Memories of Paris: Pigeons
I’m back in Kansas City now after having spent a week in London and a week in Paris, and I’m looking forward to finishing up my short film and starting some new projects, too. London was wonderful for taking in the art other people had produced, and Paris was perfect for creating some of my own. I wrote this on the plane back from Paris; hope you enjoy.
PIGEONS
Most people have one of two reactions to the pigeons swarming the square in front of Notre Dame (or really any other place in Paris). Amusement mingled with amazement at their sheer audacity is one of them, and it is usually reserved for tourists. The other is indignant annoyance, usually combined with a vigorous shooing hand motion or the harsh thwap of a menu or a book or some other flat object. This is demonstrated in perfect form by waiters in outdoor cafés.
A third category, much smaller in both number and stature, is the fascinated child, who sees the pigeons as an odd sort of temporary pet meant to be chased around whilst giggling.
These are the three largest divisions of pigeon interaction, but there is a fourth, and it is the true rare bird of pigeon-related behavior: the elderly man or woman who insists on feeding these avian creatures, considered by many to be nothing more than rats with wings. These folks are content to sit amongst hordes of them, in fact encouraging the birds to come closer. They remain nearly motionless, living statues, save the motion it takes to toss a handful of seed onto the ground.
I saw one such woman as I looked down upon the square from one of the towers of Notre Dame. Admittedly, I’d never given these eccentrics much thought. But from the gargoyle’s eye view, I was suddenly stricken with curiosity. What possesses any given person to adopt such behavior? I myself fall into the Amused Tourist category when it comes to pigeons, but when more than three approach I start imagining Hitchcock-esque scenes and quickly add space between myself and the feathered creatures.
But this woman had to have been keeping company with at least fifty if not a hundred, in front, behind, and some even sitting on the bench right next to her. I was a little baffled, and no small part of me was rather frightened for her safety.
I turned to tap my sister’s shoulder to show her the spectacle, and when I turned back, I saw something even more bizarre. A mass of pigeons was hovering in a column of sorts, only a few paces from the woman. I peered at the strange pillar, for a second annoyed that I was so high up. I pitied the gargoyles who surrounded me, always watching from this dead space between heaven and earth.
But then the column began to change before my eyes. Whether it was some sort of cognitive process catching up to reality or a bit of magic happening on the ground, I cannot say with any certainty, but I know what I choose to believe. I no longer saw a pillar of pigeons but a man, matched in age to the woman on the bench. He wore a Bogey-style hat, and a pigeon sat on top of it. His arms were outstretched, and there were three pigeons on each. The woman did not run away frightened or jump up with excitement. She simply remained on the bench, her face turned toward the man. I could not see her expression from my position, but it must have been welcoming, as the man sat down beside her, displacing some of his avian companions (though they did not seem to mind — they almost seemed to make room for him, as if they accepted him as an equal, just as deserving of the woman’s attention as they were).
At that moment, we were siphoned into another stairwell leading to the very top of the tower. From there, I could see all of Paris, but the woman, her pigeons, and her mysterious male companion were gone. The bench was empty, for a moment, and whatever I’d just witnessed (a meeting? a reunion?) remained only in my memory.
© 2010 Elizabeth Ditty
A Moleskine Notebook Excerpt from Today
Have woken up to news that Nicholl does not love me. Not even a P.S. this year. Had made terrible mistake of getting hopes up after making BlueCat semi-finals. Am now convinced BlueCat is complete fluke; name was obviously there by mistake.
—
Considering chucking writing dream & becoming Domestic Goddess instead. Ignoring current state of house as indicator of potential success.
—
Was just asked what activities are therapeutic for me (in lieu of shopping, which tends toward destructive for both finances and morale). Came up blank. Perhaps could be part of problem.
—
Have found relaxation solution! Need hot tub. No purpose besides relaxation. Perfect.
—
Have realized have no money for hot tub & hot tubs are expensive.
Possible solutions:
1) Sell script.
2) Acquire sugar daddy.
3) Sell soul to devil (probably pays better, money being root of all evil, after all).
4) Find nasty info on celeb/politician & blackmail.
5) Convince parents to buy one instead & mooch unapologetically (hot tub will melt away guilt, surely).
Fear all possible solutions are 1) likely to increase stress, at which point will have to find other means of relaxation in transition period between start of plan and acquisition of hot tub, and 2) unlikely.
—
Relaxation is too hard & obviously for the birds.
—
Reconsidering notion to become Domestic Goddess as have just dumped potently colored lunch ALL OVER SELF.
(Then scooped off chair & shirt & back onto plate and then into mouth as it was rather delicious.)
Perhaps Domestic Goddnessness is still in the cards, with application of apron and/or bib at all times.
—
Have just discovered presence of four black beans and one cherry tomato underneath arse. Make that four smushed black beans and one crushed cherry tomato. Did not eat them.
—
Friend: “You are a creature of grace and wonder today.” Too true, I know. Just like every day.
April is Madness
April brings its own special kind of spring fever to my neck of the woods. The little kid soccer team I coach starts their season back up. My youngest sister starts playing high school soccer again. The lawn starts needing mowing again, and there’s that whole spring cleaning business, too. And of course there’s the short film I’m preparing to shoot in May. And then, on top of all that, I’m supposed to write a brand new screenplay? Apparently so. I know things are getting out of hand when I start resorting to a to-do list, and I know things are especially bad when, at the top of that to do list, I decide to add a little bit of motivational pep talk.
The sad thing is, the motivational pep talk doesn't even have any pep. It's as tired as I am.
But hey. “We are intrepid. We carry on.” Right?
So, if you, like me, are feeling a little overwhelmed this month, here’s how I’m dealing.
Make it concrete. The to-do list is not a joke, folks. Laying out the tasks you would like to reasonably accomplish is the first step to actually getting stuff done. When everything’s swirling around in your brain, it’s like staring at a bowl of alphabet soup. Nothing makes sense. Ditch the milk, take out the letters, and arrange them into something you can read. Plus there’s something really satisfying about marking off an item. When I get overwhelmed, I like to resort to the old-fashioned paper list, but there are some great online to-do lists out there, too. The one I use most often is gubb.net, but find one that works for you and use it.
Don’t forget time to relax. Put it on your to-do list. If you’re going a million miles a minute every minute of the day, your brain will stop working. Give it time to stop thinking for a bit, even if it’s only for 15-20 minutes. Read a book. Meditate. Watch a TV show. Catch a movie if you can spare the time.
Break the big tasks down. I ran into a tiny issue with my script suddenly developing a case of schizophrenia. I was essentially writing two completely different stories in the same script. The result is that, after having written 40 pages, I realized I pretty much needed to start over. I knew I’d be able to salvage a little from my original 40 pages, but the bulk of everything would be new. So, after a good push this weekend, I’m looking at writing 70 pages in the next 11 days if I want to have a complete first draft by the end of the month. That sounds like a lot. However, when I break it down, it’s really only about 6½ pages a day. That’s much easier to swallow.
Focus. I don’t usually have a problem using IM and twitter when I’m writing. I’ve got the weird Gen-Y thing where a little distraction usually helps me. However, I found this weekend that, with everything else already swirling around in my brain, adding IM and twitter to the mix whilst trying to write was not working. On Friday night, I wrote about one page in the course of two hours. Not good, folks. Finally realized I needed to sign off, and I managed to kick out about 5 pages in 40 minutes. Much better. Lesson? Focus on whatever you’re doing, and, if you’re having trouble doing that, eliminate any could-be distractions.
Be healthy. Don’t forget that you need your body in order to do this whole writing thing. Don’t give up eating well, and, if you’re in the habit of working out, don’t let it fall by the wayside. Additionally, as Tony Horton says, “Drink your water, people.” You can have your caffeine, too, but make sure your not letting your brain dry out.
Now, when we make it through the month alive, if you’re still jonesing for more screenwriting action instead of, I don’t know, a margarita-filled beach vacation, there are a couple of workshops happening the first weekend in May.
Here in Kansas City, the BlueCat folks are holding a full script workshop on May 1. I attended a 10-page workshop last May and came out of it having learned a lot. The chance to mingle with your fellow, local screenwriters is really valuable, so it’s definitely something worth checking out. As I’m writing this, there are just 3 spots left, though there is also an audit option (where you attend and get to take part in the discussions but don’t get your own script workshopped). Check it out here (along with a list of upcoming workshops in other areas).
Secondly, Julie Gray of Just Effing Entertain Me (formerly The Rouge Wave) and The Script Department is conducting a series of classes/workshops. On May 1 & 2, she’s got one in San Francisco. Julie’s blog is a wonderful source of information and motivation. I personally have used The Script Department’s services, and my phone consultation with Julie was extremely helpful. I’m hoping she’ll make it to Kansas City one day, but, for you lucky folks in the San Francisco area, her workshop is definitely something worth checking out. You can find all the pertinent info here.
That’s all for now. Keep on keeping on, as they say. April will be over soon. But not so soon that you should worry about not being able to finish your script. Right.
[By Request] Affect vs. Effect
As promised, in my last post, if you have a grammar/punctuation/spelling question, I will do my best to answer it. Katie Leas took me at my word and asked me about Affect and Effect. In most instances, you can follow this simple rule to keep your use of affect and effect on the straight and narrow.
Effect is a noun.¹
Affect is a verb.²
Now, this wouldn’t be the English language without exceptions to the rules.
- Effect can also be used as a verb.
- Affect can also be used as a noun.
Confused yet? Let’s tackle Affect as a Noun first.
Affect as a noun is used only in the realm of psychology. In that world, it’s used to describe an observed emotion or feeling in a patient.
Though the writer often exhibited feelings of paranoia, his therapist noted the affect was always heightened during November.
You’re not going to come across this sort of language too often, so you can file this away under “Things Worth Knowing I Need to Look Up If Ever I Stumble Across Them.”
Now, here’s where things get tricky. If Effect can also be used as a verb, then how do you know which to use? The difference is tricky and very much a matter of nuance.
Effect: to cause change
Affect: to influence
One way to remember this is that Effect as a Noun means a result. So, if you’re using Effect as a Verb, whatever’s doing the effecting had better be causing some results. If, on the other hand, the whatever in question isn’t necessarily the direct cause but is doing a bit of nudging, then Affect as a Verb. Most of the sentences I see should be using Affect as a Verb, but, again, it’s a matter of nuance. What exactly are you trying to say? Effect as a Verb has a lot more denotative punch than Affect as a Verb, so use it wisely.
To conclude:
- Affect as a Verb [to influence]: Reading these blog posts on grammar is really affecting the way I approach my writing.
- Effect as a Verb [to cause]: By writing these blog posts, I hope to effect a change in the way people approach their writing.
- Effect as a Noun [a result]: Reading these blog posts on grammar has really had an effect on the clarity of my writing.
- Affect as a Noun [an observed emotion]: The writer often suffered delusions of megalomania, but writing those blog posts on grammar only seemed to intensify the affect.
[By Request] The Em Dash: Friend or Foe?
I hardly consider myself an expert on the art of writing. I do my research, and I hope I keep improving, but I think there are simply too many methods, opinions and philosophies out there for anyone to ever truly become a bona fide, incontrovertible expert.
That being said, if there’s one thing I do pride myself on knowing, it’s grammar, spelling and punctuation. I sacrificed my (semi) perfect eyesight in the pursuit of a nearly-error-free newspaper in college, and I still make a bit of extra income doing some freelance copyediting.
So, when my friends have a question about grammar, spelling or punctuation, they often come to me, and I am happy to help. One such friend has requested I do a pre-NaNoWriMo post on Em Dashes. I think she was witness to a bit of bantering that took place on twitter with fellow writer, one who happens to have a rather passionate love affair with the em dash. I, on the other hand, have often expressed my hatred of that dastardly punctuation mark, due to major overuse in publications I copyedit.
That being said, there is a time and a place for an em dash. When used properly, I actually can’t help but be charmed. Because my degree is in journalism, I generally follow the Associated Press guidelines:
ABRUPT CHANGE: Use dashes to denote an abrupt change in thought in a sentence or an emphatic pause: We will fly to Paris in June — if I get a raise. Smith offered a plan — it was unprecedented — to raise revenues.SERIES WITHIN A PHRASE: When a phrase that otherwise would be set off by commas contains a series of words that must be separated by commas, use dashes to set off the full phrase: He listed the qualities — intelligence, humor, conservatism, independence — that he liked in an executive.ATTRIBUTION: Use a dash before an author’s or composer’s name at the end of a quotation: “Who steals my purse steals trash.” — Shakespeare.WITH SPACES: Put a space on both sides of a dash in all uses except the start of a paragraph and sports agate summaries.
“I just can’t help myself,” Kristin said. “Em dashes are so —”“Don’t say it,” Elizabeth interjected. “I simply can’t bear it.”
WRONG: “We’ll learn proper punctuation… some day.”RIGHT: “We’ll learn proper punctuation — starting now!”
Nonessential Clause: “National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a time for both feats and follies.”Interjection: “National Novel Writing Month — or, as I like to call it, Writers Are Crazy Month — takes place every year in November.”
NaNoWriMo: A Call to Action
November is my favorite month of the year. It has it all: colorful leaves, usually a sprinkling of snow, the beginnings of seasonal cheer and décor, Thanksgiving, and (last, but definitely not least) my birthday.
As if November weren’t fantastic enough, the folks at The Office of Letters and Light had to go and pile on National Novel Writing Month. So, that makes November’s official tagline “How much awesome can you handle?”
This will be my fifth year participating in NaNoWriMo. I’ve “won” all previous four years (hitting my personal goals of 60k in 2007 and 75k in 2008, I might add, in the interest of tooting my own horn), but I have yet to come out of the month with a baby novel. To recap:
- In 2005, I wrote about a slightly fictionalized version of my five weeks of hell working at Wal-Mart right after I graduated college.
- In 2006, I wrote a truly horrible (if complete) supernatural-mystery-thriller featuring the worst dialog and the biggest Mary Sue of all time.
- In 2007, I wrote what a story about a young man who chooses not to speak and realized about 20,000 words in that it was supposed to become a screenplay. I finished it, but no one will ever see that version. Instead, it served as a very broad and early conceptual version of MUTE.
- In 2008, I tackled a huge concept I really had no business tackling: a collision of the modern and fairytale worlds on a ridiculously epic scale. It remains unfinished.
Despite having no novel to show for my four wins, I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. It was NaNoWriMo that reawakened my desire to write for a living after school and life had dampened it a bit. It was NaNoWriMo that proved to me that I could write something novel-length, even if I had a long way to go as a prose writer. With a little (or, on some days, a lot of) effort each day, I could be a writer.
So, here’s my advice. If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of writing a book, because it sounds like fun, or you think you have a story to tell, or you want to say you once did, or — God help you — you want to be a writer, then November is the perfect time to take the plunge. At no other time during the year will you have the same support you get from the NaNoWriMo site, its tools, and all the other crazies partaking in the rollercoaster adventure of writing a novel in a month with you.
Even if you think you won’t have time to write 50,000 words, I’d still encourage you to give it a shot. Even if you end up with 40,000 or 20,000 or 2,000 or 500 words, it’s likely more than you would have written otherwise, and that, my friends, is a victory. So, if you’re up for the challenge, head on over to the NaNoWriMo site and sign yourself up. If you like, feel free to add me as a buddy (you can do so easily by clicking on the participant icon on the right side of my blog). I’ve got a feeling that November 2009 is going up to be the best NaNoWriMo ever, so don’t miss out!
Recap: 20 September 2009
Did someone speed up time? I swear it was July only a week or two ago, and now we’re 9 days and a few hours away from October? That, my friends, is just crazy.
I spent a portion of my weekend writing a five-page scene for the Cyberspace Open. It was an interesting experience. I’ve done a couple of short scene contests before via The Rouge Wave (now Just F*ing’ Entertain Me), but those scenes were always a story in and of themselves. This weekend’s contest asked us writers to create a scene from a script that doesn’t yet exist. Here’s the prompt.
“Your PROTAGONIST is in a jam. He (or she) had been relying on deception in order to further his objective, but his ENEMY has figured out the ruse. Write the scene in which your protagonist’s LOVE INTEREST confronts him with this information acquired from the enemy – while staging it in a tricky or dangerous situation.”
So, we basically had to come up with an entire movie idea, envision the entire arc of the story for those three characters, and then write the All is Lost moment (to use Blake Snyder’s terminology), which would occur somewhere about two-thirds of the way into the movie. Or at least that’s how I interpreted the situation.
I started out trying to come up with tricky/dangerous situations that would make for interesting settings. I came up with a few, but I couldn’t come up with a viable story. It wasn’t until I laid down to go to sleep that night that my brain started drifting toward characters. I jotted down an idea for some characters on the notepad I keep by my bed, and — voilà — I had my story. The setting is what I like to call a creative take on the tricky/dangerous situation (did I mention my minor was in public relations?), but it’s the best I could do as a character-driven writer in the time I had to do it. At least at this point in my life. If nothing else, I’ve got a scene written for a potential screenplay that I actually would like to write at some point, regardless of how it does in the competition.
So that’s what I’ve been writing. Now, here’ s…
What I Watched
- Melinda & Melinda (3 stars): Another foray into Woody Allen territory. In this film, two writers, one of comedies and one of tragedies, interpret one set of circumstances into two different stories, which we get to see on screen. It’s an interesting idea, all bent on tackling the questions, “Is life a tragedy or a comedy? And why do we gravitate toward either in our entertainment?” The film is sort of an experiment in and of itself, and, while it doesn’t always succeed in outright entertainment, I thought it was an amusing and thought-provoking piece.
- Interview (2 stars): There’s one thing I hate in movies, and that is characters with no arc whatsoever. I hate it when people end up in the same place they began having learned nothing at all. And that’s more or less what happens here. That being said, the performances by Sienna Miller and Steve Buscemi are very, very good. But when the characters don’t know what to take from an experience, neither do I as a viewer.
- Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (3 stars): Garry Marshall created a product here perfect for the intended audience: tween girls. And apparently me. Not much to say about this one. It’s fun and airy and nice to look at.
- Blue (4 stars): The first installment in director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy, the story follows a woman who tries to live life with no attachments following the loss of her husband and daughter in a car accident. This is the very definition of a character-driven movie. There’s not much plot, per se, but it’s a brilliant character study. Juliette Binoche is phenomenal here. She doesn’t have much dialog, but she doesn’t need it. Everything we need to know is on her face and in her eyes.
- Coffee & Cigarettes (2 stars): And that’s generous, frankly. This is a series of unlinked vignettes starring various actors, celebrities, musicians, etc., all talking about rather banal material whilst enjoying coffee and cigarettes. There are a few rather enjoyable vignettes (Cate Blanchett’s piece is interesting, Jack and Meg White’s piece is amusing, and Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina’s bit is the best part), but the rest are, for the most part, just plain boring. Maybe I’m missing something, but I felt this was a punishment for enjoying Princess Diaries 2 as much as I did.
- Twelfth Night (2 stars): Twelfth Night is my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies that I’ve read. And this adaptation should have been great because the source material is great. But they made some truly unfortunate interpretations, specifically regarding the portrayals of Malvolio, Sir Andrew, and Feste. Much of the humor and tongue-in-cheek nature of the play was lost in this adaptation. What remained was a whirlwind drama. I remember having enjoyed it before I read the play, but seeing it now was just a huge letdown.
- Jennifer’s Body (3 stars): If you’re looking for Diablo Cody hate, you certainly won’t find it here. I thoroughly enjoyed Juno, and I’d be watching United States of Tara if I had Showtime (saw the pilot and loved it). And you know what? If the girl wants to write a campy horror movie, then why the hell shouldn’t she? Now that that’s out of the way, as a campy horror movie, Jennifer’s Body delivers exactly what you’d expect. It’s fun, creepy, perhaps not as scary as it could have been, but overall, it’s a solid enough horror comedy for me. It’s a film that knows what it is and doesn’t try to be anything else.
That’s all for now, folks. Have a lovely week. 
Recap: 27 July 2009
My quasi-vacation from writing concluded on Friday, and I got back in the saddle Saturday morning. I managed to read through my first draft of TDPU in one sitting, which struck me as a good sign. It usually takes me a few sittings to get through a script, even when it’s my own, mostly because my brain skews a tiny bit ADD. It felt less jumbled reading it than it did whilst writing it, so that was a nice surprise. Anyway, the first round of edits is going pretty smoothly so far, but I haven’t gotten to the parts where I actually have to add some things. Still, I’m hoping to have a new draft to send out to my alpha readers by this weekend.
In other news, I’ve come to the conclusion that I should probably write a treatment for MUTE. I’ve never written a treatment before, though I think I have a handle on the concept/purpose. My main qualm with this task is it means I actually need to read MUTE again. And, frankly, that sort of freaks me right on out. That script is the most personal thing I’ve ever written; it’s not autobiographical in any way shape or form, but that script overtook my brain and heart for the better part of a year. So, the thought of opening it back up again and trying to get inside it again scares me because I don’t want to lose focus on my other projects. I also don’t want to read it again and have the epiphany that it’s total and complete dreck. But it has to be done, so I think I’ll tackle it while TDPU is in the hands of my benevolent friends/readers. So that’s the bent my writerly angst is taking these days.
Now, onto something more fun! Movies!
What I Watched
- The Apartment (3½ stars): This 1960 classic drama, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacClaine, tackles some pretty dark and controversial material. Basically, it’s about a guy trying to move up the corporate ladder who gets ahead by letting the higher-ups use his apartment for affairs. It starts out sort of screwball, so I was surprised when it took a turn toward the dark side in Act Two. It’s a compelling story, and the performances are great (Lemmon & MacClaine were both Oscar-nommed), but the film as a whole never truly grabbed me in a memorable way. I have a hard time on first viewing with films that walk the line between comedy and drama tonally (Exhibit 1: In Bruges, which I now adore), so I may warm up to it later.
- Sixteen Candles (3 stars): Can I be honest? I was really disappointed in this one. After being so delighted by the lesser-known Some Kind of Wonderful, I was expecting something really special from another John Hughes offering. It wasn’t bad, mind you. There were some charming moments, some funny ones, etc. It just didn’t have as much heart as some of his other works from the ’80s.
- Wife vs Secretary (3½ stars): Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow: hard to go wrong, right? Add in Jimmy Stewart in one of his first roles? Come on. While it veers a little toward overly serious at the end, I still had a great time watching. There’s not a whole lot to say about this, to be honest. It’s a story of a wife who mistakenly thinks her husband is having an affair with his secretary. It’s funny, and it’s sad, and it’s hopeful, and, in a lot of ways, it’s very real.
- New Shoes [short] (3½ stars): This was a quirky little musical on the Wife vs. Secretary DVD about two people falling in love from the point of view of their shoes. It was overly long, but the music was so catchy that I went to iTunes to try and find it afterwards. Sadly, no luck. Anywho, I usually find these things sort of boring, but I actually thought this one was pretty fun. So, if you happen to rent the DVD, check this out, too.
- Sleepless in Seattle (3½ stars): I hadn’t seen this rom-com classic in a lot of years, and it had sort of become a little meh in my memory. But I was charmed by it (or really by Tom Hanks, if I’m being honest) upon viewing again. It’s a sweet movie, and it knows what it is and makes fun of itself a bit. The scene where Tom Hanks and Victor Garber make fun of Rita Wilson for dissolving into a gibbering ball of tears while trying to explain why An Affair to Remember is so great is probably my favorite of the entire movie. You could probably argue that this is not a “good film,” but honestly, who cares? It’s enjoyable, and it made me feel happy, and sometimes that’s all you need.
- O’Horten (3½ stars): I think I will really enjoy this film at a later stage in life. It’s the story of a career train conductor who has no idea what to do with himself after retirement. It meanders through various misadventures, all of which have the effect of buoying him and then going drolly wrong. It’s a Norwegian film, so I’m chalking up some of the things I didn’t get to cultural differences (e.g., finding a guy sleeping on the sidewalk, engaging him in conversation, buying him a cab to take him home, and then going with him and hanging out with him). The humor is also very, very, very dry for the most part. Still, I could tell that it was a charming movie, and I’m already feeling warmer toward it. I’ll have to give it another shot in 5 or 10 years and see how it affects me then.
- Last Chance Harvey (3½ stars): I will watch anything with Dustin Hoffman, and I will watch anything with Emma Thompson. My sister and I actually tried to catch this in theatres twice only to have it sold out both times. It was worth the wait, though. It’s a very simple story about two people who are sort of lost and stagnant, but, somehow, they click and are able to make each other feel less lost and more able to move again. The performances are as lovely as you would expect from these two, and they work very well together on screen. This is the sort of movie I’d like to sit down with on a cold day in November with a cup of hot chocolate, perhaps when I’m feeling sort of depressed about life, knowing that 93 minutes later I’d feel warm and hopeful in a realistic sort of way.
Oh, and I also finished reading both The Sugar Queen
And that’s it. This week’s word of advice: Look up or out or sideways and see what’s there. Have a good one, folks!
Screenwriting and the Art of Optimism
If you feel like having your hopes dashed and your dreams pooh-poohed, there are plenty of avenues to do that in the world of screenwriting. Upon entering the Wide World of RSS Feeds, a dear friend and fellow aspiring screenwriter lamented at how overwhelming it all was. There’s a wealth of information and opinion out there, and it’s easy to end up with this as the overall message: “You, Fledgling Screenwriter, are supposed to be doing Items A through ZZZ, and even if you’re doing every single one of those things, the odds of making it are positively Lilliputian.”
I’ve now made the first cut of two screenwriting competitions but failed to progress to the next round. The BlueCat Screenwriting Competition announced their semi-finalists last night (the top 1 percent of 3200 entries down from the top 20 percent for quarterfinals), and I was not on their list. Cue Existential Crisis.
I’m feeling better this morning than I was last night, and I’m feeling better now than I was when I got up. By the end of the day, hopefully I’ll be back into Write the Next Thing Mode, which is good since I’m on the verge of finishing up my current work. (Whilst jumping back into writing tonight, though, I may fill that last bit of emptiness in my heart where a semi-finalist placement would have resided with what some may call copious amounts of wine and maybe a bit of carrot cake, too.)
So, the question remains, if you still feel like you have to do this Thing Called Writing despite all the frustration and heartbreak and general down-in-the-dumpness that accompanies it, how do you stop yourself from sinking into a deep pit of melancholy and bitterness? Well, here’s how I do it.
- Surround yourself with positive people who know when to give you realism (whilst giving notes on your shitty-but-with-potential firstish drafts) and when to say, “Screw realism. You’re awesome, and you need to keep going because the world is in need of your brand of awesomeness.”
- Allow yourself to take a sabbatical from the Blogs of Doom. Most of the time, I can pick out the beneficial information from the dour tones, but sometimes it gets to be a little much. And when that happens, it’s OK to step away from it for a bit.
- Read or watch (or even do) something inspiring or escapist or heartwarming. Sometimes life is overwhelming; there’s nothing wrong with hitting your own personal pause button and taking some time to do something purely enjoyable for a few hours.
- Exercise. Honestly. Endorphins and all that. Additionally, I find any sort of kickboxing/taebo/kenpo workout coupled with visualization of naysayers does wonders.
- Get out in the world. Pick up a new hobby. Go somewhere you’ve never been before. Do something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t because you’ve been afraid or alone or didn’t know where to start. Have an experience.
- Keep writing. Finish what you’re writing. Start something new. Take an excursion into a different medium. But keep writing. Keep generating ideas. Be a shark. Keep moving.
Those tactics usually do the trick for me. Perhaps there is an end to my rope, and maybe one day I’ll reach it and give up the ghost. But for the timebeing, it’s not in sight. Onward and upward, as they say.
(“And remember, keep your powder dry.”)
Recap: 13 July 2009
I’ve sort of been slacking on my movie-watching the past couple of weeks. Just been very, very busy. I’ve had The Apartment sitting on my table for an embarrassingly long period of time (oh, lord — just checked Netflix to see when it actually arrived, and now I feel even worse!), so I’m going to get that watched this week. It must happen.
The good news is I’m nearly out of Act Two, and I’m through the hard part of Act Two. Everything else is downhill from here. I’m not sure how many pages I averaged last week, but it was more than three a day, and I managed to write every day, too. If I keep that up, I should finish up the first draft of TDPU this week, or at least come close.
All right, let’s get to it.
What I Watched
- American Psycho (2 stars): This is the only movie that’s ever caused me to walk out of a theatre. Now that it’s become a cult favorite of sorts, I figured it was time to give it another shot. I wasn’t offended this time, but I was just plain bored. I just didn’t get it. I tried; I really did. I wanted to like it. Honestly. But I just couldn’t. If you like super-dark, violent, semi-pornographic, mildy comedic commentaries on ’80s corporate culture, though, this might just be for you.
- Public Enemies (3½ stars): This gets that half star because the performances, especially from Johnny Depp, are fantastic. I didn’t feel the story lived up to what the actors delivered, though. The film was very event-focused, which left little room for character exploration, which is really the thing in which I was most interested. I was disappointed in most of the cinematography, too, to be honest. It felt like a solid history lesson instead of a compelling movie. Part of my disappointment is that I went in with pretty high expectations. So, while the film is good, it’s just not as good as I wanted it to be.
- Phoebe in Wonderland (5 stars): This is a touching (without being cloying) story about a little girl who experiences the world a little differently and how her family, friends and teachers deal with it. Elle Fanning stars, and she is dazzling. I don’t know what sort of genetics it takes to end up with two kids as talented as the Fanning sisters, but it’s probably worth some study. Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman and Patricia Clarkson all give wonderful supporting performances as well.
- Chéri (3½ stars): Michelle Pfeiffer stars as a 19th century courtesan who keeps a young man, the son of another retired courtesan, occupied until his mother can arrange a marriage for him. Only when they part do they realize the intensity of the feelings they’ve developed for each other; the rest of the movie deals with the fall-out. The movie is an interesting character study, but it was lacking some sort of spark. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I just wasn’t captured the way I wanted to be. That being said, it is entertaining and snarky and amusing, and, if you like Michelle Pfeiffer or period pieces or English blokes with nice bums, I’d recommend it.
- I Could Never Be Your Woman (3 stars): Another Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle, this time costarring Paul Rudd, who is ridiculously charming and adorable and crush-inducing. This film is also by writer-director Amy Heckerling, who gave the world Clueless. Unfortunately, I didn’t think this movie was as good; it seemed a little indulgent with about eight too many industry inside jokes. But Pfeiffer and Rudd are lovely to watch, and there were certainly a good number of funny and/or cute moments. If you’re a fan of Paul Rudd or Michelle Pfeiffer, it’s certainly worth seeing.
- Moon (5 stars): Another 5-star movie for 2009! This is a sort of Twilight Zone-esque sci-fi film starring Sam Rockwell, who delivers an absolute fantastic performance. I’ll be extremely disappointed if he doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for this role. The story is compelling, and the cinematography is well-suited to the mood of the film. The score is also gorgeous. Now, this is one that you’ll probably have to put in a little extra effort to see; I had to drive 30 minutes. But I found the trip to be well worth it.
That’s all for now, folks. Have a lovely week!
