Skip to main content

Theatrical Tuesday - A Writer At Christmas

TuesdayI did take Christmas Day off, but the rest of my "vacation" has involved writing. There is too much on my to-do list not to. Maybe someday I'll have vacations completely free of work, but I'm sure ideas will strike me and I'll have to write them down anyway.

Before today, however, I was rather blocked up. I got maybe a scene or two looked at each day on my short film script. Normally, I can get a revision done in a couple of hours. Nope. Couldn't focus. Final Draft's method for displaying comments didn't help either. I sent them feedback because they'll either tell me about some setting I couldn't find or make use of the feedback. They're pretty good that way. Anyway, I got the revised short film done today after several days of barely getting anywhere with it. Holiday brain, as one friend said, was probably another factor.

Writers are rarely not working. Every interaction or experience is potentially research. As is every moment we're browsing on-line. We may or may not make use of it, but these are the things that become part of stories. Someone says something in a weird way like speaking nonchalantly about cancer. A dog that hates having his snow booties taken off and prefers to slip all over the house. These are character elements.

Maybe you're watching TV with the family and a bit of dialogue strikes your mind in a funny way, which gets you thinking about one of the projects you've been stuck on. Suddenly, you have the inspiration you need to finish it.

I also completed a creepy monologue for some placement hours. That involved a couple hours of research and the actual writing. Now I'm just waiting to find out where I send it to.

I've watched a lot of cheesy Christmas movies in the last few days. I keep thinking the people that write them probably make a decent amount of money on the scripts, but some of them are so awful I want to bash my head against a wall. They would be better work than copy writing, but I'm really hoping my films are different enough to get me somewhere.

When I get back to Ottawa, I want to check out some Akira Kurosawa films and maybe catch some of the things I haven't made it to yet at the theatre. I'd like to have a second watch of The Last Jedi also.

I think New Years might be filled with gaming this year. I can dress comfy and stay warm. We'll see. I don't currently have plans. Maybe I'll go to a bar nearby for a bit too. Maybe I'll visit friends. Really anything is possible.

I hope everyone is enjoying Boxing Day. I briefly thought about going out, but with all the Lego games I have, there's really no need. Also, the only thing I want is a Nintendo Switch. Instead, I made a list of goals that include getting a Switch, with the steps to work toward them. Instead of using the gift card I got on a possible copy of Lego Star Wars, I'm going to put it toward the Switch after I sell some things to make that happen. It seems like a good idea to me. It also fits into my goal of reducing the stuff I don't need.

My plan now is to take a break. Later, I want to have a look at the script for our video term project. I think it might be worthwhile to list the shooting information inside the regular script, so it's all in one place. I need to slightly tweak a couple of lines and then work on memorizing mine. I *can* leave much of the rest for the end of the week, but I probably won't. The more I have finished while not in class, the better.

Guid cheerio the nou,
R~

Popular posts from this blog

The Gauntlet That Was October

I had a lot of things happen in October. I watched Frankenstein in the cemetery with friends. I had tea with a friend. I started a new sport: curling. This is really fun and I'm enjoying the level of activity it provides and all the strategic elements. I'll do a separate post on it soon. Unfortunately, soon after my first game, I came down with Covid and so did the friend who I had tea with, so I think we both caught it at the place we went to. That wasn't fun. I already posted about that. I was fortunate to be free of it in time to attend Can-Con where I took in lots of panels, saw some of the wonderful writer community, bought many new books, and volunteered to help out in the rooms. The following weekend, I went to the livestream for Danielle Allard's new album release, followed by the in person release. As part of this, she has a 6 video series that releases every Sunday on her YouTube at 1:15 PM EDT. Video number 2, Falling Into Place, is one that I feel fortunate

Frisky Friday - Maple Syrup Porn

[caption id="attachment_10523" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bitmoji[/caption] While delving into some Canadian film history this week, I learned that there is a thing called Maple Syrup Porn. I laughed when I read the term. I thought, "Is our adult film industry really called Maple Syrup Porn?" It's not. Some is Canadian, but it mostly refers to getting around censorship of sex. It was not only common in Quebec due to religion, but several places in the US. You can read more about it here . If you're looking to heat things up this weekend, consider a sweet old film from the early days of the sexual revolution. Maybe even drizzle a little syrup on your partner ;) Guid cheerio the nou, R~

On Edge - ROW80 R1-16

This sounds superstitious, but the fact that this is Leap Year has me on edge. Why? The last two have been rather difficult for me. In 2012, my work place was being divested and I was working multiple job roles because of all the people who had left. My marriage also ended. This led to a major life change, which included moving to Ottawa. I love Ottawa, so at least that worked out. The rest was hard. In 2016, I was restructured out of my job. This led to me floating about for a while on EI as I tried to figure out my future, trying some things like Copywriting out, and going back to school for screenwriting. After school, it took time to find work and I almost lost my home and car in the process. Scary stuff. It's now 2020 and I have a full-time permanent job again, but I'm filling multiple job roles because we're short-handed. We're also so far into year end that it's hard to train the person who is learning to be me for one of those roles. I'm just hopin