My writing.

Good morning,

If you read my posts on this section, you'll see I've been writing on various story lines, most of which have nothing to do with each other. In other words, my writing is disjointed. But, for now, I like doing that, because, just as a pianist may enjoy pressing on the piano keys, so too do I enjoy typing on the keyboard. I've read the biography of Mozart, and I found out that, when he died, he was working on several compositions, and others have told me that they work on several projects at the same time, so I may be doing what others are doing.

With that in mind, I would like to post these bits and pieces, and, with your kind indulgence, have you encourage me - everyone needs feedback, and everyone needs encouragement.

Thanks for letting me write this out.

 

[CelticRambler]

I'm a great believer in running several projects in parallel, as long as they're not competing for (exactly) the same resources. In principal, my logic is that when inspiration dries up for one, I have another to into which I can pour my energies; in practice, I regularly find that it's because I devote time to the "other" it un(b)locks the inspiration for the first. And on several occasions, I've found that two or three different creative strands suddenly come together to make a far more sensible and/or interesting whole.

Of course getting some of them - any of them - finished is a whole other challenge!

 

[sfoster]

Congrats - i also believe in going where your creative energy takes you.
If that's mulitple projects, then go with it!

So are you gonna write a novel? Something that shows the interstellar war now that budget is no longer a constraint?

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

I have started writing the History of the First Interstellar War, but that has stalled ...... until later.

I have also started writing a trilogy of short stories about the story of Superman - the first deals with his escape from Krypton, leading to his adulthood in Metropolis and his confrontation with Lex Luthor; the second deals with his defending Earth against General Zod; and the last deals with his confrontation against Brainiac, when he enlists the help of Lex Luthor to defeat the Android.

This cannot be published yet, of course, but it will be the basis for my pitching to Warner Brothers - if nothing, it's a fun journey.

I have others, but they will be the subject of future posts.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

I'm a great believer in running several projects in parallel, as long as they're not competing for (exactly) the same resources. In principal, my logic is that when inspiration dries up for one, I have another to into which I can pour my energies; in practice, I regularly find that it's because I devote time to the "other" it un(b)locks the inspiration for the first. And on several occasions, I've found that two or three different creative strands suddenly come together to make a far more sensible and/or interesting whole.

Of course getting some of them - any of them - finished is a whole other challenge!

Agreed 100!

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Hello,

My magnum opus is suddenly coming together, and I've written the basis for the story. Even though I'm also writing bits and pieces of other story lines, this one is my favourite, and I will be fleshing it out. After all these years, the story is finally coming together. I would like to test the basic premise with my mentor and others, to get ideas.

I'm very happy now, and, as always, thanks, everyone, for your encouragement.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Today is the Feast of St George. I'm writing bits and pieces on the retelling of legend of King Arthur, so, of course, I would be reading up on prior versions. Anyway, I was going to start the story from the fall of the Roman Empire, when the soldiers decide to stay and make their lives in Britain. This approach was done by the late Jack Whyte, who lived in my region, and I've got his works, among others. I was also going to integrate the story of St George, a Roman who killed the dragon that was terrorizing the villagers, and he would decide to stay and take the name of the locals, calling himself George.

I'm engaging in my passion, which is reading about just about anything, in preparation for the time I engage in my dream - I'm almost there, and I may want to do one more thing in law. If that is not feasible, then I will retire, and, once I leave my career as a lawyer, I don't want to come back, so I want to squeeze as much juice as I can from the lemon.

One last thing - I'm not talking about talking about filming; I'm writing about writing.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

I'll post some random scenes about my retelling of the Arthurian legend. This is not historical fiction but rather historical fantasy, because I'm playing fast and loose with historical events - there certainly were no dragons during the Roman era.

>>>>>>

The breeze blew across the ships, which was refreshing to those on the decks. At the lead ship, Ardith stood at the stern, watching the approaching Brittania shore. She was only a Saxon because she was born among the tribes, but her origin was from Troy, when Lord Aenid fled with the others after the Greeks burned their city. While she spoke Saxon, she knew who her roots were, and she knew of the history, passed from mother to daughter, that they would never forget the treachery of the Athenians and Spartans.

She also knew of current history, so she knew that the Romans would later conquer those Greeks. And, she noted, history would now come in a full circle – the Greeks conquered the Trojans, the Romans conquered the Greeks, and, now, a Trojan would lead others to conquer the Romans.

On her left side was her attack dragon. Sitting on its haunches, it was almost as tall as her, and it was also watching the shoreline, undoubtedly knowing what was to come. Like all reptiles, it had green scales, and, like all dragons, it had triangular scales forming a line from its head all the way down the spine to the tip of its tail. On her right was Blacky, her medium sized dog with floppy ears, panting happily – it was always happy, especially when it was eating. In front of her, she was holding her daughter, now eight growing seasons old.

******


Her real name was Boadicea.

That was her lineage, from her great-grandmother, Queen Boadicea, who led a revolt against the Romans to protect her kingdom. That revolt failed, and she, along with her family – daughters and their daughters – were taken off to slavery. But one daughter was hidden, and, over the years, her line was kept hidden by officials loyal to their former regime.

She was the only one of that line left, and she knew her duty was to reclaim her rightful inheritance. That meant choosing a man who could be her king and rule over not only what her family held but over all of Brittania. She would choose carefully, and, to her, no warrior was more fit than the Centurion, Pendragon.

<<<<<<

I'm doing research, which is also my complementary passion - collecting books and information. And please feel free to provide constructive criticism - emphasis on constructive - for my bits and pieces. Thanks once again.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Thanks, @Chris Tempel - your encouragement is much appreciated.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

I'm reading up on history, to lay a foundation for my retelling of the Arthurian legend. One of my issue is writing about the Lady of the Lake. As the Legend goes, she is the keeper of the Excalibur, giving it to Arthur and, when he dies, receiving it. But, since I'm a divorce lawyer, whenever I read about her, I ask if she's a single mother and whether she's been getting child and spousal support.

I may have been practising law too long.

 

[mlesemann]

But, since I'm a divorce lawyer, whenever I read about her, I ask if she's a single mother and whether she's been getting child and spousal support.

If you're into humor, that could be terrific. Not so much for straight drama

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

@mlesemann, how do you suggest I turn it into satire? "Life of Brian" and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" would be a good start, I guess.

 

[mlesemann]

@Aspiring Mogul I'm not good enough at comedy to give really good suggestions but yeah, those are the best of the best.

I'd say there are 2 ways to look at it:
(1) A "contemporary" lawyer (meaning someone living and practicing law at that time) is hired by the Lady of the Lake because she's had shit representation in the whole Excalibur thing. And yeah, I'd totally make her a single mom

(2) Same as above but with a setting more like a 21st century version of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - think A Canadian Lawyer in King Arthur's Court.

I'm just spitballing but there's precedence and potential.

 

[sfoster]

Hmm maybe you could introduce her ex-husband 'lord of the fjord' idk just spitballing
Edit to add: if you turn that into some sort of legal battle between the two of them you must have a ton of material to draw from

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

@mlesemann and @sfoster, thanks.

I keep thinking of the scene in the 1980's movie, "Excalibur", where Sir Lancelot said that no one could cross the bridge unless they beat him at a jousting match. This scene was also done in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", when the knight, having his limbs cut off, said it was just a flesh wound.

I have always wanted to write a scene where someone tells the knight to get a job instead of obstructing traffic.

 

[CelticRambler]

Having grown up in a country with a strong tradition of satirical writing - often quite vicious, and wielded as a weapon of subversion - I have much appreciation for a good satirical plot. However, as a writing style it needs to be very carefully crafted, and the object of the satirical attack(s) needs to already be well known to the audience.

I'd have my doubts that you could achieve that with the Lady of the Lake in the context of a re-telling of the Arthurian legend as a whole, seeing as the Lady is a relatively minor character and probably unknown to the majority of non-legend nerds. If you're going down that route in respect of the LotL, I'd be inclined to keep it to a fairly conventional passage of comic relief.

Either that, or have the whole story told in a satirical narrative by the LotL, looking on at Arthur's antics from her watery point of view.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

@CelticRambler, are you saying that France has a history of satire? That would be true, especially with Asterix the Gaul, but Britain also

Having grown up in a country with a strong tradition of satirical writing - often quite vicious, and wielded as a weapon of subversion - I have much appreciation for a good satirical plot. However, as a writing style it needs to be very carefully crafted, and the object of the satirical attack(s) needs to already be well known to the audience.

@CelticRambler, which country? Britain or France? I'm curious because I'm wondering about your reference to that strong tradition.

I'd have my doubts that you could achieve that with the Lady of the Lake in the context of a re-telling of the Arthurian legend as a whole, seeing as the Lady is a relatively minor character and probably unknown to the majority of non-legend nerds. If you're going down that route in respect of the LotL, I'd be inclined to keep it to a fairly conventional passage of comic relief.

Either that, or have the whole story told in a satirical narrative by the LotL, looking on at Arthur's antics from her watery point of view.

I'm reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon", which tells the legend from the point of view of the ladies, who have always been on the sidelines. Right now, in the film industry, there has been a trend of telling the stories of characters who are NOT the main characters of the canon - a good example would be Batman, where "Gotham" tells the story of Detective James Gordon and his colleagues in the Gotham Police Department, and I understand there's another series with Batman's Butler.

Of course, in snob literature, there's the "Flashman" series, of the non-main character in Tom Brown's Scholdays.

 

[CelticRambler]

@CelticRambler, which country? Britain or France? I'm curious because I'm wondering about your reference to that strong tradition.

Neither! Ireland. Our ancient writers (and more modern ones) were particularly adept at writing vicious satire about the English colonisers that was only really understood by the native Irish. It was a point of pride to be able to write something in English making fun of the English and have them think it was a simple tale being told by a backward people ... It was only when Jonathan Swift picked up his pen that the colonisers began to figure out that we were very adept at subverting any literary form to the cause of mockery. Alas, it seems the tradition has been supplanted in recent years in favour of re-tweeted nonsense and uninspiring memes.