FEBRUARY 26 2009

Blogging is difficult. It’s not the only time I’ve done it. It’s not the only time I’ve started, put one post and never done it again.

But writing is important. Even if it isn’t creative, I think I’d like to make a resolution to write at least one thing every day from now on. If I’m going to consider myself a writer – I should probably write.

Not much made me think of anything creative today. I had a lazy day – an uninspired day. I got about 15 pages of Episode 2 done yesterday, as well as naming Episode 1.

‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ is at first memory the title of an Ernest Hemmingway novel, which borrows from a poem by John Donne first published in 1624. I won’t print it in its entirety here, but my interpretation of it is to mean that no man is separate from all of humanity. Despite the fact that my main character is not a human in the sense of the typical boundaries that define us physically, it is very much his acceptance of human emotion and his role in a greater collective that sets the events of the first season in motion. By the end of the episode, I think its not quite evident for whom the bell does toll, but by the end of the season we’ll realize the core-characters are all very different people, viewing life through different lenses.

I also created a new character, an employee under Marcus Cain. Vilo Monrae is of Mediterranean descent, and acts as both Cain’s bodyguard and personal chef. As a personal confidant of Cain, he’s privy to some of the knowledge the mobster has gained on Derek, and has arrived at his own suspicions.

During the course of writing the episode, I had decided that Derek and Riley would break into the restaurant, as to keep Riley close to the van, which led to Eddie providing recon outside the front entrance. This of course led him to confront Dana Steele, who was keeping an eye on the entrance herself. I hadn’t planned on this but I immediately felt Eddie’s sense of attraction to Dana, and that their first meeting would be both sincerely romantic yet tragically taboo at the same time. Not only that, but coincidentally Dana gives in to smoking, parallel to her missing partner, but without a lighter, she turns to Eddie, who was hanging on to Davis’ zippo. I thought it was a funny moment where everything that could go wrong happened all at the same moment during this quite little encounter. I was fortunate enough that Eddie thought of it.

Pat and I had discussed the gadgets stash that Davis has been developing over the years. I really wanted Eddie to stumble upon it at some point this episode – the technologies that Davis has developed for crime-fighting purposes are going to be Eddie’s main interest this season. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see any plausible scenario that would have any of the three give up the search for Cain’s contact for some random goose chase to a weapons cache that may not even exist. What we did discuss were a few near-future, yet scientifically practical weapons Davis could have developed. We came up with a portable mounting zip-line, as well as a pair of magnetized gloves which can alter the trajectory of bullets, as well as create a force of repulsion of attraction (depending on the settings) towards metal for the user. I think the inspiration for these two devices were gadgets that both Davis and Derek could make use of considering their mortal weaknesses. My sense was that Davis had been shot at a few times in the past, and these were his means for survival.

As for getting this thing sold, or looked at – that’s the difficult part. I’ve not put much effort into lately, I mean, school and stuff. Besides, I’m thinking a little bit more practically – securing actual employment rather than aspiring for fantasy employment. I’m the type that needs a reality-check from time-to-time.

I plan on sending out a copy of the script to every agent in Toronto, as Ottawa kind of sucks for ENGLISH writing representation. Three French places, one English/French. What is the world coming to? Maybe the blog will get me attention. Hey, hey, over here!

Ciao For Now!