I appear to have been out of action for a few days because I was busy reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I finally managed to get a copy from my local library on Friday evening and had finished it by Tuesday evening. This says something about the book. It was definitely a page turner once I got past the first 30-50 pages as it has quite a long set up and introduces the main character quite a way in. I really enjoyed reading it even though it deals with some horrific tortures and murders which I would rather not have read. The Swedish title for the book is translated into English as “Men Who Hate Women” which is a kind of theme running throughout the book. This book is the first in a trilogy – the subsequent books being The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. Even though murder mysteries are not really my cup of tea where reading is concerned, I am kind of intrigued by the main character Lisbeth Salander and may end up reading the next two books but having said that life is short and I have plot planning and writing to get on with.
Darling Husband has gone off to Africa for work for about 11 days which gives me a little time to get cracking with my planning for my feature film script and then he returns just in time to help me by looking after Gorgeous Baby while I write my 100 page script during the month of April as part of the Script Frenzy. I can’t imagine my first script will be much good, writing wise but if I don’t do it then I will never know will I. Plus I would rather be positive and think “Hey, I have a great idea, let’s have a go”. I’ve actually got more ideas than I can find time to properly develop but I need to work on developing myself as a writer and become accomplished at actualizing these ideas that I have. It may be that some ideas would work better as novels, some as short stories and some as features.
My ultimate goal would be to write something which takes someone out of the grim realities of their world and into a place where their imagination can soar with possibilities and hope. You see whenever I have had to deal with issues in my life I have used reading fiction and/or watching movies as a form of escape. That sounds a little naff but it genuinely is what I have done.
When my first baby was born I was reading a book by Martin Cruz Smith called Rose and even though I was dealing with the hideous nastiness of facing his death, reading that story allowed me to spend time in a different place just for a little while and allowed me to just breathe. The same thing happened when I was discharged from hospital. I was utterly exhausted physically and emotionally and just needed to relax and breathe so I watched Roman Holiday. I've always loved that film; Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn are amazing in it.
Entertainment may be viewed by some people as being pointless or empty but it has the power to lift us from grim reality, to connect with our emotions, make us laugh or cry, make us think and lead us into taking action. I have been considering this for a few days as I was thinking about the story I will be writing during Script Frenzy. I was feeling a little guilty that it was a bit of an empty airhead yet commercial story and may not connect with people but then I realised that commercial does not mean empty. Commercial stories can still be of value in numerous ways.
I'll be thinking of this some more as I attempt to write my screenplay.
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