What Will I Write Next?

Ever since I started writing my first screenplay, which I have since completed to my satisfaction, and enjoyed thoroughly while doing so, I have had a rather unexpected onslaught of ideas for other scripts.

Normally I am not much of an ideas kind of person, I'm better at assembling other people's ideas into a good story, especially with my knack for dialogue and for keeping the plot moving along, than coming up with the ideas myself.

But lately I've formulated several plot concepts, and am now inspired enough to choose the one I should write next.

I won't list the ideas here, for fear of someone stealing them, but I will say they include:

• An adventure story in the vein of Indiana Jones or National Treasure.
• An action story full of car chases and explosions.
• A comedy road movie.
• A thriller about an escaped wild animal menacing a small town.
• An espionage adventure set in the past.

After some thought, I think I've decided which one to do, but I may change my mind before I get properly started, depending on how well the ideas flow. I have the Maguffin already, which is to say what drives the plot, now I just need the motivation behind the characters, and that can be an effort. So I'll establish the different personalities, and a few of the moments of interaction that might occur, and see what develops.

I have some amount of faith in my abilities, so I think it will all work out. I hope so, anyway, because figuring things out leads to the actual writing, and that's the part that makes it all fun.

Well, This Sucks

I got a letter through Registered Post today. It's rarely good news when you get one of those. And it wasn't good news this time.

I have been evicted from my apartment!

Argh!

It isn't because I did anything wrong. It's because the owners' son is moving to Melbourne to work, so they want him to live here.

Admittedly I was getting a little bit anxious about living here. It's starting to feel a little small, and the lack of private outdoor space is something that disappoints me a lot. And the new downstairs neighbours are a bit of a noise issue that I will be happy to be rid of. So the forced move is sort of nearly a good thing. Almost.

But there are many bad things too. The Housing situation in Melbourne is really crappy, especially for rental properties; they're in demand. My rent is currently pretty decently low, but an upgrade will increase it significantly. And of course, I am still unemployed, so I have no income to deal with the extra rent and the moving costs.

I have until mid-March to vacate, and my current Real Estate agency looking after this place will help me find a new one, so it's not too overwhelming. It's just that packing and relocating sucks.

Bloody Hell, It's Hot Out There

I was going to wander down to the shops today. To a shopping centre I'd not visited before. I wanted to buy something before the weekend that's only available in one shop in town, and that's where it's located.

Rather unexpectedly, because yesterday did not suggest this might occur, today was really seriously hot. It hit 36°C today, which isn't exactly pleasant to have to suffer through, especially for a long trek through the streets. So I stayed in.

I rescheduled for tomorrow.

Only, now it turns out it's going to be 40°C tomorrow.

Bugger.

Heat in itself isn't often a big problem. My home gets a lot of sun, but as I'm on the middle floor it's usually indirectly, and because I'm in a U-shaped block, I only get it on two sides and most of the time the walls are in shadow.

But the bricks heat up on a very hot day, while the indoors stay cool. Until the second day of heat, when the indoors start to warm up considerably. Then if it cools down outdoors on the third day, it will stay warm indoors, but not too badly, and will cool down quite pleasantly.

However, if there's a third day of heat, then the indoors gets even hotter, and remains so for several insufferable days no matter what happens outside.

That's summer in Melbourne.

Snail's Pace Start To The Year

Even though a year is something of an artificial construct, and even though I am not employed nor have any kind of personal commitments, there's something about the slowdown at the end of a year, that causes an equal amount of slow build up back to speed at the start of a new year.

I have many things to complete sometime in the next few weeks, and yet I feel like I'm not making any progress.

Checkpoint effects are still rendering. It's taken aaaaaages to render the 150 frames, it's been three weeks and still a few days yet to go.

Horizon is beginning to kick in, as new decisions are being made, and some events are being scheduled. Cast, shooting schedule, shot list, wardrobe, camera, all making progress. The rest, things like the cockpit, locations, catering, and the actual shooting of it all, are still to be figured out. Money spent so far - nothing, it's still all only potentially spent.

Pegasus Rampant, my screenplay, has gone through a couple of superficial improvements, like brushing up on descriptive text, and adjustments to dialogue to re-emphasise different character and plot points. And I have gotten some more feedback on it, which has helped me look at some of the things I have done in it in a new light. I've just sent it off to a relative of a friend, who is apparently experienced in the world of entertainment, so may have some special insight. If nothing else it's a new set of independent eyes to give it a once-over.

Money, also known as employment. I am reaching a point where my abundance of spending cash is not as big as it once was, and it's starting to almost reach a point where it's going to be a worrisome and stressful factor that will need addressing. Basically, I may have to get a job soon. Typically this coincides with a global economic crisis that is causing a downturn in employment numbers. Bugger. As well as the fact that I like my life as it currently is, where I have the freedom to live as I wish and do what I like at my own pace, something which, as soon as you get a job, is robbed from you. It sucks I will have to one day say goodbye to this. If only money fell on me from out of the sky - but I can't hope for that kind of nonsense, it won't get me anywhere. So needs must.

All other things. There's lots of stuff going round in my head, that could be fun to do in potentia but I don't know if or how I should begin it all. I ought to finish all of the above first.

It sounds like a lot of things, when I list them out like this, but they are each going at a very stately pace, and some aren't moving much at all. It's an illusion. And I still feel kind of in a daze and lack motivation.

Frankly, I need a kick up the bum to get me enthusiastic again.

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Has Been Chosen

The New Doctor Who for 2010 onwards has been cast, and Matt Smith is his name.

And as 99.99% of the world will say at this news: "Who?" Well, it turns out I have seen his work, he was in the adaptations of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart books (Ruby In The Smoke, Shadow In The North) on the BBC, and he played a very likeable character in them.

It's easy to cast judgement on him, he's very young, the youngest ever to be cast as the Doctor, and has a bit of a youthful tearaway look in most photos. But in his acting roles he plays all sorts of different characters, so will be able to carry the dramatic mantle quite competently.

We have about three or four special hour-long episodes of David Tennant's Doctor yet to come, and the regeneration won't be happening until early 2010, more than a year away, so no need to get too excitable yet. But I am curious, and hope that the complete changing of the guard (actor, writers, producers, showrunner, etc) won't fuck the whole thing up somehow.