saturday, 31 December 2011
To Twit, or not to Twit... Um, most likely 'not'
To end the year (well, nearly... I then wrote an Annual Round Up post on Boxing Day while my sister snored and I wondered how to fill up the time from ungodly o'clock to a slightly more reasonable time of the morning - - like noon!*) ... sorry, interrupted myself a bit there. *rolls eyes* I'll start again:
To end the year, I joined Twitter.
Not because I wanted to, but because I had a terror of waking up one day in January, like Phill to discover that I am not me! At least not on Twitter at any rate. So I took preemptive action and opened an account.
Kind of pointless really. ... I already twitter on about this and that in real life, and most people sensibly don't listen. And anyone who meets me for more than a few seconds can rapidly, easily, and accurately arrive at the conclusion that I am a bit of a twit. They're right. I am.
So, you should be aware, that I am extremely unlikely to tweet very much. If at all.
Sorry.
But if you haven't already decided to follow** a mostly unused account, then this is me: Eleanor
*And of course there's this post.... Hmm.
**you mad, flattering (fluttering?) fools!
I guess I'd better go and say, Hello???
...
Okay. Been there. Done that. Now, back to writing! (okay, maybe not quite writing, but I am doing research. Alright, stop pressuring me! The truth is, I'm watching Xena episodes on DVD. What? It might count as research? ... They tell some good stories, and it shows action scenes, er, in action. ... It was a Christmas present to myself, okay?. Move along now, nothing to see.)
To end the year, I joined Twitter.
Not because I wanted to, but because I had a terror of waking up one day in January, like Phill to discover that I am not me! At least not on Twitter at any rate. So I took preemptive action and opened an account.
Kind of pointless really. ... I already twitter on about this and that in real life, and most people sensibly don't listen. And anyone who meets me for more than a few seconds can rapidly, easily, and accurately arrive at the conclusion that I am a bit of a twit. They're right. I am.
So, you should be aware, that I am extremely unlikely to tweet very much. If at all.
Sorry.
But if you haven't already decided to follow** a mostly unused account, then this is me: Eleanor
*And of course there's this post.... Hmm.
**you mad, flattering (fluttering?) fools!
I guess I'd better go and say, Hello???
...
Okay. Been there. Done that. Now, back to writing! (okay, maybe not quite writing, but I am doing research. Alright, stop pressuring me! The truth is, I'm watching Xena episodes on DVD. What? It might count as research? ... They tell some good stories, and it shows action scenes, er, in action. ... It was a Christmas present to myself, okay?. Move along now, nothing to see.)
Monday, 26 December 2011
End of year update
What happened to me this year, you ask? Except you probably didn't. But you're here, so I'm going to do my best to remember, and tell you anyway.
It's a little difficult, as my memory sucks at the best of times, and my computer committed suicide in late September taking most of the useful links and information I had stored with it. - - Thank goodness for external back up drives! So at least I managed to keep the majority of my writing and important documentation safe. Phew! (Heck, I print out the important stuff as soon as I get it. Well, you have to don't you. That's what filing cabinets and recordable CDs are for.)
The highlights as I remember them were:
January - rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.
February get manipulated / bullied into eventually signing (in March) a contract with Paul Dawson, who then proceeded to try to screw over me and the other three people who were intent on making the film trilogy we were talking about. ... Managed to get a day job which lasted all of 5 days - thanks for that. Cheap labour required. I made the mistake of trying to be helpful, since they had me updating their company letterhead with their new version, of pointing out on my first day that they needed to quote their company number and registered address on it in order to comply with Limited Company status regulations. Next thing you know all my office admin training (specific to them) was over and I spent the next 4 days sweeping the floors and tidying the yard. Crap company all over. Sod 'em.
March - finally twigged what was going on with PDs attempted screw job and spent the next several weeks trying to get him to return full rights to me as he had confirmed he had no intention of making the film, so that myself and the other three could get on with trying to find a producer who actually knows the job and go about raising funding. Had to get the union involved before he eventually caved and finally did the decent thing.
April - all rights eventually returned to me. Thank f**k. ... lesson learned: Never sign anything without a solicitor involved, no matter how tempting, or how pressurised the 'it's only an agreement at this stage' may turn out to be. In my opinion, if he wasn't so blinded by the bright lights of Hollywood, he would make an excellent conman, he already has all the tactics and the gift-of-the-gab skills required for such a nefarious trade. ... Landed another day job working in an excellent garden centre, with excellent people, and plenty of green growing things to look at (which is one of the requirements of my cave-dwelling lifestyle) and learn about while I sell them to the general public. Lovely people.
May - rewrite, research then adjust accordingly and rewrite, speak with director, rewrite,
June - rewrite again, tweak, director's notes, rewrite.
July - Day job contract ends, they tell me to reapply at the end of August for the Christmas contract. Very happy. ... Rewrite, director's notes, rewrite. It's getting there! Hoorah! ... get a day job working in sales - - given lurgy by the boss at the interview near the end of the month. Thanks for that.
August - work through the lurgy, even though all I want to do is curl up and die. Boss then gives all of us another variation on the lurgy-- Which in my case attacks my brain, and -- in the same day that he tells me I'm not aggressive enough for sales, I realise I can't see properly out of one of my eyes, and my balance that has been getting progressively worse over the previous four days sends my foot coordination and spacial awareness to hell in a handcart. So, spent mid August in hospital A&E being poked and prodded and MRI'd, followed by spending the night for observation, knowing that when I get out I have to find a new job as soon as I can function again. Deep joy. On a massive dose of steroids to bring down the brain inflammation so that my own white cells will stop trying to kill me! It worked and stopped the symptoms from getting any worse. Phew! ... Contacted the garden centre, they were very pleased to hear from me and told me to fill in the application form they are posting.
September - Still can't balance properly, still only partial vision in the affected eye. ... Working at the main tills in the garden centre (rather than the plant centre tills which I prefer) as the mad dash to Christmas gradually ramps up, and shoppers start the whole shop-til-you-drop insanity.
October - Manning the tills full-time ... oh, and I've got to get some paperwork ready for the Trilogy plan for the second and third scripts so the director can take them to the American Film Market in November, if he's able to raise enough funding for the trip. - - Eek! Quickly reverse engineer a treatment for the first film, and then spend all my spare time getting the plot, character arcs, new villains and old villains worked out and then written up into treatments for the second and third films. Director seems pleased with the results.
November - Director decides not to go to the AFM after all, but take them to the Berlin festival in February (which will probably be a better fit?) ... So I breath a silent sigh of relief and collapse in a heap and try to recover from this dratted brain malarkey in my spare time away from the day job.
December - still dealing with shop-til-you-drop insanity in the day job, and coming up to Christmas am just about feeling the effects of needing to write or go nuts. Begin to plan my next writing projects - but family and Christmas prevent me from doing anything much beyond mental planning and some research. Realise I haven't been reading the blogs or keeping up to date with what's what since I got the brain thing in mid August. Bum!
Oh yeah - my car committed suicide in August just after my brain did, and my computer committed suicide in late September. Got it up and limping again by early October. Not properly fixed until mid November - when I finally had time to devote to all the updates, and programs, email etc, that I need on it. Er, and my Neurology Consultant thinks I probably have MS, but more tests are needed. Apparently living in the Wild West and having a Scandinavian Grandmother may both be a risk factors; on the plus side: eye involvement, being female, and being relatively young are all positive factors. But then they don't really know anything about MS. We'll find out more about that next year.
Blinking heck! This has been an overly interesting year. (on the plus side, lots of great experiences and perspectives for story) ... And I haven't even mentioned all the family trauma and bollocks that I've had to work through all year. If it's not one of them giving me problems to solve, it's another. - - But then again, I guess that's what family is for. ;)
Hopefully next year will be a little bit easier to deal with? Although I won't hold my breath. ... With a bit of luck the Trilogy will finally get some funding, and if not, well I am starting my next project (a novel and its accompanying screenplay) - I hope to have both done by mid year (unless the joyful happiness of the Trilogy delays things a bit.) Here's hoping!
Despite everything, I've enjoyed 2011. It's been an eye-opener, to say the least. (sick joke included on purpose) Heck, you only need one that actually works. ;)
It's a little difficult, as my memory sucks at the best of times, and my computer committed suicide in late September taking most of the useful links and information I had stored with it. - - Thank goodness for external back up drives! So at least I managed to keep the majority of my writing and important documentation safe. Phew! (Heck, I print out the important stuff as soon as I get it. Well, you have to don't you. That's what filing cabinets and recordable CDs are for.)
The highlights as I remember them were:
January - rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.
February get manipulated / bullied into eventually signing (in March) a contract with Paul Dawson, who then proceeded to try to screw over me and the other three people who were intent on making the film trilogy we were talking about. ... Managed to get a day job which lasted all of 5 days - thanks for that. Cheap labour required. I made the mistake of trying to be helpful, since they had me updating their company letterhead with their new version, of pointing out on my first day that they needed to quote their company number and registered address on it in order to comply with Limited Company status regulations. Next thing you know all my office admin training (specific to them) was over and I spent the next 4 days sweeping the floors and tidying the yard. Crap company all over. Sod 'em.
March - finally twigged what was going on with PDs attempted screw job and spent the next several weeks trying to get him to return full rights to me as he had confirmed he had no intention of making the film, so that myself and the other three could get on with trying to find a producer who actually knows the job and go about raising funding. Had to get the union involved before he eventually caved and finally did the decent thing.
April - all rights eventually returned to me. Thank f**k. ... lesson learned: Never sign anything without a solicitor involved, no matter how tempting, or how pressurised the 'it's only an agreement at this stage' may turn out to be. In my opinion, if he wasn't so blinded by the bright lights of Hollywood, he would make an excellent conman, he already has all the tactics and the gift-of-the-gab skills required for such a nefarious trade. ... Landed another day job working in an excellent garden centre, with excellent people, and plenty of green growing things to look at (which is one of the requirements of my cave-dwelling lifestyle) and learn about while I sell them to the general public. Lovely people.
May - rewrite, research then adjust accordingly and rewrite, speak with director, rewrite,
June - rewrite again, tweak, director's notes, rewrite.
July - Day job contract ends, they tell me to reapply at the end of August for the Christmas contract. Very happy. ... Rewrite, director's notes, rewrite. It's getting there! Hoorah! ... get a day job working in sales - - given lurgy by the boss at the interview near the end of the month. Thanks for that.
August - work through the lurgy, even though all I want to do is curl up and die. Boss then gives all of us another variation on the lurgy-- Which in my case attacks my brain, and -- in the same day that he tells me I'm not aggressive enough for sales, I realise I can't see properly out of one of my eyes, and my balance that has been getting progressively worse over the previous four days sends my foot coordination and spacial awareness to hell in a handcart. So, spent mid August in hospital A&E being poked and prodded and MRI'd, followed by spending the night for observation, knowing that when I get out I have to find a new job as soon as I can function again. Deep joy. On a massive dose of steroids to bring down the brain inflammation so that my own white cells will stop trying to kill me! It worked and stopped the symptoms from getting any worse. Phew! ... Contacted the garden centre, they were very pleased to hear from me and told me to fill in the application form they are posting.
September - Still can't balance properly, still only partial vision in the affected eye. ... Working at the main tills in the garden centre (rather than the plant centre tills which I prefer) as the mad dash to Christmas gradually ramps up, and shoppers start the whole shop-til-you-drop insanity.
October - Manning the tills full-time ... oh, and I've got to get some paperwork ready for the Trilogy plan for the second and third scripts so the director can take them to the American Film Market in November, if he's able to raise enough funding for the trip. - - Eek! Quickly reverse engineer a treatment for the first film, and then spend all my spare time getting the plot, character arcs, new villains and old villains worked out and then written up into treatments for the second and third films. Director seems pleased with the results.
November - Director decides not to go to the AFM after all, but take them to the Berlin festival in February (which will probably be a better fit?) ... So I breath a silent sigh of relief and collapse in a heap and try to recover from this dratted brain malarkey in my spare time away from the day job.
December - still dealing with shop-til-you-drop insanity in the day job, and coming up to Christmas am just about feeling the effects of needing to write or go nuts. Begin to plan my next writing projects - but family and Christmas prevent me from doing anything much beyond mental planning and some research. Realise I haven't been reading the blogs or keeping up to date with what's what since I got the brain thing in mid August. Bum!
Oh yeah - my car committed suicide in August just after my brain did, and my computer committed suicide in late September. Got it up and limping again by early October. Not properly fixed until mid November - when I finally had time to devote to all the updates, and programs, email etc, that I need on it. Er, and my Neurology Consultant thinks I probably have MS, but more tests are needed. Apparently living in the Wild West and having a Scandinavian Grandmother may both be a risk factors; on the plus side: eye involvement, being female, and being relatively young are all positive factors. But then they don't really know anything about MS. We'll find out more about that next year.
Blinking heck! This has been an overly interesting year. (on the plus side, lots of great experiences and perspectives for story) ... And I haven't even mentioned all the family trauma and bollocks that I've had to work through all year. If it's not one of them giving me problems to solve, it's another. - - But then again, I guess that's what family is for. ;)
Hopefully next year will be a little bit easier to deal with? Although I won't hold my breath. ... With a bit of luck the Trilogy will finally get some funding, and if not, well I am starting my next project (a novel and its accompanying screenplay) - I hope to have both done by mid year (unless the joyful happiness of the Trilogy delays things a bit.) Here's hoping!
Despite everything, I've enjoyed 2011. It's been an eye-opener, to say the least. (sick joke included on purpose) Heck, you only need one that actually works. ;)
Friday, 9 December 2011
"All I Want For Christmas Is You"
HMS Ocean has made a great Christmas video to celebrate their return to home for Christmas! ... Made me giggle.
[Update: I've changed the link - as BBC SPOTLIGHT seems to have watered down the video a bit by editing it. *Grrr*]
All I Want For Christmas
[Update: I've changed the link - as BBC SPOTLIGHT seems to have watered down the video a bit by editing it. *Grrr*]
All I Want For Christmas
Thursday, 24 November 2011
LIFE'S TOO SHORT
I'm enjoying this comedy series.
You might want to take a look too? Mind you, you probably started watching it when it first came out, because you are in touch, in tune, up to date... whereas I've been hiding in my cave for far too long - sorry about that!
... I'm catching up via i-Player
Gosh, ever since that virus attacked my brain in mid August I've turned into a really boring f**ker!
What is it with August and the Universe trying to mangle me? Last year it went after my lungs with a serious asthma attack, this year it went after my brain.
Sigh.
Gotta laugh, though, ... maybe? ;)
You might want to take a look too? Mind you, you probably started watching it when it first came out, because you are in touch, in tune, up to date... whereas I've been hiding in my cave for far too long - sorry about that!
... I'm catching up via i-Player
Gosh, ever since that virus attacked my brain in mid August I've turned into a really boring f**ker!
What is it with August and the Universe trying to mangle me? Last year it went after my lungs with a serious asthma attack, this year it went after my brain.
Sigh.
Gotta laugh, though, ... maybe? ;)
Monday, 6 June 2011
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.
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.
CASE HISTORIES
SUNDAY, BBC1, 9pm - CASE HISTORIES
An engaging P.I. series. I'm enjoying the ongoing mystery, and I think that Jason Isaacs is always worth a look see - nice eye-candy, and an actor who makes you pay attention while he's on screen. :) Good supporting cast too.
Most importantly, good story...
I think the BBC are getting quite good at picking detective type shows.
Currently available on iPlayer, if you missed it.
Yes, I'm procrastinating. ... Back to the writing!
An engaging P.I. series. I'm enjoying the ongoing mystery, and I think that Jason Isaacs is always worth a look see - nice eye-candy, and an actor who makes you pay attention while he's on screen. :) Good supporting cast too.
Most importantly, good story...
I think the BBC are getting quite good at picking detective type shows.
Currently available on iPlayer, if you missed it.
Yes, I'm procrastinating. ... Back to the writing!
Sunday, 22 May 2011
The Agony Of Writing - Part III : The Synopsis
Yeah, I know. What happened to Part II? Well, I'm saving that for a little later. So, what is Part III?
The Synopsis
It is worse than writing the damned story. Harder. How the heck do I do this?!!!
...I'm hoping it gets easier. I suspect it won't. It's like having to do homework: a really tough essay for a subject that you previously loved.
You've been bashing your head into the wall for weeks trying to work out how the F to write one. You've read all the helpful notes other people have put out there on the subject. And it is still impossible. Your eyes are bleeding from the mental strain of trying to wrap your brain around it.
I was reminded of this last night by a panicked phone call from a friend of mine. He has written the most amazing, wonderful (you b*st*rd Clive! I'm envious!*) book and is currently wrestling with The Synopsis in preparation for sending it to an agent. "Help!" he cried. ... There may even have been tears?
He'd written out the plot, beat by beat, as you should. And then hit the wall when he came to shorten it.
What all the helpful suggestions from other writers don't really cover properly, is the fact that you need three documents.
1) The Plot document
2) The Emotion document
3) The Suspense / Surprise document
So you have** to go through your story again, and write all the emotion beats. Then you have to go through your story again and write all the cliffhangers and twists and interesting gripping stuff. ... and then shorten all of these documents into a manageable size - I recommend one at a time, otherwise the whole thing seems far too gargantuan to contemplate. ... And then somehow you need to merge all three documents into one. ... And then shorten that.
One of the good things about screenwriting is the art of "25 words or less". It's easier than the synopsis, by miles, but it teaches you a bit about being concise and boiling your story down to something bite-size ... which is the whole art of The Synopsis.
He says I helped. He now has a plan. I hope I did. And maybe this can help you too?
Any additional suggestions from others on The Art*** Of The Synopsis would be very welcome!
By-the-by, I think my eventual "Eureka!" moment was triggered by a post on Jane Espenson's blog (see the side bar for a link) which gave a 'how to' on incorporating emotion into the dusty synopsis process, in order to grip producers by the brains/balls and not let go!
*He's one of those annoying sods who can just sit down and it pours out, in order, without much need to plan, or go back and redo half the darned thing. Where as I have stories that sit in the corner of the room laughing at me for years, over a decade in one case - because I read them through and something isn't quite working. And then you realize you have to go back and fix THIS! which changes half the darned plot and you've got to rewrite half the b*gger from start to finish. And if only you'd planned it all out first! And ... I've become an advocate of 'The Plan'. My first screenplay, my very first screenplay wrote itself; and it was good. And it took me a lot of heartache through repeated 'it's not bl**dy working!' to finally realise the truth. 'The Plan' is a good idea. *Copious swearing*
**The word HAVE is a little strong, - like the French devoir - You don't HAVE to do any of this. It's just my opinion, and you should take it with a very large pinch of salt much like all my other witterings. It's just my humble suggestion, but the ego in me says YOU MUST!, which then comes out in my writing. Sorry. It's just my opinion, feel free to ignore it and make your own minds up. Do what works for you, that's the important thing with writing.
***It's a CRAFT! Just like writing... Daniel Martin Eckhart has a great post about the craft of writing. He and Philip Morton really speak to me. If you are searching for screenwriting inspiration / information, I recommend a look-see at both.
The Synopsis
It is worse than writing the damned story. Harder. How the heck do I do this?!!!
...I'm hoping it gets easier. I suspect it won't. It's like having to do homework: a really tough essay for a subject that you previously loved.
You've been bashing your head into the wall for weeks trying to work out how the F to write one. You've read all the helpful notes other people have put out there on the subject. And it is still impossible. Your eyes are bleeding from the mental strain of trying to wrap your brain around it.
I was reminded of this last night by a panicked phone call from a friend of mine. He has written the most amazing, wonderful (you b*st*rd Clive! I'm envious!*) book and is currently wrestling with The Synopsis in preparation for sending it to an agent. "Help!" he cried. ... There may even have been tears?
He'd written out the plot, beat by beat, as you should. And then hit the wall when he came to shorten it.
What all the helpful suggestions from other writers don't really cover properly, is the fact that you need three documents.
1) The Plot document
2) The Emotion document
3) The Suspense / Surprise document
So you have** to go through your story again, and write all the emotion beats. Then you have to go through your story again and write all the cliffhangers and twists and interesting gripping stuff. ... and then shorten all of these documents into a manageable size - I recommend one at a time, otherwise the whole thing seems far too gargantuan to contemplate. ... And then somehow you need to merge all three documents into one. ... And then shorten that.
One of the good things about screenwriting is the art of "25 words or less". It's easier than the synopsis, by miles, but it teaches you a bit about being concise and boiling your story down to something bite-size ... which is the whole art of The Synopsis.
He says I helped. He now has a plan. I hope I did. And maybe this can help you too?
Any additional suggestions from others on The Art*** Of The Synopsis would be very welcome!
By-the-by, I think my eventual "Eureka!" moment was triggered by a post on Jane Espenson's blog (see the side bar for a link) which gave a 'how to' on incorporating emotion into the dusty synopsis process, in order to grip producers by the brains/balls and not let go!
*He's one of those annoying sods who can just sit down and it pours out, in order, without much need to plan, or go back and redo half the darned thing. Where as I have stories that sit in the corner of the room laughing at me for years, over a decade in one case - because I read them through and something isn't quite working. And then you realize you have to go back and fix THIS! which changes half the darned plot and you've got to rewrite half the b*gger from start to finish. And if only you'd planned it all out first! And ... I've become an advocate of 'The Plan'. My first screenplay, my very first screenplay wrote itself; and it was good. And it took me a lot of heartache through repeated 'it's not bl**dy working!' to finally realise the truth. 'The Plan' is a good idea. *Copious swearing*
**The word HAVE is a little strong, - like the French devoir - You don't HAVE to do any of this. It's just my opinion, and you should take it with a very large pinch of salt much like all my other witterings. It's just my humble suggestion, but the ego in me says YOU MUST!, which then comes out in my writing. Sorry. It's just my opinion, feel free to ignore it and make your own minds up. Do what works for you, that's the important thing with writing.
***It's a CRAFT! Just like writing... Daniel Martin Eckhart has a great post about the craft of writing. He and Philip Morton really speak to me. If you are searching for screenwriting inspiration / information, I recommend a look-see at both.
The Agony Of Writing - Part I : Self Doubt
Self Doubt.
We all have it. (And if you don't maybe you should hang up your pencil and go experience some LIFE instead?)
It comes on many levels, but I'm only going into the one that I'm being currently reminded of ... I'm nearing the end of the current rewrite, and shortly I will have to put pen back to paper to embark upon/complete a new story.
You've finally written something you really like (and rewritten it to death. ARGH!*). But now you have to come up with a new story. It can't possibly be as good as the last one. You can't write, heck, you've forgotten how to spell the word "and" - you know it's short and it's got three letters, and there's an 'n' in it somewhere; but can you remember how to spell it? No.** For that matter "it" is a little perplexing too.***
There is no way you can come up with something that is anywhere near as good. You've read the first story back, and you don't have a clue how you came up with it. There are words in it that you didn't even know you knew. It's far too good to have possibly been written by you. But you remember doing it. You remember the joyous little victories of coming up with the perfect word, that sentence structure that was so crucial to making the story flow perfectly, the weird dreams that you woke up with in the morning that allowed you to crack this or that character / plot problem, which you then feverishly wrote ASAP before breakfast. AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU WILL EVER BE ABLE TO DO IT AGAIN!
It's so depressing, you should give up now!
Except you can't. Because then you'd go properly insane, rather than just be the weirdo nutter that you are now. And you know how twisted your innermost thoughts are. Releasing those upon the world in any form other than fiction ... well a gibbering drooling wreck in the corner of a padded cell is possibly a preferable option.
So you have no choice.
You have to keep writing.
It's who you are.
[One day I have to read Stephen King's book on the subject. Yeah, I know, I should have bought it when it first came out ... but it seemed that little bit too close to home for comfort. And I'm still preparing myself for that journey. - - It's probably no where near as bad as I imagine. But, what if it's worse? ARGH!]
So you write, because that's who you are, but you don't know how, and that not knowing is terror! It calls into question your very reason for living, for being. And, what if one day, today? you find you can't plumb that well? Except you force yourself to sit down. Bum on seat. And have at it! "Once more into the breach..." and all of that. You have to.
And that's just one form (among many) of The Agony Of Writing.
*I suspect rewrite will be Part II of The Agony Of Writing)
**The Ancient Greeks had a part of grammar called the optative. I wish we had it in the English language. I'd use it all the time. ... It allows you to write a question and an exclamation at the same time without having to faff about punctuation. I suspect it would also allow you to write a rhetorical question without any of the confusion of misconstrued punctuation, as well. Okay, I suck at grammar - and at Ancient Greek - but this is such a useful little writing knick-knack, we really should have adopted it. Like 'Zero' is such a useful little knick-knack for maths.
***This really happened to me, shortly after I'd completed my English Language 'O' Level, during a class assignment. I froze, stared at the page, eventually thought "B*gger it!* left a three letter space and wrote the rest of the paragraph figuring I'd remember how sooner or later. Sure enough, three paragraphs later (or it may have been one?) the 'spelling' inflicted itself upon my maladjusted brain. You try writing three paragraphs without using the word "and"....
We all have it. (And if you don't maybe you should hang up your pencil and go experience some LIFE instead?)
It comes on many levels, but I'm only going into the one that I'm being currently reminded of ... I'm nearing the end of the current rewrite, and shortly I will have to put pen back to paper to embark upon/complete a new story.
You've finally written something you really like (and rewritten it to death. ARGH!*). But now you have to come up with a new story. It can't possibly be as good as the last one. You can't write, heck, you've forgotten how to spell the word "and" - you know it's short and it's got three letters, and there's an 'n' in it somewhere; but can you remember how to spell it? No.** For that matter "it" is a little perplexing too.***
There is no way you can come up with something that is anywhere near as good. You've read the first story back, and you don't have a clue how you came up with it. There are words in it that you didn't even know you knew. It's far too good to have possibly been written by you. But you remember doing it. You remember the joyous little victories of coming up with the perfect word, that sentence structure that was so crucial to making the story flow perfectly, the weird dreams that you woke up with in the morning that allowed you to crack this or that character / plot problem, which you then feverishly wrote ASAP before breakfast. AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU WILL EVER BE ABLE TO DO IT AGAIN!
It's so depressing, you should give up now!
Except you can't. Because then you'd go properly insane, rather than just be the weirdo nutter that you are now. And you know how twisted your innermost thoughts are. Releasing those upon the world in any form other than fiction ... well a gibbering drooling wreck in the corner of a padded cell is possibly a preferable option.
So you have no choice.
You have to keep writing.
It's who you are.
[One day I have to read Stephen King's book on the subject. Yeah, I know, I should have bought it when it first came out ... but it seemed that little bit too close to home for comfort. And I'm still preparing myself for that journey. - - It's probably no where near as bad as I imagine. But, what if it's worse? ARGH!]
So you write, because that's who you are, but you don't know how, and that not knowing is terror! It calls into question your very reason for living, for being. And, what if one day, today? you find you can't plumb that well? Except you force yourself to sit down. Bum on seat. And have at it! "Once more into the breach..." and all of that. You have to.
And that's just one form (among many) of The Agony Of Writing.
*I suspect rewrite will be Part II of The Agony Of Writing)
**The Ancient Greeks had a part of grammar called the optative. I wish we had it in the English language. I'd use it all the time. ... It allows you to write a question and an exclamation at the same time without having to faff about punctuation. I suspect it would also allow you to write a rhetorical question without any of the confusion of misconstrued punctuation, as well. Okay, I suck at grammar - and at Ancient Greek - but this is such a useful little writing knick-knack, we really should have adopted it. Like 'Zero' is such a useful little knick-knack for maths.
***This really happened to me, shortly after I'd completed my English Language 'O' Level, during a class assignment. I froze, stared at the page, eventually thought "B*gger it!* left a three letter space and wrote the rest of the paragraph figuring I'd remember how sooner or later. Sure enough, three paragraphs later (or it may have been one?) the 'spelling' inflicted itself upon my maladjusted brain. You try writing three paragraphs without using the word "and"....
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