I'm Writing a Movie

I usually don’t talk too much about what I am writing. I mean, it is one thing to write but then to write about what you write? (And it requires a certain amount of writing to even figure out what you are going to write and then once you figure that out, there is all this writing that happens to organize the writing so you can get down to writing.)

Clearly---a chore-filled thing to do. So why would anyone want to hear about these chores? My father was an accountant at a car dealership. He never talked about his work. But my mother, who was kind of chatty, talked a lot about her work in a doctor’s office, which was just talk about work. I was always amazed how my father never said a word about what he did. But I kind of liked it, too, because he was very present, over the minute steaks or meat loaf or chicken under canned soup, and we did not have to listen to how his day was put together.

So, whether I have made a choice to not talk about my writing for some esoteric reason or I am simply modeling my father’s behavior or I would rather wait until my writing is complete so I can yell, “Surprise!” when I unveil it, will remain a mystery to us all.

But breaking tradition, and using this blog entry as a bit of procrastination between hour long bouts of movie writing, I am announcing that I am writing a movie. And it is enjoyable. There is much planning that goes into a movie. And lucky for me, I am working closely with a company that has made some big movies, so I am getting notes, really good ones, in fact, the first good notes I’ve ever gotten, so I am not flying blind. This feels perfect. And, if you are going to write something commercial (that is also, hopefully, unique) you might as well make sure it has a commercial swing to it.

So, I am writing a movie. I said it. It’s comedic. There is a murder-by-negligence that gets the story really moving. One world falls apart to reveal another one. Right now---I am finishing up the major scaffolding. Scenes to fly out shortly.

If you are writing a movie, I hope you are having a good time. I survive on homemade vegetable soup with lots of cabbage (Thank you my Recognized-by-the-State-of-California-Domestic-Partner Adam), Typhoo tea (I reuse the bag about six times so the tea just gets weaker and weaker---like I’m an old lady on a fixed income), almonds, and those digestif cookies that are really crackery with a glaze of good chocolate over the top. That’s enough.

And—my new computer with the 4gig Ram. RAM ON!

I like movies. I always have. They can be very crisp, bright events. They can carry you off. They are a good break from that dull life of shoe laces and email. And even though they say film is a visual medium, I can assure you, words, words, words are the basis.