I went to the eye doctor today because I'm finally getting contacts, yay! I go to a lot of doctors when I come home. Like a health pit stop. And I was sitting in the chair, waiting for my eye doctor to come check my eyes, and I was looking at the walls for good reading material and low and behold, there's a whole poster of eye disorders. This is not just an eye doctor trend. Why is it that doctors like to freak their patients out by plastering all the things that can go wrong all over the walls? Scare tactics, I think.
My 11-year-old brother read The 4:05. I had to explain to him what "o-d-e-d" meant, but he said he liked it, even though they ended up "like in love and stuff." I ate lunch while he sat at the table and read the last twenty pages. Usually I don't like watching people read my stuff but seeing him so focused on it made me sorta proud.
Artists are generally very proud people. We're enlightened, you know? We have truth and wisdom and revelations on life to pass out, and boy are we misunderstood. Tortured artists, starving artists, underpaid, living in cardboard boxes artists. Suffering so that truth can reach the masses. Yes, we are pretty pompous sometimes. Usually, though, it's a subliminal thing. And if it manifests itself, it usually is an us-them complex of artist-normal people who have real jobs and friends and families that we're jealous of. I mean...
I don't have a lot of established pet peeves in life. One of them is when cars pull into the crosswalks at stop signs even if they can't go yet just so that you won't bother them by walking in front of them. Laaaa-ame. But even more than that, I hate writers who get pompous with other writers. Ok, there's obviously a hierarchy when it comes to writing. There are those who have been writing longer than you have and those who have been writing less. There are those who are better than you and those who are worse. And secretly, it's true, I think I'm better than most of my peers and I pander to those who I know are better than me. But at the same time, there's this sense of we're all in it together. Except for those people who like to step on the little new guy.
I was checking out the Wordplay forums the other day, and a very basic question was asked. So basic, even I sniggered at it a little. But some of the responses surprised me. Recently too, I've been looking for good resources on querying (if I'm ever going to cross off "pitch The 4:05 to Adam Brody" off my 101 list, I'd better do it right), and some of the attitude in posts and comments surprises me. There is a strata of elitists in the writer's community, and they just add bad blood all around. I think my main problem with elitists is not the derisive tone, they way they sniff at new writers who haven't mastered the craft yet, their cynicism and aloofness. I think it's the way that the make writing out to be more than just hard work. Because truly, there are two types of elitists. There are those who are elitists because they think they've put in the work and the younger generation thinks it won't need to, and there are the elitists who think they're better because they're "compelled" to write, their lives are over if they don't write, and if you don't feel that way then who are you to dare dream of yourself as a writer.
Relax, guys.
Writing is hard work. That's all. The more you work at it, the better you are. You'd *better* like it because you're going to be spending a lot of time doing it. And I hope you feel like either you or other people are becoming better people because of your writing (nobody gets into writing for the money). But all this stuff about being "thrown into the darkest depression if I don't write"? Get off your high horse. Don't make the poor excite new kids feel bad because they don't have a disciplined writing habit yet. These people try to make writing something more magical and mystical than it really is. And the really bad thing? They use their *emotions* about writing to turn people away. They say that if you *don't* feel overjoyed whenever you sit down to write or if you don't feel like writing is as important as breathing, then you aren't meant to be a writer.
Some of the best quotes about writing by some of the most talented authors is about how hard they find it to write - sometimes down right unenjoyable.
Writing is a craft. It takes time and it takes work, and in that aspect, I can almost respect the people who are experience elitists. Sometimes I think they disregard people too quickly just because they're new to the game, but I can agree with them that I will get better the more I write, the more work I put into it, the more I practice. But these people who make writing an obsession? They just need to get a life. These people take it to seriously. Hitchcock was famous for reminding his cast and crew, when things go a little tense, "it's only a movie."
One of my favourite quotes about writing is from Zach Helm, who wrote Stranger than Fiction, basically slamming "pompous artists" because they will sacrifice life too much for art. If you really feel that way, fine. But don't go around telling other writers that they aren't really artists because they aren't obsessed like you. All writing is is sitting down and working. Anyone can do it. I don't know why you would if you didn't love it, but anyone can.
My allergies are causing me much pain. Please pass the Bendryl. I want to pass out.
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London
"People on the outside think there's something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn't like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that's all there is to it." - Harlan Ellison
Thursday, May 10, 2007
101 Things in 1001 Days
Here's my list, in no particular order:
1. Paint a self portrait.
2. Obtain a new iPod (hmm, Christmas)
3. Ride in a Mustang
4. Give a Slice of Life at church
5. Give someone flowers for no reason
6. Break into the Big House
7. Sing karaoke
8. Write a short story for an anthology, something fun
9. Start a "scrap book" collection of my writings, rejection letters, correspondences, etc.
10. Defeat Zelda on the Wii
11. Learn to knit (and knit something)
12. Read at least one book a month and feel badly if I don't read two
13. Get a credit card
14. Attend a movie premiere
15. Hang out at the MET all by myself
16. Start keeping better track of my finances
17. Tell that secret
18. Finish reading the Narnia series
19. Send everyone in my extended family birthday cards for a year
20. Go back to AU, if only for next year's graduation
21. Buy a book of the Onion's Best Of
22. Paint at least once a month
23. Go to a Michigan basketball game
24. Visit three new cities
25. Take Lindsay out when she graduates Cederville and she has no more "rules"
26. Go sledding
27. Go to Canada with friends from Ann Arbor
28. Start the novel on our family history
29. Die my hair an unnatural color (definitely something wash out)
30. Go to the top of the Empire State Building
31. Take an art workshop/class
32. Convince at least one new person to participate in the Dance Marathon
33. Win a game of bowling for once
34. Visit a national park
35. Go to the northern peninsula of Michigan
36. Restore Classic on my computer so I can play Scarab of Ra
37. Find Dino Park Tycoon
38. Pick a list of 100 greatest movies and watch the ones I haven't seen
39. Fill up one of my prayer/spiritual journals
40. Go kite-flying at night, preferably in the snow
41. Memorize a Bible verse a month
42. Buy a plant and manage to keep it alive for the whole school year
43. Go back to HCA or alumni night at least once
44. Every time I'm with friends and see those overpriced photo booths, take pictures
43. Go to at least three balls every year
44. Send an anonymous valentine
45. Buy the second book of the Firebird series to complete my trilogy
46. See a meteor shower
47. Go to a food festival/state fair/renaissance fair (or something similar)
48. Give up something for Lent
49. Go to the top of the Bell Tower when the bells are ringing
50. Throw a surprise party
51. Take a spring break trip with friends
52. Play scratch lotto
53. Finish a novel independent of National Novel Writing Month
54. Adopt a Soldier
55. Write 2 letters a week as a habit
56. Take swing dancing lessons for at least a semester and then find a nice place to go swing dancing so I can wear that super cute dress Aunt Pat bought for me yesterday
57. Drink water with one meal a day as a habit
58. Enter the Nicholl every year
59. Write my own song, music and lyrics
60. Go to a concert
61. Paint my face for a Michigan Football game
62. Write and shoot my own short
63. Get an internship
64. Graduate
65. Send Adam Brody a query about The 4:05
66. Go to L.A.
67. Organize my photos on Snapfish
68. Back up my computer
69. Smash pennies on the train tracks
70. Go to an outdoor film
71. Attend at least one showing at the Ann Arbor Film Festival
72. Find the Times Square kiss purse and buy it
73. Finish reading the books of the New Testament
74. Throw an Oscar party
75. Throw another pirate party
76. See the Wilsons again
77. Have 7 completed feature length screenplays by the end of the 1001 days (including ones already written)
78. Go star gazing
79. Watch the sunrise over the ocean
80. See the Northern Lights
81. Buy a fish as a pet
82. Kiss in the rain
83. Go sailing
84. Have a girls-only picnic
85. Get on a bus/train not knowing where I'm going until I buy the ticket
86. Read the Purpose Driven Life
87. Help out with youth group for a school year
88. Start tithing again
89. Grow out my hair to cut it for Locks of Love again
90. Go Christmas caroling
91. Write another Star Wars story
92. Write fan mail to get at least one celebrity autograph
93. Get my driver's license
94. Visit at least 2 new countries
95. Visit at least 5 new states
96. Visit Sarah at PBA and Lindsay at Cederville
97. Once a season, take a day just to walk around with my camera and take pictures
98. Act in a short film again
99. Write a story on my typewriter (make sure I have tape for it)
100. Get a professional massage
101. Make it to Florida for Holly's wedding
Here is the link to 101 Things in 1001 Days, if anyone is interested. My start date is May 10, 2007 and my end date is February 4, 2010.
1. Paint a self portrait.
2. Obtain a new iPod (hmm, Christmas)
3. Ride in a Mustang
4. Give a Slice of Life at church
5. Give someone flowers for no reason
6. Break into the Big House
7. Sing karaoke
8. Write a short story for an anthology, something fun
9. Start a "scrap book" collection of my writings, rejection letters, correspondences, etc.
10. Defeat Zelda on the Wii
11. Learn to knit (and knit something)
12. Read at least one book a month and feel badly if I don't read two
13. Get a credit card
14. Attend a movie premiere
15. Hang out at the MET all by myself
16. Start keeping better track of my finances
17. Tell that secret
18. Finish reading the Narnia series
19. Send everyone in my extended family birthday cards for a year
20. Go back to AU, if only for next year's graduation
21. Buy a book of the Onion's Best Of
22. Paint at least once a month
23. Go to a Michigan basketball game
24. Visit three new cities
25. Take Lindsay out when she graduates Cederville and she has no more "rules"
26. Go sledding
27. Go to Canada with friends from Ann Arbor
28. Start the novel on our family history
29. Die my hair an unnatural color (definitely something wash out)
30. Go to the top of the Empire State Building
31. Take an art workshop/class
32. Convince at least one new person to participate in the Dance Marathon
33. Win a game of bowling for once
34. Visit a national park
35. Go to the northern peninsula of Michigan
36. Restore Classic on my computer so I can play Scarab of Ra
37. Find Dino Park Tycoon
38. Pick a list of 100 greatest movies and watch the ones I haven't seen
39. Fill up one of my prayer/spiritual journals
40. Go kite-flying at night, preferably in the snow
41. Memorize a Bible verse a month
42. Buy a plant and manage to keep it alive for the whole school year
43. Go back to HCA or alumni night at least once
44. Every time I'm with friends and see those overpriced photo booths, take pictures
43. Go to at least three balls every year
44. Send an anonymous valentine
45. Buy the second book of the Firebird series to complete my trilogy
46. See a meteor shower
47. Go to a food festival/state fair/renaissance fair (or something similar)
48. Give up something for Lent
49. Go to the top of the Bell Tower when the bells are ringing
50. Throw a surprise party
51. Take a spring break trip with friends
52. Play scratch lotto
53. Finish a novel independent of National Novel Writing Month
54. Adopt a Soldier
55. Write 2 letters a week as a habit
56. Take swing dancing lessons for at least a semester and then find a nice place to go swing dancing so I can wear that super cute dress Aunt Pat bought for me yesterday
57. Drink water with one meal a day as a habit
58. Enter the Nicholl every year
59. Write my own song, music and lyrics
60. Go to a concert
61. Paint my face for a Michigan Football game
62. Write and shoot my own short
63. Get an internship
64. Graduate
65. Send Adam Brody a query about The 4:05
66. Go to L.A.
67. Organize my photos on Snapfish
68. Back up my computer
69. Smash pennies on the train tracks
70. Go to an outdoor film
71. Attend at least one showing at the Ann Arbor Film Festival
72. Find the Times Square kiss purse and buy it
73. Finish reading the books of the New Testament
74. Throw an Oscar party
75. Throw another pirate party
76. See the Wilsons again
77. Have 7 completed feature length screenplays by the end of the 1001 days (including ones already written)
78. Go star gazing
79. Watch the sunrise over the ocean
80. See the Northern Lights
81. Buy a fish as a pet
82. Kiss in the rain
83. Go sailing
84. Have a girls-only picnic
85. Get on a bus/train not knowing where I'm going until I buy the ticket
86. Read the Purpose Driven Life
87. Help out with youth group for a school year
88. Start tithing again
89. Grow out my hair to cut it for Locks of Love again
90. Go Christmas caroling
91. Write another Star Wars story
92. Write fan mail to get at least one celebrity autograph
93. Get my driver's license
94. Visit at least 2 new countries
95. Visit at least 5 new states
96. Visit Sarah at PBA and Lindsay at Cederville
97. Once a season, take a day just to walk around with my camera and take pictures
98. Act in a short film again
99. Write a story on my typewriter (make sure I have tape for it)
100. Get a professional massage
101. Make it to Florida for Holly's wedding
Here is the link to 101 Things in 1001 Days, if anyone is interested. My start date is May 10, 2007 and my end date is February 4, 2010.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
101 Things I Won't Do
So, as I said, my list is a little difficult. You'd think 101 things would be easy to think up. Uh huh. The thing is, I've been looking at other people's lists for inspiration, and a lot of them spend 20-30 things on stuff I just don't want to do. I don't care about losing weight or getting into shape. Tattoos on myself scare me because they'll never come off, and I only mildly joke about getting another piercing. I don't need to make sure the garden in the backyard stays deweeded or that the shrubberies don't get out of hand. I don't really have the facilities for baking or cooking. No house, ergo I have no things that need fixing around the house. There is no money in my bank to go travelling, and there's definitely no way I'm going to be able to get myself out of debt in three years.
However, the List is practically finished and will be up soon (because I know everyone's been waiting. Anxiously.).
However, the List is practically finished and will be up soon (because I know everyone's been waiting. Anxiously.).
I can hear every plane that flies over my room.
Sometimes this is fun. I was sitting in Dunkin Donuts the other day, and it was cloudless, and all of a sudden this huge shadow quickly swept over us. It was a plane, and it was pretty cool. I forgot about the air traffic over Jersey.
I also forgot that I have trouble sleeping in my own room. I think it's because I get too much sleep at home.
My 101 Things to do in 1001 Days list is almost done. It's hard coming up with that many things.
I was looking for a quote on painting by Renoir, the artist not the filmmaker, the other day - well, that was really just a cover for me looking for quotes on writing - and I came across some really good quotes. I will sprinkle my posts with them to make myself look learned and witty.
"Writing is a fairly lonely business unless you invite people in to watch you do it, which is often distracting and then [you] have to ask them to leave." - Marc Lawrence
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." - Red Smith
I've been living at home for the past couple of weeks. This has been a great experience for me creatively. Not only have I had the opportunity to sit around and do nothing all day except take long walks and write (note to self: it's 11:15 and you still have not written 5 pages for Current Draft. Darn.), but I have come to acknowledge something. Every writer should take advantage of the inspiration around them to write a family drama.
I most of my ideas are dramatic. I'm not really good at comedy, and though I'd like to take a couple of stabs at action, I'm not as interested because I don't think it has the potential for revelation and exploration that drama has. In drama, you *expect* people to have life-revealing monologues dripping from their lips. Yeah, so, anyway, I had this idea for a family drama. I was thinking of writing it after I finished The 4:05, so I did a little prewriting on it (which for me is saying something) and promptly moved on to something else and forgot about it. Now it's in my notebook with a whole bunch of other ideas that are in no hurry to be written but are waiting for a time when I'm just looking for something to play around with. Should have picked that story instead of Current Draft.
The point is, I was hanging out the other day with my Aunt. We had gone out to lunch, just the two of us, because we have nothing to do. It's fabulous, we're living this life of ridiculous luxury (until I go to work next week), and her new favourite line at restaurants is to tell the waiter, "Don't worry. We're not in a hurry." Because we're not. She's living us (and other various relatives) while her house is being built, and I'm just doing... nothing. My aunt is a great talker. I have a problem coming up with interesting things to talk about with people I see on a regular basis, but not this woman. One thing we talk about, because she has spent so much time travelling around different family members, is our family, especially the stories that my grandparents tell her. In fact, we've decided that our family history, as colorful as it is, would make an interesting book.
So I already have it in the back of my head the vague idea for this novel, when I really start to pay attention to how my family relationships are *right now.* I mean, sure, the fact that my great-grandfather rode off with my great grandmother when she was 15 and they got married at a crossroads before her father could find her is definitely interesting. But at the same time I have all these ideas in my head spinning. About how siblings interact. The ways that you can learn new things all the time about people you've known you're entire life. How to so many people who've lived independent lives can come back to one place and coexist together. How just taking the time to go to lunch with someone two times a week and listening to them can strengthen your relationship with them. And all this time, I realize that the time I should be writing my family drama script is right now. Because you never understand family dynamics so much as when you are actually in the midst of them.
And besides. If you're looking for inspiration, well, your family will give you an infinite amount of drama.
"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." - Joan Didion
I also forgot that I have trouble sleeping in my own room. I think it's because I get too much sleep at home.
My 101 Things to do in 1001 Days list is almost done. It's hard coming up with that many things.
I was looking for a quote on painting by Renoir, the artist not the filmmaker, the other day - well, that was really just a cover for me looking for quotes on writing - and I came across some really good quotes. I will sprinkle my posts with them to make myself look learned and witty.
"Writing is a fairly lonely business unless you invite people in to watch you do it, which is often distracting and then [you] have to ask them to leave." - Marc Lawrence
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." - Red Smith
I've been living at home for the past couple of weeks. This has been a great experience for me creatively. Not only have I had the opportunity to sit around and do nothing all day except take long walks and write (note to self: it's 11:15 and you still have not written 5 pages for Current Draft. Darn.), but I have come to acknowledge something. Every writer should take advantage of the inspiration around them to write a family drama.
I most of my ideas are dramatic. I'm not really good at comedy, and though I'd like to take a couple of stabs at action, I'm not as interested because I don't think it has the potential for revelation and exploration that drama has. In drama, you *expect* people to have life-revealing monologues dripping from their lips. Yeah, so, anyway, I had this idea for a family drama. I was thinking of writing it after I finished The 4:05, so I did a little prewriting on it (which for me is saying something) and promptly moved on to something else and forgot about it. Now it's in my notebook with a whole bunch of other ideas that are in no hurry to be written but are waiting for a time when I'm just looking for something to play around with. Should have picked that story instead of Current Draft.
The point is, I was hanging out the other day with my Aunt. We had gone out to lunch, just the two of us, because we have nothing to do. It's fabulous, we're living this life of ridiculous luxury (until I go to work next week), and her new favourite line at restaurants is to tell the waiter, "Don't worry. We're not in a hurry." Because we're not. She's living us (and other various relatives) while her house is being built, and I'm just doing... nothing. My aunt is a great talker. I have a problem coming up with interesting things to talk about with people I see on a regular basis, but not this woman. One thing we talk about, because she has spent so much time travelling around different family members, is our family, especially the stories that my grandparents tell her. In fact, we've decided that our family history, as colorful as it is, would make an interesting book.
So I already have it in the back of my head the vague idea for this novel, when I really start to pay attention to how my family relationships are *right now.* I mean, sure, the fact that my great-grandfather rode off with my great grandmother when she was 15 and they got married at a crossroads before her father could find her is definitely interesting. But at the same time I have all these ideas in my head spinning. About how siblings interact. The ways that you can learn new things all the time about people you've known you're entire life. How to so many people who've lived independent lives can come back to one place and coexist together. How just taking the time to go to lunch with someone two times a week and listening to them can strengthen your relationship with them. And all this time, I realize that the time I should be writing my family drama script is right now. Because you never understand family dynamics so much as when you are actually in the midst of them.
And besides. If you're looking for inspiration, well, your family will give you an infinite amount of drama.
"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." - Joan Didion
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
This *is* productive, I promise...
There are a lot of fun things to be found on the internet. Here are a couple I've found recently:
101 Things in 1001 Days: Basically you make a list of 101 things you want to do and spend the next 1001 days working on them. I think it's a fun idea, maybe because I like deadlines and lists and things. 100 movies to watch, 50 States to visit, 1001 places to see before you die, etc. etc. At the very least, there's no harm in it. I mean, it will take me like an hour to think up 101 things I want to do. And if there's a chance that participating in a silly list/deadline/online challenge will help me get them done, then I'm all for it. The other two things are activities I'll probably try to incorporate into my 101 list --
The Letter Project: I found this via Post Secret. Someone said that they prayed for a letter in the mail and never got one, so someone emailed in this website. Basically you ask this guy to mail you a letter and he will. How cool is that?! I'm a big fan of letters. And part of me wanted to email this guy right away and say, "Hey, I love writing letters, even to random people. Do you need any help?" But then I started thinking that before I do something that drastic, I can test drive how well I would actually be able to keep up with writing letters all that time. So I'm going to start writing letters to people, friends, family, people from Anderson I haven't heard from in forever, maybe even my grandparents, finally. I have some addresses from my LifeGroup and I know Anderson automatically forwards mail the whole summer, but if you'd like to receive a letter and I don't have your address, feel free to pass is along (um, I used to know how to put my email address up on my blog. must work on that...). And I'm definitely going to email that guy and ask him to write me a letter.
Adopt a Soldier: Ok, let's be honest. It's really all about writing letters for me. I wrote letters for a couple of my friends when they went to Field Training last summer. I guess they're nice little distractions (except for my friend Joseph, who is currently stationed in Hawaii).
Letter writing is one of the best kinds of writing. For now, though, I'm off to work on Current Draft some more... or maybe distract myself by making my list of 101 things.
101 Things in 1001 Days: Basically you make a list of 101 things you want to do and spend the next 1001 days working on them. I think it's a fun idea, maybe because I like deadlines and lists and things. 100 movies to watch, 50 States to visit, 1001 places to see before you die, etc. etc. At the very least, there's no harm in it. I mean, it will take me like an hour to think up 101 things I want to do. And if there's a chance that participating in a silly list/deadline/online challenge will help me get them done, then I'm all for it. The other two things are activities I'll probably try to incorporate into my 101 list --
The Letter Project: I found this via Post Secret. Someone said that they prayed for a letter in the mail and never got one, so someone emailed in this website. Basically you ask this guy to mail you a letter and he will. How cool is that?! I'm a big fan of letters. And part of me wanted to email this guy right away and say, "Hey, I love writing letters, even to random people. Do you need any help?" But then I started thinking that before I do something that drastic, I can test drive how well I would actually be able to keep up with writing letters all that time. So I'm going to start writing letters to people, friends, family, people from Anderson I haven't heard from in forever, maybe even my grandparents, finally. I have some addresses from my LifeGroup and I know Anderson automatically forwards mail the whole summer, but if you'd like to receive a letter and I don't have your address, feel free to pass is along (um, I used to know how to put my email address up on my blog. must work on that...). And I'm definitely going to email that guy and ask him to write me a letter.
Adopt a Soldier: Ok, let's be honest. It's really all about writing letters for me. I wrote letters for a couple of my friends when they went to Field Training last summer. I guess they're nice little distractions (except for my friend Joseph, who is currently stationed in Hawaii).
Letter writing is one of the best kinds of writing. For now, though, I'm off to work on Current Draft some more... or maybe distract myself by making my list of 101 things.
The Remedy
I saw fireworks from the freeway
And behind closed eyes I cannot make them go away
'Cause you were born on the fourth of july, freedom ring
Now something on the surface it stings
I said something on the surface
Well it kind of makes me nervous
Who says that you deserve this
And what kind of god would serve this?
We will cure this dirty old disease
If you've got the poison I've got the remedy
The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
I heard two men talking on the radio
In a cross fire kind of reality show
Uncovering the ways to plan the next big attack
They were counting down the ways to stab
The brother in the be right back after this
The unavoidable kiss, where the minty fresh
Death breath is sure to outlast this catastrophy
Dance with me, because if you've got the poison,
I've got the remedy
The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
When I fall in love I take my time
There's no need to hurry when I'm making up my mind
You can turn off the sun but I'm still gonna shine and I'll tell you why
Because
The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't and I won't and I won't
- Jason Mraz
And behind closed eyes I cannot make them go away
'Cause you were born on the fourth of july, freedom ring
Now something on the surface it stings
I said something on the surface
Well it kind of makes me nervous
Who says that you deserve this
And what kind of god would serve this?
We will cure this dirty old disease
If you've got the poison I've got the remedy
The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
I heard two men talking on the radio
In a cross fire kind of reality show
Uncovering the ways to plan the next big attack
They were counting down the ways to stab
The brother in the be right back after this
The unavoidable kiss, where the minty fresh
Death breath is sure to outlast this catastrophy
Dance with me, because if you've got the poison,
I've got the remedy
The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
When I fall in love I take my time
There's no need to hurry when I'm making up my mind
You can turn off the sun but I'm still gonna shine and I'll tell you why
Because
The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
I won't and I won't and I won't
- Jason Mraz
"This Song's for You"
My sister is a crazy knitter. She's made some pretty remarkable things over the years, including a pair of pants. She often employs her talents to make cute, unique, and very personal gifts. All her bridesmaids' gifts were things she had knitted. For my birthday she knit (or, um, crocheted, I don't really know) a really cute pink headband for me.
I don't really have a crafty skill like that. I remember trying - and failing, around the third or fourth row every time - knitting. We used to make quilt squares when we were kids, but what do you with a square? I made a dress once. It was beautiful, but our choice of fabric was not so right and it happened to rip in the middle of the event I wore it to (hehe, how to make an already memorable event *more* memorable). So in general, I don't make things for people. I think during high school I managed to pass off some of my art projects as presents for my mom, but she seemed to like them, anyway.
The thing is, novels and screenplays don't make good gifts. One year I thought about it, taking my NaNo novel and getting a couple more copies from LuLu and mailing them to some members of my extended family, and while I'm sure they would have enjoyed it, it just seems a little... pompous. Only once did I actually give a story as a birthday present. It was my friend Lindsay B.'s birthday and I had been writing a goofy little story about her or something, and I finally finished it and wrapped it up in newspaper comics and gave it to her (I think I got her a real gift too). She didn't like the ending. I wrote another story about an inside joke during high school, but that one wasn't *for* anyone.
The thing is, I do write for people. I have stories I've actually written with someone in mind. And I would do it a whole lot more. I try to ask people what *they* would want to see or in which ways movies move them. I've even thought of getting in touch with the pastor at New Life to see what sort of themes and stories he think people need to see from the movies. I only have so many good ideas; I need some from other people. But really, I don't think I've gotten a real answer from anyone yet. I would love to write you a story. I would love to write about the issues you are dealing with, give you hope, make you cry, renew your faith. It's the only thing I know how to do. I know it doesn't sound like much, but maybe when you read it, you'll be surprised.
I don't know. Maybe everything I write is really just for me.
I don't really have a crafty skill like that. I remember trying - and failing, around the third or fourth row every time - knitting. We used to make quilt squares when we were kids, but what do you with a square? I made a dress once. It was beautiful, but our choice of fabric was not so right and it happened to rip in the middle of the event I wore it to (hehe, how to make an already memorable event *more* memorable). So in general, I don't make things for people. I think during high school I managed to pass off some of my art projects as presents for my mom, but she seemed to like them, anyway.
The thing is, novels and screenplays don't make good gifts. One year I thought about it, taking my NaNo novel and getting a couple more copies from LuLu and mailing them to some members of my extended family, and while I'm sure they would have enjoyed it, it just seems a little... pompous. Only once did I actually give a story as a birthday present. It was my friend Lindsay B.'s birthday and I had been writing a goofy little story about her or something, and I finally finished it and wrapped it up in newspaper comics and gave it to her (I think I got her a real gift too). She didn't like the ending. I wrote another story about an inside joke during high school, but that one wasn't *for* anyone.
The thing is, I do write for people. I have stories I've actually written with someone in mind. And I would do it a whole lot more. I try to ask people what *they* would want to see or in which ways movies move them. I've even thought of getting in touch with the pastor at New Life to see what sort of themes and stories he think people need to see from the movies. I only have so many good ideas; I need some from other people. But really, I don't think I've gotten a real answer from anyone yet. I would love to write you a story. I would love to write about the issues you are dealing with, give you hope, make you cry, renew your faith. It's the only thing I know how to do. I know it doesn't sound like much, but maybe when you read it, you'll be surprised.
I don't know. Maybe everything I write is really just for me.
Just Can't Get Enough
There's something about you
Tears me inside out whenever you're around
There's something about you
Speeding thru my veins until we hit the ground
And there's something about this rush
Take it away
It made me feel so good
I get a feeling you get a feeling we got a feeling
Like we could die
And guess what Mother
We just can't get enough
Lover
We just gotta get it up
We just gotta get it up
There's something about you
That tears me inside out whenever you're around
And there's something about you
That makes me fly
You're a heart attack, just the kind i like
Haunting and strange
That makes me feel so good
I get a feeling you get a feeling we got a feeling
Like we're alive
And Mother
We just can't get enough
We just can't get enough
Lover
We just gotta get it up
We just gotta get it up
This world may not have too much time
But baby i'm fine because maybe you're mine
We just can't get enough
You better give up
Come on and give up
Get ready to give up your life
Give up your life
It's you for me and me for you
You make my dreams come true
Off the wall coming from me
But I wanna see this through, my baby
You're on my mind all the time
I found a billion dimes
You rolled the dice, and lost them all
And baby i just don't mind
And incidentally mother
We just can't get enough
We just can't get enough
Lover
We just gotta get it up
We just gotta get it up
This world may not have too much time
But baby i'm fine because maybe you're mine
We just can't get enough
We just can't get enough
And i don't want no one
If i can't have you
A world of illusion
But baby you're true
I know i deceived you
I once told you lies
If you don't believe me
Just look in my eyes
Social Security Number please
Credit card number please
Money please
Money please
Money please
Please deposit eighty five dollars
For the next three minutes please
Or your call will be disconnected immediately
Aw yeah all right feel good tonight
Aw yeah all right feel good tonight
- New Radicals
Tears me inside out whenever you're around
There's something about you
Speeding thru my veins until we hit the ground
And there's something about this rush
Take it away
It made me feel so good
I get a feeling you get a feeling we got a feeling
Like we could die
And guess what Mother
We just can't get enough
Lover
We just gotta get it up
We just gotta get it up
There's something about you
That tears me inside out whenever you're around
And there's something about you
That makes me fly
You're a heart attack, just the kind i like
Haunting and strange
That makes me feel so good
I get a feeling you get a feeling we got a feeling
Like we're alive
And Mother
We just can't get enough
We just can't get enough
Lover
We just gotta get it up
We just gotta get it up
This world may not have too much time
But baby i'm fine because maybe you're mine
We just can't get enough
You better give up
Come on and give up
Get ready to give up your life
Give up your life
It's you for me and me for you
You make my dreams come true
Off the wall coming from me
But I wanna see this through, my baby
You're on my mind all the time
I found a billion dimes
You rolled the dice, and lost them all
And baby i just don't mind
And incidentally mother
We just can't get enough
We just can't get enough
Lover
We just gotta get it up
We just gotta get it up
This world may not have too much time
But baby i'm fine because maybe you're mine
We just can't get enough
We just can't get enough
And i don't want no one
If i can't have you
A world of illusion
But baby you're true
I know i deceived you
I once told you lies
If you don't believe me
Just look in my eyes
Social Security Number please
Credit card number please
Money please
Money please
Money please
Please deposit eighty five dollars
For the next three minutes please
Or your call will be disconnected immediately
Aw yeah all right feel good tonight
Aw yeah all right feel good tonight
- New Radicals
Monday, May 07, 2007
Current Draft v. Old Love
I am now 43 pages into Current Draft. I had a miserable time writing today. Perhaps it was because I went to the library this time, where there's internet but no eating or drinking. Perhaps it's because I started writing a scene that pretty much mirrored an earlier scene and yet I could not delete. Perhaps it's just because I really don't like this story. Only yesterday it was starting to grow on me when I made one of my angry but trying teenagers beat the crap out of a jukebox with his drum sticks.
That was fun.
I've started adding all these cool features to my blog, besides its recent face lift. I'm quite fond of them. I like how writerly my picture makes me look, though in reality I think that night I was trying to read an article for Film History on the French New Wave or something after three nights of getting an average of 5 hours of sleep. I'm going to try to figure out how to do progress bars for my stories like Emily does over on her blog, because I'm sure that's what you all are *really* here for.
My aunt has been reading The 4:05, which thrills me. The last time we talked about it she had just stopped right before the Climax. She only started reading it yesterday, and I'm sure she's done by now, so I said to her at dinner, "Don't you think it's easier to read scripts than novels?"
And to my surprise, she said "no."
The thing is, sure, she reads it faster, but she was telling me how much she misses the description of novels. "Purple prose," I once heard it called, and screenwriters are told to stay away from it like the plague. Which, I feel, causes a dilemma because film is also a *visual* medium, they tell us over and over again, trying to make us screenwriters feel bad about our words, it's a *visual* story that's where the art comes from not from your snappy dialog and I just want to say, oh yeah? then what about all those college guys who spend their lunch periods quoting movies? Yeah, I never had to endure forty five minutes of them trying to recreate the angles and proportions of the puzzle scene from Citizen Kane!
I digress.
And then she got me thinking... a novel would be nice. I know I'm scripting in June, but what if I worked on a novel, over the summer (this summer is turning into quite the writer's treat, as I shall expound later... oh, expound, what a fun word.). Because, see, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've gotten a lot more... verbose lately. Verbage everywhere! I'm pouring out by the paragraphs, frivolous, superfluous dialog that would be strictly forbidden in the scripting world.
And I remember, how I started as a *fiction* writer. All this nonsense about movies came later. I can practically already feel the salt wind coming off the ocean in my setting. There's even an indistinct character walking along the beach and a woman who's watching him. It's so tempting...
Here is the problem. I have written three novels and another novel-length piece, but I've never written a real novel without NaNo. And it's terribly difficult, or at least daunting, to switch from the style of screenwriting to the style of novel writing. I was terrified to do it for NaNo this past year, but somehow I pulled through. A writer is a writer is a writer. I'm confident that I could even be a halfway decent poet if I tried long enough and practiced hard enough. And I've already novelled. Maybe I'll start in secret and type away furiously until I think I have a sustainable effort that can be proudly touted in front of everyone (what am I saying, a secret? I have a blog for crying out loud). Maybe I won't attempt anything at all until November, when I was planning, I confess, to write something silly and completely unsellable as it would not even be under my copyright.
Someone actually called me a serious writer on the Script Frenzy board (much love to you, sir!). Perhaps I could be a serious novelist for once.
Because, you see, Old Loves never really leave. And mine is tempting me back right now.
That was fun.
I've started adding all these cool features to my blog, besides its recent face lift. I'm quite fond of them. I like how writerly my picture makes me look, though in reality I think that night I was trying to read an article for Film History on the French New Wave or something after three nights of getting an average of 5 hours of sleep. I'm going to try to figure out how to do progress bars for my stories like Emily does over on her blog, because I'm sure that's what you all are *really* here for.
My aunt has been reading The 4:05, which thrills me. The last time we talked about it she had just stopped right before the Climax. She only started reading it yesterday, and I'm sure she's done by now, so I said to her at dinner, "Don't you think it's easier to read scripts than novels?"
And to my surprise, she said "no."
The thing is, sure, she reads it faster, but she was telling me how much she misses the description of novels. "Purple prose," I once heard it called, and screenwriters are told to stay away from it like the plague. Which, I feel, causes a dilemma because film is also a *visual* medium, they tell us over and over again, trying to make us screenwriters feel bad about our words, it's a *visual* story that's where the art comes from not from your snappy dialog and I just want to say, oh yeah? then what about all those college guys who spend their lunch periods quoting movies? Yeah, I never had to endure forty five minutes of them trying to recreate the angles and proportions of the puzzle scene from Citizen Kane!
I digress.
And then she got me thinking... a novel would be nice. I know I'm scripting in June, but what if I worked on a novel, over the summer (this summer is turning into quite the writer's treat, as I shall expound later... oh, expound, what a fun word.). Because, see, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've gotten a lot more... verbose lately. Verbage everywhere! I'm pouring out by the paragraphs, frivolous, superfluous dialog that would be strictly forbidden in the scripting world.
And I remember, how I started as a *fiction* writer. All this nonsense about movies came later. I can practically already feel the salt wind coming off the ocean in my setting. There's even an indistinct character walking along the beach and a woman who's watching him. It's so tempting...
Here is the problem. I have written three novels and another novel-length piece, but I've never written a real novel without NaNo. And it's terribly difficult, or at least daunting, to switch from the style of screenwriting to the style of novel writing. I was terrified to do it for NaNo this past year, but somehow I pulled through. A writer is a writer is a writer. I'm confident that I could even be a halfway decent poet if I tried long enough and practiced hard enough. And I've already novelled. Maybe I'll start in secret and type away furiously until I think I have a sustainable effort that can be proudly touted in front of everyone (what am I saying, a secret? I have a blog for crying out loud). Maybe I won't attempt anything at all until November, when I was planning, I confess, to write something silly and completely unsellable as it would not even be under my copyright.
Someone actually called me a serious writer on the Script Frenzy board (much love to you, sir!). Perhaps I could be a serious novelist for once.
Because, you see, Old Loves never really leave. And mine is tempting me back right now.
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