Detectives, Trekkies and Young Girls Gone Old
One of the great things about writing is the rush of
ideas that comes after you've written a substantial
section. On Wednesday, I wrote a significant bit
involving a confrontation between my hero, Phillip
Gold, and the Alderman on the courthouse steps, then
Gold's dinner with the attractive law student at one
of Hamilton's best Italian restaurants. It's a good
section and I like it.
But the two days since have been filled with ideas bursting into my mind about how to improve the scenes, how to heighten the tension, how to lay the ground work for what is to come. It's an amazing process. Literally, you write knowing that, once all the conscious and subconscious work has been done, you'll have to rewrite. Often significantly. You need to have written something in order to be able to do the imaginative work to write something.
So now I'm planning to go back and do a massive rewrite of the section I just wrote, deepening the conflict, involving other characters and setting up for the next step in the plot. Two steps forward, then back again to take the same two steps forward.
That's the writing process that I love.
In the meantime, Lynn and Gavin have headed back to Ontario, making the entire 14-hour drive in a single day. They left here at 7:30 a.m. and likely made most of the drive in daylight, an amazing feat at this time of the year. They're great guests to have, interesting and creative, self-sufficient and self-motivated, and not demanding at all. In fact, I think they did as much cooking over the seven days they were here as we did. And now I have a series of tasks set for myself with regard to this website that will make it really cool, I hope.
Of course, anyone who is willing to sit through an entire screening of the movie Trekkies without complaint is alright by me!
Also on the movie front, Patti and I wanted to watch something fun last night so we slipped 13 Going On 30 into the DVD player. We inherited this little Jennifer Garner/Mark Ruffalo vehicle from my Mom but had never watched it. For the first 30 minutes, we weren't sure we were going to be able to get through it all. A blatant rip-off of the Tom Hanks' classic Big, this movie seems silly and flimsy by comparison. Then, suddenly, it takes flight. Garner, who seemed awkward and gawky in the first half-hour, takes on new life and, amazing for a Hollywood leading female, shows a willingness to be wacky and weird. The Thriller dance sequence is especially funny and she sells it well. We were also pleased to find a film that finally gives the likable Ruffalo a believable role that suits him.
It's no classic but it was a good choice for a cold Friday night.
But the two days since have been filled with ideas bursting into my mind about how to improve the scenes, how to heighten the tension, how to lay the ground work for what is to come. It's an amazing process. Literally, you write knowing that, once all the conscious and subconscious work has been done, you'll have to rewrite. Often significantly. You need to have written something in order to be able to do the imaginative work to write something.
So now I'm planning to go back and do a massive rewrite of the section I just wrote, deepening the conflict, involving other characters and setting up for the next step in the plot. Two steps forward, then back again to take the same two steps forward.
That's the writing process that I love.
In the meantime, Lynn and Gavin have headed back to Ontario, making the entire 14-hour drive in a single day. They left here at 7:30 a.m. and likely made most of the drive in daylight, an amazing feat at this time of the year. They're great guests to have, interesting and creative, self-sufficient and self-motivated, and not demanding at all. In fact, I think they did as much cooking over the seven days they were here as we did. And now I have a series of tasks set for myself with regard to this website that will make it really cool, I hope.
Of course, anyone who is willing to sit through an entire screening of the movie Trekkies without complaint is alright by me!
Also on the movie front, Patti and I wanted to watch something fun last night so we slipped 13 Going On 30 into the DVD player. We inherited this little Jennifer Garner/Mark Ruffalo vehicle from my Mom but had never watched it. For the first 30 minutes, we weren't sure we were going to be able to get through it all. A blatant rip-off of the Tom Hanks' classic Big, this movie seems silly and flimsy by comparison. Then, suddenly, it takes flight. Garner, who seemed awkward and gawky in the first half-hour, takes on new life and, amazing for a Hollywood leading female, shows a willingness to be wacky and weird. The Thriller dance sequence is especially funny and she sells it well. We were also pleased to find a film that finally gives the likable Ruffalo a believable role that suits him.
It's no classic but it was a good choice for a cold Friday night.