something to read



Simply Scripts posted a link to the Coen’s No Country for Old Men today- thanks much to ‘You know, for Kids’ sharing this as it’s one of my most anticipated flicks right now. Big recommend if you haven’t read the novel- hell, big recommend no matter what. I’ve always found the Coen’s scripts to be exceptionally visual and well-written. Also, I honestly expect Cormac McCarthy + the Coen Bros to be astounding. The fact that I’ve got a history of fandom with both AND Tommy Lee Jones, probably means I’ll be a little less sane after viewing the flick, but I have faith it’ll be worthwhile.

I’m not going to finish Script Frenzy. I might manage the 20,000 words by the end of the month, but it’s not going to be a coherent plot and not something I’d force anyone to read. This doesn’t worry me, I’ve been clocking in a lot of pages and developing a lot of the Braxton Frame story- but I’m working on Gallows Gulch at the same time. I don’t count it as a failure though because SF functioned the way I wanted it to- it got me writing when I’d been really bogged down. If I come out of the Summer with two new draft scripts- which I honestly feel on track for- I’ll be happy.

The Leap of faith is what did me in.



Haven’t felt much like blogging lately as every time I open the editor I feel like I should be spending the energy on my scripts and making myself a better writer. I’ve also been riding the roller coaster of self-defeatism: I’m never going to be able to write as well or as epic as my most favorite writers. I’m not a genius. And I suck. (It’s my blog I can be emo all I want.) So what’s left is a cancer of doubt- the chops ain’t there and aren’t going to be any time soon. I slam my head against a brick wall in frustration, stare at my unmoving pages numbers, ridicule my own plot machinations and wander, aimless, in the wasteland of despair. (Okay, even that’s a little too emo for me. I’ll stop now.)

The problem with this is that I am not subjective. About anything. Irrational is SOP. For example, the North Carolina DMV has branched out in their license plate designs in the last few years- Blue Ridge Mountains, Universities, etc. Most recently they have changed the standard plate to have red text instead of blue text. This bothers me. I harbor a deep, nonsensical loathing of the people with the red-text plates. Is blue not good enough for them? Do they think red makes them exceptional? I don’t even know if the DMV is still ASSIGNING blue text plates, but I’ve already decided the red-texters are evil and must be destroyed. End of story.

So the idea that I’m even capable of assessing my own skills rationally, yeah not so much. I know that I need outside reinforcement and try to be diligent about getting it- my workshop is the main area for this right now and contests to an extent but I know I should be doing more. But honestly that ‘more’ is nebulous and scary and I’m not sure I won’t just fall on my face so I think what I’ve ended up doing is getting back into the ‘I suck, not good enough’ revolving door with Yakity Sax playing knowing that at some point I’m gonna lose my breakfast. Uhg. Just this stupid metaphor is making me nauseous.

BUT… the thing is I still love stories and I still love characters and I desperately want to tell a great story and torment some awesome characters. Sometimes that slips my mind. Then some days I wake up and Indiana Jones is sitting on my desktop and the rest of the world collapses into a singularity of sheer, unadulterated awesome:

It occurs to me that I’ve seen quite a bit of bloggage about Indy 4 throughout the scribosphere and with good reason. (Also thanks Mystery Man for pointing out the fantastic Shia clip) I’m not going to add much more other than point out at my last name and suggest that may not entirely capture how much of a fan I am of the good Herr Docktor. I’ve cited that simple green screen effect in Last Crusade a million times as the moment I completely lost touch with reality and decided ‘Fuck yeah! That’s the ticket!’ (Which is a little more cliché than I’d like, but shit, it’s the truth) So I have been worried about the entire idea of Indy 4- so many scripts, so much development = years and years of potential for a misstep. But properly seeing Dr. Jones here, one of the first characters I can remember unconditionally loving, I don’t even care. The mantra that I love stories and I love characters comes back to me and the worry sort of disappears. And not just about Indy 4- I genuinely feel a little better about writing, a little recharged and ready to take on more abuse while I’m struggling. Because if my goal is to put together something that might only be a shadow of what Indiana Jones was for me as a kid (hell now even) then yeah, as frustrated as I get, I’m still game for that I think.

Script Frenzy update and others



Busy again with many things, least of all work which has me on the road quite a bit. It’s nice, even though the sun burns us precious. There are a lot of things I like about just being in a car on the road jamming to music… Sidenote: I actually heard Will Smith’s ‘Men In Black’ opus on the radio and had a hard time convincing myself I wasn’t hallucinating. Don’t get me wrong Men In Black is totally a jam, even if it doesn’t get airplay these days and even 1200 miles in a week is a little much for me so I wasn’t sure. In any case if someone somewhere is willing to play it, I may just have to start requesting it and ‘Wild Wild West’ regularly.

Part of the 1200 was a trip to Winston-Salem on Saturday to see Bloc Party who totally rocked out. Moreso than Will Smith in the MIB track. Great show from a great group and if you’re looking for music I can’t recommend ‘A Weekend in the City‘ enough. I apologize to the grads at School of the Arts if you found a mess back near the stage door, between watching the Yankees lose (yay) at the Pub and walking to the venue I ran into a little trouble.

On the way to the show with Megan and Jeremy we stopped in Greensboro at Don’s Music something-or-other. For a while lately I’ve really been keen on the idea of getting a nice Telecaster, not necessarily new, but something that might entice me to play guitar a little more. I have two guitars already, but like anything else I get bored easily. Don’s was sorta fortuitous because I ended up seeing something I liked and on the advice of Megan I’m waiting three days to see if the overwhelming impulse to own it wears off. Not certain how successful that’s going to be seeing as I left two rings in the shop (perhaps subconsiously ensuring my return) after trying the sexy sexy Nashvile Tele out.

Anyway, on other fronts Script Frenzy started over the weekend and I dove into my story (also new, sexy and shiny) today. I don’t know what it is about new things, but I really have a compulsive streak in me that latches onto them. Same thing with books or subjects- if I’m reading or learning something and I’ve managed to stall, it’s sometimes impossible not to be seduced off in another direction for the newer, somehow more accessible things. I need more willpower.

Got my Nicholl email confirming my script was entry number 729. Nice low number, if nothing else, but not enough to out weigh the thrice damned spelling error I found on page six a while back. Which I’m still mad about because I know for a fact that it came about because I changed and then un-changed the word moments before printing it. Also I’m just making up words now.

Did see Pirates. Nothing that’s stirring up for a big post at the moment, but I’ll see it again so maybe later. Looking forward to a lot this summer and it’s just starting off.

Lastly, Unk’s got a discussion about theme that really beats the band over at theunknownscreenwriter as part of his Transformational Character Arc. I’ve always been particularly keen on forming stories by exploring the depths and potential of character and I think he really makes some strong points about how to approach theme and how it’s kinda intrinsic (or it should be) to character.

Now I’m going to snooze and hopefully dream of my future awesome Telecaster, finishing all my scripts, not just the new shiny ones and possibly even David Tennant because Human Nature & The Family of Blood were the two most awesome Doctor Who episodes EVAH. I mean damn- Spoilers: Suspending bitches in time, in the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, in chains forged at the heart of a dwarf star and all phantom zone-like in every mirror in existence FOR ALL ETERNITY! No one is that bad ass! *Le sigh*