Inspiration...

What inspires you?

Music?

It does me.

Take this clip, for example. Now, Josh Groban isn't everyone's cup of tea. But, friends of the blank page, this song just sends me...

It burrows into the deepest folds of my heart. It infuses me with conflicting waves of euphoria, joy, love, passion, nostalgia, sadness, regret... yearning for what was and for what could have been.

I lost the most important person in my life recently. Above everything else, someone who was my best friend.

Don't cry for me, Argentina. One day I'll open up a couple of veins and bleed it all out here. Suffice it to say for now that I had it coming.

Maybe you have to be Italian to really appreciate the lyrics. I was so moved by it that I wanted to share it with the world, so I added English subtitles... and listened to it until my eyes and heart were drained. The translation may not be spot on, but it represents what I felt listening to this for the first time.

So, how do I get that kind of emotion on the page?

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice.

Writing is all about practice.

It's taking that spark -- that joy or pain, that whatever it was that moved you -- showing up on the blank page and just doing it -- over and over again.

Of course, it helps if you have a little talent. Okay, lots of it. But, only by actually sitting there with your writing implement, day after painful day, can you develop a voice that will be heard above all the cacophony.

Even after doing this "thing of ours" for decades, I still have my doubts and lots and lots of room for improvement.

But, what inspires you, fellow soldiers of the story brigade?

Validation

Enough whining.

Some good news today.

I was listed on Telefilm Canada's website as a screenwriting mentor.

Now, if I could figure out a way to make some money from it...

On demons and other nasty creatures...

I'm sitting here, looking at my previous post and feeling powerless.

You know the feeling?

When all your best efforts and good intentions melt into a glutinous mass of nothing. When you're up against that proverbial wall with no room to breathe, nowhere to run. When you have to face reality and surrender.

I've tried, brothers and sisters. I've given it my best shot. I've done my "Win one for the Gipper" bit a hundred times. And today, for what it's worth, I'm feeling beaten. Not broken. Just exhausted and discouraged.

You know the feeling?

I'm sure you do.

A volatile existence is an occupational hazard in this industry.

And one of the things that dictates that existence is, you guessed it...

This is not about big money, fellow travellers, just the every-day subsistence-level kind.

And so, as it has happened in the past, I have to disappear for a just little while into the amorphous realm of the Elysian Fields.

In the vernacular: I had to get a job.

Another kindred spirit, Kid in The Front Row, was nice enough to leave an encouraging comment in my last post. It's why I posted this. I'm going to borrow his profile "about me".

I am a Writer. Everything else is just to pass the time.

He knows the feeling, I'm sure.

Should I even go there? Part of me wants to stay anonymous and part wants to bare my soul as was my intention with this blog. I did say this was going to be a process. I didn't say it was going to be painless.



Lighten up. Trying to be funny is hard work. And this stuff is always a sure thing.

Back to sitting on my pity-pot...

It's been rough in my little corner of the universe, members of the dream-squad. Without going too much into detail, I did a face-first into a smoldering lava pit. And always having to do with fucking...



I've been trying to get back on my feet for the better part of a year. Dealt with the emotional upheaval of a failed marriage. And a foray into being a small-business owner that kicked the shit out of me financially and emotionally. Yes, I chased the be-your-own-boss fantasy just as one of the worst recessions in history whacked us.

Textbook case of PTSD...

You know the feeling?

I'm sure you do.

And so, just for a little while, until I recharge my optimism batteries, I will have to put my energies into this job and myself. I have managed to squeeze a few script pages out of my wounded psyche and they are standing by ready to be posted.

First things first...

Easy does it...

One day at a time...

Stand by...

I'll have to put this blog on hold temporarily.

Other, more pressing matters beckon.

Back soon.

Thanks to all for your interest and please keep checking back.

Vince

The Adventure Begins...

Hurray! Signs of life from SODEC. Just got an email from them. That's the Quebec funding agency I applied to recently for those of you who are new to this blog...

Hey. Wait a minute... They're telling me my project doesn't qualify!

Surprised? Me? About as surprised as receiving my Sham Wow in the mail and discovering that a couple of sheets of paper towel do pretty well the same job. But, this sure was a surprise!

You can read about my reasons for putting up a fight with this project in the previous post.

My reply to them follows below. I didn't include their email because... Well, it was by the book and dreary. So is my reply, but I didn't have anything new to post, so what the heck, eh?

I promise to be more entertaining in future posts. Like this, for example:



There have been many times I've felt like that squirrel in this business.

Here's my reply to SODEC:

Cher M. R.,

Please excuse me if I write to you in English.

I would like to point out that the eligibility requirements detailed in the SODEC document entitled “PROGRAMME D’AIDE À LA SCÉNARISATION” on page 4 also goes on to state:

(Reference to SODEC's Screenwriting Assistance Program deleted out of mercy for my readers)

Other than any awards received for my work, I do fall into this category. I have signed at least 3 contracts... Blah, blah...


It would seem that the SODEC requirements are somewhat subjective in nature. I would like to ask you to reconsider my application for funding and would like to know if there is an appeals process.

My credentials are noteworthy and I feel that this project should be judged on its merits.

Thank you for your understanding.

Vince DC

Can't get around it. This is boring shit. Here's something that should ease some of that pain:



Oh well, back to bottom feeding for now...