Two and a half weeks gone past in a flash.
Went to portugal for 7 days and, thus, the writing more or less stopped.
Going back to my diary I can see that I worked a bit on RIGOR MORTIS and LAST RITES before I went but also in various other things. Mainly transferring the ideas I had in Myanmar from longhand to word files...
Even before I went I managed to do that analogue copy paste thing and assembled all the files and began mixing things a bit but it soon became too convoluted for me to pursue it. So what I did was make some sort of little cards with the name of the file, page, scene, characters and brief synopsis of content and then shuffled it all around on the wall.
Today I manage to do all the copy pasting on a word file that is now 205 pages long. The comic itself is probably closer to 250... seems way too long but it may well work this way. I'm not interested in making it smaller just for the sake of it. I suppose this is one of the benefices of non comissioned work. I can just do whatever the heck I please!
But I've been very good with A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN. I've been working on it everyday and it hasn't left my mind a day since I came back from Myanmar.
I also finished polishing up the second draft for LAND OF FOG. Mainly cosmetics in relation to the first (spelling, phrase construction, you know...) and two new chapters. I think they round the story a bit more.
And now I only have to figure out what I'm going to do with all the other ideas that I had in Burma... I don't really feel like doing a sequel. But perhaps a few short stories. Or a long short story would be in order.
(not again!!!)
I've been reading a few of Gene Wolfe's amazing short stories and I'm trying attain a greater depth in my storytelling. The man is quite clearly a god of writing and he teaches his mastery at every phrase, at each page and word. There is much I still need to learn. Everything flows so well with him. There never seems to be any rush to get anywhere and, yet, the story is always there. It's always present, taking care of the reader.
I'd like to be able to write like this.
But I'll continue writing even if I don't!
Today I'm hoping I'll start patching the huge scenes quilt that I have managed to weave today. There are bits missing and I want simply to start at the beginning and start filling the gaps. Missing panels and missing links between certain scenes.
After that I'm going to go through my extensive list of notes and tick all the "objectives" for this story. All the themes/subjects that I wanted to cover.
Then I think I'll print it out and read it all over again, make whatever changes I feel necessary and, finally, deem it a first draft!
(I'm very curious about how many pages the comic will actually have... the is the biggest story I've attempted to write yet!)
peace.
Saturday 28 February 2009
Wednesday 11 February 2009
Writing A Retreat Away
Even though my daily, early morning, meditation practice hasn't been the best lately, I have been complying to the type-up-your-retreat-stuff-quickly-so-that-you-can-move-to-do-other-stuff everyday.
But I already have 8 LIFE INSIDE MIND short comics (usually one or two pages long), 9 MINDFUL vs MINDLESS cartoon strips (four panels each, typically) and added some more stuff to LAND OF FOG, LOVE RITES, RIGOR MORTIS and LAST RITES among other things.
I'm typing everything up. Even the things I now feel don't work as well as when I felt them inside of me there and then. And I'm then creating the panel descriptions where needed. This is actually why it has taken me so long with some of the things. Most times, when I'm writing comics scripts, I simply focus on the dialogue with the odd note to the setting here and there. From all the stuff that I wrote in Myanmar, most is simply dialogue with a brief description of the general idea behind it - if needed.
Today I have also been planning the next few sessions for the Graphic Novels Reading Group and this idea I had about giving out wacky awards to our favourite comics creators.
If you're interested in finding out more about the group this is the place to go:
http://community.livejournal.com/lambeth_comics/
Tomorrow and friday I'm off so my plan is to type up and finish as much of the stuff that I did in Myanmar as possible and make a start on A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN. I have three print outs that I need to stitch together and then chop up and then combine... it's going to be a good arts and crafts day...
Apart from this another brief revision of LAND OF FOG seems to be in order. Maybe I'll do this before I leave today... after all it's only the last three chapters that I really need to look into...
peace.
But I already have 8 LIFE INSIDE MIND short comics (usually one or two pages long), 9 MINDFUL vs MINDLESS cartoon strips (four panels each, typically) and added some more stuff to LAND OF FOG, LOVE RITES, RIGOR MORTIS and LAST RITES among other things.
I'm typing everything up. Even the things I now feel don't work as well as when I felt them inside of me there and then. And I'm then creating the panel descriptions where needed. This is actually why it has taken me so long with some of the things. Most times, when I'm writing comics scripts, I simply focus on the dialogue with the odd note to the setting here and there. From all the stuff that I wrote in Myanmar, most is simply dialogue with a brief description of the general idea behind it - if needed.
Today I have also been planning the next few sessions for the Graphic Novels Reading Group and this idea I had about giving out wacky awards to our favourite comics creators.
If you're interested in finding out more about the group this is the place to go:
http://community.livejournal.com/lambeth_comics/
Tomorrow and friday I'm off so my plan is to type up and finish as much of the stuff that I did in Myanmar as possible and make a start on A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN. I have three print outs that I need to stitch together and then chop up and then combine... it's going to be a good arts and crafts day...
Apart from this another brief revision of LAND OF FOG seems to be in order. Maybe I'll do this before I leave today... after all it's only the last three chapters that I really need to look into...
peace.
Monday 9 February 2009
Back From Old Burma
Yes, well, all things must change and thus, here I am, finding myself in a strangely familiar situation.
The myanmar meditation retreat was excellent. As always. Lots of ups and downs and remembering things I had forgotten, re-learning things that I still remembered and finding new things altogether.
So much so that a part of me wants to type up the journey and publish it online.
Perhaps even adding stuff from my previous retreat.
But I must be realistic and say - not for now! It's more important that I actually focus on that book about it rather than in creating more work. The important thing is the content and that book really has all the key things. My hope is that it will reflect not only my experiences - only important because they serve as examples for the practice - but also the deep relevance of the practice.
You'll be hearing about it soon...
Obviously, as I meditated I had a bunch of ideas...
Some of these are cartoons about the practice (which I have called Mindfull Versus Mindless) and are quite comical.
But some of the other stuff contains not only ideas for stories that I had already been working on but also a couple of new things. A series of one page comics called Life Inside Mind and yet another, more lenghtier series called either Rigor Mortis or Shunted Light... I still haven't got my head around it.
In any case I think I have learned a few valuable lessons this time. Part of me really wants to share them but I don't know if this is really the space. What I will do is write an email, both in english and in portuguese and send that out to some friends.
Maybe I'll post it here.
Maybe.
I had some new ideas for LAND OF FOG and so, now the book has two more chapters.
(3 or 4 pages more)
And there are also a couple of ideas for a couple of short stories that take place after the events in LAND OF FOG.
And they end up tying in with another book I started writing last year but that won't see the light of day anytime soon. This is probably the conceptually most daring thing I've ever considered doing and I want to be more mature in order to make it all that I think it can be. A deep exercise in creativity. I think it will write itself through the upcoming years.
So. I've been polishing a new draft for LAND OF FOG but also some letters that I wrote to friends while away. Also a series of comedy sketches in portuguese... and, of course, RIGOR MORTIS that simply just doesn't get out of my head. I'd like it to be a 60 or 70 page comic but I feel that the potential is really for an ongoing series. At the same time I think doing a series is just milking it a bit. It needs to be dense and powerdul. Actually it could also work as a feature film. Quite well I would say. The only problem is the ending. For the time being it's an open ending. There's really no punchline. Or, the punchline is, things are as they are: we merely choose when faced with them. And the journey is ongoing.
Things to do for the next few days;
Get back on track with A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN, finish LAND OF FOG and write up a first draft for MS, a children's book.
And a bit more on RIGOR MORTIS.
And finish those comedy sketches...
Hope you are all well!
peace
The myanmar meditation retreat was excellent. As always. Lots of ups and downs and remembering things I had forgotten, re-learning things that I still remembered and finding new things altogether.
So much so that a part of me wants to type up the journey and publish it online.
Perhaps even adding stuff from my previous retreat.
But I must be realistic and say - not for now! It's more important that I actually focus on that book about it rather than in creating more work. The important thing is the content and that book really has all the key things. My hope is that it will reflect not only my experiences - only important because they serve as examples for the practice - but also the deep relevance of the practice.
You'll be hearing about it soon...
Obviously, as I meditated I had a bunch of ideas...
Some of these are cartoons about the practice (which I have called Mindfull Versus Mindless) and are quite comical.
But some of the other stuff contains not only ideas for stories that I had already been working on but also a couple of new things. A series of one page comics called Life Inside Mind and yet another, more lenghtier series called either Rigor Mortis or Shunted Light... I still haven't got my head around it.
In any case I think I have learned a few valuable lessons this time. Part of me really wants to share them but I don't know if this is really the space. What I will do is write an email, both in english and in portuguese and send that out to some friends.
Maybe I'll post it here.
Maybe.
I had some new ideas for LAND OF FOG and so, now the book has two more chapters.
(3 or 4 pages more)
And there are also a couple of ideas for a couple of short stories that take place after the events in LAND OF FOG.
And they end up tying in with another book I started writing last year but that won't see the light of day anytime soon. This is probably the conceptually most daring thing I've ever considered doing and I want to be more mature in order to make it all that I think it can be. A deep exercise in creativity. I think it will write itself through the upcoming years.
So. I've been polishing a new draft for LAND OF FOG but also some letters that I wrote to friends while away. Also a series of comedy sketches in portuguese... and, of course, RIGOR MORTIS that simply just doesn't get out of my head. I'd like it to be a 60 or 70 page comic but I feel that the potential is really for an ongoing series. At the same time I think doing a series is just milking it a bit. It needs to be dense and powerdul. Actually it could also work as a feature film. Quite well I would say. The only problem is the ending. For the time being it's an open ending. There's really no punchline. Or, the punchline is, things are as they are: we merely choose when faced with them. And the journey is ongoing.
Things to do for the next few days;
Get back on track with A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN, finish LAND OF FOG and write up a first draft for MS, a children's book.
And a bit more on RIGOR MORTIS.
And finish those comedy sketches...
Hope you are all well!
peace
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