Rae Roy's Blog, page 62

Frisky Friday – Sexual Moral Alignment

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​This one is for the role players out there. How well do you know your sexual side? Where do you fit on this moral scale when it comes to sex?

BuzzFeed has a short NSFW quiz to help you find out. You can take it here.

I hope you enjoy the weekend. I plan to write, watch movies, and clean.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Musings Tagged: Sex

Thoughtful Thursday – Bans Don’t Help

[image error]I’m very light on the word count this week, but I’m not upset about it. With my script, I’ve been reading Save the Cat and thinking about the story more before I get back into it. I’ve also been working on cultivating the habits that the successful screenwriters have. With the rest of my writing, I’ve been focusing on a number of other things around my home, thinking about how to get the time I need to also fit in fitness, and making my way through the pieces that are nominated for Aurora Awards.

I suppose I’m odd in the writing community. I never suggest that something never be written about. I learned long ago that blanket statements aren’t helpful and neither is banning something. I can’t positively say that teens are watching 13 Reasons Why more than they would’ve otherwise been, but when one shines a spotlight onstage, the audience tends to hyper-focus on that circle. When the Catholic Church bans books, the sales of those books tend to skyrocket. People become obsessed with whatever is taboo. And we all know how successful alcohol prohibition was.

I don’t believe that censorship solves problems. It only sweeps the ugly things under a rug. They’re still there, but no one is allowed to talk about them. It’s like shoving things in a closet and putting a lock on it.

Like Tom McCarthy, I believe discussion is important.

I believe in looking at all sides of an issue, no matter how disagreeable and ‘triggering’ some topics are. I also hate the term trigger because too many are using it in place of the word offend and that is disgusting to me as they are not remotely the same thing. Triggering involves flashbacks that are vivid and affect the body in ways as though the traumatic experience is happening again. It’s not simply something a person doesn’t like. I know what it is to be triggered.

Furthermore, as someone with background in social work, I also know that one does not overcome problems until they face them. Avoiding things makes them grow and fester until they take on a life of their own and barely anything is left of yourself. This means that the only way for people to heal from their trauma is to learn to become less sensitive to the item that triggers them.

Soldiers have to learn to accept that fireworks exist, as one example. The goal should be to eventually be able to be at an event where fireworks are, without feeling as though they are back in the war. One must learn to disassociate bad feelings with safe situations. The same can be said for controversial content in books, movies, and television. If we say writers and producers can’t talk about or show certain things, we close off an opportunity for discussing morals, values, and ethics. Worse, we prevent people from learning about the bad in the world.

When things become taboo, it’s like mom saying, “because I said so,” rather than discussing the real reason she doesn’t want you to go out. It can be pretty damn important to say something more than, “because I said so,” if the reason is there was recently a girl your age murdered in town and the killer is still on the loose. That’s a true story that happened in my home town in 1997 and the murder wasn’t solved until more than 10 years later. There aren’t a lot of murders that happen there even now.

The thing is, there are a lot of bad things in the world that happen every day. If you take the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy approach of only focusing on the good, you ignore real dangers. You also misidentify a husband asking for sex more than once as a deranged rapist instead of someone who wants to show his love in a very intimate way.

There is a problem in the system when it comes to rape that I feel should be discussed. It’s far too easy to mistakenly end up on the Sex Offender Registry. A young man can be dating a girl with the permission of her parents despite being an adult and she a minor. If they’ve had consensual sex and happen to break up, the parents can have him charged with statutory rape and he is now a sex offender. Relationships end all the time for a variety of reasons and no one should have to worry that a break up means being labeled a depraved person for the rest of their life. Something similar has happened to a former karate instructor whose involvement with a female student has ended her career, most likely in part due to homophobic discrimination, though that part could be conjecture on my behalf.

This problem continues to the arena where both people have been drinking. I had friends in high school who were in the situation where both parties were drinking and decided to proceed with sex. One friend was so distraught after it happened because he worried whether or not he had taken advantage. But having dated him before that, I knew he would never do that to someone. It worked out for him, though the relationship didn’t last as they really weren’t compatible.

But getting drunk and having sex was super common when I was in high school. Hell, I had a friend who gave her boyfriend a BJ under a stairwell. We partied and hooked up nearly every weekend. Though I had a lot of fun, I didn’t actually lose my virginity until college. And not one guy in high school pressured me. We just had fun together. Alcohol was often involved, but everything was consensual even those moments I’d rather forget with certain individuals.

We do need those who commit sex crimes like rape punished. It’s the only way to prevent them from continuing and to discourage others.

But scenes like those in Game of Thrones help the discussion.

Think about this. The public outcry and the amount of discussions about how awful rape is that have happened since are many. How do you think those with the power to make real change happen find out how the public feels? There were 8.9 million people watching the season six finale of Game of Thrones and a bunch that watched it the next day. Millions discussing issues that were once just ignored and let continue to happen rather than trying to stop them.

The internet exploded in rage the following day and many people who don’t even watch the show were talking about these issues and suggesting ways to make the world better. Of course, with nearly 8 billion people, it’s hard to get rid of all the things we feel are wrong in the world, but discussion is key to fully understanding all the complexities.

Complexities like? The number one sexual fantasy many women have is forceful, aggressive sex. It’s important to say that fantasies are not meant to be enacted unless you do so in the form of safe role play. Women don’t actually want to be raped. The idea of it excites some though. Somewhere between 31 and 57% apparently, though I’m not sure those numbers are entirely accurate. This is why certain scenes are prevalent in romance novels, which are all about fantasizing. Some women are more sexually attracted to dominant, alpha male types. It’s an instinctual thing best explained by Darwin. But one can be dominant without raping. One can even be dominant while being in favour of equal rights.

During my degree, we had to take a course on ethics. We looked at every angle of many difficult issues. We even had an OPP officer in our class who was very helpful in exploring the legal aspects of issues. We looked at the political considerations, the economic ones, the social aspects, the technological, and the environmental.

I’m glad they had us take it. It has allowed me to discuss any topic without bursting into tears or fits of name-calling. I’ve also learned not to incorrectly assume that one’s ability to see multiple sides to an issue means they are in favour of something awful like rape. Furthermore, slander is a crime and no one deserves to have lies spouted about them.

Some things that seem ghastly to me are perfectly fine to other cultures. There are nearly 8 billion people on this planet. Who am I to judge others? Who is worthy of deciding everything that is right and wrong?

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Musings

Warrior Wednesday – Cross-training

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Martial arts are a great workout, but it can be easy to forget that we need to do other exercises to ensure total body fitness. That being said, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time or be a miserable experience.

One of my Iaido mentors, 8th Dan Hatekenaka Sensei, does hot yoga when she isn’t practicing Iaido. She practices Iaido every day whether there is class or not.

Now Iaido is great for many things. Swinging a sword about takes *some* strength, so it works the upper body. It’s important to mention that we try to get a sword that is a reasonable weight. Many are only a couple of pounds because they are a giant razor and don’t need to be heavy in order to cut things. Also, a light sword should be able to be swung as thought it were heavy and a heavy one as though it were light. It also is helpful to prevent repetitive strain injuries. We are prone to tennis elbow in this martial art. We also end up lopsided if we don’t take time to swing the sword using the opposite hand regularly.

Iaido also has us regularly go from seated seiza or tate hiza position and move around either in squat/lunge type positions or we might slide about on our knees. Yes, we’re also prone to knee injuries. This means we get a decent lower body workout also.

Sometimes it really makes us sweat, but not usually in the way a cardio workout does unless it’s really hot or Sensei really wants to give us a challenge.

So it’s important to cross-train. For some of us, like me, a weak area is my core. I’ve noticed since I started focusing on my core, my balance is improving.

But planks are god awful things and I hate them.

That brings me to Hip Hop Abs. Yeah, it’s a bit silly, but I had a fantastic time dancing about in my living room. The best way, was to say yes to the louder music option and just try to follow along as much as possible. Without the talking, it’s so much fun. I’m soaked and must shower again, but it was worth it. Also, it only took 30 minutes.

I loved dancing in high school, so I think it’s about time I made time for it in my life again.

I also enjoy doing High Intensity Interval Training as you can get a killer workout in 7 minutes. It’s also customizable, so you can insert things like sidekicks if you want to work on basics. Hey, I should add some suburi to my HIIT routine…

I also like to do some belly-dancing, RushFit, P90X, and the occasional boring thing like crunches, but lately I haven’t had the time. I did a lot of thinking about what was working and wasn’t for months now and I had to make the difficult choice to leave my writing group. I’m a very visual person and not good at hearing problems in stories when read to me. It all just sounds lovely. I need to see things on the printed page. Also, with school, a business, martial arts, a significant other, renovations, and other commitments, meeting weekly was just not working for me. In truth, I wasn’t really looking for a critique-style group either, but more of a casual writing atmosphere where we occasionally talk about something when someone has a question. There is a group like this in Ottawa and I think I’m going to give them a try if I can figure out where to leave my car…

Anyway, I must shower and eat something for supper. Perhaps I’ll put the pork chop in the oven first to make it almost cooked while I quickly clean up.

Oh, I almost forgot the whole point I wanted to make. While I followed along I could feel the same thing that we try for in Iaido, Ki Ken Tai Ichi, which means making the spirit, mind, body, and sword one. Well, minus the sword of course. I thought how cool it will be when I know the dance steps and can actually be in sync with the music and feel the flow.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Martial Arts Tagged: Fitness

Theatrical Tuesday – What’s With All The Remakes?

[image error]In short, they’re easy money.

It all comes down to a marketing term called Brand Recognition.

If you remake Dirty Dancing, chances are that many of the females and some males who saw the original, will go see the remake based on nostalgia. Even though we know the magic was in Patrick and Jennifer being the couple, we hope to feel like we did when we first experienced the original.

Remakes are happening constantly even if we don’t see it because the movies are given different names. I’m reading Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat, and he said that Superman is just an updated Hercules, Jaws is a retelling of the Greek Minotaur myth, and that Road Trip is a more modern Canterbury Tales. He also said that The Fast and the Furious is a remake of Point Break.

One need only search for a title on IMDB to see that it’s likely been remade. The Fly for example was first made in 1958 and remade in 1986. The story changed slightly, but it won’t be surprising to me if it’s remade again now that it’s been about 30 years since the remake.

Many of the ‘new’ movies that come are stories originally told in novel form because they already have a built in audience. It’s a no-brainer to decide to turn books like Harry Potter into movies from a marketing and business perspective. They know the return on investment will be worth it.

So how do you write something truly new? There’s a theory that you can’t. That all the stories have been told and we’re just coming up with twists. Maybe we take a movie like Twister and combine it with sharks to get Sharknado. It sells because it sounds so ridiculous that we have to see it made. It sells because the audience of that genre enjoys movies that make fun of disaster movies and they enjoy “bad” movies in general.

So I have to write something that hasn’t been done despite all stories already existing.

What have I gotten myself into?

Well, the Transmedia course would say this is a positive storytelling constraint. It narrows the field like food allergies narrow menu selections. With fewer options, it should theoretically be easier to figure out.

My first script is definitely of the ‘Monster in the House’ genre. I’m currently toying around with plot options. Perhaps I’ll bounce them off of my B-Movie club to see which approach they find more fun.

I may have just figured out what to do.

Better go and write it down.

I also need to watch a whole lot more movies to see what has been done before.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Musings Tagged: Marketing, Movies

Merry Monday – Getting Somewhere

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This weekend was a little on the warm side in Ottawa, so instead of doing martial arts, I stayed home and puttered away at some home projects. I now have only one drawer left to do for my kitchen. It’s strange. I’m having to retrain myself to get a fork as they don’t live in the dining room anymore. My sharp knives are temporarily in the dining room while I make the last drawer bottom. I’m filled with a low-level joy at having a chunk of my home back together.

After cutting drawer inserts from the scraps of flooring, I read online about what projects to do with linoleum. I then cut out coaster sized pieces from this chunk that really couldn’t be put to another purpose. I set those aside for a time when I’m feeling crafty. Once I get everything cleaned up and the drawers done, I want to paint over the mural I started in my living room. I’m just not into it anymore and want to use the wall space for more art. I have DVD inserts that I’d like to frame, plus need space for my models if I ever complete one. I’m currently puttering away at the Ghostbusters car. Well, I was. I’ve set it aside to be a responsible adult and get the rest of my place cleaned up before playing around with it.

It’s already loads better than it was in here. With it being a little cooler today, I think I can get some dishes done today and clean it up even more.

I had to spend time taking apart some areas of the sewing project I’m working on. I may have to re-cut some of the liner pieces. The pattern isn’t well written, so sometimes it’s fun to figure out what it is they actually want you to do and when you’re supposed to do it.

I’ve been rather sucking at the fitness goals lately, but if I can get my place cleaned up, I’ll have the space to really put time into working on my core strength. I better get back at my thoracic exercises before I become a hunchback. Of course, it helps if my chair is at the proper height…

I have a bunch of stuff I need to copy into Scrivener from paper notes for The Blood Waitress Club. After I do that, I will know better where I am at with the book. I’m going into a learning mode with my script as I have been feeling like I’m not sure if I have any clue of what I’m doing. Hopefully, I’ll figure it out once I read Save the Cat.

My index finger is still a little tender, so I’ve not been doing much in the song writing area. Also because of all the other things I’m working on, this has taken a back seat.

I’ve fallen behind in the Transmedia course, though I usually catch up by the end of the week. Other things are a bigger priority to me.

I feel like I have so much to do before September and the days are going by quickly. Too quickly.

Well, I should get working on the ever-expanding to-do list.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Musings Tagged: Discipline

Symphonic Saturday – What Makes A Song Great?

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All art forms are subjective, which makes them hard to analyze with any certainty. A song that may give someone goosebumps, may hurt the ears of another. Some songs are timeless and resonate deeply with people and others can get stuck in our heads when we don’t even like them.

A song can be technically perfect and convey no meaning. Another can be flawed yet stir something primal within us.

And how it is heard can change the response as well. I enjoy classical music on vinyl or through my computer speakers, but those pale in comparison to a live performance. Yet some bands are awful live and so I’d rather hear them through my car stereo.

For some people, the lyrics are what touch them the most. For musicians, they often hear the instrument they play the most and determine whether a song is good simply from a small part of it.

It’s fascinating when you think about it.

And there doesn’t seem to be a way to ensure a song will be well received.

Because music speaks to you differently at different times in your life.

When I was going through my divorce several years ago, Katy Perry’s Roar had just come out. I wasn’t a Katy Perry fan, but man did I love belting that song out in my car. I also loved Linkin Park’s Numb. Flyleaf’s Fully Alive was another song that really spoke to me as I went through the process.

These days I often find myself gravitating to songs that have guitar in them and paying less attention to the lyrics, but I’m sure as I continue to work on my own songs, I’ll be getting more into reading poetry and even listening to rap and hip hop in search of making really good songs.

Anyway, this is what has been on my mind today.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Music Tagged: Hobbies

Frisky Friday – Cybersex and Sexting

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Have you ever done it?

A lot of people are scared to try it. Some don’t know what it is.

I like to think of it as engaging in a written fantasy with another person.

They’re not physically in the room with you, but they are telling you what they would do if they were.

It’s quite likely things would play out differently were they actually there, but it can help you learn what a new partner is interested in before you go there with them. Think of it like practicing a speech in front of a mirror or playing through a scenario in your head, only you’re doing it with the other person.

And hey, no worries about STIs or accidental pregnancy.

Hope your weekend is steamy

Thoughtful Thursday – A Mishmash of Things

[image error]Today’s post… I almost forgot to post one. At lunch I had a Somersby and then about an hour later fell asleep. Oops…

Anyway, I’m plodding along in my course and found a neat website for helping you think about the goals you are pursuing, so I thought I’d share that.

Last night was fun. I went to help a friend’s storytelling club out. My job was to sit in chairs and listen to stories. The first chair I sat in was the most perfect story it could’ve been for me. The young man talked about his love of Harry Potter and his hope for meeting his Hermione and Ron and perhaps his future love on the train. As one of the founding members of the Ottawa Harry Potter Society who used to work at a train company, I just really connected with it. Also, he spoke of his grandmother who he couldn’t talk to much because of a language barrier, and I had the same thing with mine. Anyway, you can go hear their stories free this Saturday. Here is the information.

I’m having a rough time with seasonal allergies this year. It sucks extra when you have generally dry eyes because allergy medicine dries you out and makes your eyes feel like hard rubber balls. This makes it hard to read books or screens. And I have so many I want to read voraciously!

I’m a little annoyed that I had so long of a nap as I planned to get more done today, but despite allergy medicine, I’m still feeling sneezy, so maybe sleeping really was the best thing for me. I’m really behind on my dishes and laundry though and those are some of the things I was hoping to get done today. I suppose there’s always tomorrow, that place where all achievement lives to the procrastinator.

I really should get something done today beyond eating food. I’m going to do at least one load of dishes and of laundry. That’ll make me feel like I’m not a complete failure today.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Musings Tagged: Allergy, Discipline, Sjogren's Syndrome

Warrior Wednesday – The Book of Five Rings pt 1

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Today, I want to talk about the Go Rin No Sho or The Book of Five Rings. I want to focus on the first portion. The copy I’m currently using is the graphic novel version by Sean Michael Wilson and Chie Kutsuwada. It’s important to note that there are many versions of this book worldwide and so many interpretations. I’m going to talk about what it means to me at this current juncture in my life and where I am at in my martial arts training. I fully expect to revisit this post and study different versions of the book many times in the future.

I: Earth

There are many ways to do anything in the world whether it is the practice of salvation through participation in a religion, the honing of a skill such as sword making or making clothing, medicating oneself against physical or mental disease, and training for sport, theatre, or combat. Whatever you learn in anything you do can be applied to other seemingly unrelated situations.

Miyamoto Musashi is purported to have said, “There are many people who, even when studying the Way of the Martial Arts, think that these skills will not be useful in real situations. In fact, the true Way of the Martial Arts is to train so that these skills are useful at any time and to teach these skills so that they will be useful in all things.”

Back in my roller derby days, I was quick to learn how to use my toe stops and my balance was decent for a beginner. It took awhile before people figured out how to take me off my skates. The reason was, in part, because of my training in stances and running around a dojo with my weight balanced in such a way that I could move and change direction easily. In karate, we rarely put our weight on our heels and kept it on the balls of our feet. This was something I just naturally did when I put skates on.

When I’m driving my car, I often know when someone is likely to change lanes even if they are not signalling nor edging towards the line. I’m not psychic. I’ve been trained to look for cues, but also I pay attention regularly to what others do all along the highway. In certain locations people often change lanes more than in other spots. In martial arts, we call this Zanshin. It is the awareness of your surroundings, the people in it, and the possibilities that relate to a given situation. It is the ability to be in a state of alertness while being calm. Many parents of young children do this.

Paying attention is also extremely helpful as a writer. Not only do we observe others, but we eavesdrop and we pay attention to our feelings. Every situation can give us what we one day need in order to write a scene in a book or movie script. When we see eyes that are such a brilliant shade of blue that it reminds us of the ocean, we want to write a colour down that depicts that rather than simply saying blue. Maybe that character isn’t the protagonist or antagonist, but in order to fully flesh out all your characters, they can have something about them that is strikingly beautiful. Just because they are less important, doesn’t mean they don’t impact the story. The secondary helper often does things that are necessary to put the protagonist on the path. Gandalf sticks out like a sore thumb, yet it is the hobbits that are the focal point of The Lord of the Rings.

In the chapter on Earth, Musashi talks about the early beginnings of his martial arts journey. How he won a match at age 13 simply because the opponent didn’t take him seriously. If the dates are correct, this first battle would have happened around 1597, just six years before Japan’s Edo period began where peace time became the focus. Musashi is said to have continued to duel others until he was 28 or 29 and have defeated 60 men in that time. Whether or not they all lost their lives is a subject of debate for some.

He didn’t believe his wins had anything to do with having extraordinary skill in the martial arts, but that perhaps he either had a natural talent or other styles were lacking. It says he began writing the book on the 10th day of the 10th month during his 50th year just after the hour of the tiger. That should mean he began writing the Go Rin No Sho on October 10, 1634 around 4:30 a.m. assuming that Japan didn’t have a different calendar during that time period such as a 13-month pagan calendar which could skew the dates.

Six years later he began teaching martial arts with the support of Lord Tadoshi. He spoke of the increasing specialization in the martial arts as something that exalted one technique and damned another when the two worked best together. We talk about this concept at my dojo. Sensei has often said that you need techniques from all of them because different situations and distances require different techniques. If I’m a swordsperson and I’m in too close to fully draw my blade, I better have other options to win the fight when my back is against a wall and I can’t back up to create the space I need.

And when our backs are metaphorically against the wall in life, we need to figure out how to get money for a venture or how to avoid starving to death when we become jobless. When automation takes away most jobs, we will need to be ready with another option in order to continue to survive.

Musashi talks about there being only four types of jobs. There are warriors or military personnel, farmers and other food services, artisans or builders, and merchants. The world has changed as new jobs have been created since his time, but those same professions are going strong. He also didn’t mention sex workers like geisha and prostitutes, but I suppose they could be considered merchants in a way.

He talks about farmers having to pay extra attention to the changing seasons, sake merchants having to try different ways of making sake, and warriors having to be skilled in many different types of combat and many different types of weapons.

He then goes on to say that the artisans combine the methods from all three and seek to do the best at all times. He says this is the way of martial arts. To become great, one must practice without end. I infer this to mean that one must always be a student.

Musashi says, “It is truly difficult to grasp the Way by swordmanship alone. By knowing the large, you know the small; and from the shallow, you reach the deep.”

He then goes on to talk about Niten Ichi-Ryu, his famed two-sword style. He says that when you put your life on the line, you want every weapon you have to be of use. As he stated above, this can mean far more than literal weapons. It can mean every skill you know.

Years ago, I took social work in college. As part of our diploma, we took certification in Applied Suicide Intervention. We didn’t simply use the knowledge gained in our interviewing course to talk someone down off a ledge. We had to draw on everything we learned about social welfare, sociology, psychology, and our own ability to empathize.

Every weapon has advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation.

Musashi goes on to say that the sword is the foundation upon which the martial arts is based. By learning the Way of the sword, you learn the virtues that put yourself and society in order. He also says that in learning the Way of the sword, you will be able to understand the ways of others. I take this to mean that in learning martial arts, you will broaden your mind and enhance your worldview. I find this to be true, but only if you allow it. He goes on to say that both success and failure have their own rhythms and you must discriminate thoroughly between them. Then you must not show it outwardly lest your opponent defeat you. He then lays out his rules:

1. Think without dishonesty.

2. Forge yourself in the Way.

3. Touch upon all of the arts.

4. Know the ways of all occupations.

5. Know the advantages and disadvantages of everything.

6. Develop a discerning eye in all matters.

7. Understand what cannot be seen by the eye.

8. Pay attention to even small things.

9. Do not involve yourself with the impractical.

Successful business people say similar things. They say they’re always learning. They follow their passions and their gut. They do cost/benefit analysis. They don’t let their competitors know what they are up to. They guard their free time.

I feel like rule 8 and rule 9 complement each other. Without rule 9, one might get lost in the weeds and forget the purpose of whatever exercise they are undertaking. Small things like commas can be important, but if you’re on your first draft it is likely many of the words will change, so it doesn’t make sense to stress about them until your book is about to go to print. If you spend too much time on them in the early stages, you might never finish writing the story.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Martial Arts, Reviews

Theatrical Tuesday – Free Courses

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Sometimes free courses are great. Sometimes they are missing a lot of important information. The last course I took on Screen Writing has left me feeling disappointed. When I look back at the PDFs, a lot of the information is a repeat of the week before and isn’t helpful to me in my quest of writing a movie. I feel like I would’ve spent my time better by reading Save the Cat. Even some of the sequence titles listed in that course are from Save the Cat. Maybe I’ll see if Chapters has a copy in town, so I can get back to my script. I’m feeling I lack knowledge of structure as movies require it more than novels do. Things are supposed to happen at specific times in a movie to ensure the audience enjoys the show. Blake Snyder called them beats.

I’ve not had this issue with free courses through Coursera as they are complete university courses and ensure they cover as much as they can in the time. That particular course may have been a marketing gimmick in part and I’m going to be more careful in my course selections in the future as a result.

I’ve noticed I’m preferring to write with a little more structure these days. I’ve noticed that outlining my current novel according to the Hero’s Journey is helping me know which parts go where and instead of just puking words all over the pages, the story is taking shape quicker. It’s not a formal outline like a school essay exactly. It’s a general guideline that helps me continue moving forward when I’m stuck and know where to plunk those scenes I may have written on my phone while waiting for a takeout order. It’s giving me a way to write that is a little faster but doesn’t impact super important things like my voice or the personalities of my characters.

Learning about movie writing is helping me write novels and vice versa.

I’ve also been watching a lot of movies lately to see what they do in terms of lighting, opening sequences, challenging the protagonist, etc. I’m also enjoying the cheesy dialogue and feel of 80s comedy horrors like Critters.

I’ve noticed I’m enjoying writing even more now that I’ve been working on my sewing projects. There’s a little less time where I can stare off at a blank screen without putting words on it and I think that is helping me have a sense of urgency. Maybe the key for me is to have writing as just one part of my workday rather than the whole thing. We’ll see what this means for my future.

Anyway, Chapters does have a couple of copies of the book. Between that and my new book on description and setting, I think I’m going to be flying through my novel and script pretty soon.

Salut,

R~

Filed under: Musings