Writing, Videogames, Books, and a Japanese film. |
Today starts my second week off from school, I will get to go back to school next week and I'll be taking a a Film Writing Class while I prepare to take the Math Accuplacer to place into Math and Science. I've always wanted to take a screenwriting class because its so much different then to my actual writing. Screenwriting is writing without all the clutter of detail and it gets down to the very basic ingredient of story telling, which is dialogue. So what does a writer do on her week off?
Most of all I wanted to sleep, but my body had other plans. I wasn't stressed or worried about anything, but I would get to bed at ten after reading and writing and not be able to sleep until two or three and then wake up by five and try to go back to sleep. This is the hard thing about Autism we need more sleep then the average person and sometimes its difficult when you don't get it. Luckily though I finally did get some sleep on Thursday Night, so I'm hoping to sleep more this coming week. Besides the lack of sleep I got up at nine at my usual time and went about the house doing some chores, but my favorite thing to do is write.
In the morning I don't tend to write unless I have had a good dream, but I like to save writing for the evening when I have thought through all the settings my characters will be in and the conversation they are going to have with one another. Then there's action, where is very hard to plot out, but if done right and its consistent it can be a valuable piece to the story. I am currently working on revamping the action in the 12th draft of my fantasy series and taking out pieces of action that didn't work and replacing it with pieces that do. Its a fun task, like playing a jigsaw puzzle over and over again with different results. My fantasy story came from a short story I wrote in the 6th Grade called the Man in The Hollow, while it wasn't very good I kept the idea in the back of my head and returned to it years later.
When I'm not writing my fantasy book or I'm stuck on a plot point I'll turn to my memoir. My memoir is a lot harder for me to write because its nonfiction and nonfiction has never been my strong suit, however as I get better at it the more I become accustomed to it. I love the pen out in long hand and though it can be hard on my hands, I love it more then anything because I can get my thoughts down easily to page without all the distractions on the computer. When I'm not writing I like to play video games, mostly fantasy RPGS, Legend of Zelda series, Xenoblade, and most recently I found the Monster Hunter series. When I'm not playing video games I watch old movies recently I've become infatuated with Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Kurosawa. I haven't seen a lot of Japanese anime or films so it was a welcome change and I don't mind the subtitles. I feel I learn more about how to write dialogue by reading subtitles and sometimes I will put them on even if the film is in English.
When I don't feel like watching a movie I love to read. For Christmas I got several big coffee table books, the Smithsonian's Animals, The Smithsonian's History Book, a Map: Exploring the World, and the latest book in the Fifth Wave series. The three big books express my love for map making, history, and animals. I like books with a lot of pictures because I am a visual learner, but it could never replace the limitless reaches of the imagination when it comes to fantasy and science fiction.
When I'm not inside I'll go out and walk. If its too cold to walk outside I'll move inside and wander around Target, Barnes and Noble, or the Home Goods store. I like to wander and I never realized it until a while ago that most autistic people are prone to wander off, but in the wise words of Mr. Tolkien "Not all those who wander are lost." So if you see me wandering around a store, I'm not lost or I may be and just refuse to ask anyone's help until I find an exit. If I'm feeling really adventurous and want the risk of breaking down I'll just travel 15 minutes and head to the crowd infused mall, where there are people wanting you to buy something at every turn. Going to the mall is the greatest challenge with the added benefit of trying not to get lost. There they are my exciting plans for the week. In an upcoming post I'll tell you how I've been enjoying Downton Abbey and the Christmas Special Sherlock Holmes and the Abominable Bride.