Top 10 Ways to Navigate Yourself Out of Writer's Blind Canyon

Number 10. Walk Away.
Hardest thing for any writer to do. Then again, maybe you've been doing nothing but stare at a computer screen for three days. Lock it up somewhere and go do something productive. Like homework. Or laundry. you know what, don't do this one unless you're really desperate ^_^

Number 9. Ego Stroking.
We've all got one, so it's ok to flaunt it sometimes. In moderation. With a couple of good friends. And popcorn. At least once a week.

Number 8. Anne Perry, Lauren Willig, John Mortimer, and/or Dorothy Gilman
Brilliant writers. All with an awesome understanding of humor, humanity and relationships. Plus, it's a great way to spend a weekend when you have no homeowork. And a quote book to fill.

Number 7. Dirty Dancing.
For any female craving Patrick Swayze and the 80s. Also has great dialogue and perfect examples of romantic dialogue. Be still all female hearts.

Number 6. The Big Bang Theory
Four Nerds. Dry humor. For half an hour. Every night. On three different channels. 'Nuff said.

Number 5. Raw Cookie Dough
This best, cheapest snack to make. Yes, it's also something I make when I'm bored. And taste good as cookies too. Try a couple of spoonfuls for an awesome Pick Me Up.

Number 4. Socializing
Or, "How to Avoid Being a Writing Hermit".

Number 3. The Shower.
When I'm hungry, I get food. When I reach a plot hole, I hop in the shower!

Number 2. Supernatural

Hands down, the best sci-fi show on any Prime Time Channel. Add two really attractive(and unfortunately married) male actors, and a brilliant blend of humor, violence, and brotherly affection make for the best hour on Friday nights! (No wonder I have all six seasons as part of my DVD collection)

Number 1. James Cagney

Right in front of Humphry Bogart, and the most attractive redhead in black and white(and married, go figure) James Cagney is the most brilliant icon of the 1930s, 40s and 50s gangster movies. Plus, his machine gun line delivery and satisfied chuckle(which he does at least once is every single one of his movies) is the epitome of perfection. (I have all of his radio performances on my iPod, and my two favorite movies in my DVD collection.

Writer's all go through it, but it's not called Writer's Block. There is no such thing. It's called a Blind Canyon, and it's really hard to get out of. so try these!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM SOUNDTRACK Tracks 15-20(the END)

Track 15-16. OBERON
"Smooth Operator" By Sade and
"The Fianna Battle Song"
"Smooth Operator" describes Oberon to a tea! He is smooth, cool, and comes up with delicious little schemes. There is only one lyric that is not perfect for him. That is: "his eyes are like angels'/his heart is cold". I don't see Oberon as a cold hearted spirit, but everything else in the song suites him to perfection!

"The Fianna Battle Song" is fairly well known as far as Celtic music goes. This song also captures what I think is part of Oberon's personality.

Track 17-18. PUCK
This one is REALLY HARD. I've been scouring the music industry to find the perfect song(s) for Puck. Unfortunately, there are very few that fit perfectly. So, here is what I've done: I picked songs that maybe resemble Puck a teeny tiny bit. Example:
"Marco Polo" by Loreena Mckennit
I REALLY like this song for Puck, because of the way the music sounds--an excellant addition to Puck's personality.

"HIGHER" by Tio Cruz
The lyrics say it all. Puck does things for kicks. He enjoys life and doesn't care what anyone(except maybe Oberon) this of him or what he does. He's a party boy, and that's what makes this song work. I'll shut up now and let you listen to the song.

TRACK 19. PYRAMUS AND THISBE
"Dirty Pop" by 'NSYNC
Imagine six grown men dancing to this and dancing it horribly. Indulge me. Then you'll see why I picked this song ^_^

TRACK 20. END
"When Did Your Heart Go Missing" By Rooney
"Are you Gonna Be My Girl" By JET
This first of these songs is what imagine going through Demitrius, Helena, Titanita and Oberon's heads. It seems like the question they would be asking. But it's also one of my favorites!

"Are You Gonna be My Girl". Oh, the immortal question that every guy asks. In this case, the answer is yes. "Midsummer Night's Dream" has a happy ending, which is what we all love, right?

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM SOUNDTRACK Tracks 7-14

 7-8.THEME SONG FOR TITANIA/HIPPOLYTA
"Fiery Nights" By Ronan Hardiman and
"Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson

Hard! I tried to come up with both a Celtic and Non Celtic one for the Fairy People. The Celtic one "Fiery Night", is one of my favorites and really brings out what I think is Titania's personality(it helps that the dancer who does it is GORGEOUS!!)
















"Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson is what I chose for both Titania and Hippolyta, because it's really what they are: both are strong independent women. And I think that it is partly because of their influence that Theseus and Oberon make their ultimate decisions(that is, Oberon to take the spell off, and Theseus to overrule Egeus).

9.TITANIA AND OBERON'S QUARREL
"The Boy is Mine" by Brandy and Monica.
So it's sung by two girls, but you know what? If you twist the lyrics around enough, it totally makes sense!

10. THEME FOR LOVERS' FIGHT-Girls
"Six Pieds Sous Terre" by Melissa Mars and Claire Perot
Yes, it's in French, but it SO WORKS. This is exaclty what girls in the situation say--except Hermia and Helena have two boys they're talking about, not one.

11-12.FAIRIES!!!!!!!
So at rehearsal the other night, it was mentioned that the sound Critter wanted for the fairies was more Celtic sounding, and my brain went nuts! Here's some ideas:
FAIRY INTRO
"Cry of the Celts" by Ronan Hardiman
and "Like A G6" by Far East Movement

I'm torn on this one. There are three that I really like. "Cry of the Celts" has awesome mind images of the contrast between Oberon and Titania."Ancient Lands" has the same effect, but envokes images of the forest itself, and the fairies.

"Like A G6" by Far East Movement
Any fairy queen would love to have this at her "moonlight revels!"

13. TITANIA AND OBERON's QUARREL/DEMETRIUS AND HELENA
"Right Now(Na Na Na)" By Akon

So, call me a romantic idiot, but it's my personal belief that Oberon feels something for Titania(why else would he be so upset with her and want to play a trick on her) and also, Demetrius might have more to him than his dialogue says. This song is a representation of Oberon and Demetrius' possible thought process, both while Titania is under the spell and running around with Bottom, and after the whole love spell thing, when Demetrius and Helena are back together. This could also tie into Lysander and Hermia, post love potion romp.

14. THEME SONG FOR THE FLOWER:
"Cleopatra's Spell" by Ronan Hardiman
and "Desert Rose" by Sting
Yes, the Flower needs a theme song. It's vital to the play too!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SOUNDTRACK TRACKS 1-6

Because I am totally ridiculous(and I like it), and because I am doing two productions, yea verily, at the same time, here for your listening pleasure is my soundtrack for "A Midsummer Nights' Dream"(with explanations by yours truly and music supplied by Youtube^_^).


TRACK 1. THEME SONG FOR THE SHOW
"Summer Love" by Justin Timberlake
I really have no idea why I initially picked this song, but every time I listen to it, I get awesome images of the characters(or the actors) either by themselves or in a scene from the show:

TRACK 2. THEME SONG FOR HELENA
"Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry
I've always seen Helena as a very strong character, in spit of her romatic issues. This is made very obvious to me through her constant persuit of a man that wants nothing to do with her. She is also-very understandably-confused when she gets two men coming after her when before she was a nobody. This song both expresses her strength and her confusion...at least to moi.

TRACK 3. THEME SONG FOR FOR MECHANICALS
"What's Your Name" by Lynyrd Skynard
I don't know why, but some things I saw at one of the rehearsals made Lynyrd Skynard songs play in my head. I get REALLY happy images with this one!

TRACK 4. THEME SONG FOR DEMITRIUS(regarding Hermia)
"Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner
This one is another "happy images" thing. Demetrius wants Hermia. 'Nuff said.

TRACK 5. THEME SONG FOR LYSANDER
"Just The Way You Are" By Bruno Mars
Sweet, simple, beautiful. Lysander and Hermia have it all figured out. Really good "happy images"!

TRACK 6. THEME SONG FOR HERMIA
"Angel" by The Corrs
Sweet, confidant, beautiful. Everyone wants to be around her. Everyone wants to be like her.

More on the way!

Greatest of the Stage and Screen Part 2

So I've had more time, seen more movies, and more plays. As of March 2011 here is my second "Greatest Death Scene" List:


1. Death of Richard Arimitage as Guy of Gisbone (From "Robin Hood" BBC miniseries 2006)

2. Death of Jared Padalecki as Sam Wincester(yes, STILL; see "Top Ten #1 for details.)

 3. Death of Lucy Griffiths as Marion (From "Robin Hood" BBC miniseries 2006)

4.Death of Aiden Gillen as Carver Doone(A&E's "Lorna Doone" 2004)

5. Death of  Hugo Weaving as V(from "V for Vendetta"-seen it edited-by the Witchoski Brothers

 6. Death of Keanu Reeves as Neo(From "The Matrix-edited" by the Witchowski Borthers)

7. Death of Russell Crowe as Maximus (From "Gladiator" 2000) Sorry, you'll have to go to the site. couldn't get anything excpet the link: http://youtu.be/CcSjC_Oo_sU



8.Death of Jamie Bell and Lee Ingleby as Smike  in "Nicholas Nickleby"

V-day? AWESOME!!!

When former plans go awry, there's always something better to do. I went with Shannon last night to go see "The Importance of Being Ernest". We read the poster wrong. the next show wasn't until the 18th. What to do then? How about GIRL TIME?! 

So instead of indulging in Oscar Wilde's awesome chick flick, we spent the night with Harry Potter and chocolate. REALLY good chocolate, a REALLY good movie, and a REALLY good, beautiful friend. V-day 2011= BEST GIRL'S NIGHT EVER!!!!!

Shannon took this with her phone, and tagged me on Facebook, so this is us after "Harry Potter" 7, courtesy of Shannon's phone ^_^

When You Hit A Gigantic Wall...

The Fight or Flight Response kicks in. You tear it down or run away from it. I'm amazed at how much this has happened. Every draft of the script I'm currently working on has had a wall. Each draft has been different. Sometimes I don't know how to start it. Sometimes, I don't know how to finish it. And sometime I hit huge revision gaps the size of the Grand Canyon that take me days to get across. 

Actors and directors also hit walls. My current production--"The Taming of the Shrew"-- opens in less than three weeks. All of us are super psyched! The wall we hit is one that every theater person(or film person, for that matter)--memorization. Every single actor given a script has lines to memorize. Sometimes they have the nice short little one liners that appear only in one scene, which is no big deal(or like figuring out how to start or end a script--roughly, at least). But other times, actors land lead roles: long speeches and a plethora of  lines in an infinite number of scenes(like a Grand Canyon size revision gap).


It's times like these when I am so grateful for distractions. Granted, you do have to work your tail off at rehearsals, or in front of the computer, but if you don't want to suffer burnout, DISTRACT YOURSELF!  Some of my best ideas---both from the acting, directing, and scriptwritting point of view--have come when I'm distracted. I recently had issues with the ending of my script. I knew from the beginning that a specific character had to die, but I wasn't sure a) how to do it  without halting the flow of the plot, and b) how to kill him off in such a way that, even if it was a little predicable in the beginning, it would be enough of a sympathetic shock that it wouldn't scream "I didn't know what else to do with the character, so I killed him". After trying for ages to get this stupid death right, I did what I always do when I need distraction: watch movies or TV. At the time I was(and still am) super addicted to the TV Show "Supernatural". It was while I was watching one of the episodes that I broke through my Revision Wall. While my one part of my brain was absorbed by the epically awesome TV Show, the other was still hard at work trying to solve my plot problem. By the time the credits were rolling, I had pulled out my netbook and was pounding away on the rough draft of the death scene I so desperately needed.  


So here's what this rambling post is about: when you hit a wall, when your suffering burnout, when you are ramming yourself against Writer's Block, or you need a break from life, for goodness sake, LET YOURSELF BE DISTRACTED! There is nothing wrong with taking a little break once in a while and doing something completely useless.

Stage and Screen Top Ten Best #1

Writers need places to put things. 
I'm a writer--the kind that scribbled short stories and plays and things rather than taking notes in school. I have lost drafts of my work countless times(which, for all you non-writers is like carving your insides out with a toothpick--it hurts!)

I also have weird thoughts that bounce around in my head and need to be written down somewhere, to tell someone, even if it's via the Internet. So this is what this is for. My blog. Of script drafts, weird thoughts, quirks, and whatever else pops into my head. 

So I finished studying about ten minutes ago, and now I'm bored, so below for you reading pleasure I have posted the following(videos and links courtesy of Youtube. I OWN NOTHING^_^):


Top Ten Best Death Scenes From the Stage and Screen(in my personal, humble opinion)


1. Death of Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester in "Supernatural" (from "Supernatural" Season 2,"All Hell Breaks Lose, Part 1", written by Sera Gamble,  2006)

2. Death of Josh Harnett as Danny Walker in "Pearl Harbor"(from "Pearl Harbor", written by Randall Wallace, 2001)

3. Death of Robby Benson as the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast"(from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", written by Linda Wolverton, 1991)

4. Death of Heath Ledger as Gabriel in "The Patriot"(from "The Patriot", written by Robert Rodat, 2000)

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5. Death of Gabriel Burne as D'Artagnan in "The Man in the Iron Mask" (from "The Man in the Iron Mask", written by Randall Wallace, 1998)

6. Death of Mikelangelo Laconte as Mozart in "Mozart: L'Opera Rock"(from "Mozart: L'Opera Rock, written by Olivier Dahan, 2010)

7.Death of Matt Dillon as Dally Winston in "The Outsiders" (from "The Outsiders, written by Kathleen Knutsen Rowell, from the novel of the same name by S.E. Hinton, 1983)

8. Death of Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade in "The Outsiders" (from "The Outsiders, written by Kathleen Knutsen Rowell, from the novel of the same name by S.E. Hinton, 1983)

9. Death of Sean Bean as Boromir in "The Fellowship of the Ring" (from "The Fellowship of the Ring", written by Peter Jackson, Phillipa Boyens, and Fran Walsh, from the novel of the same name by J.R.R Tolkien)

10. First Death of Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester in "Supernatural"(from "Supernatural" Season 3"Mystery Spot", written by Jeremy Carver, 2007)