Screenplay Structure. Hm. Looking over my brief notes, I pretty much do have a three act structure to my ideas. I didn't consciously plan it that way, but you've got to admit, it's the logical way for how many stories flow.
Book Suggestion Spam. A couple days ago, I got some strange e-mail that suggested books for me to read. Apparently, I'm not theonlyone. From what I can deduce, some Russian outfit scraped a bunch of info from LibraryThing and spammed a bunch of people hoping that they would click on their site so they could get lots of Amazon referrals. Totally uncool.
"Something About Me" Reading Challenge. (via Five Dollar Camera) It's interesting reading the lists of books that people say represent them--these aren't necessarily favorite books, mind you, but books that on some level touched them. And if a book did that, then the author certainly did something right. The first two books that came to mind when I was thinking about what books might represent me was A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray (science, ambition, immigration, culture clashes, obsessions--the story of my life in some respects) and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (weird internal landscapes--my brain in a nutshell).
Selling Out? Says Who? Well, as I always say, if someone offers me money for my writing, I'm not going to complain. Sure, there are some blockbusters which I think are crap, but that's only my opinion and taste. Just because I like subtle patterns compared to plaid doesn't mean that everyone else should have the same preferences. I respect the fact that somehow these artists reap the monetary rewards because they have tapped into something that many people enjoy. I'm only disgruntled by the "sell-outs" who create only for money and derive no joy or satisfaction in their work.
Writers Wednesday with Natalie Anderson. Writing in the hospital while you're giving birth to twins? Now that's dedication (or insanity) for you. After reading this, all I can say is that there is absolutely no excuse for you to not write. (And it also reminds me of one of my professors: "There's absolutely no excuse for you to not attend class. Unless it's your own death.")
