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Purgatory

Yesterday, thanks in no small part to the intervention of the Green Fairy, I finished the 668-word proposal for Daughter of Hounds. And apparently I did it right, because the first thing my NYC agent said to me after reading it was "Wow." It has gone to my editor at Penguin, and now I will sit on pins and needles awaiting his response.

Waiting is one of the few things I hate more about writing than doing synopses.

Continuing yesterday's thoughts on synopses, and why they don't come easy for me, and why I fear them and tend to think that they're a bad idea in general. It occurred to me yesterday that my strongest objection to writing synopses for unwritten books, something I consider an even greater problem than the inherent reductionism, is that I don't want to know how a book ends before I write it. If I know the whole story at the outset, then what's the point of writing it? That would be like going to see a movie you've never seen before and having someone explain every frame of film to you beforehand. There would be no surprises, no suspense, no marveling at how the story unfolds before you. There would be nothing much but foreknowledge. In the case of writing, I think, for me, a detailed outline written before the writing of the novel would reduce the novel to little more than an exercise in "filling in the blanks." Chapter Three? Wait, let me check my outline. That's not how I write. I can't imagine writing that way. It seems to subvert the interplay of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious that I see as integral to the process of fiction.

I've been sleeping to Blade Runner. I awoke sometime in the night and Dekard had just shot Pris, and it hit me how much her death throes are echoed in the desperate, angry thrashings of Elle Driver after The Bride plucks out her left eye. Surely Tarantino did that on purpose.

Nothing much else to report about yesterday. Having finished the proposal and feeling as though I deserved a respite from this office, Spooky and I drove over to Candler Park and had sweet stuff at Cold Cream. She had a scoop of key lime in a cone, and I had a scoop of black walnut in a cup. Oh, and we worked on the pattern for the pulse pistol holster.

Comments

( 9 comments — Have your say! )
robyn_ma
Apr. 21st, 2004 02:25 pm (UTC)
i've tried über-organized outlines and synopses. my characters proceeded to laugh at my plans for them and go where they wanted to go. that's happened about four times now.

i like to think i know where the story is going, with a vague and blurry vision of how i'd like it to end, but i don't really want to know. if it doesn't surprise me, chances are it's not gonna surprise the reader.

ever read the early draft of kill bill where elle is struck down by the bride's sword and they bond briefly before she dies? there's nothing about elle killing pai mei, and decidedly no eye-pluckage. as originally written it makes elle's talk about respecting the bride make a little more sense, but in the movie it seems a more natural denouement to that particular relationship.
greygirlbeast
Apr. 21st, 2004 05:09 pm (UTC)
ever read the early draft of kill bill where elle is struck down by the bride's sword and they bond briefly before she dies?

I've not, but I'd love to. I've been reading lots of screenplays, now that I find myself writing one. Is it online somewhere?

robyn_ma
Apr. 21st, 2004 05:24 pm (UTC)
oh, yes. try here.

it may well recharge your screenwriting batteries, if they need it, because tarantino takes such obvious joy in writing a script; some of the descriptions read like poetry (if often typo-ridden poetry).

if it's online screenplays you seek, you could do worse than drew's script-o-rama, if you haven't visited already. of particular filmgeek interest there are the unproduced scripts, like david lynch's ronnie rocket, charlie kaufman's a scanner darkly adaptation, or the william gibson draft of alien 3.
the_uncle
Apr. 21st, 2004 02:57 pm (UTC)
Have you ever read "Do androids dream of electric sheep?"
greygirlbeast
Apr. 21st, 2004 05:10 pm (UTC)
Have you ever read "Do androids dream of electric sheep?"

But of course.
the_uncle
Apr. 21st, 2004 05:33 pm (UTC)
*disregard-disregard*
Damn. Now I forgot what the point I was going to make.
stonescorpion
Apr. 21st, 2004 09:23 pm (UTC)
I feel like such a drooling fan boy.
May I add your journal to my friends category. I enjoy your writing just as much as I enjoy Farscape. Isn't it nice that they'll wrap up the series with a 4 four part Mini Series this year. A show that good DESERVES at least that.

thank you,

scorp
greygirlbeast
Apr. 21st, 2004 10:19 pm (UTC)
Re: I feel like such a drooling fan boy.
May I add your journal to my friends category.

Of course.

Isn't it nice that they'll wrap up the series with a 4 four part Mini Series this year.

It's utterly frelling drad.
stonescorpion
Apr. 22nd, 2004 04:34 pm (UTC)
A quick cinematic thought.
If anyone were ever to make Threshold into an excellent movie, Tarantino would be the guy to do it. Same kind of style, moving forward and back while still keeping things sane enough to follow. Never revealing the full extent of certain events, letting the audience wonder what happened and imagine it for themselves. A bit like the actual jewelry heist in Reservoir Dogs.

just my humble opinion.
scorp
( 9 comments — Have your say! )

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