Introduction_Inspiration_Lifestyle_Feedback.

[Bodie]

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[its Leslie]

I am NOT a professional.

I might be if I wanted to be.

But it isn't required of me.

I must say though, Bodie, if the volume of your posts is indicative of your capacity to write, then get off the net and get back to your writing !!! hehe

Lit is a nice enough place to visit, but if you want to get anything done, you have to stop hanging out here so much heheh.

 

[Bodie]

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[Route66Girl]

Okay, so my paying job whalloped me. Didn't feel like doing anything except eating something and hitting the sack when I got home. Sorry

Lump me into the "aspiring writer" category. Before finding Lit back in December, I'd been involved in a few other online writers' commmunities, none of them centered around erotica. I decided it would be fun and (ha!) easy to write a short, erotic piece. I started posting on the forums here to get advice on the story before submitting it. Ironically, that first story never got posted. It turned into a novel which ended up leaning further and further away from erotica as it developed.

But I've been at Lit since and haven't gone back to the other sites. I've gotten better critiques, advice, and far more entertainment out of Lit. When I compare a piece I wrote this time last year to something from today, the improvement is clear in every aspect from characterization to prose. And it's the Lit members who've given me feedback who are to be thanked for that.

There are other reasons that posting stories here is beneficial. One of the biggest is that it comes with a guaranteed readership, and you can tell approximately how many have viewed your story.

I was on pins and needles for the 36 hours it took for my first Lit story, Miss Nova, to get put up. I was thrilled after the reception it got- high votes, good feedback and thousands of views. The next one, A Memory of Red, was an experimental piece, and also got high votes and good feedback, but fewer views as it was in the romance category (I've been told that romance is among the least popular categories ).

What the writer's lifestyle means to me... hmmmm. I have to go back to the more recent questions you posed about "filmic" elements and movies in general before going there.

I don't think it's weird for aspiring writers to be more interested in films than books, because that's exactly how I am, lol. I pretended for years to be an avid reader. But the painful truth is that I almost never read novels. I read philosophy, history, short stories, etc. I rarely re-read a book. But I'll watch one movie a dozen times. And when I write, I'm often simply trying to describe what I see happening on the screen in my head.

So I finally came to the long-overdue conclusion that film is where it's at for me. I'm working up to being a screenwriter. I figure that getting better at writing full-fledged stories will make the transition to script writing smoother.

So when I picture my "ideal" writer's lifestyle, it's not one filled with book signings or being famous. On the contrary, screenwriters are notorious for being unnoticed. The only time a screenwriter gets wide recognition is if they are involved in other aspects of film- acting, directing, etc. David Mamet and the Coen brothers come to mind, often directing what they write. Emma Thompson received quite a bit of notice (and an Academy Award) for her adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. But outside of such examples, most screenwriters are really obscure. And even the "famous" ones aren't really famous. I wouldn't recognize one of the Coen brothers walking down the street, but I'd recognize Stephen King.

Speaking of King, he relates to another of my favorite screenwriters, Frank Darabont. His adaptation of King's Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption was beautifully done. I love the way he wrote Andy and Red, especially Red's V.O. narration. He did a good job with King's Green Mile as well, but Shawshank did it for me.

I digress Anyway, being a successful screenwriter would mean getting good directors interested in my stuff, producers who don't want to muddle up everything I wrote, and making enough to live on. If I could do that, I'd be a happy camper.

And about The Wonder Boys, lol- yes, there's a soundtrack. Darned good one, too. I listen to it quite a bit. Gotta love Bob Dylan, even if his voice sounds like a nasal squeezebox.

I've watched the movie more times than I care to admit. I'd like to read both the novel and the screenplay, just to see how the transition took place. I notice Michael Chabon didn't do the adaptation. Hm!

It's a wonderful film about writers and writing. You have the DVD, hm? Alas, I'm still languishing in the realm of VHS.

Even if it does portray writers' lives to be full of drugs, booze, sex and procrastination, it's a much rosier picture of the writer's lifestyle than, say, Misery.

Hope you're having fun in Am Pic feedback. Ran over and took a look at the thread you mentioned. My, my, my, Mister Bodie! You're pretty yummy-looking. But I shan't say too much more... you've plenty of women in your harem already. Shame on you for all that teasing, only to be leaving for Malta so soon.

See you around, Bodie.

-R66G

 

[Bodie]

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[Whispersecret]

Post the damn story.


(Ain't it a bitch being held accountable?)

 

[Route66Girl]

What a fun thread!

I must admit I'm pretty damn anxious to see your story, too, Bodie-Boy. If you've got enough guts to let us see your butt (not that it was in the least unattractive) a lil' ol' story should be nothing difficult.

Hope you don't have too much of a hangover tomorrow.

 

[Bodie]

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[Whispersecret]

You're right. That IS me tapping my foot.

You have until Friday.

If I strapped on the strap-on, that would be more like a reward, methinks.