Still Here

Well, a while since my last post. A necessary but horrible part time job in the evenings (imagine hammering the same nail for four hours without a break...) combined with a mammoth case of writer's block (now evaporating), a slightly scary reliance on booze (it's doesn't work when trying to be truly creative) along with a general malaise have conspired to keep me away from the blog and writing in general.

Something to recommend to fellow writers is an hour long video featuring Robert McKee at The Unknown Screenwriter, a site for screenwriters I cannot recommend highly enough.

Some people find McKee hard to deal with, some worship at his grumpy altar and some, like me, try and find what's best amongst his writings. It might not change your world view but I think it's worth a look even if to just help recharge some creative batteries.

Now Avatar is released on DVD today. Dare I? In fact, I think I've a bit to say about it's different elements. Watch for a post on it soon.

Exile

The title's not as dramatic as it sounds, but I have imposed a kind of exile on myself, web-wise. A story I've been working on for years has recently begun to truly take shape in a more coherent fashion than before and I don't want to lose it. I say "lose it" not as in "I'll go nuts" but I've got a wee spark going on now that I don't want to slip out of my notoriously sieve-shaped mind.

So, since last Thursday, no Facebook. Shock! (Ok, I had to log in once today to send a message of apology to a school friend I'd bumped into this morning, only to mistakenly call him by his brother's name. What a knob I am). So, the Facebook addiction is getting kicked into touch, as is my presence on a message board I've been frequenting for years. But it's all just short term so I can make myself get on with writing and also prove to myself that I don't need to be logging on to the online world to feel secure. Blog notwithstanding, of course. It has been a while since I posted. But none of the usual time-wasting nonsense for the next seven days.

This is the thing about writing. It's fucking lonely. So with one click, I'm in touch with my friends. And I must stress that the vast majority of them are people I personally know, not just from online personas and daft avatars.

Speaking of which, I'm also cutting myself of from anything to do with Avatar. It's a film I'm really looking forward to and I don't know a huge amount about it. I may know more than I think if Cameron has taken the "Dances with Wolves in Space" path in terms of story, but we'll see. So, no reviews or chatter until I see the film next week. I'll be in London for most of the week so I may have to shell out a bit more for it, but I will be seeing next week, for sure. Slowly but surely, things are getting Christmassy as well. Gawd, I love this time of year. It's unfortunate it has to be followed by dark, cold and wetter January. But that's the concept of following time through a calendar for you. Some mammals have got it right by sleeping it away.

Exile. It's amazing how the web can cause over-dramatics. Nonetheless, I've stuff to do.

So, it's head in the books time. Would it be wrong to do that in the pub? Hmmm...