stephen-turner.net

Really done it tonight … too tire, and moving the laptop to the loungeroom, with all its attendant lack of control and access, didn’t actually prove that useful.

Too little sleep really, too tired, too little else gets done waiting until that late. Well, it wasn’t even that late, but it felt late, so I should work it out by then.

Need to do something about working on the train — that’s spare time I have that needs to be better allocated, but without a laptop, or at least laptop battery, it’s not happening.

But until then, the later it gets at home the more difficult it gets. Like now …

Another tough one today. Still not getting into the writing as I’d like to, and there’s no one to blame but myself. I know that.

Clear skies again fortunately, but it’s suddenly got really cold … insanely so for only April. Hate to see what it will be like in July. Then again, it might be Summer for all I know.

There are issues I’m having right now that I won’t go through here. Professional ones of course, which makes things either easier or harder, depending on things. What I really need to do is something different, rather than the obvious.

Here’s a nice video from Clay Shirky, a noted NYU academic, Internet writer, and my favourite Second Life critic. A talk at the Web 2.0 conference last week, he goes on about TV as coping mechanism for the information age, and what we cna do to change that.

Really interesting stuff, not the sort of “TV sucks” thing either, but a really interesting thing that talks about what even a small change in habits can effect, and where mass media use and activity is definitely going in the future.

What do you think about first person perspective? I’ve been thinking recently that something I’m starting to write should actually be done in (at least) two different first person perspectives, which is a form I don’t think I’ve used since high school. And I don’t know why that is.

Then again, I suppose blogging is in a first person perspective, but that’s different. Writing in your own head is different to writing from a character’s head. But that said, I still haven’t used first person person for years, and it suddenly seems kind of difficult.

For years, I think I told myself that third person limited was the “proper” way to do things, but at the same time, first person is still quite popular, especially in crime stories, and in YA novels (which kind of both categorise what I’m doing).

Of course, there’s even second person perspective, which I’ve only ever seen twice — in a really old Ray Bradbury story, and very recently in “Halting State” by Charles Stross, a truly magnificent near-future SF novel that I finished just recently. He cribs from the style of 80s text adventure games to create three character perspectives that seem odd at first but you get used to very easily.

Back to what I’m doing … in a novel where the two main protagonists are extremely important, and their youthful perspectives both carry the story, but are also very different to each other, I think first person would probably work well (I’m actually writing this partially to convince myself of that fact). And I’m sure there is some commonly held idea that first person perspective is better for YA novels so that teen readers can identify with the characters, but I doubt anyone is quite that conniving as they write.

Anyway, it sounds like a plan. I have to start it like that just to see how it goes. It’s like blogging … in a way, and maybe that will help me find the right voice.

It’s late so there isn’t much to say for now. Woke up in Nelson Bay, another really nice day, and we headed to the beach again. But the water was still dirty and it was surprisingly hot. We didn’t last more than a half hour before heading back to pack up and head home.

Listened to the Wests game in the car as we drove back to Sydney, rather than watching it. Hell of a topsy-turvy game, but somehow we came out on top again with a 20-16 win. A couple of our players made the rep teams (Hodgson, Heighington and Gibbs), but less than expected. No matter — hopefully that will just spur them to play better. The season is suddenly looking good again, with Marshall back, Matt Head looking to have some form, and hopefully Robbie Farah back soon. If these guys can stay healthy (sadly slightly long odds), we might have something here again …

Back to work tomorrow … all sorts of challenges there. Some new business deals coming along, and I really have to convince them to change the tech. But I don’t like the odds there … it’s going to be a big question for the long term.

Miracle of miracles today … good weather! Found out today that there had been 13 days straight of rain before now, which I was also reminded coincided exactly with school holidays. But finally, today was actually pretty nice, so after the usual morning difficulties we headed to the beach. The water was kind of dirty, but the weather was nice, the sand was nice, and Will got to have a Pixar cake on the beach again, which I already know was his highlight

After the TV aerial failed somehow, we sat down to some Daily Show downloads, then we finally checked out (most) of season one of Robot Chicken that I picked up on DVD a few weeks ago.

And what a bunch of mad bastards they are. Pop culture on crack is the best way to describe it … action figure animation drawing in more references than you can possibly imagine — ads, TV, movies, cartoons, comics. Bawdy and dirty sometimes, sometimes so so, sometimes hysterical. Somer seriously all-star voices dropping in, anchored by Seth Green and Matt Senreich.

Overall, very funny stuff, with surprisingly good animation and some very inventive send-ups.

We drove up to Nelson Bay late last night, which was probably a bit insane, but safe enough really. It rained a lot at different times, but we got through with only one pitstop for dinner.

And today was just so lazy … a public holiday for Anzac day, and it was still raining a lot, so we just hung out, watched some of the march, listened to the radio and played some Wii games. The Anzac stuff is always interesting and moving, but I usually just try to form my own thoughts on it rather than listen to anyone elses.

Not much else to say … trying to get some writing done tonight, will have to see how that goes. Alex is as mischeivous as usual, Will is a bit grumpy but mostly really bright and smart in his manner.

Watched an older Doctor Who tonight … Steven Moffat’s “The Empty Child” from season one. Really very good stuff, also notable for the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness. Builds a good sense of scene (world war 2), an interesting but also sinister enemy, but then also brings in the playful banter of Jack and Rose, and later the Doctor. A good mix of everything you want, with Steve Moffat’s excellent sense of dialogue, character and story construction.

It’s been interesting watching these first season Doctor Who’s again for the first time since 2005, when they originally aired. Mostly familiar (except one or two we missed), but even familiar ones have revealed some later useful plot points, and some actors or characters that would later be in Torchwood especially. You can see how Russell Davies was so influenced by Buffy as he created the new Doctor Who and then Torchwood (sort of like Doctor Who’s Angel, I guess.) He’s really been building the mythos and universe, which is impressive considering Doctor Who already had so much history behind it.

This sort of storytelling is almost a precondition now of creating a compelling and popular TV series, especially a “cult” one, and it’s something you see in the US all the time, the UK sometimes, and Australia basically never. Typically story there, I guess …

After usually averaging at least a year between visits, we’re back to Nelson Bay this weekend with only a month’s gap since the last trip. It’s a three day weekend, so should be a good relaxing time.

Except, the weather is still nightmarish, possibly worse now than earlier in the week. Who can I blame for this … !?!?!?!

We were promised an improvement in the weather by today or tomorrow, finally, after two weeks of crap, but it still doesn’t look good. I’d prefer nicer weather, but really don’t care that much, since I like the place, it relaxes me, and we can have a good time anyway. And besides, three day weekends are hard to come by straight after starting a new job.

Hopefully I’ll get some writing done when I’m up there

Won’t post again until Sunday, but will writer remotely then log in later.

Will turned four today, and he had a pretty good day, even though he’s still not that well. Woke him up early for kindergarten this morning, the weather was hideous again, but we high-tailed it through the rain when I dropped him off at kindy and he seemed happy enough.

Apparently the day was good there for him — all his kindy friends had cake for lunch but he didn’t … which is typical really, so no big issue. I ended up going out to a lunch to farewell a new colleague, and it was a huge Chinese affair that was all paid for, which was good.

Tonight, had a friend over and we all went to the Wenty Leagues for dinner for Will. He was tired as by then, but still seemed to enjoy himself. Chicken for all (nuggets and schnitzel). Quiet night otherwise.

The TV streaming through the Wii doesn’t work for reasons I don’t get, and I’m either going to have to start burning DVDs again or re-setup the computer to make things work again. It’s frustrating as hell, especialy when all the literature tells me it should be easy. If I had my way, and the money, I’d replace all computers in the house.

This is sounding more like a straight-out diary, isn’t it?

I am a writer who doesn’t seem to write.

Or at least, I write anything BUT what I really need to write. I write news stories and plenty of reports at the day job. I write in this blog, quite regularly now. And I write various other correspondence and other things as well.

But recently, it’s as if I can’t write fiction. And that’s the only thing that really matters to me. And I think that somehow not being able to do this is at the core of so many of my problems. Or maybe it is the ultimate symptom of my problem.

That’s an interesting one — am I troubled because I have serious writer’s block, or do my troubles end up being manifested in Writer’s Block?

Part of it too is I think a fear of failure — because of my desperate desire for success. If I sit here and permanently insist that writing is all about commercial success, that is a hell of a lot to live up to, and it can cause way more problems than just writing for the hell of it.

And with the millions out there who seem to want to write as well, am I hopeless for even being this conflicted?

Anyway, it’s not that I can’t write — I’ve written one complete novel (which as I always remind myself is one more than most “aspiring” types ever manage), but I can’t really see it being published now. Instead, I have future works, in slightly different genres, I and I think can keep things going there.

But I need the mental exercise to get myself used to it again. It’s the most worthy thing in my life outside of family, and that pressure too is probably enough to cause me to freeze up.

Almost half asleep now, this is really playing on my mind, but I have a new thing to start. I’m determined to write in Google Docs, which should help me do it anywhere, but that’s just a tool.

It’s all about persistence, and pretending that Writer’s Block doesn’t exist. It’s all mental — both sides of it.

The job goes on nicely, and the bad weather goes on not so nicely. So some different things:

A nice story today that goes into the behind the scenes details of how the unique production company logo is created for the end of every episode of Battlestar Galactica. It’s starting its 4th season in the US (I’d download it but I’m still stranded back in the 2nd season :L). Unlike most shows which just show the same thing at best, at the end of Galactica, unique animations at the end of each episode show creators Ron Moore and David Eick attacking each other in various creative ways.

It’s a bizarre idea in some ways, but really, it’s creative devotion, unlike any other show I”ve heard of, and it’s just another magnificent piece of effort by great storytellers. Check out the season 1 highlight reel: (Warning, can get a little gory, but only in a Road Runner cartoon kind of way!)

Ubuntu and Linux are going well, according to Mark Shuttleworth and the BBC, which is always good to hear. Have had some thoughts on what I could do there business-wise, but haven’t gone far, naturally. Even though I get home quite early from the new job, there never seems to be that much time.

Off to get some new Daily Shows, then need sleep