A Change Of Perspective

I must admit to being something of a nerd. I'm not the painfully nerdy type you see on The Big Bang Theory or anything like that, but I do geek out on occasion. I can't wait for the next Star Trek novel to come out. I'm drooling over Firefly on Blu-Ray. I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are two television series that were fine examples of drama, action and comedy.

That list could go on for a long time so let's just end it there.

The point is that among the things that I "geek out" about is good writing. I watch television shows and wonder what goes into making them. I read books and wonder how the author knew to take his characters in that direction. I want to know how it's done. I want to know the gritty, messy details that are covered up by the scenes. So I often watch the writer/director commentary on DVDs. (Yes, go on. Add that to the list of nerdiness in the first paragraph. It's OK.)

I've spent the week trying to get caught up on processing photos before the October rush. When I'm processing I usually flip on a disc or two of a television series that I have on DVD and just let it roll as I get into the groove of processing. Today I started out with Two and a Half Men and quickly realized I was bored with it. I didn't make it through the first 22 minute episode before pulling the plug. Instead I put in my Blu-Ray copy of Serenity, scrolled through the extras and put on the writer/director commentary.

I have a knack for being able to do one thing and listen to another. It's how I made it through school without ever studying. So as I processed I listened to what Joss Whedon talked about on the show. Some of it was interesting without being useful. I found the commentary on lenses he used during the shooting fascinating, though I doubt it will translate into photography usefulness. What I really focused on instead was the commentary on the characters themselves and I learned a few surprising things.

The first thing I didn't realize, though in hindsight I should have, is that the movie is Mal's story as told by River. The entire movie is wrapped around getting Mal from the dark place he starts at to the better place he ends at because of River's plight. Fascinating.

The second thing I keyed on was how the story itself was told, what little tricks of the trade were used to pull the viewer in and give him all the back story he needed without beating him over the head with it. Again, some of that I noticed, some of it I didn't.

What really struck me the hardest, however, was listening to Joss Whedon speak about the vision he had for the movie and the characters he'd created. Everything he did, every scene, every bit of dialog was aimed at bringing that vision to life. There wasn't a single bit of extraneous material.

But more importantly, Whedon had a vision. He knew what he was sitting down to create. He may not have known all the stops the story would take along the way, but he knew what he was creating. It was analyzed and thought through before the pen hit the page.

It made me realize that I rarely, if ever, have asked myself an important question when starting a project, namely this one: What is it I'm trying to do? What is it I'm trying to create? Why am I doing this?

Looking back I can see where that's hurt my creative efforts. I think I've only satisfactorily answered that question once, with The Crownless King. The Sixth Sword may very well come in a close second at that. Yet for the most part weak answers to those questions have made the quality of my work less than in could be, I believe, and have caused me to lack focus lately.

I'm not saying the past six months have been wasted, but I see now how answering those questions could have made me put the time to a better creative use. I can see now that I must readjust my perspective if I'm going to have a shot at a successful writing career at all.

A Declaration Of Autumn

I'm officially declaring it to be fall. It's decided. I don't care how hot it is. I don't care that the leaves have just started to change around here. It's fall. Deal with it.

I'm declaring it fall because Bethany and I picked up a soup recipe book at Kroger and I'll be breaking out the Crock Pot to slow roast a pork loin for dinner, kind of a warm up for the slow cooker work that will be done as the weather cools. It looks like the first fall like temperatures will be in for next week, so I'm going to get ready.

My first two days of this week are going to be spent at home. I'm going to change the lock on the front door. Then I'm going to strip all the Morning Glories off the porch (they're dying anyway) and get them properly disposed of. I may or may not break out the lawn mower for what I hope will be a final time this season. The deciding factor will be the shape of the yard after a close examination. I'm going to start my search for a good coat rack to place by the door and a welcome mat to match for those rainy days and weeks of wet snow like we had last year. Bethany's going to pull out the fall decorations and start spreading them festively throughout the house.

Bring on the cold weather, the awesome football and the seasonal foods. I'm ready for corn mazes and Halloween costumes and even to start thinking about a Christmas wish list and Hallmark ornaments. This is my favorite time of year and I'm declaring that it has arrived.

The Great Pumpkin should soon follow suit.

A Fun Friday

One thing I really enjoy about Fridays is the anticipation of the weekend and this one is going to be a good one. We have pictures to take and process, of course, but we're going to spend some time with a good friend playing the Wii and hopefully have some space to relax in there somewhere.

On the work front I just got off the phone with Heather Gladden and she's on board and sounds excited to get started on some stuff for our Druid project. I met with Devan yesterday and he left me with a better idea of where the story is going and some research materials to delve into Celtic history. All I need now is a new keyboard because this one just isn't making me happy when it comes down to spending quality writing hours at it.

The Druid project is going to be something a little different for Devan and I. We're setting out with the idea of writing a young adult novel and we're going to take the time to really hammer at this and use it as a benchmark to see where our writing skills are at. It will be a true collaborative effort and may even be something we take to an agent and see about making a career out of this writing hobby.

But before I can do any of that, the house needs to be cleaned before we leave for a very good home cooked dinner. Better get moving.

Looking Foward To Fall

We're back from vacation and while it was a good trip, I'm glad to be home. I'm not going to lie. I really like sleeping in my own bed and being in my own home. Family togetherness is great and all that, but there's nothing quite like home.

As I mentioned in the last post the writing is getting back on track. In fact, Devan and I are having our first meeting tomorrow about The Hunter and I'm looking forward to really discussing the vision of the novel and the series. I think it will go a long way toward speeding work along, particularly since it'll be the first time we've been able to speak in person about the project since he came up with the idea while he was in Iraq.

My current read is The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. It's fun, but it's almost an homage to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I think that all the epic fantasy written in the 70s and early 80s has a strong influence of Tolkien, be it in the story itself or the style of the writing. Next up on the To-Read List is probably going to be Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. It has a pretty interesting premise and I'm excited to see what he does with it. It will also give me a feel for his writing before I plunge into the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time finale, which Sanderson co-wrote after Jordan's death.

I don't know how the weather is where you are, but here in western Virginia fall is starting to creep in. The nights are getting cool and the morning temperatures are barely in the 50s. I've been told that the leaves are starting to turn in Bath County, which is north of where I live and a lot higher in elevation. I went with Bethany and her mom to chorale practice last night in Lewisburg and I could already see some fall colors in that particular westerly direction.

Looking at the calendar I see that September is half over. I love October. Bethany's filled this one with weddings, but even still I'm looking forward to it. Cooler weather, better football, great food and awesome books. Fall is also publishing season and a lot of great reads are published this time of year. Of particular interest to me is The Towers of Midnight by Jordan and Sanderson on November 2.

I'm also counting down to the time when I make my annual attempt at jambalaya. I've made it twice, both times on a cool autumn Saturday when I could smell it cooking in the Crock Pot all day. Last year was a fiasco wherein I learned that there is a difference between instant rice and regular rice. The year before was better, though it came out mushy. This year will be my third attempt at making it and I have hopes of getting it right this time.

Fall puts me in mind of soups and stews and other warm foods. We have a great recipe for homemade chicken noodle soup, which will no doubt be made one weekend, and Bethany loves experimenting with the soups. The cooling weather just seems to demand that more attention be paid to cooking and eating fine foods and I, for one, plan to answer that demand.