How have things been? Quite good actually, even if on wednesday night I couldn't sleep. All the way until 6 am thursday morning.
At least I wrote a bit...
As you know, on tuesday I managed to type up some more panels for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN but I also managed to write some more ideas for the ML project. Wrote some more panels for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN (if you get it going, you might as well stick with it...) and wrote a couple of scenes for THE IMMORTALISTS.
Wednesday I stayed home for most of the day so I could really immerse (I love this word) myself in panel writing. There were a couple of page layouts ideas that I really enjoyed. Sometimes when you force yourself to do things, creativity comes about in unexpected ways...
I also wrote some more ideas on an old story I had a few years ago. Can't even remember the title... I'll have to open dozens of old files and try to find it... sometime...
Then yesterday I didn't really do much. Long day at work and my head felt like an inflated balloon. Big but without much inside it. Just typed a few panels and wrote a couple more things on ML.
And earlier this morning I finally revised the few added bits to THE SHIFT. I'll type them up tomorrow and get a fresh copy of the script to keep in the house. Then it will be ready to send out to all those curious people out there...
Peace
(man, these things do take time...)
Oh! And I also found that updated version of IN THE WILD! It was really a relief! having to do it all again was starting to feel like a waste of time... and I probably wouldn't do it any time soon either...
Showing posts with label the immortalists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the immortalists. Show all posts
Friday, 17 October 2008
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Comics Scripting - Foggy Patchwork
If friday was a busy day, the ones that followed weren't any slower. Sometimes staying indoors is the best way to get busy. Especially if there's a lot of stuff you want to write about.
(who needs the house cleaned anyway?)
After work (and work finished at 11.30pm on that day...) I still wrote a bit on the RETALHOS project.
Saturday I also came to work but upon arriving home I wrote quite a few things. An idea for a horror film (I know, weird innit?), a bit more on a distorted superhero series that I won't tell you the title (just too good to be shared), some more on THE IMMORTALISTS, a quick return to the book about my trip to Burma almost 4 years ago, THE ORGANIC INSIGHT ENGINE (yeah, it is a good title, but I'm willing to share this one...), some more on another weird SF comics series called THE FUTUROLOGISTS and LAND OF FOG.
My whole idea for this weekend - the plan - was to focus on the RETALHOS project. Sunday was going to be spent working on the ideas I had for the 8 page long comic. And then I would mail it on monday.
But when I woke up on sunday I REALLY felt like writing LAND OF FOG. So, I thought, why not? Still plenty of time.
And then I wrote more than 8,000 words. And this went on until 1 am.
(so RETALHOS had to jump to monday...)
I finished a chapter and wrote most of another. And I'm quite happy the way both of them turned out. The scenes, even though quite freaky, seem solid enough. I enjoyed the way the characters defined themselves, came together and then drifted away too.
Monday was graphic novels reading group night and we discussed (albeit briefly) Gilbert Hernandez HEARTBREAK SOUP.
(which I still haven't read 'cause all the copies went to the readers...)
(that's why I'm not saying anything else about it right now)
On monday I managed to whip up the first draft for the RETALHOS comic. And send it out. Missing all the weird portuguese accentuation but hey... it is a first draft. And at least I'm totally cohesive on it: not a single word has any of the need accentuation.
(which means when I review the thing I'm gonna spend a couple of hours right-clicking on words and correcting them...)
When I got home I still wrote a bit more on LAND OF FOG (I really want to finish it some time soon - and I'm really enjoying the story - that's the advantage of being the writer: you get to readt it and be surprised by it before anyone else!)
Today I spent some time typing stuff I had on THE WEIRD MACHINE and, as it almost always happens, adding a few ideas to the patchwork.
Did the same with IN THE WILD. Typed everything up and am now in the process of connecting the bits of dialogue with the panels. And it's looking good. The feel of deep conection to the Earth is coming across. And I know I'll fine tuned it a bit as I go along, since it is the main drive of the story.
Anyway, can't wait to get home and...
yup
true
write some more on LAND OF FOG...
Sometimes stories just take you away.
With no return date to be found.
I've got to finish this one quickly 'cause NaNoWriMo is almost upon us all!
Peace
(who needs the house cleaned anyway?)
After work (and work finished at 11.30pm on that day...) I still wrote a bit on the RETALHOS project.
Saturday I also came to work but upon arriving home I wrote quite a few things. An idea for a horror film (I know, weird innit?), a bit more on a distorted superhero series that I won't tell you the title (just too good to be shared), some more on THE IMMORTALISTS, a quick return to the book about my trip to Burma almost 4 years ago, THE ORGANIC INSIGHT ENGINE (yeah, it is a good title, but I'm willing to share this one...), some more on another weird SF comics series called THE FUTUROLOGISTS and LAND OF FOG.
My whole idea for this weekend - the plan - was to focus on the RETALHOS project. Sunday was going to be spent working on the ideas I had for the 8 page long comic. And then I would mail it on monday.
But when I woke up on sunday I REALLY felt like writing LAND OF FOG. So, I thought, why not? Still plenty of time.
And then I wrote more than 8,000 words. And this went on until 1 am.
(so RETALHOS had to jump to monday...)
I finished a chapter and wrote most of another. And I'm quite happy the way both of them turned out. The scenes, even though quite freaky, seem solid enough. I enjoyed the way the characters defined themselves, came together and then drifted away too.
Monday was graphic novels reading group night and we discussed (albeit briefly) Gilbert Hernandez HEARTBREAK SOUP.
(which I still haven't read 'cause all the copies went to the readers...)
(that's why I'm not saying anything else about it right now)
On monday I managed to whip up the first draft for the RETALHOS comic. And send it out. Missing all the weird portuguese accentuation but hey... it is a first draft. And at least I'm totally cohesive on it: not a single word has any of the need accentuation.
(which means when I review the thing I'm gonna spend a couple of hours right-clicking on words and correcting them...)
When I got home I still wrote a bit more on LAND OF FOG (I really want to finish it some time soon - and I'm really enjoying the story - that's the advantage of being the writer: you get to readt it and be surprised by it before anyone else!)
Today I spent some time typing stuff I had on THE WEIRD MACHINE and, as it almost always happens, adding a few ideas to the patchwork.
Did the same with IN THE WILD. Typed everything up and am now in the process of connecting the bits of dialogue with the panels. And it's looking good. The feel of deep conection to the Earth is coming across. And I know I'll fine tuned it a bit as I go along, since it is the main drive of the story.
Anyway, can't wait to get home and...
yup
true
write some more on LAND OF FOG...
Sometimes stories just take you away.
With no return date to be found.
I've got to finish this one quickly 'cause NaNoWriMo is almost upon us all!
Peace
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Comics Scripting
Well, it's been a while since I've last wrote a few lines in this here semi-diary of uncanny writings...
On the 13th I went home and added a acouple more scenes to THE SHIFT. That thing is really going to get to 100 pages, I tell ya...
The following day (a sunday spent mostly outdoors...) I started revising the whole thing and wrote a bit more on THE IMMORTALISTS (I keep getting weird scenes and characters...) and a bit more on THE REMNANTS OF LOST DAYS (a long short-story...)
On the Monday I quickly revised the theatre play DOUBLE SIDED and sent it out to that competition. There was also a lovely event at streatham library that I helped host and organise (as part of the Graphic Novels Reading Group) with Helen McCarthy, Alex Fitch and Paul Gravett. It was a delicious talk on Osamu Tezuka and the wonders of Manga.
I also wrote a synopsis and bits of a short script called MOTHER'S MILK.
Because tuesday is just that kind of day, here came another short script (synopsis and a few scenes) called THE DEEPEST WHISPER. Together with MOTHER'S MILK these two are now part of a kind of sub-series within MONO. The main theme of these stories is love and just how deep it can go.
Also did some more reviewing on THE SHIFT.
Wednesday was "classics" day because not only did I do some more reviewing on THE SHIFT but I also wrote a synopsis and a few scenes for a BATMAN story. I won't tell you the title but I can tell you that it's more about Bruce Wayne and a weird psychologist than throwing punches into criminals faces...
On the thursday I went to Portugal for a short holiday. I actually managed to finish reviewing the whole of THE SHIFT and I realised that I need to review the whole structure of the thing. At least I have a plan for it. I'm gonna separate the whole structure into the various acts. Then organise them chronologically. Then redo the changes that didn't really work for me. Hopefully it will be closer to a final structure after all this is done!
On Monday the 22nd, on my way to Sao Martinho do Porto, to my parents house, I had an idea for a short story called LAND OF FOG. This came to mind simply because, as I arrived inside the coach, I observed that a thick whitish fog covered the whole bay area and the town around, even though everywhere else in the region it was sunny and bright. Talk about micro-climate, huh? So that's the story. A guy arriving to a sunny town only to find that the fog therein has some very interesting properties...
On tuesday I finished revising THE SHIFT and had a meeting with my good friend at TEATRO DO FRIO (Theatre Of The Cold), a theatre company based in Porto.
We had some dinner at Agito in Bairro Alto and talked about our lives, meditation, theatre, the play I had sent him - DOUBLE SIDED (which everybody in the company read! wow! that was REALLY unexpected!!) - and the project I've been invited to participate - RETALHOS (Patchwork).
Basically they've been performing for people throughout the country, presenting some short performances around the object SUITCASE. Then, after the show, they sit down with the audience and gather some of their stories of living abroad and so forth. The whole thing is taped so that a documentary is created. Then 10 of these stories, all with the object SUITCASE, will be selected and sent to 10 writers in order for them to write creatively on them. These will then be illustrated and published later on in the year. TEATRO DO FRIO itself will work on these 10 stories and create a performative piece with them that will then be presented to the public.
The thing that I really like about this project is the very simple and yet quite profound idea of turning popular culture into high art - and then returning this high art back into the people. Not only popular culture is being acknowledged by its worth, as a foundation for a sort of cultural sublimation but, in fact, a powerful bridge is being established between two usually opposing ends in culture. TEATRO DO FRIO is demonstrating that everybody can share human experiences and that boundaries can be actuvely used to break cultural and social gaps. It is as important for the intellectual to realise the depth and meaning of a "simpler life" as it is for those with "less education" to become acquainted with contemporary performative pieces. A contemporary working of a real cultural experience might just do the tricks and open up new, unexpected and highly important avenues. After all, as people use to say, we're all on the same boat. It's about time we got to know each other.
So, I'm really happy that I'm one of the lucky participants! October will be dedicated to produce a comics script/short story based on one of the gathered tales. November will be the month for the artist to draw it and december its publication alongside all the others.
I'll try and keep you updated on my progress...
Yesterday was a crazy day. I spent most of the morning with RICARDO CABRAL talking about this project and A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN, his amazing artwork, his upcoming book (you can see some of the stuff in THE ISRAEL SKETCHBOOK) and other things. Here are his two blogs.
http://theisraelsketchbook.blogspot.com/
http://ricardopereiracabral.blogspot.com/
He also wants to do something for a competition that brings THE OBSERVER, RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING and COMICA FESTIVAL together.
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/graphicnovels/competition.htm
He's gonna draw something for me.
And then I'll write something for it.
And I won't know anything until the artwork's done...
I've already had a few ideas for this of course.
(what makes a theme so important after all??)
Maybe create a story perpendicular to the artwork. That is, only a panel or two actually touch upon the theme of the story.
Create a story that dips in and out of the artwork but, for the most part, doesn't have much to do with the visual tale.
Create a story which is conflicts with what's being shown. Like two dissimilar versions of the same thing.
Create a story that actually relates to what is being shown...
And do this in a kind of poetic form.
Don't think about it until you see the artwork, so stop worrying about it and finish all the other stuff instead. Better yet, start reading those stories and select the one you'll be working on...
(I have to keep telling myself these things or else I don't know what my head will start to think and do next...)
Today my plan is simply to type the alterations I've done to THE SHIFT. If I can finish them (which I doubt... it's already 1pm and I've been trying to finish this post since early morning...) I'll print out the whole thing, go home, add the new scenes and redo the structure.
If I can do it, then tomorrow THE SHIFT should be ready to surface in these here bloglands...
Peace
On the 13th I went home and added a acouple more scenes to THE SHIFT. That thing is really going to get to 100 pages, I tell ya...
The following day (a sunday spent mostly outdoors...) I started revising the whole thing and wrote a bit more on THE IMMORTALISTS (I keep getting weird scenes and characters...) and a bit more on THE REMNANTS OF LOST DAYS (a long short-story...)
On the Monday I quickly revised the theatre play DOUBLE SIDED and sent it out to that competition. There was also a lovely event at streatham library that I helped host and organise (as part of the Graphic Novels Reading Group) with Helen McCarthy, Alex Fitch and Paul Gravett. It was a delicious talk on Osamu Tezuka and the wonders of Manga.
I also wrote a synopsis and bits of a short script called MOTHER'S MILK.
Because tuesday is just that kind of day, here came another short script (synopsis and a few scenes) called THE DEEPEST WHISPER. Together with MOTHER'S MILK these two are now part of a kind of sub-series within MONO. The main theme of these stories is love and just how deep it can go.
Also did some more reviewing on THE SHIFT.
Wednesday was "classics" day because not only did I do some more reviewing on THE SHIFT but I also wrote a synopsis and a few scenes for a BATMAN story. I won't tell you the title but I can tell you that it's more about Bruce Wayne and a weird psychologist than throwing punches into criminals faces...
On the thursday I went to Portugal for a short holiday. I actually managed to finish reviewing the whole of THE SHIFT and I realised that I need to review the whole structure of the thing. At least I have a plan for it. I'm gonna separate the whole structure into the various acts. Then organise them chronologically. Then redo the changes that didn't really work for me. Hopefully it will be closer to a final structure after all this is done!
On Monday the 22nd, on my way to Sao Martinho do Porto, to my parents house, I had an idea for a short story called LAND OF FOG. This came to mind simply because, as I arrived inside the coach, I observed that a thick whitish fog covered the whole bay area and the town around, even though everywhere else in the region it was sunny and bright. Talk about micro-climate, huh? So that's the story. A guy arriving to a sunny town only to find that the fog therein has some very interesting properties...
On tuesday I finished revising THE SHIFT and had a meeting with my good friend at TEATRO DO FRIO (Theatre Of The Cold), a theatre company based in Porto.
We had some dinner at Agito in Bairro Alto and talked about our lives, meditation, theatre, the play I had sent him - DOUBLE SIDED (which everybody in the company read! wow! that was REALLY unexpected!!) - and the project I've been invited to participate - RETALHOS (Patchwork).
Basically they've been performing for people throughout the country, presenting some short performances around the object SUITCASE. Then, after the show, they sit down with the audience and gather some of their stories of living abroad and so forth. The whole thing is taped so that a documentary is created. Then 10 of these stories, all with the object SUITCASE, will be selected and sent to 10 writers in order for them to write creatively on them. These will then be illustrated and published later on in the year. TEATRO DO FRIO itself will work on these 10 stories and create a performative piece with them that will then be presented to the public.
The thing that I really like about this project is the very simple and yet quite profound idea of turning popular culture into high art - and then returning this high art back into the people. Not only popular culture is being acknowledged by its worth, as a foundation for a sort of cultural sublimation but, in fact, a powerful bridge is being established between two usually opposing ends in culture. TEATRO DO FRIO is demonstrating that everybody can share human experiences and that boundaries can be actuvely used to break cultural and social gaps. It is as important for the intellectual to realise the depth and meaning of a "simpler life" as it is for those with "less education" to become acquainted with contemporary performative pieces. A contemporary working of a real cultural experience might just do the tricks and open up new, unexpected and highly important avenues. After all, as people use to say, we're all on the same boat. It's about time we got to know each other.
So, I'm really happy that I'm one of the lucky participants! October will be dedicated to produce a comics script/short story based on one of the gathered tales. November will be the month for the artist to draw it and december its publication alongside all the others.
I'll try and keep you updated on my progress...
Yesterday was a crazy day. I spent most of the morning with RICARDO CABRAL talking about this project and A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN, his amazing artwork, his upcoming book (you can see some of the stuff in THE ISRAEL SKETCHBOOK) and other things. Here are his two blogs.
http://theisraelsketchbook.blogspot.com/
http://ricardopereiracabral.blogspot.com/
He also wants to do something for a competition that brings THE OBSERVER, RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING and COMICA FESTIVAL together.
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/graphicnovels/competition.htm
He's gonna draw something for me.
And then I'll write something for it.
And I won't know anything until the artwork's done...
I've already had a few ideas for this of course.
(what makes a theme so important after all??)
Maybe create a story perpendicular to the artwork. That is, only a panel or two actually touch upon the theme of the story.
Create a story that dips in and out of the artwork but, for the most part, doesn't have much to do with the visual tale.
Create a story which is conflicts with what's being shown. Like two dissimilar versions of the same thing.
Create a story that actually relates to what is being shown...
And do this in a kind of poetic form.
Don't think about it until you see the artwork, so stop worrying about it and finish all the other stuff instead. Better yet, start reading those stories and select the one you'll be working on...
(I have to keep telling myself these things or else I don't know what my head will start to think and do next...)
Today my plan is simply to type the alterations I've done to THE SHIFT. If I can finish them (which I doubt... it's already 1pm and I've been trying to finish this post since early morning...) I'll print out the whole thing, go home, add the new scenes and redo the structure.
If I can do it, then tomorrow THE SHIFT should be ready to surface in these here bloglands...
Peace
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Comics Script
This has been a busy week. A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN keeps growing. All the scenes I had handwritten are now on my big file of notes and ideas for the comic. Next phase is to try and get some order out of them, eventually add some to the first chapter, some to the second and see if it makes some sense to actually write a third one. If it does, I'm thinking it will be more of an illustrated story than anything else. Or a weird kind of comic. The third volume would be more like an essay on the downfall of empires than anything else. A lesson on politics and sociology so to speak.
We'll see...
Wrote a short comic called IN THE WILD and it's about a Native American Indian returning to his tribe after a very long hunt. I have it on paper but still need to put it on electronic format and organise/review the whole thing.
Also wrote a bit more on THE IMMORTALISTS. This time another series of ideas for a greek character and some weird Greek mythology. The thing with this series is that it seems to be more about a thousand different characters than plot... But there's a story there. I guess I just have a whole heap of threads to weave...
Also reviewed the whole of my short theatre play called DOUBLE SIDED (in portuguese, A DUAS VOZES). I'm still not entirely happy with the structure of the text and pacing of the story but (if it does get selected) because it will be just the platform for a whole heap of experimentation, I'm not really worried. Just hope they like it and find it intense enough to work on it.
Also wrote the intro and beginning of the first chapter for a crime book called IN FORESTS DEEP. It's about a very peculiar detective trying to capture a serial killer no one believes exists. But he knows his stuff. In actual fact, thsi detective knows more than he realises...
(I was thinking about what to write for the upcoming NaNoWriMo and some scenes started to surface for this book. But, as soon as I started to write them I began feeling really heavy and low on energy. Crime really isn't one of my favourite themes and writing about it, just drags me down a bit. Still, I think the idea for the book is quite good and the writing is quite easy. Crime tends to be very stereotypical and you don't need to worry about have people with a really bad temper in there... but I like the detective. He's laid back and is as much on the job as considering his next holiday. He's a bit stuck between two worlds. What he really would like to do - anything but being a detective - and what he's good at. You see, his problema is that he doesn't like being a detective but he knows he's a good one. And that he can save lives that no one else can. And that's what counts for him.)
Also wrote something to post here but it not only got very big but also too personal. I don't mind sharing my inner ramblings but, when they're about people I love (even if it's to say nice things) I become much more conscientious and self aware. So, for the time being, it's in limbo. I'm reviewing it and, hopefully in a couple of days, I'll send it out to some of whom it talks about and see what's the reply.
Also did some more research and added some bits that were missing to THE SHIFT. Characters list and description, a map of Iraq, some info on the bombings of Fallujah (2004) and Baghad (1991). Little things but that suddenly made the story feel even more believable. I had certain scenes in my head but did not know if they could match the occurrences in the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq (and subsequent skirmishes). But it turns out that they do! Quite well in fact!
Today and tomorrow I'm hoping on do some more finishing touches on THE SHIFT, send out DOUBLE SIDED and... whatever I feel like it!
Peace.
We'll see...
Wrote a short comic called IN THE WILD and it's about a Native American Indian returning to his tribe after a very long hunt. I have it on paper but still need to put it on electronic format and organise/review the whole thing.
Also wrote a bit more on THE IMMORTALISTS. This time another series of ideas for a greek character and some weird Greek mythology. The thing with this series is that it seems to be more about a thousand different characters than plot... But there's a story there. I guess I just have a whole heap of threads to weave...
Also reviewed the whole of my short theatre play called DOUBLE SIDED (in portuguese, A DUAS VOZES). I'm still not entirely happy with the structure of the text and pacing of the story but (if it does get selected) because it will be just the platform for a whole heap of experimentation, I'm not really worried. Just hope they like it and find it intense enough to work on it.
Also wrote the intro and beginning of the first chapter for a crime book called IN FORESTS DEEP. It's about a very peculiar detective trying to capture a serial killer no one believes exists. But he knows his stuff. In actual fact, thsi detective knows more than he realises...
(I was thinking about what to write for the upcoming NaNoWriMo and some scenes started to surface for this book. But, as soon as I started to write them I began feeling really heavy and low on energy. Crime really isn't one of my favourite themes and writing about it, just drags me down a bit. Still, I think the idea for the book is quite good and the writing is quite easy. Crime tends to be very stereotypical and you don't need to worry about have people with a really bad temper in there... but I like the detective. He's laid back and is as much on the job as considering his next holiday. He's a bit stuck between two worlds. What he really would like to do - anything but being a detective - and what he's good at. You see, his problema is that he doesn't like being a detective but he knows he's a good one. And that he can save lives that no one else can. And that's what counts for him.)
Also wrote something to post here but it not only got very big but also too personal. I don't mind sharing my inner ramblings but, when they're about people I love (even if it's to say nice things) I become much more conscientious and self aware. So, for the time being, it's in limbo. I'm reviewing it and, hopefully in a couple of days, I'll send it out to some of whom it talks about and see what's the reply.
Also did some more research and added some bits that were missing to THE SHIFT. Characters list and description, a map of Iraq, some info on the bombings of Fallujah (2004) and Baghad (1991). Little things but that suddenly made the story feel even more believable. I had certain scenes in my head but did not know if they could match the occurrences in the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq (and subsequent skirmishes). But it turns out that they do! Quite well in fact!
Today and tomorrow I'm hoping on do some more finishing touches on THE SHIFT, send out DOUBLE SIDED and... whatever I feel like it!
Peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
