I just killed a character.

[wednes]

I just killed a large supporting character in my serial killer novel. I don't do a lot of that in my writing. Oddly enough, it doesn't really come up. I'd rather keep people alive so that more terrible things can happen to them than to have them die in some stupid way. It was kind of a drug related death, and I wonder if I'm not trying to once again work out my personal demons through my characters.

No matter what happens, I don't seem to be able to get away from writing about myself in one way or another. I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it feels like lazy writing because this book has been coming together so easily. OTOH, maybe writing about ourselves is how we find the truth inside the lie (I didn't say that, Stephen King did). Writing what you know is key, and I know myself better and better with each passing year.

28,899 / 50,000 (57.8%)

In other news, I'm spending way too much money on wedding stuff. I bought $17 worth of makeups today, which doesn't sound like much until you realize it's from e.l.f. where everything is a dollar. Speaking of which, they make surprisingly awesome cosmetics considering what they charge. I wish they had nail polish too!

Crimson Tide was on TV tonight. That's one of those movies I love despite the fact that it's in a genre that I almost never watch. Certainly, that's one of the signs of a good film, when it transcends genre and is just plain old great. Of course, One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest was also on today, but being in a good mood, I didn't want to get near it with a ten foot pole.

Tried to see Harry Potter again this weekend, but plan after plan just seemed to fizzle and die on me. No matter, it's not like it's leaving theatres in a day or two, I have plenty of time. And I managed to get some good writing, editing, and TV watching in instead.

Comments

[absinthofheart.livejournal.com]

I know - none of the plans I had this weekend have panned out.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Cindy and I were supposed to go Friday afternoon, but she is in the hospital again. R and K and I talked about going, but I don't know if they went or not, I didn't hear from them. And then our plans fizzled too. *sigh*

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

I happened to catch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when it was on today...one of my parents had left the TV on to AMC and that's what was on, so I watched the end...in high school and college I had experiences of watching that movie at school, and then for whatever reason not seeing the end...I had read the book, so it's not like I don't know what happened, but it took until only a year or so ago before I saw the entire movie all the way through, ending and all...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Do you think knowing what was going to happen lessened the emotional impact?

I bet not, just because it's such a powerful film.

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

no, I don't think so...partly because my memory likes to suppress the specifics of endings...but even when I remember, the way that story ends is so heartbreaking that I'm not sure anything can lessen the impact of that too much...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Too true.

Poor Billy...

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

and McMurphy as well...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I feel bad for McMurphy, but I think I identify more with Billy. I have mother issues. ;-/

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

that Nurse Ratched finds a way to completely emasculate both of them, doesn't she?...

and issues with parents always seem to cut the quick...I can indeed indentify with that, though I nowhere near grew up in the kind of environment you did...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read a book that explores the psychology behind Nurse Ratched and her type. I'd be very interested in knowing what allows a person to derive such pleasure in cutting people down, and have them be such an expert at it.

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

have you read the book for Cuckoo's Nest at all?...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I read it in high school, not since.

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

ah okay...the reason why I asked was partly because I assumed you had read it at some point...and partly because it seemed to me it provided some kind of description (even though it's from the perspective of the Chief) of Nurse Ratched's point of view...as in, the book made her a little more human and three-dimensional than the movie did...I'm just going from the perception I have at the moment, as it has been nearly two years since I read the book (and that was the second time reading it)...it's possible that I gleaned that from an introduction or essay though, as the edition of the book I checked out from the library was some kind of critical edition (not that I read all the essays, because I didn't)...

I do think it would be a neat idea for a different novel to be a reinterpretation of the story from Nurse Ratched's point of view though...