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Re: WOO HOO!
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Peter T. Chattaway
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Apr 01, 2004 22:17 PST
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On Fri, 2 Apr 2004, Thom Gladhill wrote:
| | I finished a script tonight. I never realized how good typing "Fade
Out" would feel. :)
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Cool!
Meanwhile, in my life, after months of procrastinating -- partly because I
was busy with other assignments and partly because I never think I have
done enough research -- I finally buckled down and wrote that 6,000-word
chapter on _The Last Temptation_ last weekend: started it Friday morning
and finished it Sunday night at around 2 o'clock in the morning. (Along
the way, I also saw a film with D on Friday night, pulled a 7.5-hour shift
at Statistics Canada Saturday morning, watched the _Last Temptation_ DVD
one last time on Saturday night, went to church way out in Langley on
Sunday, and babysat my friend J's daughter T while J went to D's place for
a girls' night in on Sunday night. Busy weekend, eh? Thing is, when I
wasn't actually *writing* the chapter, I was still getting work on it done
-- I talked about it with D on Friday night, and our conversation reminded
me of certain things I wanted to emphasize; and I went over my notes
during my breaks at StatsCan, so I knew how I wanted to tackle the next
section of the chapter once I got home; and I chatted about it with a few
people at church on Sunday morning; and not only was J's daughter T
content to watch episode after episode of _Futurama_, but J herself is a
former editor and writer who gave my nearly-finished work-in-progress a
going over and made some recommendations, which I found very encouraging.)
Anyway, I wrote this chapter (on the sexuality of Jesus -- controversy!
controversy!) in those three days and have since made quite a few
revisions, most of them minor, and I have sent a couple of updated
versions of the essay to the guy who is editing this book. (It will be a
collection of essays in honour of the 50th anniversary of the original
novel's publication; my chapter is just one of the essays.) This is the
first time I have ever written anything for a book, and I'm kind of
nervous about the whole thing -- especially since I appear to be the only
contributor who is neither a grad student nor a university prof of some
sort. I was really *supposed* to write this thing a few months ago, but I
procrastinated out of nervousness, and *now*, of course, I'm nervous
because I haven't allowed myself time to just sort of let the essay sit
there for a few weeks so I can come back to it and look at it afresh.
But one thing I think I have definitely taken out of this experience is
that, hey, it actually *isn't* that hard to write one of these things, so
maybe my life doesn't *have* to be a string of 800- to 1500-word pieces
for newspapers and magazines. Now if only I could get myself to write
without having a deadline bearing down on me in the immediate future ...
My apologies if I've hijacked your thread, Thom. :)
--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- pet-@chattaway.com ---
Nothing tells memories from ordinary moments; only afterwards do they
claim remembrance, on account of their scars. -- Chris Marker, La Jetee
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