So you don’t need actors now… what about writers?

Posted: 29th March 2012 by Lesley Coburn in Misc
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The dawn of scripted reality TV shows and now movies like Act of Valour scare me. Maybe I’m being a little bit dramatic here, but if I were an actor (and I was once), I’d be a little wary of this new type of drama. After all, if ‘real’ people are good enough, then who on earth is going to pay for a trained actor who comes with a union behind them and a whole set of regulations?  Actors?? Nah, who needs them.

But how long before you don’t need the writer either. How long before you just need to ‘real’ words out of ‘real mouths’.

Quite frankly, having seen Act of Valour, the whole reality thing is not working for me. Granted, the action was very good, after all, they were doing it for real and apparently those were real bullets they were firing… because they couldn’t ‘act’ you see… they needed the ‘real’ thing in order to make it look real… still with me?

Act of Valour was a great action film. The acting on the other hand was exactly what you’d expect from people who have been trained to be Navy Seals and not trained to ACT.

Back in the day when I was at drama school, we did a lot of improvisation and one of the first jobs I have after leaving was with a theatre group who improvised around a theme that eventually ended up as a script. We all wrote the piece – there was no single writer. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, if I’m totally honest. But scripted reality to me is just a variation of this.

Are writers now redundant? Or is that the way we are going? If so, then it’s a great loss. Well written drama will always win out as far as I’m concerned. Scripted reality is just an excuse to create even more forgettable ‘celebs’ who have had their fifteen minutes of fame painfully overextended.

Are We Taking Reality Drama too far?

 http://planetbrowny.com/sauce/?p=7925

Random Words of Wisdom

Posted: 31st January 2012 by Lesley Coburn in Misc
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1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.

3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right — only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’

13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is a woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive more than once.

19. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

20. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.

21. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

22. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

24. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

26. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

Derailed but not Failed

Posted: 30th November 2011 by Lesley Coburn in nanowrimo
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So it’s the end of NaNoWriMo and I failed to reach 50,000 words, but I’m not unhappy about that. In fact, I’m very happy. Why? I think I have a good story here.

NaNoWriMo gave me the start to sit down and write what had been flying around in my head for a while. Putting it down on paper I can see immediately where it needs to change and where it works. I’m quite glad I didn’t just ramble for 50,000 words and end up with something completely incoherent.

What I have is a great start. I have some wonderful characters, a story and a few good sub plots. What I need is a stronger structure, a better framework and pace.

So, December is almost here and I have a lot of work to do, but the one thing I do not feel is defeated. I may not be a ‘winner’ but in a way, I have won.

Well done to all those who wrote their arses off in November and especially well done to those who have managed to write something brilliant and unique.

Can’t wait till next year!

Almost Halfway into NaNoWriMo

Posted: 10th November 2011 by Lesley Coburn in nanowrimo
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And I’ve broken the rules already. Wrote nearly 15,000 words and then stopped and thought, this isn’t going to work. I need to write this in the 3rd person – so I did what everyone says NOT to do. I edited.

Actually, it wasn’t a bad thing. I’m still at 15,000 words, but actually they are a much better bunch of words and what’s more, I might even get to 50,000 with them.

Had a lot of thoughts about structure and how writing at this speed means you have to think very hard about it if you want to end up with something coherent. Unless of course, that isn’t the point.

I’ve spoken to quite a lot of folk who just want to write. Doesn’t matter what, getting to 50k is the point, not the process. I, on the other hand, would like to end up with 50k of words that will do more than take up memory space on my hard drive.

Structure:

Lots of great and interesting sites giving lots of advice. My favourite:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/structure-part-1-anatomy-of-a-best-selling-novel-structure-matters/

 

Especially the writing of that log line:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/structure-part-5-keeping-focused-nailing-the-pitch-understand-your-seed-idea/

Kristen Lamb has some great pointers for ensuring your novel doesn’t fall apart under its own weight. Her advice on writing log lines is brilliant and well worth reading. It’s only when I tried to do it that I discovered the story I wanted to write wasn’t actually the one I was currently writing!

I have always been a bit of a panster – just sitting down and doing it, believing that inspiration will flow and in the end it was all just make sense.

Unfortunately, that’s not always been the case.

Usually my stories fall apart three quarters of the way through because I’ve forgotten what happened on page 20 and who did what to whom and when… and it all just gets worse from then on in.

So, the challenge I set myself for NaNoWriMo was to write a coherent story that had a beginning, a middle and and end and didn’t fall apart. If that means I fail to finish, then I fail, but actually that’s not how I see it. My challenge is to conquer structure and nail it.

 

Happy Hallowe’en to All

Posted: 31st October 2011 by Lesley Coburn in Uncategorized
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Just Starting

Posted: 27th October 2011 by Lesley Coburn in nanowrimo
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First post, new site… gearing up for Nanowrimo, which starts on November 1st and wondering why on earth I thought that would be a good idea. Still, got a lot of support so why not give it a go?

Only thing I forgot to do was plan ahead… still haven’t a clue what to write about!