The Hero's Path

The light cycle felt good under this weight. He never thought he'd care for the fast paced action of the Arena, but after your first victory you couldn't help yourself. After all he was a User and everyone in the stands loved him. They loved his blue lined suit. They loved the way he isolated opponents, turned their momentum against them, and kept winning the matches. They loved that he was different. They loved that he had the power to save them...

With all of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack listening I've been doing over the past few weeks I felt like a short blog might be a good idea. I'm saying now that the music from this movie will outlast the movie itself. The music is breathtaking. It feels like it could've been made in the 1980s and that is exactly how it should sound. The usage of the original Tron theme is pitch perfect as well. Anytime the listener needs to feel a connection to the original material Daft Punk drops a few bars of the old stuff. It's very smart for this music to stay close to home while also going for it's own unique sound.

Thanks Daft Punk

Something cool happened today. I wrote. Now I understand that a blog devoted to the struggles of a lazy writer shouldn't need to have a blog entry detailing how someone struggled to write. It should be a given. However, this is my blog and I can write about whatever I want... even if it is redundant and a no-brainer.

So one of my biggest struggles as a writer is guilt. I feel guilty when I don't write, I feel guilty when I do write. I feel guilty when feel inspired to write the "wrong thing". Is there any other creative endeavor in the world where guilt plays a role? Do guitarists feel bad when they are inspired to learn how to play a song when they are supposed to be learning to play another? Do painters get all bottled up when they'd rather paint a mountain scene when they are contracted to paint a portrait? Do actors get uptight when they are in a B-movie when they really want to be on Broadway?

I don't know.

All I know is that I have so many ideas in my head (and I'm not saying any of them are good) that most times can't seem to just sit down and put them on paper. When the stars do align and I can focus on one I will then psych myself out of writing, because I should be writing on something else.

"What you want to write right now is nonsense and serves no purpose," says the weirdness in my head.

"But it won't go away," I say back, realizing I'm talking to myself and am therefore a bit insane.

"Fine then, write it... but you won't have any fun."

Usually this last thought efficiently puts the brakes on any writing and I stop.

Today was different.

Today, thanks to the Tron Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk I was inspired to start up a sci-fi story I've had in my head for years. My brother and I made a sci-fi short film about the same basic characters and subject below
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6306085763456247119#

What I wrote today is the next step in the story. Part of the reason I never did anything with it is because I felt that maybe I should just leave it alone and move on, but for some reason I really like it so I never did. So I wrote today and it felt good. Even if I don't write on it ever again, at least today was cool.

That's when I blow it...

So it has been over two weeks since I blogged. One of the specific reasons for doing this blog was to force me to consistently write. FAIL!

I could just stop the blog, but that's what I've always done. So instead of stopping I will make a concerted effort to blog twice a week to make up for my lack of November posts.

To quickly sum up my November.

1. Saw Harry Potter 7 Pt. 1... twice. If you haven't seen the movie, watch the first 6 and go see it. It is definitely worth your while. Read a great spoiler free review of the film here.

2. Went to Starbase Indy, a fan run Sci-Fi Convention on Thanksgiving Weekend. Met a look of cool fellow geeks, networked a bit, shot an episode of Born For Geekdom. All in all a great time, one full of nostalgic moments.

That is what I call a quick sum up.

I'll write more soon.

Live long and prosper.

Long Sunset

This is a very short chapter from my long running Western "The Thousand Devils". I've been working on this/not working on this for closing in on 10 years. Earlier this year I completed the first draft in the screenplay that most likely doesn't make much sense.  That's what happens over 10 years, you develop as a writer and the words you put down at the beginning of a span that long don't mesh at all with the words you are putting down now. I'm no longer a late teenager full of angst... I'm now a late twenty-something full of angst. Not really, but you get the idea.

So with all of that being said, I'm different now than I was then, meaning I have a different perspective from which I write. An epic in which a guy must hunt down and kill a bunch of demons now no longer gets me excited as a writer. I have to find a way to explore the characters. For the longest of times I was going to make Michael (the hunter character) my primary antagonist all the while keeping Wyman Rustwine, the retired Confederate soldier with a grudge against anyone who considers themselves a Yankee, the sidekick, stock character. But recently, I've been playing with the idea of making the narrator Rustwine and having him be "our eyes" through the story. So the following super short story is my way of working with that approach. Enjoy it . Hate it. Disregard it. Who cares... after this much time "The Thousand Devils" is a story I will either tell in due time or one that I will not. Hopefully I will finish the story someday... but I'm cool either way.

The Many Jobs of Jacob Williams

My writing of my new screenplay "Jobs" has fallen off as of late. Why? Well, if you read the mission statement of this blog you'll understand that I am a lazy writer and so that is explanation enough. Along with being lazy, I'm also busy with other stuff that clouds my brain and keeps me from what I love to do best and that is, of course, writing.

Audrey is currently using lists as a way of getting ideas out of her head. She is learning that valuable lesson from her Master's program and there is truth in the statement that if one person in a relationship is doing something than the other is basically doing it as well. Needless to say, I've been learning a lot about writing and how to best get ideas out and onto the paper. So with that being said, I am going to draft a list of all of the jobs I've ever worked. This will hopefully reignite "Jobs" and help push the material out in a constructive way.

Never Give Up, Terry Gilliam

Last night Audrey was writing up a script report for fivespockets.com. It appears that once again Terry Gilliam's long in development The Man who Killed Don Quixote has once again run out of financing and has halted production. While reading her report over her shoulder, I scoffed at Gilliam's pursuits.

"He's never going to get that off the ground," I said.

"Why do you say that," she asked, continuing to write.

"Because he has a stupid story nobody wants to spend money on," I said. "He doesn't need to have the main character go back in time and meet Don Quixote. He should just make the book into a movie."

Audrey glanced at me with a wrinkled brow.

"Why?"

I had no rebuttal. She had a point. One word from my wife's lips had me stumped.

Why couldn't he do whatever he wanted?  And better yet, why had I copped such an attitude toward one of my childhood heroes? Why had I scoffed at the first director who made me really think about how weird this world is? Why had I become a cynical jerk?

52 Week Shootout

Last night my wife and I are on our nightly walk through neighborhoods with houses we could never afford. They are the mansions where we would throw fancy pants Christmas parties with family who, like us, know nothing about fancy pants. All of us in bad sweaters drinking boxed wine amid crepe paper decorations, listening to Leon Redbone. It is a fantasy walk we take. A walk of future plans, intentions, and goals. It is our dream stroll through possibilities.

"I would love to read more of your writing," she says as we pass the Haunted Mansion.

"I'm writing," I defend. "I've got 30 pages down on Jobs."

Jobs is the not so super secret screenplay I broke ground on earlier this summer. It is a highly referential, semi autobiographical journey through our occupational struggles since getting married. CLARK, a painter in his mid 20s who loses his job the day after he gets back from his honeymoon with his writer wife, MARIE, must go on a journey through many jobs until finding... Needless to say, I am excited about the new script...