Something to Check Out

I ran across the weblog of Charles Deemer http://cdeemer.blogspot.com/ --screenwriter, teacher, and author of one of the coolest writing "books" around. The book is Screenwright: The Craft of Screenwriting, and it's a hypertext book. Not an e-book. But something all together original and a perfect format for what Deemer's attempting in the book. It's set up like a website, only you don't have to be online to run it. But there's hyperlinks leading through different paths of the book so that you pretty much make your own way through the course, learning based on your own tendencies as a writer. Actually, I'm doing a terrible job of describing it. But you should check out the software (even if not writing scripts--a lot can be applied to novel writing too) http://www.pcez.com/~cdeemer/index.htm.

As for me: This morning I'm doing some more research in preparation for the rewrite of The Novel.

Printed and Prepping

Printed out The Novel last night. Looks huge to me. It will be time to rewrite soon. I'm both nervous and excited. I keep telling myself anything that sucks can be changed. I do know there's some stuff that doesn't suck, but has to be changed anyway because of some major alterations that came late in the writing. Pretty big changes if memory serves. Guess we'll see. I have written on my calendar that I would start rewrites about 6 weeks after I finished the first draft--give myself some distance on the thing. However, I think I'll probably start sooner than that. I wouldn't know what to do with myself for that long. What's worse--I'm afraid the longer I let it sit, the easier it will be to let it sit for good and move onto something else, thus perpetuation the vicious cycle of antirevisionitis that has plagued me since the day I started writing stories. I could bury you and a friend with all my first drafts that never made it to a second drafts.

kind of directionless

Lots of changes and issues going on right now. Just trying to survive through the storm. School starts a week from today. Still don't know if my financial aid will come through.

On a writing note, I've been playing with a few things, doing some brainstorming, a little outlining. I may start work on another short story any day now. I've also started working up some notes for a screenplay I might do in the future, but that won't be for a while. I've got rewrites pending on The Novel, which I'll probably start once school gets underway and I can refigure my schedule to accomodate. My most recent finished short story, "My Brother's Keeper," which was rejected a while back my Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine is over at Ellery Queen's now, waiting in line for another form rejection.

And that's about all I can think to report at the moment.