Focus

I'm rewriting that script I agreed to do and inputting the changes I feel will make it a better, tighter story. He may not like it and this may prove to be a waste of time, but from this point on I'll at least feel like I tried to do right by the story, and then I'll just do whatever he wants done on it. I'm also correcting my multiple typos and mis-edits that came when I cut sentences down. Make it a cleaner looking thing, too.

All I did on POS, yesterday, was some reading. I want my other obligations out of the way so I can focus my full attention on Brendan and his story, but that don't mean I can't keep building up my information on his life and times. This one book I thought might be interesting turned out to have nothing but snippets of other people's work in it. It'll be helpful later, when I'm trying to deepen the story, but right now it's nothing but a distraction. I have other books to read and websites to visit.

In going through my paperwork on POS, I found an e-mail correspondence I'd had with Eamon Melaugh, who took a huge series of photos of Derry before and during the Troubles, all of which are posted on NICRA's site. He even has a number of them collected in a book I bought some time ago. He was involved in the protests in '68 and '69 so has a first-hand knowledge of what happened. I may be able to reconnect with him, once Brendan's life is in order, get his input on how accurate I am. We'll see how confident I feel about in what Brendan's lead me to.

Now first some lunch then off to the rewrite. It's not too extensive -- just shifting one character to have a history that'll tie into the story -- so I should be able to get it done tonight.

BTW, I watched two of Basil Rathbone's "Sherlock Holmes" movies -- "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (which was originally written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (which wasn't) -- and both amazed me at how poorly their characters were written. Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (as Watson) had the ability to roll right over the stupidities and inconsistencies in their characters, but the other actors fared poorly. One remarkable exchange between Ida Lupino (who can be damned good) and some male actor went like this -- her: "I don't know if I can trust you." Him: "You can trust me." Her: "I don't know what to think." Him: "Why won't you listen to me?" Her: "I'm so tired." Then her brother's killed so the next night she goes to a party to "get her mind off it." Ludicrous.