Year: 2009

On second drafts

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

My novel’s been sitting as a printed out pile of paper covered in red scribbles for a few weeks. I finished the first draft back in November and set it aside, so I could read the story without too much attachment. And guess what? The first draft was awful.

After several attempts to start the second draft, I feel a bit stuck. I’ve decided to change the time period (moving it from 1970 to 2008), and the point of view (from first person to third). So, essentially this second draft will be a total rewrite of the first.

This is a really daunting experience. I really had a case of, phew, I wrote a novel, now what? which has turned into I wrote a novel, holy crap.

So, any advice for a first time novelist getting through the later drafts?

On Wes Anderson

General Geekiness

Wes Anderson is swiftly becoming one of my go-to directors. No, I don’t have his phone number on speed dial, but I find myself watching his movies on a semi-regular basis.

Today I watched Rushmore, which while not my favorite movie of his, was thoroughly entertaining (even while conjugating Italian verbs). For those who haven’t seen this strange little movie, it’s about a kid (Jason Schwartzman) who practically rules Rushmore Academy and is put on academic probation. Crazy hijinks occur (my favorite being the prank war between Schwartzman’s character and Bill Murray, set to the tune of The Who’s “A Quick One, While He’s Away.”)

The first Anderson movie I saw was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which I thought was incredibly strange. Note that I haven’t seen it since, and am left with only vague memories of red stocking hats, David Bowie in Portugeuse and a claymation shark.

The next one I saw, and remains my favorite, is The Darjeeling Limited. It’s a strange rather colorful film, but I liked it. Random though it is, it’s a movie about family and relationships. It never forgets that.

Next up on the Wes Anderson queue? No idea, but I’m looking forward to Fantastic Mr. Fox.

More on the Who, and a little on St. Patrick’s Day

General Geekiness

The Who go Irish?

Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle team up with the Chieftains and play an Irishy acoustic version of “Behind Blue Eyes.”

There’s something refreshing and different about the song. Just makes me sigh and smile. Of course, the original version is still one of my all-time favorites, but this one is very pretty. Could be all of the Irish music I listened to during my brief stint as a step dancer.

I’d never heard that version of the song before and thought it was lovely, so, I had to share. Thoughts?

On Netflix, Doctor Who and lowered productivity

General Geekiness

I just installed Silverlight on my computer so I can watch movies and TV on my computer. This is very dangerous. Now I can watch seasons 1-3 of Doctor Who, which is wonderful now that I don’t have Sci-Fi. Productivity may be down.

Oh well. I only managed to catch the majority of season one when it aired on Sci-Fi. I’ll finally be able to watch seasons two and three! And I can alternate Doctor Who with Highlander now.

That’s enough geeking out for now.

On Robin Hood

General Geekiness

Apparently, Robin Hood wasn’t a very nice guy. He was a nasty dude, robbing from EVERYONE.

There goes my childhood. I spent it watching the Disney animated Robin Hood, practically idolizing the fictious(?) hero. I pretty much just wanted to be a badass archer, but I loved the stories, too.

Still, it makes for an intriguing story; this echoes the storyline from one episode of Firefly, “Jaynestown.” The character Jayne screws up a robbery and upon returning to the planet, he’s remembered as a hero of Robin Hood proportions.

So, a writing prompt or two.

1. Write a story about a man/woman who is anything but a hero, but interpretted as such.

2. Write about a person who is robbed by this individual.

On firsts

General Geekiness, The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

Today the sun was out, the birds weren’t quite singing, and it was warm enough for my mom and me to brave the outdoors.

So we made the first fire of the season. We piled sticks and logs from last winter’s ice storm into our little outdoor fireplace and let it burn. There’s no better way to dispose of dead tree limbs than to burn them.

While we were enjoying our fire, we decided to toast marshmallows as well. I’m now officially a grown up–I made not one, not two, but three perfect, golden marshmallows. The last one was true perfection, the divine come down to earth and made a toasted marshmallow. The outside was the color of toast, and the inside molten.

I can’t wait to make s’mores this summer.