Week Thirty: Bloods, Timelines, and The Wrath of Kahn

July 29^th, 2012

Read
Almost done reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ new book The Great Escape. I’m also still reading Bloods. Slowly. First-hand accounts of soldiers’ bodies getting blown to bits is not something I can just breeze through, although I sure wish I could.

Write

Continued working on the novel’s timeline and, as I’d predicted, I’m hitting one block after another. Every time I nail one corner down, another end bounces up out of place. Maybe this is why they say authors rarely publish the first book they write. It’s because they’re actually learning how to write a book, and who wants to stick with re-writing the first one as much as is needed to actually publish it?! Onward, anyway . . .

Bliss

Saturday night was the Alibi Midnight Movie showing of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn at the Guild Cinema. Sitting in the audience as the three sponsors stood at the front of the theater and lead us in a fists-clenched, rousing cry of “Kaahhn!!” brought joy to my heart. It had been so long since I’d seen that movie, there were parts I’d forgotten, but some things I’d never forget. Like those awful creatures that crawl in through the ears—I had a nightmare about those things once. I can really re-appreciate what a great movie Wrath is after studying all this material on the hero’s journey and screenwriting and all that. Tight, simple, forward-moving plot. Charismatic villain worthy of the protagonist with a clear, visceral motivation. A call to adventure that lets us know exactly what the danger is, and what’s at stake. An ending that echoes the beginning and shows that the hero has changed. A death scene that is significant, memorable, and short. As screenwriting instructor Rick Reichman says, “Get in, hit the emotion, and get out.”

I also think it’s interesting that Wrath of Kahn from 1982 and The Dark Knight Rises from 2012 both reference Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. Some things are timeless.