Hello blogger world, it's me AxelA.
I'm the newest member of the League of Screenwriters + 1 TV writer, and so I just wanted to say, "What are you eating for lunch today?" (I had matzah, fucking passover)
My current status is at work, wavering between eating that piece of cake or chewing a piece of gum. My advice to anyone who is about to graduate -- get a job where you have the freedom to write at it.
I spend 8 our of my 9 hours a day entertaining myself with my own words. Does that make me selfish? Probably. But otherwise I could collect dust, and my coworkers' allergies would act up when they walked by me.
All right League members, Happy Friday! And remember to stay smart, or else you're likely to get hit by a taxi cab.
Signing off,
AxelA
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Brain Cell Rubbing
I like seeing my friends ponder, so occasionally I throw questions that require some deep thoughts at them. Such as near graduation, I asked several close friends if they can choose for one to be true, which would it be: to be guaranteed a job right then and there, or for Batman to be real. The follow up question to that is, if your girlfriend/boyfriend cheated on you with Batman, could you, with a clear conscious, be mad at them? (You can replace Batman with Superman.)
The most recent question is who would you rather be: Neil Gaiman or Hugh Laurie.
The race is pretty close, but so far Neil Gaiman is winning. My favorite reason for this “because Hugh Laurie has to live in LA”.
The most recent question is who would you rather be: Neil Gaiman or Hugh Laurie.
The race is pretty close, but so far Neil Gaiman is winning. My favorite reason for this “because Hugh Laurie has to live in LA”.
Monday, April 21, 2008
"When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things." Finish the quote
I must begin by saying that
A friend is moving to Prince Edward Island Canada, where there are two lobsters and two oysters seasons a year. I agreed to booksit while she leaves the good ol’
The book’s name is Midnight Blue. It’s thick, especially for a paperback. However, neither the New Yorker nor my next next library book arrived yet, and if I don’t have something to read on the bus in the morning, I go stir crazy. So, you know, whatever, let’s see what this book is about.
It’s about vampires. Light on the plot. Heavy on the violence. And oh God is the violence wonderful. It’s brutal, gritty, vicious, ugly, and it doesn’t skimp on the details. I can’t even bring myself to think about the rom. com. anymore, and there’s a part of me that wonders why on earth did I want to write something funny and romantic and, most of all, happy in the first place?
When I’m writing something that’s...not very nice, I always think how nice would it be to write a script like 50 First Dates, or, I don’t know, Finding Nemo. Then I actually try to write a story in which no one dies and I start watching Law and Order: SVU like it’s crack on screen. (Actually, that’s basically what Law and Order is.)
The truth is, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even like Midnight Blue so much. But I deprived myself of gore almost the entire time of writing the rom. com., and finally I lost it. I know I’ll get through this phase, but right now all I want to do is write about people bleeding. I can’t even come up with plot to go with that.
The Writing Week part 16
This week's been a big one for the League. But, since most of what’s noteworthy happened well outside the confines of my pages, not much of it will be related now.
I guess it’s worth mentioning that I got to page sixty, which is 2/3 of what I’m targeting. I’ve thought of this current script, the mysterious Screenplay X as a 90 pager from day one. I still really like the idea, but I don’t think it’s one that needs to hit that less and less common two hour mark. So, I’m two thirds of the way done, and I still haven’t outlined at all, save for maybe a few notes here and there, which I type directly onto the page and then delete as they become obsolete.
I haven’t worked this way in a long time, and while I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, there are certain drawbacks to it. Mostly, I’m writing much slower. I can typically bang out about five pages an hour, if I know what I’m writing. Nowadays, with this script being done this way, I’m getting maybe three. That’s not a bad thing, and it keeps me thinking much more about what I’m putting on the page, about every single line. I’ve never thought quite as hard about each word of dialogue as I am doing now, so that’s been a learning experience.
And, that brings me to the second drawback, of sorts. The dialogue. I’m pretty sure that, structurally, the script is about where it would be if I was outlining. This scene set in X location at this point in the script, followed by these other characters in Y location. I’m doing that. But it’s the content of the scenes that’s not as firm as perhaps it would be if I had outlined. Partly, that’s because I still don’t know where Act 2 ends. (Page-wise, it’ll be about 75. But I mean plot-wise. I don’t know what the tent-pole scene is that supports the script at the end of Act 2.) I don’t fully know what ought to be happening in some scenes, which is making future scenes weaker or repetitive. I could be wrong, but I’ll probably have to read through it and do some re-writes before the League sees it. Eitehr way, I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Going at this rate, and with any luck, I’ll FADE OUT in ten days.
I do still like where the script is going, and it actually developed into something more recently. I found a newer, deeper meaning, and a tangible connection I can make within it to a pre-existing work; a poem, actually. I’m not sure how much I’ll use it—I actually think I might have allowed it to feel too much about the poem right now—but it was a discovery I had no intention of making. Like penicillin.
I guess it’s worth mentioning that I got to page sixty, which is 2/3 of what I’m targeting. I’ve thought of this current script, the mysterious Screenplay X as a 90 pager from day one. I still really like the idea, but I don’t think it’s one that needs to hit that less and less common two hour mark. So, I’m two thirds of the way done, and I still haven’t outlined at all, save for maybe a few notes here and there, which I type directly onto the page and then delete as they become obsolete.
I haven’t worked this way in a long time, and while I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, there are certain drawbacks to it. Mostly, I’m writing much slower. I can typically bang out about five pages an hour, if I know what I’m writing. Nowadays, with this script being done this way, I’m getting maybe three. That’s not a bad thing, and it keeps me thinking much more about what I’m putting on the page, about every single line. I’ve never thought quite as hard about each word of dialogue as I am doing now, so that’s been a learning experience.
And, that brings me to the second drawback, of sorts. The dialogue. I’m pretty sure that, structurally, the script is about where it would be if I was outlining. This scene set in X location at this point in the script, followed by these other characters in Y location. I’m doing that. But it’s the content of the scenes that’s not as firm as perhaps it would be if I had outlined. Partly, that’s because I still don’t know where Act 2 ends. (Page-wise, it’ll be about 75. But I mean plot-wise. I don’t know what the tent-pole scene is that supports the script at the end of Act 2.) I don’t fully know what ought to be happening in some scenes, which is making future scenes weaker or repetitive. I could be wrong, but I’ll probably have to read through it and do some re-writes before the League sees it. Eitehr way, I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Going at this rate, and with any luck, I’ll FADE OUT in ten days.
I do still like where the script is going, and it actually developed into something more recently. I found a newer, deeper meaning, and a tangible connection I can make within it to a pre-existing work; a poem, actually. I’m not sure how much I’ll use it—I actually think I might have allowed it to feel too much about the poem right now—but it was a discovery I had no intention of making. Like penicillin.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Writing Week part 15
It’s been an interesting week, I’ll say that for sure. I finished act one and, upon rereading it, discovered that I was mostly pleased with it. There was a beat that was missing at one point, and a little bit of dialogue that wasn’t working for me. But as a whole, I was happy with the product. Sure, it’ll probably get changed once I shine the light of the League’s opinions on it, but for now, it works. There’s not really anything I have to change before moving forward with act two. It reads quickly yet effectively, I think. And, perhaps most importantly right now, it’s still fun to write. So that’s good.
But not everything this week was good. I managed to let one person put a huge damper on a fun night I was having Saturday. We were hosting a party, and someone I’d hoped would come cancelled last minute. I don’t know why exactly, but I used that as an excuse to disappear for the rest of the night and check out early. When I woke up on Sunday, I was back in that mindset where I seek shelter in my scripts and those worlds. I wanted to escape there again, and felt another brick added to the wall I’m building between myself and the real world.
And the real world has started seeping into the League more and more recently. We’ve been going through some changes, which I’m sure will be discussed later. But they involve bringing new people in, and old people possibly leaving. Careers and paths are changing, apartments are being found and lost, and romantic relationships are either progressing or regressing. There is a lot going on now; we all feel a strong wind of change blowing through the League watchtower right now, and while there’s little more we can do than ride it out, it is at times unsettling. Not so much because we will be unable to cope with the changes—no mater what, we’ll remain “the League” in spirit if nothing else—but because we’re reminded of how quickly and how dramatically things can and do change.
The important thing, I guess, for me to do is keep writing. In fact, I’m sure writing will become a refuge for me. When everything is changing and people are coming and going, the writing will be constant, unwavering, safe.
You have no idea how much I hope that’s true…
But not everything this week was good. I managed to let one person put a huge damper on a fun night I was having Saturday. We were hosting a party, and someone I’d hoped would come cancelled last minute. I don’t know why exactly, but I used that as an excuse to disappear for the rest of the night and check out early. When I woke up on Sunday, I was back in that mindset where I seek shelter in my scripts and those worlds. I wanted to escape there again, and felt another brick added to the wall I’m building between myself and the real world.
And the real world has started seeping into the League more and more recently. We’ve been going through some changes, which I’m sure will be discussed later. But they involve bringing new people in, and old people possibly leaving. Careers and paths are changing, apartments are being found and lost, and romantic relationships are either progressing or regressing. There is a lot going on now; we all feel a strong wind of change blowing through the League watchtower right now, and while there’s little more we can do than ride it out, it is at times unsettling. Not so much because we will be unable to cope with the changes—no mater what, we’ll remain “the League” in spirit if nothing else—but because we’re reminded of how quickly and how dramatically things can and do change.
The important thing, I guess, for me to do is keep writing. In fact, I’m sure writing will become a refuge for me. When everything is changing and people are coming and going, the writing will be constant, unwavering, safe.
You have no idea how much I hope that’s true…
Monday, April 14, 2008
Just a Name
In Chinese, naming people are fairly easy. If it’s a girl’s name, chances are there’ll be a character that means quiet/ pleasing/ pretty/ some-sort-of-“famine”- animal. If it’s a boy’s name, then patriotic/ fierce/ smart/ successful/ rich/ bright/ some-sort-of-“masculine”-animal. Sexist, I know, but hell, at least it’s usually easy to differentiate between male and female names, and what the parents wished for the kid (unless they’re named after a scenic view or vegetation). When in doubt, name your boy “Love (your) Country” and your girl “Pleasing (to) Husband” or “Call (forth a younger) Brother”. (I’m not making this shit up. Those were pretty popular names.)
Names written in English, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily mean it's an
Usually I get away with just throwing my characters New Testament names, but when I stray from the Bible, things start to make less sense. I don’t know why three of the archangels’ names--Michael, Gabriel, and Rachael--are pretty popular, but hardly anyone is named after Uriel. Although, when I name someone Raphael, people usually respond “oh, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!”
I’ve given male names to my female characters, female names to my male characters (still can’t believe Brooke is a girl’s name). More than often I just grab the nearest book or magazine that has multiple contributors and pick something that I can pronounce. I’ve used up my old high school contact list by now. The one time I named two of my characters Luc and Nicolai after old work interns Lucas and Nicolas, Cake Man pointed out I turn them Russian. How??
I also just realized that the girl in my new script probably can’t be called Christina since she lives in an alternate/ fantasy universe where there’re multiple deities.
And last names? Bane of my existence.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Happy ESL Time
It's almost 6 am and I have a fever so I decided to start a new section, called "Happy ESL Time". It doesn't have to do with writing as much as my relationship with the English language. This will be the eleventh year I've spent in America (3rd+4th grade, then high school onward). The only time someone sat me down to teach me English was in 3rd and 4th grades. When I came back to America the second time, I had to jump into Shakespeare and learn a foreign language like everyone else (I took Spanish. My teacher told me I don't conjugate as much as I mutilate. He was one of my favorite teachers.)
Most things you simple pick up when you've lived in another country for this long and 90% of your friends don't speak your native language. But after a certain point you start hitting words that people just don't use enough for you to pick up naturally. I distinctly remember learning "asphalt" in 2004 because it was in Gwen Stefani's song "Long Way to Go", and the word "silhouette" in 2003, first semester of college, because it was in Cake Man's script, three times, and I couldn't pronounce it (Damn you Cake Man. The fuck did you pick the Asian girl to read stage directions for??). And some things you just don't pick up unless you grew up here.
Such as the term "Rub-a-dub-dub". Is that trying to say "rub-a-duck" i.e. rub the famous yellow duckie? Or does it actually mean "rub-a-tub", i.e. spray the tub down with some Lysol and start scrubbing. I still don't know.
If you do, answers would be appreciated.
Most things you simple pick up when you've lived in another country for this long and 90% of your friends don't speak your native language. But after a certain point you start hitting words that people just don't use enough for you to pick up naturally. I distinctly remember learning "asphalt" in 2004 because it was in Gwen Stefani's song "Long Way to Go", and the word "silhouette" in 2003, first semester of college, because it was in Cake Man's script, three times, and I couldn't pronounce it (Damn you Cake Man. The fuck did you pick the Asian girl to read stage directions for??). And some things you just don't pick up unless you grew up here.
Such as the term "Rub-a-dub-dub". Is that trying to say "rub-a-duck" i.e. rub the famous yellow duckie? Or does it actually mean "rub-a-tub", i.e. spray the tub down with some Lysol and start scrubbing. I still don't know.
If you do, answers would be appreciated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
