Where Did The Day Go

Best laid plans of Mice and Men - seems I'm stuck on regurgitating quotes from well known material to get my point across at the moment - sorry about that.

Sorry about turning a great deal of my intended "an's" into "and's" as well. I really must proof read better. Story of my life...

Today I figured I'd go and get the dog and then do some writing. That was shot in the foot by there being more traffic on the roads today then there was over the whole Easter break. It took me 25% longer to get the dog than anticipated, which meant longer in the car, which resulted in lots of pain through back and legs.

So after retrieving the family loose-fur maker, I came home to rest. The kids invaded the study and took over the computer, leaving me to watch lots of TV I'd recorded through Foxtel. Pretty sad really.

Last night I did rewatch Perfume: A Story of a Murderer, with pad and pen in hand and slowly pulled it apart.

This is the first time I've done this and I found it a wonderful experience. Funnily enough, my boy came in part way through and asked me if I'd figured it all out yet? I asked him what he meant, and he replied with, "That's what you normally do. You watch the first bit and then can tell what's going to come and how everything will play out."

I'm guessing I'm not much fun to watch films with if this is what I'm doing without realising it. Little wonder I'm also finding too many films to be predictable and crap. Same goes with written work. (except for my own - seems I have a blind spot there)

It's becoming second nature to understand the plot sequence and the necessary requirements of a story. I can recollect foreshadowing on a second viewing and readily pickup the hints on the way through which should make for a satisfying ending. Now if I can only convert that to my own work...

Still, it's all practise in the art of story telling.

Another new book arrived today. A late birthday present (thank you sweetheart). Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Volume 3 (2008). This has all the very best of short stories published in the preceding year by Australian authors. Lots of familiar names and some new ones I haven't heard before, so I'm looking forward to reading it. One of the anthologies I read over the weekend was volume 2 of this series and was most impressed (review still to come), so this should be well worth the wait.

At the end of my "Hi I'm Back" post, I hinted at maybe having forgotten things I need to accomplish this week. I was right. I need to get back onto the assignment wagon and knock off at least two first drafts, if not finish and submit them by the weekend. Thursday will be the day I take the little one to the flicks so tomorrow will have to be a big day on the writing front. The alarm has been set for early - God help me actually get out of bed...

That's it from me for now. I'm going to cruise the feeds and hand out a few well chosen comments before hitting the hay - tomorrow is a big day!