Living the RomCom is taking a brief hiatus - not to don a speedo and beer-goggles on a sunny beach, but to write.
You remember writing - it's that thing you're supposed to be doing while you're, like, online?
For those of you involved in either pursuit, here's a hefty link that's been making the writerly rounds for a few weeks now: the so-called 10 Rules For Writing, according to a group of luminaries led by Elmore Leonard. It's got insights to savor from all ends of the spectrum, from Annie (Proulx) to Zadie (Smith).
Though the rules espoused by these writers focus on fiction, they're applicable to screenwriting, and for that matter, to any form, be it memoir-faking or blog-commenting.
The rule that comes up most often, besides "Read," is "Write" - so why ignore the experts? Onward then, with pen in hand, and hopefully I'll have a decent page-count to crow and/or complain about when I'm back here in early April. May your days be loving and funny-ful in the meantime.
What are you taking a spring break to write, Billy?
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
Posted by: E.C. Henry | March 21, 2010 at 06:50 PM
You're leaving us for that loonnggg?
Oh well. Hope it's fruitful. But are you serious with the pen thing? You really write with a PEN?!
...I can't imagine the pain that would cause me. The whole PAGE would be scratched out.
Posted by: J | March 21, 2010 at 07:34 PM
It's not spring break.. It's SPRING BREAKKKKK! hope your vacation would be as fruitful as ever.
good luck mate. God Bless!
Posted by: renaissance costume | March 21, 2010 at 07:51 PM
EC: My friend, writer Barbara Abercrombie invited me, Tater, and 18 other writers (including a few that people may have heard of) to contribute to an anthology called CHERISH: 20 Writers Celebrate Animals They've Loved and Lost. Being a writer, I waited until a few weeks before the deadline to write my piece. There's also a second novel lurking in the background of my writing life that needs to come forward.
J: I'm into the pen! And yes, it is painful. But the trade-off is immense, since I find that there is nothing comparable to the uniquely physical experience of writing - on - a - piece - of - paper - with - a - pen, which heightens the intensity of the act and the commitment to the thought in a way that keyboards and cyberspace will never replicate.
Renny: Whether you're an amazingly acute ad aggregate, or a human, I appreciate the sentiment.
Posted by: mernitman | March 23, 2010 at 09:46 PM
Billy - hope you're enjoying your time away. When you return, I'd love to hear your take on this:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/03/ten_nonromantic_noncomedic_ele.html
I think it's excellent.
Posted by: Muffin MacGuffin | March 24, 2010 at 01:41 PM
Read. Write. Yes. Good news. But you forgot one. Soak:).
Posted by: Catherine | April 07, 2010 at 06:52 PM