The Writing Life: reflections by a working writer. The Writing Life

Reflections of a working writer, a university screenwriting professor, and the editor of Oregon Literary Review.

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Charles Deemer

Editor,
Oregon Literary Review

MFA, Playwriting, University of Oregon

Writing faculty, Portland State University (part-time)

Retired playwright and screenwriter.
Active novelist, librettist and teacher.

Email: cdeemer(at)yahoo(dot)com

The eagle flies!

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Finalist, Oregon Book Award

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"Can We Talk About Me For A Change?"
Playwright Debra Neff Nathans

Inkygirl
Debbie Ridpath Ohi, a weblog for writers (resources)

Silliman's Blog
Ron Silliman, contemporary poetry and poetics

Maud Newton
literary links, amusements, politics, rants

Darren Barefoot
Technical and creative writing, theatre, Dublin

Rob's Writing Pains
Journey of a struggling writer.

Mad, Mad World
Cara Swann, fiction writer, journalist, "reflections on humanity, random news & my life."

Writeright
Random musings on a writer's life and times.

Flaskaland
Barbara Flaska's compilation of the best online articles about music and culture.

Write Of Way
Samantha Blackmon's written musings on writing (composition and rhetoric).

Alexander b. Craghead: blog
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Rodney's Painted Pen
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Frustrated Writer
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scribble, scribble, scribble
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The Unofficial Dave Barry Blog
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The official blog of science fiction / horror author Terence West.

William Gibson Blog
Famed author of Neuromancer and Johnny Mnemonic: The Screenplay.

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Joe Clifford Faust's "blog of a working writer: tracking writing projects, musings on the creative process, occasional side trips into music, media, politics, religion, etc."

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Hebrew modern literature at its best, by Corinna Hasofferett.

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Author of the Sam Turner and Stone Lewis novels.

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The Writing Life
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It Beats Working 9-5
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The Writing Life...
"An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."
J.D. Salinger

"All my best friends are writers and are dead."
A friend over beer, Berkeley, winter, 1959

"And it came to pass that all the stars in the firmament had ceased to shine. But how was anyone to know?"
The Half-Life Conspiracy

After October 31, 2006,
new posts are published at


The Writing Life II

(Posts archived here are from 01/10/03 - 10/31/06)

 
Tuesday, October 19, 2004  
Office hours
Somehow I managed to get a tad of work done on the novel this morning before coming to the university. Not much but enough to keep me "in contact" with it. This looks like a very busy week in class. I pick up script pages today and will go over them Thursday. Meanwhile, we are watching A Beautiful Mind in class, most of it today, and need to discuss it as well -- I may push this back to next week, depending on how much student script discussion we do. That is first priority. And the publisher wants me to look at the new proofs sooner rather than later but when the hell I have time to do that before Friday only the devil knows. A good Russian saying, that, only the devil knows, tolkah chyort zniyet, if I remember correctly from my ancient Russian linguist days.

I watched Interiors recently, the Woody Allen "serious" film, and like much about it. A very "pretty" film visually. Perhaps a tad too "posed," too conscious of its own visual art. I belong to the "magician" school of the arts, which says all the tricks should be invisible and seamless, when you "see the art" the artist has failed. As I recall, Cocteau was most eloquent in expressing this philosophy.

Coming to auditions tonight are three actors I've worked with before and I could cast them in a heartbeat, which gives me some security for the 4-person cast I need. But I enjoy working with new faces, so it truly is "an open" audition. This is a fun and very important part of the process. Someone said that casting is 3/4 of directing. Rehearsals begin right away, Thursday. We have six rehearsals -- a lot for a staged reading, actually, but I always do this many, which is why the readers do so damn well, they practically are off book. I enjoy rehearsing a lot more than actually seeing the show!

This may be my last drama service for a while. I'm a tad burned out, even though I only do this once a year. But if I enjoy it this time as much as others, maybe I'll change my mind. I may "hold out" with the musical director -- that is, refuse to do another (subject) until he agrees with my proposal to do a piano-accompaniment, narrated, short (45 min) version of Dark Mission with the choir. I've been sending him MIDI files, trying to get him interested, but so far no response. In fact, I thought I would have heard from the 3 folks I pitched the opera to by now. I fear that if they were crazy about it, I would have heard from them -- and since I think so much of John's music, I wonder what the hell is wrong with them not to jump at the chance to premier this fine opera. I won't bug anyone until after the first of the year but then I'll find out officially what the hell is going on. In fact, maybe I'll send Ruth an email today, with a short "any verdict" note. Hmm. Let me think about that.

Yes, I'll do that right now!


10/19/2004 03:00:00 PM | 0 comments

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