done

I won. I did it. 20000 words and counting (haven't finished the story yet). I have a diploma and everything,

a completely different post, out of utter uninspiration

In the 19th century, experts expected English spoken in the British Isles and English spoken in North America to be mutually unintelligible over 100 years. Even more recently, considering the various regions where English is spoken (America, India, Africa, Australia...), experts thought something similar to what happen to Latin would happen to English: gradually separate and become distinct languages.

I've read this in books about languages, but there is an important factor: they were written before the boom of the Internet. So now I have to look at it from a completely different perspective: in this era of global communication, not only do people try to use a standard english to make themselves intelligible and to understand others from various parts of the globe, but also the more regional terms used in specific parts are more susceptible to be imported by other people living in distinct regions, making the language more uniform. At least that's my viewpoint. Do you have a different take?

(I'm very behind on my script, not just in words but especially in plot-terms. I'm still in the middle of the story and there's only one week left. (scream) There's no danger of me not reaching the 20,000 words by the 30th (I expect) and become an official winner, but then I have to promise myself to end the script even if it's past the deadline. I need to create NOW)

the internal editor

As you know most of my creative thoughts are being channelled to the Script writing, so I seem to be completely empty when it comes to blog ideas. Two years in blog-age should be a sign of maturity and growing-up, but right now it sounds more like a sign of senility.

I've written over 11 thousand words (believe me, it's barely a skeleton of a story). There's two weeks to go and I have a feeling that I'll have to write more than 20 thousand to finish the story. Did I tell you it's possibly to generate ideas out of mere dust? I really didn't know what I was going to write about. (I must have said this already, but hey, it's blog-senility).

I'll leave you with an excerpt of the motivational e-mails Kristina from Script Frenzy sends every week to the participants. I don't know her but she's funny.

INTERNAL EDITOR: That's not very original.

YOU: Can't talk, moving on.

INTERNAL EDITOR: You call that… (sound of labored breathing) dialogue?

YOU: Sorry, you're breaking up on me.

INTERNAL EDITOR: (barely audible) Wait! I….(heavy panting)…need to tell you….(pant)…how delusional you are (fading out)…about this scriptwriting thing….

YOU: Ha! Hasta la vista, baby.

It's true: our internal editor is our worst enemy!

the first summerlike things

Random facts about my last days:

- I've written around 6,400 words and managed to get some boring parts over and done with (even in the most creative work, there are dull bits that you don't like doing);

- I had to kill one of the main characters for now (maybe she's just hibernating), so now we have a 2 stories and not 3, simply because I can't think of anything to write about. I'm focusing on the two characters that are 'alive' at the moment and maybe the other one will be reborn soon. (any ideas? guidelines: she needs to go through some kind of change in her life, something that will tie her down and be uncomfortable and a burden, she'll have to make sacrifices but she'll pull through and gain hope again).

- Roland Garros is turning into something very predictable - Hénin and Nadal don't have competitors to match on that ground. I like sports that are a little more competitive. Unbeatable people don't do it for me.

- I bought 2 bikinis, which was an amazing accomplishment because as we know (we, women) bathing suits and such are the toughest things to get right, along with jeans...

- It was my Dad's birthday and we had the first summer dinner - meaning barbecue, salads, lots of appetizers and desserts. And, of course, dinning in the terrace.

(scream!!)

I need a punchbag and I need one fast!

Now I know why writers are insane.

Why did I decide to include french characters in the bloody script? Getting the french words out of me is like an impossibly ineffective corkscrew. Merde!

Summer has arrived, at last.

The insomnia is back, this time connected to the creative process. I've heard of so many writers tortured by their characters at night and now I'm living it. It's so uncanny that something imaginary can make you feel so many things (excitement, worry, struggle, torture, pleasure...). At this early stage I have a twinkle in my eye, especially when ideas come suddenly from out of nowhere. But deep down there is a constant pressure, a voice that criticizes me being excited about something that isn't real, shouldn't I be more concerned about more concrete things in my life? It's the Saturn Neptune opposition in the sky - reality vs. dreams and imagination.

But I've decided to this, so this voice will have to keep quiet for the moment. I need to do this for myself.

In the meantime I'm reading this book - The Seach for Sana. Unfortunately Middle Eastern issues are never outdate, especially now with what's happening in Lebanon. How can all of this still be going on? Is there no solution whatsoever? The book is part-fictional, part-real and it's funny to read it because I actually met the writer personally, he lives in my town, even though he's from New York.

have a good weekend!

I've written over 600 words yesterday but it was nothing, I barely had the chance to introduce the story. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's on the post below).

My intention was to tell three different stories, with three main characters, each living their own lives but going through similar challenges. But can you really tell 3 stories in 20,000 words? I doubt that, but I will keep writing, it might work.

The script thing is hard as hell because everything has to be translated into images or dialogue, you can't explain what anyone is thinking (unless you create a lot of flashbacks), you have to imply everything, you have to tell the characters' stories and backgrounds in their dialogues or their actions (and you can't put them talking to a stranger and telling him/her their whole life-story during the entire film, obviously lol).

But it is so much fun :)

I have also been watching tennis from Roland Garros. I didn't understand why anyone watched tennis until a few years ago when I watched some exhilarating matches when I shouldn't be watching them because I had to study. It can be nerve wrecking when every point is vital. Break points, set points, match points...lol

This is my inspirational song for the weekend: It's Amazing by Smoke City. Listen to it if you can because it's worth it.

Mesmerized by your eyes

What secrets do you keep?

The language that you speak

Torments me in my sleep

and the frenzy begins

The countdown begins to Script Frenzy.

"What is that?" you may ask. Well, I'll tell you.

It's one of those writing projects, where you are invited to write for an entire month until you reach a certain goal. This time, you're invited to write a stage play or a screenplay with 20,000 words during the month of June. So it starts tomorrow.

This means you have to write over 600 words a day - that's not a problem, the problem is having solid ideas and following them. I have some ideas but they're still very blurry so I have to hurry up and do some kind of a plan. I have a lot of trouble finishing things that I start writing so this is an interesting challenge for me. It's also an opportunity to write something completely different. For starters it's a screenplay - I've never written anything like that. But whenever I write fiction there's always a film going on in my head, so I have no trouble visualizing things.

Maybe I should be doing other important things. After all, I won't get any awards from this, apart from a certificate or something that will tell me that I made it, but it might be an important boost for me because I've been feeling completely worthless lately. If I reach the end of this, even if I wrote a load of rubbish from beginning to end, at least I'll have reached a goal, at least I was persistent, at least I didn't give up.