Been a while huh?
Summer holidays, the getting-back-to-work period where everything seems to happen at once.
Then more holidays. More work. Friends staying over...
(no excuses though...)
so. What have been up to more recently? (my memory doesn't go all the way back to almost two months ago...)
Good question!
Well, several things.
I've written a short piece for an art exhibit I went whilst in Lisbon this last July. It's for an artist called João Palla and I'm just waiting for his reply to a few questions of mine before I sent it to him.
I've also written a relatively long text to a good friend of mine, Joana Bértholo. She's a writer (published!) and she's participating in THIS.
She sent me questions 2, 15, 18, 21, 22, 23 and 24 and I wrote anything that I felt might be relevant to her debate.
And, because of question 24 (about genetic manipulation, human beings and artificial life) I might be doing a book for this year's NaNoWriMo around this theme, an idea that's been in my head for probably some ten years now...
(if it doesn't let go it's because it needs to be written...)
I've written three short stories (from 2000 to 3000 words each) with death as the main theme. I'm planning on sending them to a few friends just for fun - but I've been lazy to compile the mailing list...
I'd really like to send at least one thing a month but... knowing my rhythms, this is probably another chimera of mine...
In any case, the first story is about a guy addicted to running. The other is about a being that knows the entirety of his life (echoes of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five...). The final one is, of the three, the one closest to what I ultimately want to offer a glimpse at, which is the realisation of death. But, of the three is the one that still needs more work - even though I do like the structure. There's an ongoing narration of an event with sudden flashbacks. Somehow these devices seem to work pretty well. For me at least...
Land Of Fog Revision continues! Of course. What do we care about deadlines?!
To be perfectly honest, I thought that this third (or is it fourth?!) draft would be easier. But, it seems to me that until I get to a fourth draft it's never gonna be easy...
For a good while I was incredibly frustrated with this. Which in turn caused revision to slow down (that and the fact that I was somewhat jaded with the material...). But I'm accepting the slowness of this process and trying not to worry too much about it. It'd be nice to have it ready before November but, if it doesn't happen, I'll just plunge head on to NaNoWriMo and think about it later.
My only question is if I should write the second part (of three) of the Fog trilogy. It's to be called Land Of Mists. I've already written quite a few ideas for it and I know exactly where it must end.
The advantage of doing this is that the setting and where I want to take this story is very present in me.
The downside is that I want to leave it behind for a while.
But, in fact, writing this down has made me think that the first option is better than the second. I can hold on for another couple of months. Unavoidably in January (if I do go to my meditation retreat) I'll have to leave all these stories behind so... might as well take advantage of having the story so clear in my head. Hopefully the new storyline and the new characters will refresh the whole thing.
I've also written some other short stories that I'm compiling for my little cousins. They're falling under the umbrella of BBT (I don't want to give out the title should they be reading this by some chance...) and they're more or less playful adventure stories with some twists and weird stuff thrown into the mix. My initial idea was to have a story per little cousin (that'd be five...) in which each of them would get to play the hero and be the main character. The tough thing was to find something that echoed their personality - which was a hard thing to do for I tend to play with them more than anything. I don't really know that much about their personal tastes and dreams - we meet only rarely. But I think I've got things that they'll identify with and enjoy.
And I was very happy when my oldest cousin suggested to me the setting that I was already envisioning in my head!
Right now I must have some seven or eight stories. A couple I've written beginning to end, either dialogue or plot. But most are still in an embryonic stage. There's also stuff written down on paper, scattered around... However I try to organise, inspiration comes when it pleases and not always I have a keyboard close by... Probably some five or ten thousand words by now - which I think will be enough to work into a small book (thirty to forty thousand). There is no end in sight. In fact what I wanted the most was to create a setting for stories for them.
At least that I have got. Now it's time.
And work!
Peace.
Showing posts with label joana bertholo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joana bertholo. Show all posts
Friday, 8 October 2010
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Sequential Scripts, Weekend Writs
Spent the weekend writing some more stuff for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN. Quite a lot of stuff actually. I've been reading through a paper on de-development (the collapse of empires on the western world) and including some of the ideas into the script. The idea is to create not only a solida basis for the story's society but also a platform for potential solutions that will come forth as part of the Monk's teachings to the King.
I'm still not finished with it but I know that probably most of what I've written will never end up in a script. But just creating a more recognisable society, a more defined framework within which to move the characters is already important enough. At least for this story. And, in any case, I can always use up some of the key ideas in other stories. There are a few that touch on those points anyway.
I also wrote captions and dialogue for a full (?) issue of The WEIRD MACHINE. And some odd bits. Mainly ideas, directions. Stuff that I could only write synopsis but not really come alive just there and then. I've learned that some stuff needs to be in the back burner for a while. And when it's ready, you'll hear it ring...
Also wrote the opening sequence and a few other bits for an idea that I had a little while ago. A comic about music and what it brings up inside. But I don't really want to talk about this because it's not only quite a personal thing but also something that I will only share when it's completed or secured in some way. All I can say is that I think this could be an amazing project and I'm quite sure it would be successful. Really enjoyed the writing as it was coming out, flowing so easily through the character and into the screen (this one I was typing it directly - which is something I don't do that often - I prefer to write on paper (comics wise) and then already do a semblance of a revision as I write it down on my pc at home), I felt the momentum going, which, to me, is one of the most important things tp be felt whilst writing. It's the momentum that keeps the writing going even when there's no "inspiration" or will power. The momentum sustains the story.
Read a bit of Joana Bertholo's new book: DIALOGOS PARA O FIM DO MUNDO which I'm (slowly...) helping her revise. It's a powerful book and filled with lots of brain candy and provocative ideas. To my mind it's as demanding as it is rewarding. Her writing has a beautiful way of capturing the subtleties of the portuguese language and of revealing our inner connundrums and intricacies. It tells the tale of an Ukranian family, the Kozak, on their quest for that mysterious country, Brazil, to where Father Kozak disappeared once upon a time, leaving behind a promise of a better life, an escape from poverty. In a way it's a book about the many things riddling our existence. A book about existence itself. A book about many books...
Yesterday, while cycling home, had an idea for a short comic and proceeded to actually write the whole thing as soon as I got home. It took me about 2 and a half hours to write 12 pages of comic! I was really surprised! Obviously the ideas changed a bit since their inception but I never assumed it was going to take that long! It's called PARALLEL LIVES.
In any case it's more of an exercise than anything else. It's the story of two guys, one with a mobile phone and another with a flashlight whose worlds end up clashing. It's a short thriller. In any case the idea was to have the points of view alternating between one and the other through the comic. I think I managed to pull it off. The ending was the most difficult, after the characters separate once again. It has no captions or dialogue and there's only a couple of panels where some text shows up. Hopefully the story still comes across crystal clear and creates a reaction.
Today I'm reviewing a theatre play (DOUBLE SIDED) I wrote in Portuguese for a competition (I have to send it by the 15th this month). Just rephrasing a few things. Realised that I'm still not that happy about the whole thing. It has some really good moments (it's good to find out that some of the stuff you had in mind actually did the trick for you at some point down the line...) but I still don't see it as being cohesive. Then again, if I get selected I'll have plenty of oportunities to work on the structure and I'm sure the actors will have more suggestions than I'll possibly be able to handle...
Also finished reading KING by Ho Che Anderson, an amazing comics biography of the life and times of Martin Luther King. Visually it's quite daring and the script really is intense. Ho Che Anderson manages to shift gracefully from in depth political debate to human drama. And, more often than not, seamlessly entwines both. Like my good friend's book, it may not be an easy read, but the plentiful rewards are there for the taking...
I'm still not finished with it but I know that probably most of what I've written will never end up in a script. But just creating a more recognisable society, a more defined framework within which to move the characters is already important enough. At least for this story. And, in any case, I can always use up some of the key ideas in other stories. There are a few that touch on those points anyway.
I also wrote captions and dialogue for a full (?) issue of The WEIRD MACHINE. And some odd bits. Mainly ideas, directions. Stuff that I could only write synopsis but not really come alive just there and then. I've learned that some stuff needs to be in the back burner for a while. And when it's ready, you'll hear it ring...
Also wrote the opening sequence and a few other bits for an idea that I had a little while ago. A comic about music and what it brings up inside. But I don't really want to talk about this because it's not only quite a personal thing but also something that I will only share when it's completed or secured in some way. All I can say is that I think this could be an amazing project and I'm quite sure it would be successful. Really enjoyed the writing as it was coming out, flowing so easily through the character and into the screen (this one I was typing it directly - which is something I don't do that often - I prefer to write on paper (comics wise) and then already do a semblance of a revision as I write it down on my pc at home), I felt the momentum going, which, to me, is one of the most important things tp be felt whilst writing. It's the momentum that keeps the writing going even when there's no "inspiration" or will power. The momentum sustains the story.
Read a bit of Joana Bertholo's new book: DIALOGOS PARA O FIM DO MUNDO which I'm (slowly...) helping her revise. It's a powerful book and filled with lots of brain candy and provocative ideas. To my mind it's as demanding as it is rewarding. Her writing has a beautiful way of capturing the subtleties of the portuguese language and of revealing our inner connundrums and intricacies. It tells the tale of an Ukranian family, the Kozak, on their quest for that mysterious country, Brazil, to where Father Kozak disappeared once upon a time, leaving behind a promise of a better life, an escape from poverty. In a way it's a book about the many things riddling our existence. A book about existence itself. A book about many books...
Yesterday, while cycling home, had an idea for a short comic and proceeded to actually write the whole thing as soon as I got home. It took me about 2 and a half hours to write 12 pages of comic! I was really surprised! Obviously the ideas changed a bit since their inception but I never assumed it was going to take that long! It's called PARALLEL LIVES.
In any case it's more of an exercise than anything else. It's the story of two guys, one with a mobile phone and another with a flashlight whose worlds end up clashing. It's a short thriller. In any case the idea was to have the points of view alternating between one and the other through the comic. I think I managed to pull it off. The ending was the most difficult, after the characters separate once again. It has no captions or dialogue and there's only a couple of panels where some text shows up. Hopefully the story still comes across crystal clear and creates a reaction.
Today I'm reviewing a theatre play (DOUBLE SIDED) I wrote in Portuguese for a competition (I have to send it by the 15th this month). Just rephrasing a few things. Realised that I'm still not that happy about the whole thing. It has some really good moments (it's good to find out that some of the stuff you had in mind actually did the trick for you at some point down the line...) but I still don't see it as being cohesive. Then again, if I get selected I'll have plenty of oportunities to work on the structure and I'm sure the actors will have more suggestions than I'll possibly be able to handle...
Also finished reading KING by Ho Che Anderson, an amazing comics biography of the life and times of Martin Luther King. Visually it's quite daring and the script really is intense. Ho Che Anderson manages to shift gracefully from in depth political debate to human drama. And, more often than not, seamlessly entwines both. Like my good friend's book, it may not be an easy read, but the plentiful rewards are there for the taking...
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