My new year's promise to myself

I once read this really inspiring article that sort of articulated what I've always thought. I can't remember who wrote it, but I believe it was on Cracked.com. Anyways, the author basically said that you have the capability to learn or train yourself to do almost anything.

(Edit--Cracked has graciously reposted the link to the article here. There's more to it than I mention below. It's well worth a read.)

Don't know how to play a guitar and want to learn how? Get a guitar and learn. Want to learn how to speak Spanish? Then learn!

His basic point was there is no reason at all that you can't not only learn, but master, any skill. Maybe you don't have a natural facility for languages--you aren't one of those people who can just hear it and understand it. So what? You can still learn to speak Spanish--all it takes is the determination to do it. It may be incredibly difficult for you--it may be something you'll need to devote a lot of time to--but you will do it, and get really good at it, too, eventually, provided you are patient with yourself and are willing to work at it.

Yeah, it's easier for some people than for others. I'm not saying it isn't. But that doesn't matter. That's no reason not to do it.

When you see a great artist, musician, or actor working, and they make it seem so effortless, remember what you are seeing is the end result of dedication to their craft. Everybody, even the greats, really sucked the first time they tried to do something. But we don't see that. It ain't magic, it's just willingness to put in the time.

Of course, the author of this article wasn't talking about something like athletic ability--I know I'll never be able to throw a 90 mph fastball or run a 4.4 40-yard dash, because that does take an innate ability. However, if I trained hard enough, I could get better at those things, too, though not good enough to be a professional athlete.

I use this philosophy to determine what I'm going to work on in the coming year. This year (2013) I wanted to work on my writing, and, even though I haven't had much luck completing prose projects, my screenwriting skills are noticeably better, and I can blow through a screenplay pretty quickly--and, at least in my opinion, it'll be pretty good, too. I've refined my skills, become more conscious of what works and what doesn't, developed my sense of what gives a story depth and resonance. I've cultivated an appreciation for planning a project, plotting it out, developing it, mapping the route I want to take to get to the final destination--though I also leave room for any interesting side trips that may come up.

All that is well-and-good and I'm glad I put in that time, and with luck you'll be seeing some stuff out there soon with my name on it.

Next year (2014) is the year I'm going to work on my drawing and painting skills. I mentioned previously I want to learn to create fairyland style art, and that will be what I'm devoting myself to in the coming year. I'll continue to write, and work on developing my skills in that area, don't get me wrong--I'll be doing that for the rest of my life. This is something else I just want to get good at, something else that will enhance my life, another way for me to contribute something to other people's lives, maybe.

So, what are you going to focus on in the coming year?

Muses gone wild!

I've been off from work all week, and I've got a couple more days off next week (until January 2), and I've been taking advantage of all this to get some stuff done.

And by done I mean done.

I finally finished the pilot script for the TV show I've been going on and on about, and registered it with the Screenwriter's Guild and the copyright office. What does that mean? It means that I've done everything on it that I'm going to do until somebody is willing to pay me for the rights to it, and to rewrite it. Which means it's as good as I think I can make it without anyone else getting involved with it. Which means I'm happy with it.

I'm sure, if someone options it and we get serious about making this show, that I'll get all sorts of input from whoever it may be, and that's fine. That's how it works. My script is the start, the seed from which this dark, scary, beautiful show will grow. I hope. If anybody gets interested in it.

In the meantime I've got lots of other stuff to keep me busy.

For example, I've decided to concentrate on drawing fairyland-style art for a while. Google "Amy Brown" for an idea as to what I'm talking about, if you don't know--I was going to post a link to her online gallery so you could take a look but the link doesn't seem to be working. Maybe now it's up. If you're on Facebook, look for her stuff there, too. It's quite charming and I'm hoping, with a lot of practice, that I'll be able to produce art in a similar vein eventually. Yes, I know there are probably millions of people out there doing similar work, but my response to that is, "so what?" It's what I like, and, as far as my drawing and painting is concerned, that's the only thing that matters to me.

I finished this one yesterday.

 

I was experimenting with shading and I wanted to see what gray and purple looked like together. I also wanted to do something a bit more abstract than what I usually do. I call this one End/Beginning. I was fairly happy with how it turned out.

 

I'm thinking I may take another stab at a prose project. I had an interesting take on an idea I've had for a while. It's one of those things I need to think about because it sort of turns everything upside down, story-wise. Which may be a good thing, as I've been unable to get the damned thing written the way I had it plotted before.

 

It's Saturday here, which means we're expecting another deluge. It's becoming a tradition--another weekend, another flood. I guess it could be worse--at least the temps are above freezing so we won't have to contend with ice, too.

 

That's my story, over the past few days. I'm thinking I may try another take on the above painting, trying something else I've been mulling over. When I'm not sketching my fairies or plotting out my fiction or screenplay.

 



Happy Holidays to you all!

I'm taking some time off from work over the holidays to work on some personal projects, and I think I may have gotten some pretty decent work done.

For example--this painting:

And this one:

Both of these were inspired by pictures graciously sent to me by my best friend, who knows me all too well.

Speaking of my best friend--she got this for me as a combination xmas/birthday present. It's a huge and a beautiful book. I'm almost afraid to handle it, it's so beautiful. I won't be making notations in the margins and highlighting this one, believe me. Since it's full of seminal horror stories from the beginning of the twentieth century until the recent past it's going to be quite useful to me, too.

And that same friend is the co-author of this book. I'm reading it now, and can recommend it to you, as well.

I've also been re-reading my draft of the screenplay for the pilot of this TV show I've been mulling over. It needed some tweaking but, overall, I'm happy with it. I may need to trim it a little bit--at 49 pages I think it's just a tad too long--but that's about it. I've also written a draft of the treatment for the pilot and began writing what will become the series bible--explaining the setting, characters, tone, back story, all that.

I still can't give many of the details except to say that it's a horror-based show. There's definitely room on TV for one of those--most of the shows on TV now that have a darker tone are more action/adventure with horrific overtones, like Supernatural.. This one will be more pure horror--each episode will be designed to scare the viewer as much as possible, hopefully by telling a cracking good story where the characters are interesting and in dreadful peril by a terrifying threat.

We'll see. My writing plate, as I've mentioned, is about to get a bit fuller--I'm waiting on a contract to write the screenplay for a film, along with the treatment, from the film's producer, and that one will need to take priority. In the meantime, since I know what this film is about, I've been doing some research on the theme, the background that will give birth to the story.

And I'm now a year older. A half century plus one. Damn. There was a time I never thought I would have made it this far.

Tomorrow is the holiday, too. My own plans are to continue working on the stuff I've been working on, maybe do another painting or two, and maybe even plot out another project that is becoming interesting to me again.

Whatever your plan is to celebrate the holiday--whatever you may call it, xmas, Festivus,, Saturnalia, etc.--or if you don't celebrate it at all, have fun, in any case!

 



Happy Winter Solstice!

Today is the shortest day of the year, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. First day of winter, and--just FYI--the day before my birthday.

Which leads me to all sorts of crappy remembrances and considerations. I try not to look out on the world because it gets me down--it's becoming a colder, grayer place out there. The sheer amount of hatred and out-and-out rage I'm seeing directed at poor people, gay people, people of color, non-Christians . . . it depresses me. It's becoming the age of "I'm Better than You." Politicians, and those who vote for them, seem to take absolute glee in cutting off benefits that people depend on to live. Even veterans. Even children. Let them starve. They aren't like us, so they aren't even human. Who cares what happens to them?

We're in a world of black-and-white. You vote like me, so you're Good. You vote the other way, so you're Evil. There is no longer a gray area, no longer a place where we can compromise. If you attempt to find a middle ground you are considered a traitor.

I've joked in the past about finding myself a cabin in the mountains. Over the past couple of years it's less a joke and more of a real desire.

Sorry to be such a downer. I'm just looking into the future and not seeing much hope for humanity.

But, then, maybe humanity isn't such a good thing anyway. Maybe this world would be a better place without us. I close my eyes and imagine a world with no humans at all. It's not such a bad place, really. While the things we've built will remain for a long time, the air will eventually clear, endangered species will multiply, pollution will finally filter out of the environment. In a thousand years or so, the earth would recover from the harm we've inflicted, and maybe we'll either be forgiven or, better yet, forgotten. Maybe then someone else will be able to move in and take over, someone who will be more appreciative of this place and more aware of and concerned about the damage they can inflict on others.

But, probably not.

So, Happy Solstice, anyway.

A good kind of busy . . .

So, I'm about to take on another film project.

I'm looking forward to it--it's going to be quite interesting and actually address an important issue. It'll do so in a manner that will be entertaining as hell, too. How do I know that? Because I'm writing it!

This one is going to give me something to focus on over the holidays, which makes me happy. That was not sarcasm, either--this is something I can completely immerse myself in, create characters I like and have them interact with each other. Yeah, it's creating a fantasy world. But it's a fun, interesting world, and with a good bit of luck, you'll be able to see it for yourself, as well.

Of course, I'm just the writer on this project. My producer is coming up with the story and the characters--I'm just here to write the script. But that's the best part.

What is it about semicolons? I'm having this ongoing struggle with someone I have to deal with who seems to be obsessed with them--she keeps wanting to use them inappropriately. Then, she asks me to proofread what she's written, and I point out that she's using a semicolon to join two dependent clauses--it should be a comma. And she melts down on me, and starts sending me links to all these articles about proper grammar to support her use of the semicolon--and all the articles she refers me to support my argument instead of hers.  I think her problem is she doesn't understand the difference between an independent clause and a dependent clause. I've tried to explain it go her, but it's like arguing with a fence post.

Ordinarily I wouldn't argue with her, but since she asked me to proofread her stuff, if that semicolon stays it reflects poorly on me. One of those instances where I have to argue with a crazy person. Dammit.

Well, if I don't get a chance to post again before the holiday, have a Happy Solstice, Festivus, Hanukkah, Saturnalias, Xmas, Kwanzaa, whatever you call it!

Good things coming and randomocity

It's kind of funny--I've got more situations than usual that may actually turn into something, but I can't really talk about any of them yet. Dammit. A couple (or maybe even three) film projects.

I try not to get too excited about all this work finally doing something I enjoy doing. In the film industry something can happen to kill a project all the way up until after the cameras have started rolling. But I'm crossing my fingers, hoping at least one of these projects turns into something. I'm reasonably sure at least one of them will, but, as I said . . .

Anyways, I'll share the details when I can. I know both of you are curious.

I sort of lost my painting mojo, for a while there. Maybe now I've gotten it back--almost done with a painting of a floral arrangement that I'm fairly happy with. It's not something you'd see in a gallery by any means--hell, I've done better work myself--but it's better than the last few paintings I've attempted, which were all disasters. This one ain't bad, for someone who ain't all that good. I may post a pic of it when I'm done. We'll see. Trust me--if I decide not to, you won't be missing anything. I may hang it up here, though, if I can find some room on my walls.

I'm still on vacation from writing prose. I did just reread a novella I wrote a while back, Warden, it was called, and still think it's not bad. It was my attempt at a "hard" science fiction story, and I think it works pretty well. I posted the whole thing here a while back--I'm sure you can search for it if you'd like to read it. Like I said, it ain't bad. Almost good enough to make me want to attempt to write another story.

I do need to so something with it, though, I guess. I have no idea what.

I finished the first draft for the TV show I was thinking about developing. It'll need a rewrite, but I'm pretty happy with the direction it's going in so far. I probably won't get a chance to revisit it for a while, because of the other stuff I've got going on, but I feel good about it.

It's frelling cold here. Cold for this area of the world, that is. I know it's December but this is Georgia--it's not supposed to get cold here. We're just not built for that!