So - I’m at another lake in Ontario, two, actually, called Twin Sisters; I’m on one of the twins. It’s cooler than it has been during the record-breaking heat in Toronto this past week, so cool, in fact, that i have not warmed up since my late afternoon swim. Believe me, I don’t mind.
I’ve hinted at my topic for today in the title “spilling it”, but it has nothing to do with liquid, more with guts, with my creation. I was telling my hostess about the screenplay I’m working on and I broke a cardinal rule of writers: I told her of scenes and thoughts I haven’t written yet. Oops.
I think it’s okay, though . I’ve been living with and digging into my characters for so long, I’m breathing in sync with them, or they with me, I’m not sure which. As you may or may not know, my story takes place in wartime (WWII) Berlin. My hostess was born in Germany, though she is far too young to have experienced any of it. Even I, who am so elderly, was only eight years old when Canada entered the war, and she is much younger than I. Still, she has relatives and connections in Germany and goes back every year to visit. So I watched her closely for reactions as I told her what I was thinking.
She says she is looking forward to seeing the film. so am I.
It’s funny, isn’t it? We all live double and triple lives. We go through the day barely conscious, I think , reacting like knee jerks to what is going on around us. Internally we are running a silent commentary on what is going on around us. I am often surprised by a voice (is it a voice?) saying something like “look at that!” or I “I didn’t know that”, or "remember that”. I don’t, of course, remember it. Not all of use can endure/enjoy this inner dialogue. I know a number of people who suffer it and who are grateful when they can shut if off with a kong primeval walk, or total immersion in a think tank, or whatever those things are called that cut off sensory perception. The third level is the part of the brain that seems to be able to remember what happened, or what significant happened. That’s the astonishing one. That’s the one I have to hint at or attack, not sure which, in my dialogue.
The rule is in screenwriting, not to “write on the nose”. Don’t talk about what’s going on. Anyone knows that. Show me. but don’t be too overt,. Just give me a hint.
Take it from there.