In preparing for an interview to be a potential freelancer writer for a podcast production company, I’ve dove in to that crazy wide field of content a bit deeper for context and research. Out of all the podcasts I listened to, the one that struck me the most was actually the one that had nothing to do with the genres of the potential hiring company. It was The Caliphate by the NYT. Such intricate and detailed reported on the rise and recruitment tactics of ISIS, but also an incredibly good story told through the interviews of a recruit and recruiter. It grounds you in a world that otherwise would be impossible for the average Westerner to access via their imagination. I think for that reason, and the humanity of the interviewees and story tellers, I was totally hooked.
Age of the Retired Badass
I recently wrote another video essay, hopefully it will be completed and released around Thanksgiving. About how we’ve come to live in the time of elderly action flicks… here’s the intro:
“Sniper fire incoming through the windows. A motorcycle chase across a roof. Your daughter has just been kidnapped! Be honest, when you imagine the badass to save the day – who comes to mind? Are they old enough to get a senior discount?
Willis. Stallone. Schwarzenegger. These guys practically invented the modern-day action film. And now? They seem to be the only ones still in it – alongside latecomers in their age bracket like Denzel Washington, Samuel Jackson, and the incomparable “I-will-find-you-and-I-will-kill-you” Liam Neeson – with dad-aged super-spies like Tom Cruise & Daniel Craig fast on their heels.
We’ve come to live in the Age of the Retired Badass. How did we get here? And what happened to all the young bucks? Let’s find out who drew first blood. "
Meandering Thought: Book Organization
I’m in the midst of re-organizing my entire book collection and I severely underestimated how much of a task this would be… I’m not sure how many I own at this point, but the problem is no longer storage, finally (we got two huge new bookcases to add to the original tall one). The problem is organization. What I realized during this multi-day, still-ongoing process is that it’s really damn tough to decide what defines a book in terms of genre. I realized this because I’m trying to divide them by genre (and then alphabetical by author within each section) but it’s difficult to assert what most defines a book to me. I’m not even into the fiction (by short story vs. novel section, or just all fiction together? Poetry, screenplays, plays, etc.) but in the non-fiction there are more academic yet creative books, or essay collections, there’s memoirs that aren’t really memoirs but thought experiments. There’s travel books, wine books, cooking books, writing how-to books, the list goes on and on and it’s gotten to the point where I think I’ll have to start with a low bar for myself and evolve the organization as I evolve alongside it, understanding myself and what the books mean to me as I go. Sounds boring, because it is, but I can tell it’s an important thought exercise for me to always do.
(this isn’t even all of them, and there’s another black Ikea bookcase to the left off screen)
NYC Midnight - Round 1
Well, the first round ended (10/12 - 10/14) - my prompt was: Location - Tobacco Farm / Genre - Ghost Story / Object - Bracelet.
I ended up writing a piece called The Curing.
Honestly I’m not sure exactly what I learned in the process of writing it other than it was a blast to do. There was an initial pressure, a panic, every idea I came up with felt too complicated to write within 2 days or too extensive to write within a 5 page limit. But, then you just truck ahead with whatever you’ve got and you improve as you go. By the end of the process I actually enjoyed trying to finish the story knowing I only had 2/3rds of a page left. It forced me to go back and cut things out, rephrase, reorient. No doubt the shortest version was the best version. If anything, this was a nice exercise to break back into the screenwriting world after a bit of a hiatus to focus on fiction writing and especially my video essays. It’s the sort of task I think I’ll force myself to do next time I feel intimidated or out of practice and need to return to a medium of any kind. Excited to see what the next challenge brings!
The Smells of Biking
Well, I’ve finally started using my bicycle to full effect. It certainly prevents the same sort of meandering thought that accompanies walking. At least, it does in Los Angeles where there are almost no bike lanes and the drivers seem furious at your existence - if they’re even aware of it, that is. There’s more of a hyper-awareness of your surroundings. And biking home yesterday evening, from the AMC Century City at around 10PM (about a 20 minute bike ride) I noticed that there were only a few smells I kept running into across west LA:
a very aromatic sort of mushroom/fungus smells, like forest mushrooms yet I didn’t see any and have no idea what really could produce that in Los Angeles
marijuana, of all sorts of variety from the buttery smelling to the exceedingly skunky
laundry, just lots of fresh laundry smell
maybe at times, with a strong breeze, a bit of ocean air (though probably that was wishful thinking)
Either way, it’s interesting how the type and speed of movement affects the type of thought. The faster you move the less you think, but perhaps the more you notice.
Non-Fiction Section
Just added a Non-Fiction writing sample section to the website! Only have the one link to an event correspondence I did, as a sample, but more to come soon — of the visual variety…
NYC Midnight - Flash Screenwriting Challenge
I’ve done this once before, several years ago, but for my birthday this year I’m going to give it another shot just for fun. It’s the only competition of its kind, far as I can tell: the NYC Midnight Screenwriting Challenge.
To me, it’s like flash fiction meets screenwriting — the first round gives you 8 days to write a screenplay no longer than 12 pages. Second round, if you advance, gives you 4 days to write up to 8 pages. Third and final round gives you two days to write up 5 pages. 5 pages is almost too short to be a short film, and with that little time it’s a total sprint. Which I love because isn’t that how flash fiction is supposed to feel when you read it anyways?
So, we’ll see how I do. I’ll share whatever I end up writing here. First one starts this weekend…
New Craft Reading List
I’ve never been one to subscribe to self-help or teach-yourself books on writing - but I’ve been recommended a few so consistently again and again that I’ve decided to take the plunge and see what effects they have… so here’s what I got (and hopefully I’ll get to them soon):
of course, we start with… Robert McKee’s Story (subtitle: “Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting”)
John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story (subtitle: “22 Steps to Becoming a Mastery Storyteller”)
Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! (subtitle: “The Last Book On Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need”)
Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces (not even a teach-yourself-to-write book, just a seminal work I really should know fully - beyond conversationally and a Wikipedia glance)
I’ll check back here once I’m through some of them to report on whether or not they’re really worth their salt.
(Last) Meandering Thought (of the Day): Speeds of Writing - Speeds of Thinking
I’ve written here before about Hemingway’s theory in regards to the vehicle for the writing affecting the result. Specifically, how he’d used a typewriter for dialogue (fast, staccato) and hand write his setting description (slow, considered).
These days, I walk a lot. I walk thirty minutes one way to the cafe where I write. I walk to the gym. Sometimes, when I can, I walk to the bar to meet friends. It’s a rare gift of a situation, in Los Angeles, that I plan to utilize as long as my schedule permits. And the walking is at a good clip, purposeful and all that - but really it allows me time to think. It gives me long interrupted blocks to follow trains of thought, whether writing-related or meditative or reflecting on my relationships.
Now, for my birthday I’m about to buy a bike — my first time owning a bike in a while. I can’t help but wonder if, like the pen vs. the typewriter - my feet vs. the wheels — will my thought processes be the same? Will I be thinking at all on the bike or will I be all reflexes and route-planning? We’ll have to see. But if it does prevent me from considered thought, I might have to allot some walk-time on top of everything else, no matter. It’s starting to feel like a necessity!
Meandering Thought: Exemplars vs. Colleagues
Today is a day for meandering thoughts, apparently. I realized that over the past few years I’ve adapted this sort of cycle between reading great/professional/successful scripts floating around the industry and then reading lots of my friends’ scripts. Sometimes there’s a stark difference, sometimes not. It’s hard to make any sweeping generalizations. Usually there’s a certain level of polish to the sold scripts, but a lot of my friends are getting to the point where they’re selling scripts so the lines are blurring altogether anyways. Meandering thoughts I’m having in regards to this though. Which scripts are more useful to read? The ones that aren’t perfect but are more comparable to your own? (Does this give you an idea of your own weaknesses) Or the “successful” ones that may teach you to do certain things (whether they’re inherently good writing things, or just industry-facing-success things - trends and whatnot)? Which is more instructive? I imagine it depends on the reader (aka the writer). For me, I’m inclined to think reading my friends’ stories is more helpful. Especially because of the involved notes process I implement when giving them my thoughts, it also helps me organize the lessons I learn from them just as well.