Thursday, January 28, 2010

Time Flies Like an Update

(Pictured above are (respectively) the star, cinematographer, and director of the film I wrote for the 72-hour challenge. Sorry there aren't any shots of me at the typewriter, pulling out my hair and cursing myself for losing scene six, but our star is almost as pretty as me, so this should do.)


“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” – Groucho Marx


Sorry I haven’t had much time to blog this month, but I’ve made some progress since the last post.

  1. I’ve managed to write my statement of purpose for grad school, as well as get letters of reference from three profs. In the end, I got them from my old favourite prof, (whom I’ve known since 2001 – she knows my sister too and claims to be quite fond, though I gather my sister does not return the sentiment), my fresh-from-Ph.D. Theory prof (who thought his word wouldn’t be worth what another profs was, so I had to convince him he was an equal to them, not only as far as I was concerned, but frankly, as far as credentials are concerned. At least that’s what the faculty supervisor had told me late last year.) And also, the guest professor from Ghana. This is all due by Monday, and after that, it’s out of my hands.
  2. The poetry presentation on Roberts was a huge success. We got an A.
  3. The group for the Anthology is getting pretty big. I think there are 7 of us now to put the magazine together, and more students have already submitted poems.
  4. The 72-Hour film challenge is over! I wound up writing two screenplays. I wound up having to trash the script for “Cock Talk” when we got our challenge worksheet. There was simply no way the script would have worked, so that night we all brainstormed, and then I went home and wrote the script instead of sleeping. This way, the team was able to start planning and shooting the next day. I haven’t seen the finished film yet, but the production stills look awesome. I won’t say much about it now, but it’s chalk-full of Back to the Future references.
  5. I haven’t written a slam poem yet. Not one that I intend to memorize and perform, anyway. I did go to a workshop though, and did some slam exercises. I even still have the poems written out on scrap paper. I’ll transcribe them and post them shortly.
  6. Still gotta write a poem for Goblin Fruit, unless the "Sir Gawain" poem is good enough. But I dunno; it’s kinda short.
  7. Zombies in Camelot – Have not done this one, as feared. I’ll give myself another month, because I’m cool and I can do that.


Monday, January 11, 2010

So Little Time

Oh my freaking hell! I had no idea January would be throwing so many projects my way so quickly! I barely have time to blog (and should not be, in fact, as I have a presentation to give tomorrow, worth 30%!)


So this entry may read more like a shopping list, but I need to work through all this somehow, as I’ve got to finish it all sometime this month.


Major Project to complete:

  1. Grad School Application – I need to find three profs who will vouch for me, and write me a good letter of recommendation. I should also see my guidance counsellor stat! If I don’t get this in by February 1st, I can’t be considered for funding as a teaching assistant.
  2. Poetry Presentation (30%) – This is tomorrow. I signed up for it because I like to get presentations out of the way. The downside is I’ve had little time to prepare. I’m actually pretty excited about it though, as I have a great group comprised of girl who started her own sorority, (making her month arguably busier than mine), a cancer survivor, a really nice handicapped girl I took notes for last term. These ladies love the poet we got too – Sir Charles G. D. Roberts – because he loved nature, and he had many torrid love affairs in his day.
  3. Poetry Anthology (60% at end-of-term, but I’d better start now.) This is actually in the same poetry class, and I’m pretty excited about this. You see, our prof is rather liberal in the way she marks her students, in that she’ll let you do just about anything as long as it involves poetry, and you’re passionate about it. So this other girl and I have started collecting submissions from the rest of the class, and our project is to get them all published with the help of our prof! How cool is that?
  4. 72-Hour Film Challenge – I just found out about this. Two weeks from now, I’m entered into a contest to write, shoot and edit a film in 3 days. I’m the team screenwriter, so it actually starts with me. I told them I’d send them some malleable ideas so they can start securing locations for that week-end. I have this idea about a man with a talking penis… I’m tentatively calling it “Cock Talk.”
  5. Write a Slam – It’s over a year now since I started writing and reciting poems. I think it’s about time to compete, and I’ve started befriending some really awesome poets.
  6. Write a poem for Goblin Fruit – Ema mentioned this to me, and really, I should be starting to get my stuff published elsewhere other than my own blog.
  7. Zombies in Camelot Outline – I already talked about this a few posts ago, but I haven’t worked on it since, and I’m starting to worry that I may not find the time.

Anyway, wish me luck on my presentation tomorrow!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Gawain the Demon Knight

Up from Hell
came Gawain
with the blade of evil’s bane.
Half still well,
half insane,
he clove the undead lord in twain.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year’s Vow in 2010: Publish a Book

“Twenty-Ten!” I just love the way that sounds! It’s like being in a sci-fi novel.

I have a new project for 2010, a fantasy novel, which I’ve given the tentative title “Zombies in Camelot.” The title pretty much describes the book. My niche genre(s) at this point are Dark Fantasy / Arthurian Romance Satire. Ideally, anybody who likes fantasy, (particularly dark fantasy), or horror, (particularly zombies), or comic fantasy, particularly with Arthurian characters should like this book.

I have been developing a bible for the main plot, characters, creatures for several weeks now. I never know how long the blueprints for a writing project will take me, but when it is done, I should be able to write the book in 30 days. (Roughly 2 chapters per day). However, since I only have experience writing screenplays this length, my estimation might be off.

I also still have more reading to do. Thus far I’ve read some of William Morris’ Arthurian Poems, (which deviate from every known text, so they’re confusing), Culhwch and Olwen, (which is a great way to frame Arthurian tales, though the frame story itself had a very arrogant, selfish and whiny protagonist, whom Arthur should really have had dragged off to his dungeon and had beaten), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (a translation, which I disliked at first, but its rich symbolism is growing on me, now that I’m reading some criticism), and I’m currently working through Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. Next on my list is T. H. White’s series.

So, in a nutshell, here’s my plan:

January: Finish research and outline

February: Write the first draft (I’ll aim to have some overlap in January, to give me a full 30 days, at 2 chapters per day.)

March: I anticipate I’ll have lots of papers due this month, but hopefully I can edit it (polishing 2 chapters per day.)

April: Show it to some friends and try to get as much criticism as I can, then polish it again.

May: Send cover letters and a small sample to publishers.

That’s it. That’s as far ahead as I can plan. Anyone else have an interesting resolution? Oh, and happy new year!