The Simple Pleasure of "FADE IN:"

A lot of writers will tell you the best part of a story/novel/script is when you get to "The End" and you've put that baby to bed.  Some cynical (and successful) people will say the best point is when you cash the check.  Many writers will tell you of the terror of the blank page, staring at that pristine white expanse and wondering how to fill it with little pieces of their brain.

As with a great many things, it seems, I'm of the contrary opinion.

I find no greater pleasure than empty pages and the opportunity with any script to write the words "FADE IN:"  It's the only point in the writing process where everything is right.  The story is all ahead of you and the possibility of perfection still exists.  That very possibility is like a time-travel device that allows you to feel the bursting invincibility you had as a teen, when your life was ahead of you and you still had the illusion that all doors could open.  "FADE IN:" is a reboot of all your dreams, hopes, and aspirations -- the chance that this time you'll get it all right.

So, when I'm looking at that empty white page (or screen, you literalists out there), I take a deep breath, pause to enjoy the potential, then I write "FADE IN:"

Summer Pleasures

This summer is an echo of those long, hot months of my youth: plenty of reading, plenty of fun - if not quality - movies, baseball, drinking and leisure.  Since I ridiculously over-worked myself during the regular academic year, I find myself with a summer clear of teaching.  That meas I have time to actually explore some books I want, see the movies I want, follow baseball as much as I want, and experiment with cocktails as much as I want.

There's a lot of potential to go off the rails here, and wake up after an 11-week bender, but I'm pretty sure I can handle the freedom.

I'm going to try to get back to blogging regularly as well, as a warm-up to my regular writing in the day.  See, I opened with that paragraph all about leisure, but honestly, I'm using the extra time this summer to get down to some creative business.  I've started writing a novel for the first time since college, have a new script to draft before fall, a short film to finish, a film trailer to shoot, a novella to revise, etc. etc.  I'm listing this not to throw down any gauntlet for comparison, because any creator always has a backlog of projects they want to get to, but as an illustration of -- I don't know -- my idea of leisure.  Also, those are the things I'm warming up for as I write these little ditties.

I'm going to cover each of these particular items in blog posts -- fair warning.  Right now, though, I'm going to go away and write "FADE IN:"

See you soon.

The Price Of Freedom

Politics and religion -- to paraphrase David Bowie -- are like fire and gasoline.  They seem to be unavoidably attracted to each other, but incendiary when combined.  Incendiary like say, I don't know, when you burn copies of the Koran.  Before I get too far into this, let me say for the record, yes, this was a stupid and insensitive action.  However, this incident has more shades to it than the popular media are willing to paint.

The most obvious starting point is the overall context.  Although details on the whole incident are murky, the burning itself doesn't seem to be a calculated statement by the soldiers, but rather that they were disposing of items confiscated from detainees.  Also, it's difficult to determine the actual extent of the burning.  When you flash the words "Koran Burning" in the media, it evokes images of truckloads of books dumped into a blazing bonfire, lighting up the night.  That does not seem to actually be the case.

Depending on where you fall on the religio-politico spectrum determines your ability to chain logical arguments together (clearly in evidence in Rick Santorum's campaign for president).  That's the only explanation I see for the logical conundrum that comes out of the religious extremist view on the sacred nature of every single copy of The Koran.  It's one thing to believe it contains the word of God, another to assume God's printing them up himself.  As a manufactured item, is the book sacred while its component parts are not?  The paper, the ink, the entire supply and printing pathway?  Why is it an affront to God when the book is burned but not offensive to him in any way when a suicide bomber could be killing those very men and women who printed and distributed it?  (Of course, I'm guessing most suicide bombers are incinerating their own copy of the Koran when they touch off the explosive and where does that leave the holy martyr?)  Beyond that, I find it over the edge of sanity to claim a book is sacred, while casually dismissing the value of human life.

To give an analogy that may help illuminate how far off the reality chart the fanatics are: imagine I barbecue a whole bunch of sacred stuff in my backyard including a Bible, a Koran, the American flag, a copy of Bambi, etc.  Then, the reaction I get is that US Senators, on the floor of Congress, insist the army be dispatched to my door and call for private citizens to kill me.

Thankfully, that's not the way America works.  Our freedom is is a guarantee that I can burn whatever I want as long as I'm not violating local fire codes.  I can't imagine the circumstances under which I'd ever be moved to burn a book or a flag, but the point is that it's my choice.  The price of that freedom is tolerating those you don't agree with.  Until that tolerance exists, freedom is bound as surely as if with iron shackles.

Tolerance does not imply agreement.  I tolerate Republicans, but rarely agree with them.  I would never willingly trample someone's religious beliefs, but at the same time I cherish my right to speak freely in dissent.  American soldiers are steeped more deeply in freedom than most, since they fight for it every day, so the actions that are so abhorrent to the fanatics can not be evaluated solely through the eyes of those fanatics.

Images, Not Words

Occasionally, I try to teach writers the value of closing scenes with images, rather than a line of dialog.  This morning, as I was having my coffee, I came across this quote from someone who can speak more eloquently about the power of images than I ever can.

"And you who claim to demonstrate by words the shape of a man from every aspect of his membral attitudes, dismiss such an idea, because the more minutely you describe, the more you will confuse the mind of the reader and the more you will lead him away from a knowledge of the thing described.  Therefore it is necessary both to illustrate and describe." -- Leonardo Da Vinci

This quote appeared in the opening of a chapter in a book called Field Notes on Science & Nature, edited by Michael R. Canfield.

Eyes On The Ball, People

What passes for a new year's resolution for me is more like a general intention to do something.  This year, it wasn't to lose weight, or to be a better person, or to clean the house, because I like selecting somewhat attainable goals so I can, you know, feel good about myself while ignoring those unattainable goals like losing wei-- well, you get the picture.  This year, I want to keep up with reading the paper along with the news and magazine webs I cull from the internet.  A modest goal.

So far, so good, but it's only been about two weeks, so I can't really pat myself on the back, yet.  What I can do, though, is highlight the stuff I don't really give a shit about but that seems to dominate the news.  Should you care?  Maybe not, because it's just one guy's opinion, right?  I don't expect us to agree on everything, but the point of this is that you should always be questioning the media you consume.  Here's the current list:

1. Tim Tebow.  Seriously?  A mediocre athlete gets front page coverage in the New York Times because of his very public religious worship.  
2. Republican debates.  It's like watching monkeys fight over bananas.  The only thing less interesting is the endless churning coverage on the TV news.
3. Penn State.  Joe Paterno behaved poorly on a number of counts.  People who need their jobs a lot more than he did lose them every day.  Move on, alums.  Rebuild your institution on a better model.
4. iPads in the classroom. This is going to revolutionize education?  Sure it is.
5. Catholic School Closings. I feel sorry for the kids who are going to have to find a new school, but not for the institutions.  If we spent this much effort on public schools, your neighbors would be freaking out.

That's the tip of the iceberg, by the way, but you should be asking: why is this anything more than a personal rant?  Because these stories are a bit like stage magic: they're mis-direction which draws your attention away from the really important stuff.  Like our economy.  Like the clear evidence that Iraq is collapsing and that we have officially flushed the last 10 years of money, blood, and effort down the drain. Like our trade deficit with China.  Like climate change.  Like income disparity.  See what I'm talking about?

Keep your eyes on the ball, before it nails you between the eyes.