(Week 23: June 2 – 8)

It comes as little surprise, but progress has slowed on the novel this week. I was, at least, able to kick off the week by starting chapter 2, which was satisfyingly well structured accident. Part of the reason for the slowdown is that I’m still discovering the characters as I write, while working out the broader scope of the novel, but it’s mostly a series of poor nights’ sleep and cold mornings that have dampened my motivation a little. The inspiration, luckily, is all still there.

Also, one of my favourite writing things ever happened. I had a whole scene worked out where one of the two main characters was going to pick a new name for herself, after expressing disdain for the name she had originally been given. Then, as I was writing the scene out, the characters decided they were going to take things in a different direction.

And that, dear readers, is why one of my main characters is now called Salmon.

Watching

A relatively light viewing week this week, for a change.

Our Friday horror choice was a low budget effort set during WWII called The Devil’s Rock. I enjoyed this one a lot. The low budget showed through once or twice, but for the most part it stood up well. I love ‘single room’ films (I.e. movies that take place in a single location) and while this one didn’t strictly fit that bill, you could easily imagine it being adapted into a play (minus special effects).

Saturday brought the Marvel rewatch up to Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, one of my favourite Marvel films. Needless to say I had a great time watching this one again and, as I think I’ve discussed it at length elsewhere, I’ll leave it at that for now.

Reading

I spent this week listening to a new podcast called Blockbuster, which dramatises the events around the making of Star Wars. Like any sci-fi movie fan I already know a fair bit about how Star Wars came to be, but Blockbuster takes the refreshingly different tactic of focusing on the key people involved and, particularly, their personal experience of making the film. Through a series of vignettes, linked together by a solid narration track, we really get a feel for the huge emotional rollercoaster it must have been to make this film. We also get to share, briefly, in the making of Jaws and Close Encounters, which serves to broaden the scope of the narrative, place it in context, and put, front and centre, the friendship between Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

I was thoroughly engrossed in this for the week and certain scenes (particularly the moment when George Lucas first hears John Williams’ score) brought tears to my eyes. The creators made the bold choice not to include advertising in the podcast, but it was an easy choice for me to slip them a donation as a way of saying thanks for creating something that I enjoyed so much.