Words Are Wind, or How I Learned to Stop Procrastinating and Write!

Procrastination has always troubled my mind soul. There are so many distractions in this modern day and age. (Fun fact: this first sentence took me about 3 hours to write because I kept get distracted and procrastinating! EGAD!)

Aaaand, blaming procrastination on other components (such as this modern day and age) is just ONE of the classic excuses to excuse not working or writing. In fact, I could list an almost endless list of reasons why procrastination is easier to come by in the year 2015, but making that list would, in fact, be just another sad attempt to procrastinate! It's a never ending spiral down the existential rabbit hole and before I stumble down, I am going to stop myself.

Wow, okay. So, if anyone could follow the above paragraph, I applaud you because I'm not so sure it makes sense and at this point it very much just could be a meaningless ramble of "Ben" thoughts.

It has been a little more than a month since I last updated my blog and, looking back, have I accomplished much? Eh... Once again, that was an "Eh..." I feel like every time I come to this blog it is just me, promising to write, and then failing to do so. There are lots of big events, competitions, and seminars coming up and I need to make sure the material I have (feature scripts, spec scripts, and original pilots) are polished, perfect, and ready to submit. I am the type of person who usually waits until the last possible moment to submit an assignment. One time, in college, I did just that on the end of the year paper. I pulled an all-niter, promising myself I would write this paper. Welp, I stayed up all night, yes, but didn't write anything until about 2 hours before the class. Why put myself through that torture?!? WHY?!

Well, this time, I shan't. (P.S. "Shan't" is probably one of my top 3 favorite words/contractions. It just fills me with Steampunkian joy). So aside from my novel, WHICH IS ALMOST DONE dear God yes (And by almost done, I mean the first draft. Cause, whooey, I gots to edit/rewrite/fix a lot of it. FUN.), I am currently prepping these below projects:

Feature Scripts: 11 in development.
That may sound like a lot, but some of them are nothing more than general premises/outlines. For the upcoming Nicholl Fellowship, I am planning on submitting 3 (and that's being optimistic). At least one script is my hope. "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope..."

Spec Scripts: 3
Spec Scripts are notoriously hard for me. I feel like I am writing a fan-fic and I don't really like writing for characters that aren't mine. Unfortunately, a lot of competitions require a spec script, so gotta do it, to it. Really just gotta push this one out somehow. I have 3, okay 2.5, options going right now...so we shall see.

TV Pilot: 2
One drama, one comedy. These two are my babies and my loves. I want to make sure they are perfect and I feel very attached. I need to release them from my helicopter parent grip and get them out there because holding them close to my chest isn't making anything happen.

COMPETITIONS: 8+
There's a lot out there to submit too, which is nice, but that doesn't make things easy. The Nicholl, NBC's Writers on the Verge, ABC/Disney, WB, AFF, Script Pipeline, CBS, etc. The most important thing is to write and submit, otherwise there is no chance at success!

So, thank you for coming along on this journey of me procrastinating actually working on said scripts, but instead writing a blog post about it. Oy! And if you want to read any of my TV Recaps/Reviews on shows such as Bates Motel, Once Upon a Time, Gotham, Salem, etc. Check 'em out here at Whedonopolis.com.

K, BAI.

-ben josé

 

(W)Ash Wednesday aka Laundry Time!

Why hello you, my darling blank white void that I call the internet. It is so great to finally be catching up with you in the year 2015. Believe or not, this is my first blog post of the great year two thousand and fifteen AD.

What could I have possibly been doing for those first 49 days?!
a.) working on finishing my novel like I said I was (of course not).
b.) gorging myself on candies, cookies, and pizza (definitely not).
c.) listening to an insubordinate amount of Pogo and related movie-spliced music videos on YouTube (I can't deny it!).
d.) incessantly following every single Star Wars related news item, including the dreaded Tatiana Maslany casting fakeout (i'm not over it!).
s.) binging Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and basically any other possible streaming device allowed (guilty).
t.) losing my mind, forgetting basic math and common english, sitting on my glasses, losing my keys (ummmm).
u.) secretly hoping JK Rowling will tweet at me. She's been so generous with her tweets lately, that beautiful woman. (I have been doing this. Yes.)
v.) GETTING MY SHIT TOGETHER (whoops, no).

OKAY, I'm sorry. I haven't exactly kept up on my new years resolution or anything. Writing has been a struggle! Videoing life has been a struggle! BUT, I SHALL TURN OVER A NEW LEAF, in honor JEEEESUS, oh praise GOUDA.  

I'm not going to make any promises (publicly), but things are going well and in honor of my return to the blogosphere (is that a thing?), I shall post one of the book related things I've been working on. My world map! Because I am cheap, poor, and not skilled at photoshop, I solely created my world map on PAINT. IT'S TRUE. So, look at it in the bottom. No one knows what any of it means. Do I even know? Probs not. But there it is.

Okay, well, I guess there is nothing left to say. This post has been sort of pointless and rambly (I'm making that a word. I don't even care). So, goodbye. It's weird not to make a promise at the end of my blog (cause I usually do and then fail to follow through). Sooo, I promise to save money, invest in good opportunities, and take extra special care of my extremely needy cat. kthx, sorry, god bless, cheers.

-ben josé

 Thanks, Paint. You did me wonders. Also, NERD ALERT.

52 Books, 52 Weeks, Only More to Come...

I did it. What does it matter if it's the last day and I only had a few hours to spare? I finished reading 52 books in 52 weeks. It wasn't easy at all. I struggled at points. Some books were long, some were short. Some I disliked strongly, others I fell in love with. But I kept reading and each new book opened up my mind to new ideas, experiences, and understandings. Books really are beautiful.

Sometimes it is hard to find time to read. Life gets in the way. Heck, life gets in the way of most things I want to do: write, travel, explore, etc. But I believe reading is a key essential of life. As my favorite character from Game of Thrones, Tyrion Lannister, so shrewdly puts it, “I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind… and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge. That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow." Back at ya, Mr. Lannister.

If you hate reading, I encourage you to give it another chance. No one likes to be told to read when they are at school, but reading for your own pleasure is an immensely wonderful thing. So, please READ.

Why not make some superlatives for all the reading I did this year. People like lists, right? I like lists.

Favorite Book: The Arm of the Starfish and/or The Amber Spyglass really surprised me.

Least Favorite Book: The Hunger Pains - just god awful trash!

Longest Book: The Goldfinch -  it was over 1,000 pages and went on and on...

Favorite Character: Lizbeth from the Millenium Series

Least Favorite Character: Quentin Coldwater from The Magicians, BY FAR. He's the WORST.

Biggest Letdown: Allegiant - Why, Veronica Roth, why? Just a terrible ending...

Favorite Author from these 52: Madeleine L'Engle or Agatha Christie - Old Ladies, FTW.


2014, you've been a weird, challenging year. I accomplished a lot of things, but I still yearn for more new and exciting adventures. I'm always hopeful at the end of the year/beginning of the new year and I won't change that. I've always been an optimistic person.

So, as I go into 2015, I know that I want to see more, create more, and be more alive. I'll be doing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge again. I'll finally finish my first book and also some of the many screenplays I'm writing.

2015 is the year to put myself out on the ledge, get vulnerable, and live...


So cheers to that. See ya on the other side, brotha!

-ben josé

Below follows the 52 books I read in 52 weeks, 2014 Edition.

1.  Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn
2. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
3. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
4. The Fall - Albert Camus
5. Candide - Voltaire
6. On Writing - Stephen King
7. Divergent - Veronica Roth
8. Carrie - Stephen King
9. Redwall - Brian Jacques
10. The High Druid's Blade - Terry Brooks
11. The Arm of the Starfish - Madeleine L'Engle
12. The Accidental Billionaires - Ben Mezrich
13. Sparkling Cyanide - Agatha Christie
14. The Shining - Stephen King
15. The Wishong of Shannara - Terry Brooks
16. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
17. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
18. The Hunger Pains - The Harvard Lampoon
19. A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeleine L'Engle
20. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
21.  The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
22. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
23. Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
24. House of Secrets - Chris Columbus & Ned Vizzini
25. A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
26. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
27. Insurgent - Veronica Roth
28. The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
29. The Magicians - Lev Grossman
30. Allegiant - Veronica Roth
31. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
32. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
33. Inferno - Dan Brown
34. An Acceptable Time - Madeleine L'Engle
35. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
36. Animal Farm - George Orwell
37. The Egypt Game - Zilpha Keatley Snyder
38. Dark Force Rising - Timothy Zahn
39. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
40. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
41. The Thousand Dollar Tan Line - Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
42. Aurorarama - Jean-Christophe Valtat
43. The Beautiful and Damned - F.Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Seventh Tower - Garth Nix
45. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
46. Dragons in the Waters - Madeleine L'Engle
47. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
48. The Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie
49. Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie
50. A Floating City - Jules Verne
51. The Scorch Trials - James Dashner
52. Yes Please -  Amy Poehler

Day +5: Finished, But NO STOPPING

Everyone give a "WHOOP" because I "won" my third straight NaNoWriMo. On the last day of November. With 2 hours to spare. TWO! It came down to the wire and I was writing non-stop on the last weirdly rainy in LA day. But I did it. 50,000 more words done. Only problem is... wait for it... waaaait for it.... I'm still not done with my novel. *Price is Right fail music plays*

Still not finished. But now my novel has a staggering 193,853 words. That is an insane amount of words. I wonder if I have yet worked the words "kumquat" or "fart" into any of the 193,853 words. I don't think I have actually. And that is an INJUSTICE.

Holding myself from constantly editing my writing has obviously led to this momentous occasion. But I must still hold back. I need to finish the novel first. You may be questioning my sanity or if I'll ever finish, but fear not, I have a fun fact to share that will hopefully instill as much hope in you as Katniss instills hope in the people of Panem (which is a lot, despite herself).

My novel takes place over a short period of ten days in a row.  And we follow eight characters over the course of those ten days. That's not the long of a period of time, so how come it is taking so long, Ben? I shall ignore your question, and just gladly tell you that I am currently on the last day of those ten days. So the end, it is near!

I only have 24 more hours to get through... and even though everything in my novel has been building up to this last day and it is the climax and everything relies on it and, oh god, I can't screw this part up!

Blog reader? Are you there? I'm probably talking to the void of the internet at this point. But just know. THE END IS NIGH.

OH, also, I still am doing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. Yea, so I'm a bit behind. I have to read 11 more books in the next 26 days! AHH! So, excuse me while I go lock myself in my room.

Until next time...

- ben josé

Day 17: AHHHHH!

Um, it's Day 17 and we have a crisis! More than halfway through NaNoWriMo and I only have 5,672 words! That is not gooooood. And instead of writing more about it here, I'm gonna go and try and up my word count...

So, kthx bai

Day 0 - Less Than 24hrs til NaNoWriMo

Day: 0
Word Count: 0

It is finally here, folks! NaNoWriMo 2014 (or, National Novel Writing Month, in case you've come down with a case of finely tuned amnesia!).

 

Turn up the music! Bring on the tea! It's time to write a novel again. Errrr, or in my case, it's time to FINALLY finish my novel that I began a mere two...three....years ago. Don't ye worry your fine self, I promise you, this is the year it shall be finished! You hear that, Buoyancy, you're gonna be as finished as Amanda Bynes' illustrious career! We miss you, Ashley!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, so I hope that I get to typing. It is the final day in the Hollywood house that I've lived in with my five other roommates (and a dog and a cat) for the past year. AU REVOIR, SELMA HOUSE. It's been a crazy year of ups and downs, but regardless, things were learned and lived.

Pause. I am listening to David Bowie's "I'd Rather Be High (Veneitian Mix)" and it is just maaaaagical. Mr. Bowie, my personal baby-snatching hero, is definitely going to be one of the artists I will be listening to as I take back up on my novel. Music for me sets the mood for writing. I'm a fan of ambient sounds, rain/thunder, movie soundtracks (Add "Gone Girl" soundtrack to all your playlists, please), and video game music. It is surprisingly a beautiful genre full of many various melodic, soothing tunes.

You may or may not know that my novel is set from eight different point-of-views in the third person. Obviously, George R.R. Martin (you know that guy) is partly my inspiration. He wrote some books... Well, music helps me get into each of my different characters perspectives because obviously a poor, young thief doesn't listen to the same music as a rich, older housewife! DUH.

Oh, and my novel is Steampunk-Fantasy, which just so happens to be the theme of NaNoWriMo this year. If that isn't a sign that I need to finish it this year, then I don't know what is.

There are going to be a lot of distractions and excuses, but I shall remain strong. GET AWAY FROM ME, NETFLIX!

Cheers to a happy, fun NaNoWriMo! And remember, "There Is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics" or in this case, "Book" critics. JUST WRITE AND CREATE! Thanks, Of Montreal!

- ben josé

currently listening to: this smashing hit, gruntilda's lair, from banjo & kazooie. DON'T JUDGE ME.

31 Days til NaNoWriMo 2014: SteamPUNKed

Just announced: NaNoWriMo's 2014 Theme: Steampunk!!! Okay, I am nerding out because my novel (ya know, the one three years in the making now) is steampunk themed! So, this must be a sign that I will finish it this year and everything will be great? Right? Right.

It's about to be the month of October, the month of spirits and fall. That means only 31 days left to prepare for the forthcoming NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for the plebeians). As I have been working on my novel all year, I just need to further crack my knuckles and prepare to devote ALL my time to it, not just moments here and there.

Life has been going well so far. Instead of moving in November like I did last year, my girlfriend and I jumped the gun and will be moving in October! Aha! Still in Los Angeles, just to a completely different part of the City of Angels. Excited for the change.

 

Also, I fixed my broken phone, fixed my broken car, finished up other issues. I don't want any distractions when it comes to NaNoWriMo. The cruel apple red face of Netflix stares me down and I can't look away, but I must, I MUST. Be gone, Netflix! I banish you from my sights. After binging three seasons of Scandal, I just can't. But, what is that...more shows, more movies. WHY!?

 Excuse that mental break above, I will find a way to disable my Netflix during NaNo, or else doom will fall. In my spare time, I've also been writing for this great site called Whedonopolis.com. If you can't guess from the title they are lovers of all things Joss Whedon. Ya know the guy. He did Buffy, The Avengers... I could go on, but I shan't.

Anyways, I've been writing reviews for them including, Bates Motel, Salem, Under the Dome, Gotham, and Once Upon A Time. So if any of those shows interest you, take a look: www.whedonopolis.com. Also check out my book reviews on Goodreads! I'm doing the "52 book in 52 weeks challenge." 34 books down, so I'm a little behind schedule. Don't worry though, reader. Reading is fun!

Welp, that's about it. Let the countdown begin. 31 days. I already feel it. This is the year I finish my book. #Steampunk 4 EVAR!

-ben josé