Beating myself up

I have to stop beating myself up for not writing.

When I refer to writing, I’m referring to the process of sitting down in front of a computer or with a notebook and writing fiction.  I tried to do that yesterday.  I’ve been trying to write something “new”, but my brain has not been cooperating.  Normally I think I’d be justified in struggling through the issue, but right now, I think its best to let my brain be.

The reason: I’m actually doing a bunch of writing without really realizing it.  Since the Keystone Theatre project is the creation of a play, there’s a lot of “writing” being done as a part of that.  Additionally, I have the Christmas story that I started last year that I need to continue working on.

And so, when I think about these things, I remember that I am writing.  And the writing that I’m doing needs to be the priority.  I don’t need to be writing something new, I just need to be more mindful of the things I am writing.

Second Draft

Last week, I started working in earnest on the second draft of my short story.  I’m feeling pretty good about the story, and where its heading.  Thanks to the feedback I got from my readers of the first draft, I’m making some improvements as I go. 

Early last week, I had a revelation about the main character, and that’s been spurring me forward allowing me to define him better than he was before, which is both essential, and helps me to give him a more active role, rather than being the passive observer he was before.

I’ve discovered that working from the digital copy doesn’t work for me as a method of writing the second draft.  I’ve found that the best way to do this draft is to print out the first draft, read through it and make notes directly on the printed copy, and then keep the printed copy open while I write the new draft, using my notes as a guide.

It seems to be working.

My focus is…krocused

Some Script Frenzy participant I am!  I’ve fallen way behind on my word count, and we’re heading towards the half-way point.  I just haven’t been able to focus.  I think that might be because of the way the film shoot of the last 3 weeks prevented me from having any real downtime.  Now that its over, my brain (which hasn’t had a rest in a while) just can’t seem to focus.  I’m hoping that after I’ve had a break I will be able to focus on the play at hand.

I suppose it would be easier if I wasn’t constantly getting other ideas for things to write.  But they keep popping into my head. Normally, that wouldn’t be so bad, but the problem right now, is that these new ideas are crowding out the existing one.  And I suppose that can really only be fixed with focus, which (as mentioned just a moment ago) I lack at the moment.

In other news, Dragon Quest.  Later this month, we’ll be doing ADR for the film. This weekend, I’ll get shooting the opening sequence.  I think that no one will notice I’ve gained a bit of weight, since…well, for the rest of the film I’m wearing a dragon costume.

Looks like the finished product will be ready in May.  And the truth is, I can’t wait.  I’ve wanted to show off this film since October.  When I know dates and such, you’d better believe you’ll hear about them here.

Doing a location justice

In the short story I’ve mentioned a couple of times before, I set part of the story in a place I have never been, the town of Churchill, Manitoba.  Churchill is about as far North as you can go on the Train.  I’ve done some reading about Churchill, and have tried to portray the people there as….well, people.  But I don’t really have a sense of what the town is like, what it feels like to walk through its streets.

A part of me feels like I should go there, just to experience it, so that I can write more accurately about it.

BUT, going there is not cheap.  There are no roads that lead to Churchill.  You can pretty much only get there by train, and the return ticket is very expensive (over $1000).  That doesn’t include a hotel and food. 

And so, I must bow to my pocketbook, and forget going there (at least not for the foreseeable future). No research of that sort for me.  I’ll just have to do what I have been doing: use my imagination, and hope I’m doing alright.

What’s on the go

I’ve had some time away from the short story I have been working on (I like to take a bit of time after I finish a draft), and I’ve received some really helpful feedback from a few people.  I’m now starting to go through the draft and beginning to revise it.

One thing I need to decide soon is what I want to do with the story once its finished.  Well, before that I really need to figure out if its going to be a short story, a novella…or what.  After that I need to figure out what to do with the story.  At the moment, I don’t have a clue.  I’m not really familiar with the workings of the publishing industry, so I’m a complete neophyte on this.  So, I’m going to have to do a bit of research (the last thing I want to do is go in blind…that’s a good recipe for getting ripped off). 

In addition to this, I’m mentally gearing myself up for Script Frenzy in April.  I know my topic, and the general gist of the play I’m going to write, but I still need to come up with a couple of things.  But I don’t think that will be a problem, and its looking good for starting on April First.

After Script Frenzy, I’m going to be turning my attention to the verse play I plan to write.  I’ll likely do another draft of the short story, and then on to the verse play.  I’ll have to write the verse play in a different way than I normally would: I’ll need to know each and every nuance of each scene before I start writing the verse.  So, in essence, I’ll be writing the play twice.

Aside from that, I’m feeling the need to do some theatre.  I’ve got a film shooting over three weekends this spring, and hopefully Dragon Quest will be revisited shortly (for ADR).  But theatre is where my heart is, and that’s where I really want to be working.  I’m keeping my eye out for Fringe auditions, and hoping that something will come up for over the summer.

Last night, I watched the movie Once, and was impressed.  A very independent movie, shot over 17 days, in what appears to be guerilla fashion, the movie is described as a "modern musical".  I would agree with the description, not because there’s music sung in the movie, but because its in the music that the emotions of the protagonists are revealed.   I’ve long felt that for a musical to work, the emotion of the scene leading up to it, needs to be taken to a point at which the only logical way for the scene to continue is for the characters to sing.  The difference here, is that in Once, the emotions might not build to a song, but the songs are simply where the characters can actually state what they are actually feeling.  Its definitely worth watching.  I also appreciated that the decisions the characters make at the end are not contrived and remain true to the characters.  Its nice to see.

One Down…. __ to go

Well, I finally managed to finish the first draft of my short story.  Which is an accomplishment in itself.  The story has been percolating in my brain for…well, almost 5 years.  In December, I decided that I wanted to actually tell the story (which I first made up as a really quick story for Gwen many years ago).  I had unrealistically hoped to finish it by Christmas, but that didn’t work out.  I am happy that I managed to finish it.  Now I’m going to set it aside for a little bit.  I’ve asked a few people to look at it, and I’ll take their constructive criticism and see what I can do with it.

Next up, a verse play.  I’m taking some time to research Iambic Pentameter before I get started on it, and also taking care to plot out the scenes and structure before I start writing, as I don’t want to get hung on those things while struggling with verse and meter.

I’ve also been doing some thinking about Script Frenzy, which is like NaNoWriMo, but with scripts.  I’m not sure what I want to write for that.  I’m not going to write the verse play for SF, because that’s going to take more than a month to do.  I have a play that I’ve tried to write several times, but I’ve never been able to gain momentum on it.  And then, I’ve often thought about writing a one-man play.  But I’m not sure how I want to go about that, or what topic I want to cover.  I’m a fan of Daniel MacIvor’s one person shows, like See Bob Run, Wild Abandon, House and Here Lies Henry.  I find those plays extremely engaging, and mesmerizing.  Watching House (as I had the privilege of doing last year), MacIvor’s character of Victor was completely engaging.  The same could be said of the characters in the other plays I listed.  I do prefer that style of one-actor show to the other kind: where the single actor embodies many characters over the coarse of the play.  I’ve enjoyed these kinds of shows in the past, but I never find them quite as engrossing and mesmerizing as the other.  And that’s the kind of one-actor show I’d want to write.  I’m not quite sure what it should be about though. 

I’ll come up with something, eventually.  I’d better not procrastinate too much though.  Script Frenzy will come along faster than I think, and if I’m not careful, I’ll be caught unaware.

Stuck

I’ve been working on a short story over the holidays, and I find myself quite stuck. 

This is an annoying state of affairs, since I was quite happy to be writing again.  I should be fighting my way through this, but I wonder if that’s helpful or if I should walk away for a while and come back to it fresh.

Its a good question, and I’m really quite uncertain of which I should do.

But then, its quite possible that the uncertainty is merely a way of procrastinating, isn’t it?

Winter Writing Vacation

After this past February passed, I realized that February is a month without pity.  Although it is the shortest month, it feels like the longest month.   I don’t know about where you are from, but here in Toronto, its an ugly month, with grey skies and dirty, slushy snow. 

I often feel like I should be writing, but that I just can’t manage to do it.  That’s how I felt this past February.   I wanted to write, but I just couldn’t manage to get anything out.  So, I said to myself then, that I should take a trip in February in order to focus on writing, the idea being that perhaps if I changed location for a while, I would be better able to write, especially in that bleak month.

I’ve had a few thoughts about where to go.  I’ve considered Victoria, BC.  Or Halifax, NS.  Or Edmonton, AB.

I’ve also recently considered New York City.  Partially because I’ve never been, and also because…well, it seems like the kind of place to get some writing done.  One thing that’s always held me back is the fact that all the hotels seem really expensive.  The Pod Hotel looks pretty reasonable though (comparatively speaking).  Of course, I’ve never been to New York, so I have no idea about how I would do things like get from the airport to the hotel or how I’d get around. I’m certain I’d manage. 

But I suppose I’ll have to make some decisions about where to go soon…February will be here before I know it if I’m not careful.

Ex Machina: back to it

I woke on the weekend with a cold.  On Saturday morning, it was a mere annoyance, but it seemed to grow in intensity so that by the time I went to sleep on Sunday night, my head felt like it had a large watermelon inside it.

I called in sick to work, and went back to sleep.  This is a good thing, because the watermelon has shrunk to a medium-sized cantaloupe, and I can sort of breathe through my nose. I will be napping throughout the day, and perhaps by the end of the day, my head will no longer feel like it has a melon of any kind inside it.

Since Dragon Quest finished shooting, I have been able to take some time to write again.  I’ve been taking my laptop to work, and writing on my lunch hour.  I’ve returned (as I mentioned once before) to the play Ex Machina, which I have attempted to write a couple of times before. The other times, I was unable to complete the play, because I was too focused on my concept, rather than on what was driving the play.  This time, I think I have a better shot at finishing, because I know what’s driving it.

Writers on Strike

Well, the Writers Guild of America is now on strike. The future of several tv shows and films in production (or pre-production) is in doubt.  Take a look at their demands.  The big sticking points here are New Media Royalties and increased DVD Royalties.  Canadian folks in the know will notice that this sounds familiar: these were the same sticking points for the recent ACTRA strike.  The rhetoric on both sides certainly sounds the same.

Its interesting to note that the Screen Actors Guild is heading towards a strike regarding the same things.

Chances are the producers will not want to make a deal with WGA before they do with SAG.  They won’t want to set a precedent.  So, the WGA strike will likely go on for a while, at least until SAG hits the bricks.

Its also going to get ugly. The Producers will claim near poverty and blame it on downloading (which is a lie and a myth). The WGA and SAG will point out the lies. There will be name calling.  And eventually someone will blink, and it will be over.  But its likely to be a while before it is.

Update: There’s a great summary at http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_11_02.html, which includes this little tidbit:

The Producers have taken the hard-line position that they will not discuss an increase in DVD and new media payments…and they will not address other issues until that one’s off the table.

Since New media payments and increased DVD royalties are a major sticking point for the Writers, and the producers won’t discuss any other issues until the WGA removes those demands…this one’s likely going to take a while.