Lots of late nights this week. I was up until 2am Wednesday night writing a draft of my Idol entry, a humorous gal-pal misadventure story. It's not getting the votes I'd like yet, so I'm hoping there's an uptick in the next few days. Thursday night was reading other people's Idol entries, and waiting for the birthday cake to finish baking (250o keeps it from rising too much, but takes forever). Last night? Decorating, round one. I hate to admit how much frosting I've eaten in the last few days, too. Argh.
In honor of Elmore Leonard's passing, I offer you his NY Times article on Ten Rules for Writing, and also a satirical obit from The Onion, in which the writer details and violates most of those rules thus proving Leonard's point. I liked how clearly Leonard stressed that those were rules for how he liked to write, and readily gave examples of people who did the opposite and did it well. His style certainly isn't my goal, but I enjoy his own use of it. Variety--imagine! I also fondly recall a line from the movie, "Get Shorty" (based on his book), that achieved perfect minimalism: "Fuck you, fuckball." It completely fit the character, and my husband always jokes that David Mamet wishes he could write like that. Mamet puts a lot of effort and swearwords into dialogue that tries and yet fails to reach that level of authenticity. :)
All right, back to the nature-scene-on-cake. Pictures later!
