For the first time in quite awhile, I've had a couple of days where I didn't write very much or at all. I know the old saying, "writers write" but sometimes it's more important to enjoy the moment than sit down behind a laptop and pound out a thousand words.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are too busy to really spend much time writing. And the day after Christmas, what the British celebrate as Boxing Day, we call at my house, Movie Day. We sit and watch five or six films in a row, or our version of binge watching. This year we watched: Inside Out and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 both in 3-D, Dragon Ball Z Battle of Gods, Dragon Ball Z Resurrection 'F', Kung Fu Panda, Shaun The Sheep Movie and Up The River. Some of these are films we've already watched and reviewed and some will become fodder for future posts, but for the most part these were new films to our collection that the family wanted to see.
While I liked Shaun the Sheep Movie, I won't be reviewing it on the blog since I work for Lionsgate and it might seem like a conflict of interest if I were to. I did write a future post for Up The River (1930) of about 2400 words. The film is notable because it stars Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in their first credited roles and is directed by John Ford.
During the week, did finish and post a review of Star Wars The Force Awakens and another one for Return of the Jedi. I thought I'd write a little more next week about posts and pageviews throughout the year, but I'm very surprised after 162 pageviews for Empire Strikes Back that Return of the Jedi has only mustered 24 and The Force Awakens only 32. I really thought I was onto something, but there are a lot of factors, I guess, not to mention holidays that might affect readership.
Had the thought for a good beginning of J.D. Barrister story and did do some revision work on a novel I started about him called The Runaway. But those aren't the stories I should be working on and I know it.
Hoping to find some time this coming week to do more writing and moved forward on the comic book, but I also want to take advantage of my staycation by making some calls and seeing some sights. Life's a balancing act, isn't it?
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Sunday, December 20, 2015
A Week in Writing #69
As I predicted, this week in writing was spent on reviews for the blog. Finished and published the 3600+ word review of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) I started last week. Also started a review of Return of the Jedi (1983) which I'm almost done with at about 2800 words. Hope to publish that next Saturday. Still have to write a review for The Force Awakens, which I've just seen today. That should come out mid-week. (Spoiler alert: I liked it).
This has been a big week for the blog as it celebrated its fifth anniversary with a re-review of Back to the Future III by our founder and editor, Paul. Besides that milestone, the last two reviews I've posted have been some of the best read since October. Star Wars has sort of plateaued at 100 and Empire has already has 133 page views. When you average about 30 a review, 133 is a banner day. Hopefully, the people that read that review will come back and read other ones as well.
Heard that TCM's CFU, the other blog I post reviews on, is going away next month. Really too bad, as it seemed to be a good site for me. Not sure why, but that's what I've heard. It's too bad if it's really true, but from what I've heard there have been long standing issues between members and TCM. Not sure what they are, but I've had "friends" who have been banned from time to time.
Made some progress on the comic book. We had narrowed our search down to several artists and asked for each to send us a sample page, based on a page in the script. A couple declined, one sent us a very detailed sketch and one sent us a complete page, pencil and ink. Another artist has said they're going to send us something, but it's been a week and nothing. Not very promising for him. We're getting closer to making a decision, but I want to do a little more research on how all this is going to work. A little nervous to say the least.
Also, I followed up on the pitch I made to the still un-named Comic-Con SVOD channel. Apparently, they haven't reviewed any submissions yet and probably won't start until early next year. So it's still a maybe, which beats an outright no by a mile.
Next week I need to finish a couple of reviews and I'm thinking that might be about all I'll be able to do. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays.
This has been a big week for the blog as it celebrated its fifth anniversary with a re-review of Back to the Future III by our founder and editor, Paul. Besides that milestone, the last two reviews I've posted have been some of the best read since October. Star Wars has sort of plateaued at 100 and Empire has already has 133 page views. When you average about 30 a review, 133 is a banner day. Hopefully, the people that read that review will come back and read other ones as well.
Heard that TCM's CFU, the other blog I post reviews on, is going away next month. Really too bad, as it seemed to be a good site for me. Not sure why, but that's what I've heard. It's too bad if it's really true, but from what I've heard there have been long standing issues between members and TCM. Not sure what they are, but I've had "friends" who have been banned from time to time.
Made some progress on the comic book. We had narrowed our search down to several artists and asked for each to send us a sample page, based on a page in the script. A couple declined, one sent us a very detailed sketch and one sent us a complete page, pencil and ink. Another artist has said they're going to send us something, but it's been a week and nothing. Not very promising for him. We're getting closer to making a decision, but I want to do a little more research on how all this is going to work. A little nervous to say the least.
Also, I followed up on the pitch I made to the still un-named Comic-Con SVOD channel. Apparently, they haven't reviewed any submissions yet and probably won't start until early next year. So it's still a maybe, which beats an outright no by a mile.
Next week I need to finish a couple of reviews and I'm thinking that might be about all I'll be able to do. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
A Week in Writing #68
It's official, the holdays are winning out. My writing this week has been restricted to writing one review for Star Wars (1977), which I published on Saturday. The review has had just under 90 page views as of this writing. Sadly, that's my biggest count since The Picture of Dorian Gray in October. I put that down to the subject matter, which is not surprisingly popular at the moment.
Still, I'm disappointed that it was all I could squeeze out over the week. Still working on one for The Empire Strikes Back, currently I'm about 2000 words in, but I'm pretty sure that will be all I get to. Since I've given myself a deadline to publish, I have to write it. But there is so much to do and so little time it seems.
Did make some progress on the comic book, but that's been mostly reviewing a few submissions and sending some emails to potential artists.
I don't want to be too hard on myself. Sadly, I'm not a professional writer and I have to make time to write. I have a half-hour window in the morning, if I don't oversleep, and maybe an hour at night. In between I'm either in traffic or at work for about 12 hours a day, so I can do a lot of thinking about stories, but not write on them.
I'm hoping to get more time between the holidays, but until then I'll do what I can and what I have to; which includes this blog.
Still, I'm disappointed that it was all I could squeeze out over the week. Still working on one for The Empire Strikes Back, currently I'm about 2000 words in, but I'm pretty sure that will be all I get to. Since I've given myself a deadline to publish, I have to write it. But there is so much to do and so little time it seems.
Did make some progress on the comic book, but that's been mostly reviewing a few submissions and sending some emails to potential artists.
I don't want to be too hard on myself. Sadly, I'm not a professional writer and I have to make time to write. I have a half-hour window in the morning, if I don't oversleep, and maybe an hour at night. In between I'm either in traffic or at work for about 12 hours a day, so I can do a lot of thinking about stories, but not write on them.
I'm hoping to get more time between the holidays, but until then I'll do what I can and what I have to; which includes this blog.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
A Week in Writing #67
The holidays are starting to click into high gear, post Thanksgiving, which means less time for writing (everything means less time for writing). But you have to stay true to your work, which I've tried to do, tried being the key word.
Did some more rewrites on Public and Private based on feedback from my editor. So far, for the most part, these have been grammatical, but I'm pretty sure that may change as we get further into the book. This is the aspect of rewrites I don't mind, which is trying to make the book and its story better.
Also made some progress on the comic book, as we have begun to receive a sample page, at least from one artist. So far, his effort has been really good. Want to hold off going too far with him until we see if any other artists send one in.
And there is the blog, Trophy Unlocked, which is sort of its own writing challenge this month. I have to review five movies in four weeks. Not sure how the posts are going to work, but I'll either be posting two one week or posting during the week. We've decided (and it's a group decision) to devote December not to Christmas films, as we've done in years prior, but to visions of light sabers as, like everyone else, we get caught up in the hype that is Star Wars. I'm going to be reviewing the "middle" original trilogy and the new film, but we started with Star Wars: Clone Wars, a 2003 animated TV series directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and edited into two "films".
I feel like the rest of week will be filled with Star Wars, as I'm currently working on a review of that film, having recently watched a VHS tape of the original un-enhanced version. So much to write about. I'm only about 1600 words in and have just started to deal with the actual story. Hopefully, the force will be with me and let me complete it sooner than later.
Did some more rewrites on Public and Private based on feedback from my editor. So far, for the most part, these have been grammatical, but I'm pretty sure that may change as we get further into the book. This is the aspect of rewrites I don't mind, which is trying to make the book and its story better.
Also made some progress on the comic book, as we have begun to receive a sample page, at least from one artist. So far, his effort has been really good. Want to hold off going too far with him until we see if any other artists send one in.
And there is the blog, Trophy Unlocked, which is sort of its own writing challenge this month. I have to review five movies in four weeks. Not sure how the posts are going to work, but I'll either be posting two one week or posting during the week. We've decided (and it's a group decision) to devote December not to Christmas films, as we've done in years prior, but to visions of light sabers as, like everyone else, we get caught up in the hype that is Star Wars. I'm going to be reviewing the "middle" original trilogy and the new film, but we started with Star Wars: Clone Wars, a 2003 animated TV series directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and edited into two "films".
I feel like the rest of week will be filled with Star Wars, as I'm currently working on a review of that film, having recently watched a VHS tape of the original un-enhanced version. So much to write about. I'm only about 1600 words in and have just started to deal with the actual story. Hopefully, the force will be with me and let me complete it sooner than later.
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