Great Resource

I don't think any witing is getting done tonight, folks. I am going to devote my last two hours of the evening to reading. I am studying a great book on writing called The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. Lukeman is a former editor and agent, and he discusses all the things he looks for in a manuscript . . . to reject it! His point is that editors and agents get so many manuscripts, they need to get through all of them somehow. So, there were certain key things he looked for to tell him whether a manuscipt was subpar or not.

Oh yes!

Things went much better tonight. I did over a thousand words! Two new characters entered the mix. I have been blissfully ignoring my book map and have not been happier. Nope, I am just not a prewriting guy! I am psyched about this progress. Off to read!

A Writer Writes, Always?

I am getting to the point I am ashamed to write a post. No, I did not work on my novel today. I am tired and am going to bed. I think part of the problem is that I am not getting enough sleep. My mind is sluggish. Ideas are not popping into my head as often. And when they do, I have neglected to bring my pad and paper. The positive today? Let's see . . . I got some books out for school--recommended reading for a class I hope to get. I think I shall read one of those for inspiration as I lay down to sleep. My recommendation to myself and all writers: kick the coffee and instead get at least 7 hours sleep. If necessary take cat naps about 20-30 minutes. No more than 40 minutes, because then you have reached too deep a sleep, too many dream tigers.

Perhaps I should explain. As a child I took out an audio tape from the library on controlling one's dreams. The tape was of poor quality, so the female psychologist's voice was rendered even creepier by the wavering in audio quality. Anyway, she was speaking about becoming aware that one is in a dream, then taking control. She said this one statement that has stuck in my head for over 15 years. It refers to someone dreaming about a tiger: "I am in a dream state and you are a dream tiger, so instead of you chasing me, let's sit down and have a chat." So, too many dream tigers and you are in too deep a sleep. If you snooze past 40 minutes and wake up without a full night's sleep, you're likely to be groggier than when you laid your head on the pillow, which is what I plan to do right now.

Oops!

My girlfriend was kind enough to point out that I included some personal contact information on yesterday's post. This was a mistake. Unless you are friend or family, please be so kind as to only contact me via the screaming writer e-mail on the right. I have since deleted the information and no one has called me, so thank you for respecting my privacy.

P.S. New post tonight!

Reading Scripts

I am going to see M. Night Shamalan's The Village tonight. Since most movies come from books, they can be quite literary. From what I hear, reading scripts can be quite interesting. In fact, I have had some friends that prefer reading the scripts than going to the movies! Scripts can be found online or, to a more limited degree, in the bookstore. There are also some good books on writing screenplays.

Here's an interesting bit of information. Like stage plays, most screenplays, and therefore most movies, are divided into three acts. Between the first and second acts and the second and third acts is something called a plot point. The first plot point occurs about 30-45 minutes in and the second about 60-75 minutes in. These two plot points offer a change in the plot or a twist if you will--a new development that offers conflict to the characters. For example, in the Blues Brothers, Elwood gets Jake out of jail, they catch up on old times everything's just like it was then BAM! first plot point: the nun at their old orphanage needs money. So off they go to find the band members, make some cash, find a venue for the big payoff, start the show, then BAM! the cops discover their getaway, now they have to find a way to get the money in the proper hands. Hence, the best car chase in film history Of course there are always little conflicts along the way, but watch out for those two big plot points. At the second one, you'll know that you only have about a half hour left until you can stretch your legs and run to the restroom after drinking that 64 oz soda!

Online texts

Project Gutenberg has slew of online texts of books now in the public domain. Check it out!

The Unfinished Octopus

Earlier this summer, I started reading The Octopus by Frank Norris. Great book, except that I did not get to finish it. I started reading books by my future professors, and now I am going to start studying the recommended reading for one of my classes. It looks like The Octopus squirted a cloud of ink and scuttled off to the Atlantic Ridge. I'll get you Octopus! Call me Ismael. No! Call me Ahab! I'll catch up to you Octopus one day, and by then my boat will be bigger, my sails wider, and my harpoon swifter and sharpened on the steps of the New School.