I just made a very hard decision: I nuked the contents of my “Sunday Roast” bookmarks folder. There was stuff in their going back to last November and I just don’t know if I can weed through it all! Sorry folks.
So this week is going to be a carefully selected bouquet garni of movie trailers and a few choice things that made me LOL or Hmmmmm when I read them the first time around.
Before we get down to that though, let me fill you in with a little that has been going on this past week… Um. The holiday is over and I worked all week? Not really very thrilling, is it? I have, however, finally come to a decision over the story that I have been writing for longer than I care to admit! Not only will the bloody thing get written this year, but I actually know what shape it is going to take. As in, it has a beginning, a middle and an end. And something approaching a plot. And a refined character list!
I was just lying there in bed last night mulling things over before I fell asleep and *bam* I saw it all lain out in my mind. Previously, my problem has always been it was just too frelling big and I SERIOUSLY doubt by ability to do justice to the sprawling world in my head. Plus when I am unsure of the ultimate loyalty of one pivotal character, it’s kinda hard to work out the full arc. But something shifted and I saw a natural break I can write to.
So I am going to write it. Why this determination? I will be honest, mainly because I am starting to get just a leetle bit sick of the story after eight-ish years. I want to get this one put to bed, so I can start putting this OTHER idea that has been spawning in the depths of my brain down on the page. Turns out, the beauty, and horror, of having built a whole world is that there is more than one tale to tell…
Gar. So keep prodding me folks. 2009 will be the year I get this bugger written, you see if it isn’t!
9 – I’m not sure how to describe this, but it’s from the minds of some pretty groovy people, so it should rock.
The Ugly Truth – it had me giggling, so it stays, ok?
Terminator Salvation *tingles*
New in Town – so I have a thing for Harry Connick Jr.
Watchmen *tingles* *tingles* I’m re-reading the graphic novel and this could be very, very good. Or awful. Because I recognised some scenes in the trailer as lifted DIRECTLY from the comic. Recent horrendous experiences from The Spirit have only reinforced my concerns over such slavish adaptations. We’ll see.
The Proposal – predictable cheesy chick-flick. We all need a weakness, and these are mine!
And before I head out into the chilly, sunny Sunday afternoon for a nice walk, I would like you to turn your attention to The Guild, a hilarous independent sitcom webisode about a group of online gamers. It is written for gamers, about gamers by a gamer. Episodes vary from 3-6 minutes in length, and follow the Guild members’ lives online and offline. It is funnier than it has any right to be and hooked me from the first episode. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to find this!
Thank you so much for writing about my web show! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I hope you can watch Season 2, a few episodes are on our website http://www.watchtheguild.com.
Love your blog design, it’s really clean and stylish 🙂
XOXOX
Felicia
My pleasure Felicia! I’m eagerly waiting the appearance of the next episodes on the website (I’m having a few issues with MSN video. Grrr)
And thank you. Welcome to Bright Meadow and the comments 🙂
9 – what the? produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bek… Bekma… bloke who direct Night Watch – one to watch I think.
Ah, Ryan Reynolds in a rom com. How can I resist?
Be grateful the ITV player won’t work on Macs. You’re spared Todd Carty’s shockingly bad Dancing on Ice debut – Greg Rusedski bad in fact. And just like GR he’s so popular in the public vote that he avoided the skate-off!
I have a think for Harry Connick Jr., too. But that movie looks awful. And Rene Zellweger looks awful. On the plus side, Mmmm, Harry Connick Jr and I’m not going to subject myself to botox anytime soon.
Oh Dancing on Ice, how I miss thee! I tried to see if I could get a signal in my room using one of those portable aerials, but it was a no-go.
Which considering I have plenty of other things I should be doing rather than watching TV is actually a good thing!
Abi, oh I know, until Harry Connick Jr turned up, I had *no* desire to see that film! Rene Zellweger just looks like a strip of beef jerky. In fact, I still have no/very little desire to see the film. Too predictable and I am not sure that HCJr can save it. Which is saying a lot.
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London
I thought it an apt quote for your writing.
Great quote!
If it makes you feel any better, I started my novel in 1998. I work on it for a few weeks or a few months and then let it sit for a year or two, then repeat. (Admittedly, I’ve had a lot of life getting in my way. Like the two bouts with depression, plus that whole Hurricane Katrina thing. Blech.)
Thanks Cheryl, but I’m not sure if it DOES make me feel any better! The whole concept of writing an entire book is just so scary, I want to hear all the success stories… It is a bit of an ego boost though when a M/S comes through the office and I think “I write better than that 😛 ”
Those reasons are more than good enough to let you off the hook. Can I ask what yours is about?
You’re right, doing an entire book *is* very scary — in fact, after my first month of work on the novel, when I realized that it was, in fact, a novel rather than something smaller, and that the characters and concept were worth pursuing as a formal project (not just something fun to entertain myself), it scared me, and I immediately put it aside for several months. But now I have nearly 300 pages written, and I honestly don’t think I have more than 50 to go… I’m just down to the problem scenes and the boring stuff, so it’s not quite as fun at this point. (Plus there’s all that real life getting in my way.)
I don’t have a great explanation for what the novel is about (like you, I’m finding it difficult to come up with a quick, exciting sentence that captures the essence of the book). It’s fantasy, with magic, intrigue, the occasional swordfight, and a love story that happens along the way. The main characters are sorcerers who work for the government… a bit like James Bond types, I suppose. Hopefully I’ll finish it by the time the urban fantasy trend starts to slack off and people start craving old-fashioned fantasy again. 🙂 (Not that I don’t enjoy good urban fantasy — just not keen on writing it myself.)
Wow, that sounds like an awesome book Cheryl, and I’m not just being nice here – you finish it, I’ll read it! (If you want someone to read it that is of course). I always crave old-fashioned fantasy. I like so-called ‘urban-fantasy’ as well, but I only read those books once through. Proper fantasy I can read over and over, usually because the worlds are so vivid and different and a total holiday for my imagination. For some reason, urban fantasy just isn’t escapist enough!
Aww… thanks! 😀 Now I just have to finish it. (Sigh… I knew there was a catch somewhere.) 😉