Fin

Got through nine pages of the novella yesterday. And about twelve today to finish it. Now a little hiatus from it as I work on some film projects before finishing the second draft.

Watched Inland Empire last night, just don't get it.
















Wednesday night watched Where the Heart Is and The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Which prompted the question, what could be better than watching an Uma Thurman movie marathon?

Got through ten pages yesterday. Nine today. Could have done more, but the next several pages are going to be all new material and didn't feel like talking it this late in the day.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to go to a writer's retreat where I will not be bothered by the mundanities and distractions life throws my way. A place where people understand that if I am distant, it's not because I am being rude, but because my mind is in another place working out some problem with plot or character. Or if I don't e-mail/call someone back right away, it's because I'd much rather spend that time with my characters than a real person. Same goes for wanting to remain cooped up in my office all day rather than actually walk among mere mortals.

Didn't get that much time to write last week, a page here and there. Did manage to get ten pages on Saturday, and about five yesterday, and only six today.

Have been getting some research done. I'm going through the films of David Lynch because of the bizarre aspect of his films. I don't want to copy or emulate him, but want to study the quirkiness he brings to his work so that I can better apply my own twisted outlook in my films.

Eraserhead: appreciate it as a work of art, but didn't get it, and thought it was boring. 

 The Elephant Man: Great film, spectacular performances by Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt, who should have won an Oscar for this movie. He absolutely disappears inside the character.

Thursday night Jason and I had a DVD party:

Another early Lolita performance from Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional. Why did no one ever complain about the over-sexualization of this kid? It's a very sweet movie about an assassin who takes in a girl who's parents and brother are murdered. Yet the relationship between Leon (Jean Reno) and Matilda (Portman) is down right creepy. Director Luc Besson did and excellent job at bringing out perhaps the best performance of Portman's career. She was around twelve when the film was made and acts more natural than many actors decades older with much more experience. 

A message movie without heart. There are a few laughs, and Matthew Mcconaughey has a rare turn at playing an antagonist instead of the party hard good old boy he's used to. Unfortunately the script makes him the only unlikeable character in the film and is all around melodramatic.

Then we watched the excellent Blue Velvet. Perhaps Lynch's most approachable film, and Dennis Hopper as perhaps the strangest villain in history.

Friday night we watched Lost Highway, which left me, well, lost at first, but I think I figured it out in the end. 

Friday we watched Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch. Interesting documentary about David Lynch as an artist and gives a rare glimpse of him personally and at work. 

We followed that up with Mulholland Drive, my all time favorite Lynch film. The first time I watched it, it got under my skin and stayed with me for days after as my mind scrambled to discover what happened. Still not sure I have it figured out, as David Lynch as a way of putting on a bookend that completely contradicts everything I've come to believe about the movie. 

Writing, Reading and Lynch

Had to take yesterday off to help Jason repair an abandoned chicken coop.

Got a late start today and only managed 3 and a 1/4 pages on the novella today. But got all my notes together so I can attack it for the rest of the week and hopefully finish the first draft by next weekend.

Tonight its

and

and if I'm really lucky, I might finally get around to starting

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The Source

Got up to 81 pages yesterday, and only about halfway through (roughly) so looks like this may end up being slightly longer than novella length. We'll see.

Last night Jason and I watched The Sweetest Thing, perhaps the funniest chick flick ever. I never understood (and still don't) the appeal of Sex and the City, just a bunch of middle aged broads sitting around bitching and putting notches in their Prada belts. They aren't even free spirited,  liberated women because when you get down to it, they're just looking for a man to take care of them. I've watched several episodes, and while it's a well produced show, it escapes me that so many people would want to spend time with these women.







However, the three women at the heart of The Sweetest Thing, are likable, and in the case of Selma Blair, absolutely adorable. They're sweet, they're funny, and they don't sit around bitching all the time. These characters I could see women, and men, wanting to hang out with. So, instead of wasting your money to stand in line to catch Sex and the City 2, rent The Sweetest Thing.











We also watched The Source. As a documentary, it's not very good. Doesn't really go that much into Kerouac, Burroughs, and Ginsberg, who were the three major writers of the Beat movement. The three of them are the subject of the film, as they are the source of the literary movement, so in that aspect, the film fails. However, it is a very interesting, well made overview documentary of the movement itself.

Demented Avian Dive Bomber

One does not know their true mettle, whether their testicular fortitude is grapefruit size or chick pea, until they have stared down the gaping, sable maw of a bird flying toward one's face. It happened to me again today as I came around the corner of the house on my way to feed the dog. I ducked, ran to the front door and spent the rest of the day hunkered beneath a ginormous umbrella whenever I went outside. This is getting ridiculous. Man or beast I could handle, but there's something about a small creature with a beak and claws that sends me diving for cover and crying for mommy. I just can't get the image from Zombie 5 of a bird clawing out an eye from my mind. That's just not something I want to experience. I don't know what this bird has against me, prior to both attacks, I was minding my own business and did nothing to provoke it. Perhaps somebody needs to take some anger management classes.

In honor of this demented avian dive bomber, I watched The Birds tonight. Interesting story structure. Nothing much happens for the first hour, and there's an interesting sequence with very little dialogue, only sound the flapping of wings.

I'm up to a total of 53 pages in the novella I'm working on. I might get lucky and be able to tap out another hundred and fifty pages for something closer to novel length.

Maniacal Avian Dive Bomber

This morning, when I was walking back from the mail box, minding my own business and looking forward to coughing up another ten pages on the novella; I heard/felt something flap over my head. Looked up, nothing. Continued on my way. I got only a few more steps when a bird swished down from the sky, its wings tapping my head, back draft tossing up a few stray strands of hair. The maniacal avian dive bomber circled around...and came back, diving right for my face, beak open wide. I ducked, just in time and the kamikaze flew past as I ran inside, crouched low and waving my hands back and forth over my head, like a yellow-bellied sap sucker.

Only got through about 7/8 pages today. Woke up later than usual, and had to deal with a family situation, so didn't get started until after 12 and my creativity was pretty much shot. Guess it just means more work for tomorrow.

Finished another 10/11 pages of the novella today, a lot of new ideas and sections original to this draft. Glad to say that things are going fairly smooth on this and with any luck will have it finished soon.

Started off the morning by typing up some old, unfinished manuscripts I have laying around in an effort to clean up my office and get rid of all the loose papers stored in a filing cabinet. Most of it is stuff I'll either never get around to finishing or isn't worth the effort to continue working on anyway, but I don't want to throw it out, either, so I economize on physical space and keep it stored on the computer.

Writing tip of the day, always write out first drafts longhand on paper. As great as computers are, they are fickle and prone to crashing or accidentally wiping out your entire story with a slight tap on a key, or any number of other electronic malfunctions that could occur. Writing on paper insures your masterpiece won't accidentally be deleted and force you to rewrite the manuscript all over again from scratch.

Podcast of the day:

On the Page: Screenwriting a helpful and inspiring cast about all aspects of writing for film and television.

Got 10 pages of the novella written today, up to 25 total! Coming along well, of course it is the 2nd draft, so I have a framework to go on, at least until I get to the second half which needs to be totally rewritten.