Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Icons

This is the Lever Building, one of the first all glass high-rises in NYC..in the world, in fact. It was designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owens, Merrill -- one of the main architectural firms in America at the time...and still today. It's now a landmark building.

When I was in NYC last week, I happened to stride by it and took this photo. I'd never seen it, before, and I know it underwent a major restoration a few years back, so it's regained a lot of its former glory.

When I was in high school, I flirted with the idea of becoming an architect. The downtown library in San Antonio had a collection of "Architectural Digest" and "Progressive Architecture" and the like, and this was held up as one of the seminal buildings in the modern history of the craft.

I loved how clean and simple it was. Very Bauhaus in its intentions -- i.e. form follows function. I could see myself designing buildings like this. I never liked the post-modern style...which is basically evident in the tan building to the left. I still like open and unfussy looks and spaces.

I like that in my writing, too. And I've been having trouble with that preference in WC. In order to keep it moving, I've been trying to limit the number of talking scenes, the "getting to know you and revealing character" scenes, in it...but I can't cut them out. Without them, I can't see any heart in the script.

All I did do was break them up into smaller moments and sprinkle them through the script instead of loading them in at the beginning. It doesn't feel quite right to me, yet -- I prefer brick and mortar stories to simple sketches meant to hold together a series of action scenes -- but I can live with it. I just don't know if my characters can.

But as one let me know today...at least the story's being told.

I hope it goes get to be.

No comments: