Tag: Hollywood

Now, To Distract Myself


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The novel is going really well, but for one thing — I threw out the beginning AGAIN — and now I have to reimagine parts of it AGAIN so I have what I want: about 50 scenes in the first act.

This is when I need to distract myself. I have a little bit of slack in the process of development — like, 24 hours, so I think I’m going to read a lot now while I cogitate on how to think up some scenes that are original and not one of the many, many spare scenes I have floating around in my mind that I often plop into the plot as need be when I grow desperate.

But, as I said, things are getting better. A lot better. The biggest issue has been that since I’m working in a vacuum — and don’t have a wife or girlfriend to be my “reader” — that sometimes I have all these lead-up scenes that aren’t, really, needed. Then I cut them, the story gets stronger, but everything has, in a sense, been thrown up in the air and I have to account for the changes in the outline I have.

What happens at these points is I grow rather frazzled. The only way to chill out mentally is think about something, anything other than the novel for a few hours (or if it’s a weekend, a few days.)

But one interesting that is happening is I both find myself reluctant to talk about the novel as I grow more serious about it and I also find pretty much anything else but the novel pointless. If I have something to say, the novel gives me more than enough words to say it using subtext, if nothing else.

And, yet, out of habit and a need to let of some steam, I may do some extra writing on this blog for the next day or so. Or not. I don’t know. I really need to reflect on life — and the novel — some before I throw myself back into it tomorrow afternoon.

Apparently, Members of The MSM Think I’m Some Sort of Internet Crank


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The only reason why this is even important is I’m working on a novel. I worry that my years of being both “delusional and stupid” on the Internet will come back to haunt me when I approach gatekeepers about maybe buying my novel. The novel itself is turning out to be really good.

My fear is that even if all things being equal the actual artistic work is good-to-great that gatekeepers will do due diligence on my Internet production and think I’m some sort of deranged crank.

This has already happened, several times, when people use the Internet Archive to look at this site as they do due diligence on me after I contact them in one way or another for help with the novel. They take one look at my content and think I’m just a kook.

It’s just annoying.

It shouldn’t matter if I’m a kook or not — if I produce art that is mainstream and people may want to buy, buy my novel on its merits, not on some strange idea that may have crossed my mind over the years. It’s all very, very frustrating.

But, in a sense, I can’t help who I am. To thyself be true, as they say. I tried to be “normal” about 25 years ago and it didn’t go too well. I will admit that I AM something of a kook — but, as the late Annie Shapiro said of me, I’m a “delusional jerk with a good heart.”

I don’t expect to ever be “professional” in the traditional sense ever again in my life, so I’d at least like to be judged by the metrics of a creative person, not some stuffy professional.

I have no idea if anyone will listen to my plea on this one.

Things Are Going Well Right Now With The Novel


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While plenty can still go wrong, I’m quite pleased with the state of the novel right now. The thing that makes me so pleased is I’ve managed to come up with scene after scene that has a reason for existence and is interesting.

And it’s all powered by my lingering rage over the Trump Era. For a moment after Trump left office, I thought I might lose that creative energy. But it I’ve managed to bounce back very quickly. My rage against Trumplandia is now white hot against because I know it’s not going anywhere. It’s going to come back with a force the second Trump is wrongly acquitted by the Senate.

So, I’m going to push forward. I’m working on the assumption that the very reason why I wanted to write a novel in the first place — to rage against Trumplandia — is still there, just the context is different. I always wanted this novel to be very much a part of the zeitgeist so what has happened the infrastructure for the novel so why not just use it.

As such, I’m quite pleased.

There’s a lot ahead of me in this project. There’s a lot I don’t know, like how far I can get through this project before it all grinds to a halt because it’s obvious that I can’t get past the gatekeepers.

But we’ll see. I’m really pleased with this novel. For the time being, I’m going continue to allow myself to be delusional.

My Convoluted Approach To Developing A Novel



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve been working on a novel — in one form or another — seriously for about three years now. And things have finally come to a head. It’s put up or shut up time. But here’s my method of development that I’ve finally settled upon. It’s a three layered approach.

Outline
With this, the highest level, I move scenes around all the time. Like — All. The. Time. I have all these rules of thumb that I demand I follow for strictly arbitrary reasons. But I still do it. And, honestly, no one would notice but me since I’m completely consumed by developing and writing this novel.

Scene Summary
This is where I lay the groundwork for actually writing the scene. I try to be as detailed as possible so my character do what I demand of them when I need them to do something. This really helps me get things going. The only problem is, of course, that sometimes I get to this point and I realize the scene is boring, or makes no sense or there’s no there there. Then I throw everything in the air and try again. This is a real sticking point for the last year or so.

The Scene
This is when I sit down and actually write the scene. I’m usually a bit tipsy when I write scenes — or drunk. I like to keep things loose. I’ve written tens of thousands of words that end up in the junk file for no other reason than, well, it just doesn’t work on a macro level.

It’s the dynamic between these three levels that has caused me to spin my wheels for years now. But I’ve decided to kind of force the issue. I’m going to write this goddamn fucking first draft one way or another NOW.

Ava: A Half-Assed, Partial Review


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Yet again I tried to watch a movie and stopped at just about the inciting incident. I do this all the fucking time. This time, it was with the movie Ava. The issue with this movie, the reason why I stopped watching it so early, is I just didn’t care about the characters.

And, in a sense, it was very bland.

It’s structure, at least, was very cookie cutter. What’s so wild is how another, similar movie, Atomic Blonde, pulled me in right away with almost no backstory. Within moments of Atomic Blonde starting, I was hooked. I wanted to see what happened to the characters.

But with Ava…meh.

It just seemed like a rote tale that went by the numbers. So much so that I realized it would be a waste of time to keep watching it and stopped. There were a few character touches that I appreciated, but overall the actual story was blah, blah, blah, I’ve seen it all before.

The Struggle To Write A Novel Continues


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

These days, I often feel like I’m spinning my wheels when it comes to this novel. I write and write and write and don’t really seem to move very far away from the beginning. This, after several years of development.

But, I think if I look at this situation on the macro level, I’m doing ok. A lot of all this re-writing comes from this being my first novel and no matter what, I would probably be in this situation because I just don’t have any idea what I’m doing.

And, yet, I’ve come to a decision — I need to switch things up now. I have to do something, anything to force my hand. I’ve been developing and writing in a delusional vacuum that the point has come that I need to finally start to move forward.

Some of the problem, also, is I came up with a concept that three years ago I simply did not have the ability to write. Now, I’m far closer. I’m still nervous that someone is going to steal a creative march on me somehow, but even if they do, I can always piviot to the three or four other concepts I have. It’s going to hurt like a bitch to do that, but it hasn’t happen yet.

I just have to keep pressing forward. I have to believe. I have to start to lock things down and stop demanding I write things that are “perfect” in the first draft.

We’ll see, I guess.

My Hot Take On Olivia Wilde


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Not that anyone cares, but here’s my take on Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles.. First, I just don’t care. They’re both hot and so what if she’s older than he is. More power to her.

What does bother me about Ms. Wilde, however, is to this middle-aged man, she can come across as too cute by half when it comes to how Hollywood perceives her appearance. Don’t get me wrong — she’s both gorgeous and talented.

But I’ve seen interviews with her where she is shocked (shocked!) that Hollywood casting agents would want her to look hotter. I mean, oh, come on, give me a break. Hollywood is an industry (Double Dees, Double Dees, as SNL would say) and it grates on my nerves that someone as smart as Ms. Wilde would act like it was a big deal that Hollywood — gasp — had sex on its brain all the time.

The whole point of Hollywood is a mixture of sex, money making, storytelling and glamor that allows idiots like me two hours of escape. I really fucking hated Ms. Wilde’s movie Booksmart because I felt it was insulting me for various reasons. From it’s self-conscious selection of a Plain Jane protagonist to the scene where there’s screeching about lesbian sex positions, I bounce from that movie theatre at just about the inciting incident.

But I was shamed by my liberal-progressive echo chamber into seeing it. I left the movie theatre with an overarching desire to watch Heathers again.

Anyway, I think I wouldn’t be so upset about Booksmart if it was a better story. I just wasn’t the audience. I went into the movie without any expectations and when it became way to self-aware about the Male Gaze and the patriarchy, I said fuck this. There is this thing called “subtext” where you can rant about such things all you want and still tell a good story.

But having said all that, Ms. Wilde is great. I wish her luck. I would take it easy on the browbeating audience members like me with the idology, though. Try to tell better stories. The rest will come naturally.

After Trumplandia — The New Modern Era: Postmodernism & A Potential Pop Culture ‘Reset’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Being old sucks. You can’t date cute 24 year old women without seeming like a creepy old man. You face ageism at every turn. And you’re left with a lot of wistful memories about this or that thing you could have done better or different a decade ago.

And, yet, at the same time, being older does give you some perspective on life. You start to be old enough to see macro trends that were once completely obscured. So, let’s talk about pop culture over the last, say, 50 years.

For me, the “Modern” media world starts with the films of the late 1970s and early 80s. That was Modern. I was too young to understand what was going on, of course, but those films like Being There, Annie Hall, Manhattan, The Empire Strikes Back and All That Jazz established the “modern” world. Such films established what was “real” for my little developing mind.

On a personal level, it wasn’t until Neo took The Red Pill in The Matrix that we entered the modern post-Modern era of media. (I say this only because, as I understand it, the original post-modernism happened in 1968 when the French intelligentsia grew disillusioned with Communism after the invasion of Czechoslovakia.)

After The Matrix, I would say the modern post-modernism was epitomized by The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. What a great film.

The point of all of this is, because of the Rona, it’s at least possible that we’re in for something of a reset in media. There will be the New Modern as opposed to the Post-Modern. There are a shit ton movies that have been delayed because of the Rona, so it’s possible that as all those movies get unclogged from the system that one of them might be That Movie that makes a huge impression on the tinder minds of Gen Z and starts the whole process over again. I would note in passing that one might point to the extreme post-modernism of Fleabag as a sign that such a reset is just about to happen.

Or not. Who knows.

But the Rona is such a huge macro event that has put a pause on the media world, it definitely seems that if any such reset is going to happen, right about now would be a great time for it to happen. And if you throw in the ultra-extreme post-modernistic nature of the Trump Era — and it’s rather abrupt conclusion, that, too might indicate Something Big in pop culture is happening.

It make take us years to see it, though.

A Trump…er POTUS…By Any Other Name #AmWriting


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that I’ve finally finished a solid outline and am really throwing myself into writing a great first draft…we’re no longer in Trumplandia. Ugh. One of the things that I’ve repeatedly said is I don’t plan to ever use Trump’s name in this novel, even though, in a sense, my rage against the era that fucker caused is the beating heart of the work.

Now that Trump is out of office — at least for the fucking time being — I wonder if I might at least be a bit more specific who “POTUS” in the novel is. And, yet, I really don’t want the whole thing to be dismissed as a liberal fever dream or screed. It’s just meant to be a fun, thought provoking novel in the tradition of Stieg Larsson’s work.

That’s it.

Nothing more complicated or deep than that.

But my rage against Trumplandia is so white hot, so totally consuming on a creative level — and I’ve gone through so many hoops to get here — that it does make me wonder if maybe it’s ok to go beyond simply a “Individual #1” level of description as to who the “POTUS” in question is.

One solution, of course, would be to cut the POTUS angle out of the story altogether. But that part of the story is existential. That’s the whole point of the story. I can’t help that it took me three years to get to the point where my novel raging about Trump won’t be finished until well into his successor’s term in office.

So, I think I’m going to continue to look at this as just a scenario. It’s not THE POTUS it’s just A POTUS. Who the POTUS at the time in question happened to be is pretty obvious, so that should be enough.

I like the idea of using proxies to rant about MAGA-Qanon-Patriot Party cocksucker fuckers. My goal is that simply by what I bring up in the novel, I will definitely give you some sense of what’s really going on. There shouldn’t be any need to be explicit about it.

You’ll know, if you’re not an idiot.

Or, put another way, the more I use subtext to explain how enraged I continue to be about Trumplandia, the better the story will be. It won’t be preachy and — hopefully — even center-right people can read and enjoy the novel as a novel and not some sort of Atlas Shrugged for liberal-progressives.

I just want to write a novel that’s not embarrassing.

Rage Becomes Me (On A Creative Level)


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

After some thought, I realize the rage that generated the energy to develop this novel is still there — only in a new form. What used to be rage over the staggering amount of hypocrisy, racism and misogyny in the age of Trumplandia is now replaced by rage over how there’s been no closure. Trumplandia came and went…and nothing.

The first draft of this novel isn’t going to be very good.

It’s like it didn’t exist.

So, I’m enraged. I’m enraged with a white-hot anger. And that’s the engine I need to finish this novel ASAP. It’s still going to take physical time to actually write a first draft, but the structure of the novel is complete. There’s a lot of reading I need to do for character development, but I can do that as I work on the first draft.

I hope to push forward very quickly now. I just have to get over myself and allow myself to write crap. I’m just not going to write the anything that satisfies me at this point.

You can’t edit a blank page, as they say.

As such, just about right NOW, I’m going to use the completed outline I have to write a first draft as quickly as possible. I’m going to read as I write and going do a lot of prep work for the second draft.

I thought I was going to write a first draft that was so good that I could skip right to beta readers, but…no. I may have a few alpha readers that I allow to see what I’m writing as I write it for no other reason than I’m such an extrovert that I need an audience to get anything done.

Other than that, I’m going to keep things to myself.