Monday, November 18, 2013

Monday mood-lifters and a gathering of playwrights

Monday! First, THIS: some helpful advice from ex-literary agent and author Nathan Bransford.

Planning and improvising are the two basic ways to find your plot, but there’s only one way to find your voice: start writing, and keep writing until you find it ... Write your way to your voice.

It took me a while to find Sean and Ian's voices. If you recall, I've received feedback from a literary agent who said that Sean and Ian from BLOOD PROMISE sounded too alike. But after I managed to distinguish what it is that sets them apart - by narrowing them down to three adjectives each (i.e. Ian: angry, vengeful, brash; Sean: concerned, skeptical, protective) - I set about amplifying these qualities and tweaked their voices as such. Hopefully, it'll work better this time. I can't trust myself to be objective about my own writing; I need my critique partners! My saviours.

Speaking of BLOOD PROMISE, I've found a few images that fit the idea of the characters I have in mind. Pinterest, man. I'm addicted. But it's also opened my eyes to so many visuals that lit my brain on fire. Follow me, if you're interested!

APRIL, the changeling struggling to keep her craving for human souls in check:

This is April from Sean's POV - because of his colour-blindness, he sees her eyes as a startling shade of blue. This leads to a twist that I won't reveal here, of course.

I actually had the Australian model Gemma Ward in mind for April. April is not conventionally beautiful. She has eyes a little too widely spaced apart, a button nose and lips that typically curve in a sad wistful bow. Still, she's meant to be beautiful in a strange otherworldly way.

SEAN, who moves to Frosty Island with his mother after he hears the news of his best friend's disappearance while vacationing with his parents on the island: 

He's the closest I can find on Pinterest. The Sean I have in mind is someone with an easy smile, dimples, and wide friendly eyes. Your favourite boy-next-door.

Maybe this one might be a closer approximation of him:

But nah. He's my Peter Pan. Not quite Sean.

Case in point:

Oh Donghae, you are just too precious. (Can you tell I'm obsessed with this little boy? Ha.)

Ahem. I digress.

IAN, who moved to Frosty Island to live with his aunt Mel after his parents died on this island a week ago in an alleged car accident:

This one's perfect. From the hardness of Ian's features to the danger in his eyes, that spark of recklessness when he realises he's got nothing left to lose anymore.

Anyway, how was your weekend? (I never have any idea whom I'm talking to whenever I ask questions like that on my blog. I'd love to hear from you if you're reading my blog! Comment away; don't be shy. I promise I'll reply. Nicely.)


Yup, that's pretty much me. Except this weekend, I finally went for the annual play-writing gathering last Saturday. It's actually the final reading for the semester's EN3271 play-writing students, but Huzir invites the ex-students back for a gathering of sorts. He opens his house up to us and have us all gather around in the living room for a cosy reading session - so generous.

It was so lovely to see my writing comrades again, and reminisce about the times when we stayed up to finish our plays or scramble to print out the copies for readings in class. I took both EN2271 Introduction to Playwriting and EN3271 Advanced Playwriting (both conducted by Huzir), because EN2271 was the most rewarding class I took in uni.

It's wonderful to be part of a writing community and have people to commiserate with when the writing isn't going well. Before that, I've never had writer friends or been part of a writing group, and the class made me see how rewarding it is to be part of one. It's nice to be able to hear other people's stories, share your own with them, and exchange ideas on how to improve one another's scripts. It's nice to have them root for your characters and have your classmates act out your characters; to hear Huzir's insightful and immensely constructive and honest feedback on your writing; to have a group of writer friends you can keep in touch with after graduation because writing will always be the thing that bonds you all together.

These two play-writing modules have given me so much, and for anyone in NUS undecided on whether to try out for these modules, my advice is to TAKE THEM. THEY WILL BE THE MOST FUN CLASSES YOU WILL TAKE IN NUS. At least, for me it is. I'm not forcing anyone! *runs for cover*

There were close to thirty people who attended last Saturday's gathering, including this semester's playwrights. I didn't manage to get everyone in the photo, but here are some of us. To those not in these photos, sorry! Next year, we'll take a proper shot all together.



We basically just decided to make a 180-degree turn because we were profiled against the sunlight. The rest were by the refreshments table or in the washroom, so here's us. I'm obviously the one in pink ;)

The plays this years were great! Funny and poignant character-driven stories. But the feedback was the best, especially when it was served with a dose of candour and insight. All the best with the final rewrites, playwrights! (That totally rhymed.)

Till next year, guys! And all the best for NaNo!

Unfortunately, I missed Lord of the Rings: Return of the King as a result of attending the gathering. When I realised it was airing on TV afterwards, I was like:


And here are your Monday mood-lifters:


Man, I miss this show! GILMORE GIRLS was funny and smart and sweet - almost everything you could as for in a TV show. It ended on a crappy note as it was slated for another season which, sadly, never came to fruition.


Some Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings crossover for you?

I totally heard this in Benedict Cumberbatch's voice.



Oh, Siwon. You are such a derp.

And on a less creepy note:

All together now: AWWWWWW.

Have a great week, everyone!

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