I read an article on Indiewire in which film critics curated their favourite individual film from each year of this decade so far on Twitter. So I'm copying the concept and wasting time rather than writing my novel. Seems reasonable enough.
Then I took it further and went back to the millennium. I really have nothing to write in my novel...
2000: Memento
2001: Donnie Darko
2002: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2003: Lost in Translation
2004: Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
2005: C.R.A.Z.Y.
2006: Science of Sleep
2007: Atonement
2008: Wall.E
2009: Moon
2010: A Single Man
2011: Drive
2012: Frances Ha
2013: Inside Llewyn Davis
2014: Under the Skin
2015: Mad Max: Fury Road
2016: The Handmaiden
2017: Lady Bird
2018: Sorry to Bother You
The dates probably aren't right and 2013 was a tough one because that was the year Before Midnight came out. Inside Llewyn Davis only pipped it by being the film I have watched more times due to my overall fondness for watching sad-sacks on picaresque adventures.
Same goes for 2004 in which Before Sunset came out and will forever be in my heart. Eternal Sunshine is just a more meaningful film for me and is one I watched on repeat as a teenager.
Sunday 25 November 2018
Thursday 22 November 2018
NaNoWriMo - A Retrospective
Every year I either agonise about not doing National Novel Writing Month or I take the plunge and give it a go. I've been doing it since I was 16. That in itself is horrifying. I don't have the old files of my stories. They are on broken and destroyed laptops which I no longer possess. The website NaNoWriMo operates from only kept my statistics from 2011 onward.
What originally was procrastination on my part grew from curiosity to a blog post. A new entry will be added once I've finished this month but for now, I invite you to observe my catalogue of shame. The novels which never were.
Actually that's a bit of a lie. My 2016 novel is the same as this year's attempt. I've rewritten it this year and chosen to flesh out different characters and try a different perspective. Once this year is over I will cannibalise both and try to create a coherent story out of the mess of words I have gathered. Seems completely doable. (I'm lying, it sounds like a nightmare).
Novel Title - Glass Eyes
Year - 2011
So back in 2011 I wrote a novel from the perspective of a doll. The doll of the young female main character. It was back when I was 21 year old and grappling with moving away from home. At least that's what I think it might have been. I can't recall for certain. That was the year I moved to Leeds and hadn't realised the full scale of what I had actually done. I hope that writing back then helped me cope. I know I hated the novel and vowed never to look at it again. It's gone now so... yeah.
Novel Title - Room 529
Year - 2012
In 2012 I attempted my first and last foray in erotic fiction. Was this around the time Fifty Shades of Grey was a thing? Did that influence my decision? I can't even imagine... This is my only official fail. Moving on!
Novel Title - The Tornado
Year - 2013
Hilariously enough this was the first incarnation of the story I am STILL writing and this was in 2013. I don't have the file for it so I have no idea what it looked like but man... Even back then it had certainly fired something up within me. I can't even remember being so on top of things!
Novel Title - The Trifecta
Year - 2016
And I wrote a different version of the same story again! (This would be my second attempt). Someone told me that you have to do things three time to get them right. I don't really know if this is something to live by but I hope it rings true. I even wrote in my synopsis that it would be terrible. I must have been extremely confident.
What originally was procrastination on my part grew from curiosity to a blog post. A new entry will be added once I've finished this month but for now, I invite you to observe my catalogue of shame. The novels which never were.
Actually that's a bit of a lie. My 2016 novel is the same as this year's attempt. I've rewritten it this year and chosen to flesh out different characters and try a different perspective. Once this year is over I will cannibalise both and try to create a coherent story out of the mess of words I have gathered. Seems completely doable. (I'm lying, it sounds like a nightmare).
Year - 2011
So back in 2011 I wrote a novel from the perspective of a doll. The doll of the young female main character. It was back when I was 21 year old and grappling with moving away from home. At least that's what I think it might have been. I can't recall for certain. That was the year I moved to Leeds and hadn't realised the full scale of what I had actually done. I hope that writing back then helped me cope. I know I hated the novel and vowed never to look at it again. It's gone now so... yeah.
Novel Title - Room 529
Year - 2012
In 2012 I attempted my first and last foray in erotic fiction. Was this around the time Fifty Shades of Grey was a thing? Did that influence my decision? I can't even imagine... This is my only official fail. Moving on!
Year - 2013
Hilariously enough this was the first incarnation of the story I am STILL writing and this was in 2013. I don't have the file for it so I have no idea what it looked like but man... Even back then it had certainly fired something up within me. I can't even remember being so on top of things!
Year - 2016
And I wrote a different version of the same story again! (This would be my second attempt). Someone told me that you have to do things three time to get them right. I don't really know if this is something to live by but I hope it rings true. I even wrote in my synopsis that it would be terrible. I must have been extremely confident.
Novel Title - Atlantis
Year 2018 - 2018
Turns out if I focus really hard (and have a day off work) I can bash out 6,664 words in one day. I did try to finish my novel but I killed off the majority of my characters and hated it. Then I pivoted and wrote some scenes to flesh out the characters and remembered why I loved them and why needlessly murdering them was a bit dumb. I didn't delete any of it though. It's all there for that precious word count.
Who knows where I'll go from here...
Thursday 1 November 2018
October 2018
Weird month. The Circle ended in a much darker way than I expected, it still haunts me. Like a real life episode of Black Mirror, it's a high compliment from me but damn, there were real people living that bizarre hell. Keep me off social media, please.
I haven't read many books but this is all because I've been focusing on writing copious notes for my very own novel. Yep, it's Nanowrimo again and I'm doing it this year (last year I was too stressed out by the whole new job thing... ha!)
Luckily I've ensured I've prepared for my writing. Killing Eve and Barry were extremely formative experiences. Both good fun and fascinating and completely different takes on the assassin trope. I highly recommend both. Aside from that I haven't watched much aside from my standard 'comfort food' viewings. I would also like to say I love the new Doctor Who and my 80 year old granddad also loves her. Nothing could make me happier.
October
I haven't read many books but this is all because I've been focusing on writing copious notes for my very own novel. Yep, it's Nanowrimo again and I'm doing it this year (last year I was too stressed out by the whole new job thing... ha!)
Luckily I've ensured I've prepared for my writing. Killing Eve and Barry were extremely formative experiences. Both good fun and fascinating and completely different takes on the assassin trope. I highly recommend both. Aside from that I haven't watched much aside from my standard 'comfort food' viewings. I would also like to say I love the new Doctor Who and my 80 year old granddad also loves her. Nothing could make me happier.
October
3/10 Genghis Khan: And the Making
of the Modern World Jack Weatherford (2004) 312p
6/10 Table 19(2017) The Circle (4) Strictly Come Dancing (1)
7/10 The Circle (3) Killing Eve (1) The Apprentice (1) Doctor Who (1)
8/10 Great British Bake Off (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (4) Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (Series 2 – 1 episode) Elite (Spanish dub - 1) A Star is Born (2018) The Circle: Finale
9/10 Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Ozark (Season 2 – 1 episode)
10/10 Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (1) His Girl Friday (1940) The Apprentice (1)
13/10 Strictly Come Dancing (1)
14/10 The Romanoffs (1) Riverdale (Season 3 – 1 episode) Doctor Strange (2016) Doctor Who (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1)
15/10 Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (2) Chef’s Table (Season 5 – 1 episode)
16/10 Chef’s Table (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Celebrity Hunted (1)
17/10 Chef’s Table (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) The Apprentice (1)
18/10 Chef’s Table (1) The Birdcage (1996)
19/10 The Americans (1) Daredevil (Season 3 – 2 episodes)
20/10 Enter the Void (2009) Daredevil (7) Strictly Come Dancing (1)
21/10 Doctor Who (1) Daredevil (4)
22/10 Bojack Horseman (1) University Challenge (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1)
23/10 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Bojack Horseman (1)
24/10 Barry (4)
25/10 Riverdale (1) The Apprentice (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) Barry (1)
26/10 Barry (3)
27/10 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (3)
28/10 Strictly Come Dancing (1) Doctor Who (1) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (7)
29/10 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (3) University Challenge (1) Maggie’s Plan (2015)
30/10 Bojack Horseman (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Celebrity Hunted (1)
31/10 The Americans (1) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
6/10 Table 19(2017) The Circle (4) Strictly Come Dancing (1)
7/10 The Circle (3) Killing Eve (1) The Apprentice (1) Doctor Who (1)
8/10 Great British Bake Off (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (4) Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (Series 2 – 1 episode) Elite (Spanish dub - 1) A Star is Born (2018) The Circle: Finale
9/10 Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Ozark (Season 2 – 1 episode)
10/10 Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (1) His Girl Friday (1940) The Apprentice (1)
13/10 Strictly Come Dancing (1)
14/10 The Romanoffs (1) Riverdale (Season 3 – 1 episode) Doctor Strange (2016) Doctor Who (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1)
15/10 Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father (2) Chef’s Table (Season 5 – 1 episode)
16/10 Chef’s Table (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Celebrity Hunted (1)
17/10 Chef’s Table (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) The Apprentice (1)
18/10 Chef’s Table (1) The Birdcage (1996)
19/10 The Americans (1) Daredevil (Season 3 – 2 episodes)
20/10 Enter the Void (2009) Daredevil (7) Strictly Come Dancing (1)
21/10 Doctor Who (1) Daredevil (4)
22/10 Bojack Horseman (1) University Challenge (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1)
23/10 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Bojack Horseman (1)
24/10 Barry (4)
25/10 Riverdale (1) The Apprentice (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) Barry (1)
26/10 Barry (3)
27/10 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (3)
28/10 Strictly Come Dancing (1) Doctor Who (1) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (7)
29/10 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (3) University Challenge (1) Maggie’s Plan (2015)
30/10 Bojack Horseman (1) Great British Bake Off (1) Celebrity Hunted (1)
31/10 The Americans (1) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
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