(Photo by Marisag)

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the urge to write something for pure entertainment. I do still do a little writing over on my other blog, but nothing that’s along the lines of why I started this blog. For the past few months I’ve been saying I was going to leave work and go directly to Borders to do some writing. Maybe outline a new script or update an old one. It never happened. I would just come home, get on the Internet and emerge from cyberspace hours later with nothing to show for it. If I didn’t get on the Internet, I’d either watch some TV, or fall asleep. Sometimes I’d do both.

Lately, I’ve been beating around this idea in my head and earlier this week I decided to jot it down on a piece of paper just in case I felt the urge to write. The plan was, if I do actually, finally, go to Borders I’d have a starting point. This was the writing before the writing. With this, I had something to at least stare at if I did show up.

Today, I left work, came home, packed my Booq bag with my MacBook Pro - yes I’m a snob - and headed to Borders. Just the action of putting my laptop in my bag and the thought of going somewhere to write, not for work but for entertainment, excited me. I chose Borders because I don’t have a t-mobile hotspot account and can’t get detracted by the lure of the Internet. I’ve been to a few Internet cafe type places in the past and tired to write but the free wifi always wins.

Once I set down, pulled out my laptop, and put my Bose headphones on - I know, snob right? - it just felt right. I proceeded to write for two hours, “brain dumping” a bunch of ideas, scenes and character from the little note I jotted down earlier this week. It’s a small step, but a step none the less. And the fact that I’m writing this right now lets me know that I’m heading in the right directions.

I hate it when people with blogs who haven’t written on them in a longtime say things like, “I’m back!” or “I’m going to start blogging again!” or anything along those lines, so I won’t either. What I will say is, I’m excited to be presently writing and besides Borders, this will be one of the places I will continue to do so.

cove, originally uploaded by Cecil E Rudd.

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Originally uploaded by Cecil E Rudd

Another example would be reading Screenwriting books or information on screenwriting. While this isn’t bad, I tend to hope and think that inside those pages there will be that one gem that will get me out of the funk and help fix whatever problem I’m having with plot or whatever it is. In reality, it just a form of procrastination. I’m always looking for answers to something that hasn’t been written yet, when I’m sure if I start writing the answers will come. Sometimes you have to just jump of that cliff and build your wings on the way down.

I learned this by starting another blog. The idea was simple. The execution shouldn’t have taken as along as it did, but I got caught up in the idea. This is where most of my projects stall. What was different about starting that blog was I decided to just do it. If it failed so what. How many blogs start and stop on a daily basis? The risk of failing was minimal. I had everything I needed. The only thing holding me back was actually writing the blog.

When I first started taking a stab at Screenwriting, it was all about the writing. The first thing I wrote was a color coded 25 page scene in Microsoft works. I knew nothing about Screenwriting and better yet I feared nothing. There is a quote by Alec Bourne that says; “It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.” Relating to this issue, for me it means, just write. Put down the book. Forget proper format (until you’re done ). All the books, articles and seminars will help you learn more but they don’t help you do the one thing that should come easy. Writing. How do you handle this?

In the meantime, check out this cool video.

Top Ten Eleven in no particular order:
1.    Half Nelson - Saw this at the Philadelphia Film Festival. Great acting, and hearing the director talk about the movie made it even better.
2.    Dreamgirls - and I’m telling you, Jennifer Hudson was Great!
3.    United 93 - Well directed movie, gripping.
4.    Deja Vu - Took a lot of thinking but I really liked this movie.
5.    Little Miss Sunshine - Great cast. A very good “Dramedy.”
6.    Hard Candy - WOW! Very, very tense. Also viewed at the Philly Film Fest.
7.    Brick - Detective noir, set in a high school? Great!
8.    Clerks 2 - Pillow pants!
9.    This Film is Not Yet Rated - Great Doc about the MPAA. Philly Film Fest.
10.    The Departed - Great cast. As good as if not better then the original.
11.    The Pursuit of Happyness - Will Smith, also great!
Movies that underwhelmed me:
1.    LOL - Saw this at the Philly Film Fest also. I maybe in the minority because a lot of people thought this was good, but I can’t say anything positive about it so I won’t say anything at all about it. The director and cast were there which made it cool. Maybe I missed something and should watch it again.
2.    Super Man Returns - Boring.
3.    Block Party - I guess I thought this was going to be more of Dave doing jokes and stand-up. A good concert movie, but I really didn’t like it. On the DVD they have extended footage of the performances. Maybe I should have watched that.
Movies that surprised me:
1.    The Devil Wears Prada - After being highly disappointed with Super Man me and my girlfriend walked  into this movie as the trailers started playing and thought we might as well stay for awhile. Very funny movie and well acted.
2.    Invincible - Didn’t have high expectations for this one. Good, plus the Philly connection was a plus.
3.    One Last Thing… - Philly Film Fest, also. Another local touch and the Director was present and took a swipe at Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Distribution company for not distributing the movie right. Only in the theater for 3 weeks then to DVD didn’t help this little movie. Check it out if you get a chance.
As far as writing, I didn’t do as much as I wanted to this year. I did send out one of my short scripts to get notes. The best and worst parts of this process was reading the notes and finding out what I knew was wrong with the script, (I know I shouldn’t have sent it out but I did.) and being told that there is something there and with a few rewrites it could be a better script.
That’s a quick wrap up of the year, and I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck on whatever it is you set out to do this year!
Next week I will talk more about the Sitcom and other projects I have planed.

Over the last few years I’ve started a little collection of books that’s grown into a little book case which in turn grew into a full book case with piles of books on the floor. Some people do it with drugs, some with sex, some with exercise; I get high off of books.

The books I read cover a range of topics as you can see by looking at the sidebar of this blog. The most recent one being Cast Of Shadows by Kevin Guilfoile. I won this book in an ebay auction against myself for $0.99 plus shipping and handling. I first remember reading about it on a blog that I go to daily and thought the premises was very intriguing. A Doctor clones his daughter’s killer to look him in the eye once he grows up. Amazon does a better job describing it and you can check out their wordy synopsis and an excerpt here.

The story takes place over a 20 year span starting with the vivid scene of Dr. Davis Moore walking onto the crime scene of his recently murdered daughter Anna Kat. I knew I would like this book after I read the dust jacket, but after reading these first few chapters and the way the author invoked emotion, I was hooked.

Going in, you know a lot about the story; Cloning is legal, Dr. Moore’s daughter will die, he will clone the killer and watch him grow up with the idea of vengeance on his mind. You would think this will give the reader some insight into how the story might develop and hint at an ending that would be easily predicted, but it’s not.
For anyone looking for a good story I highly recommend this. Check it out in paper back this month.