overloaded.
I went to the library, and checked out six books about Chinese mythology and martial arts, plus two travel videos on the area. All of this is research for a script I want to begin (re)writing in march. It's an idea I have been contemplating for a long time. I even wrote a full length script based on the original premise and then chucked it after I realized it was total crap.
The original idea came from two places:
1) I love those incredibly cheesy flicks that center around a martial arts competition in a mythical temple. Or more specifically, I like seeing all the different styles of martial arts forms go up against each other. I liked the martial arts, since the storyline was often horrible.
2) I once read a story about sumo wrestling. In the story (which could be totally deluded from the truth, as I try to remember it) there was a woman who was in a position of respect. I want to say prime minister, or the equivalent. And whoever is in the position, whatever it was, is supposed to present the award to the winning sumo wrestler at the end of the match.
But there is a belief and a tradition which says that women cannot enter the sumo wring, because they would contaminate it. So, in the end, the woman prime minister was not allowed to hand out the award because of this. The award was presented by a subordinate.
So the idea that grew was this: a woman who is a martial artist ends up at the competition and has to enter secretly, because of this rule about women. I never did figure out a reason for the competition, or how she got into it, or how she could believable win the competition. I tried to BS my way through it, in the hopes of just getting it written. And of course it had no sensible plot whatsoever, and I could not make it in the slightest bit believable, so it got chucked.
But I did manage to meet a few interesting characters, who I have held onto all this time. I have another story in mind for them, something that has recaptured my interest and has me excited to get to it.
Now I am again desperately trying to learn as much as I can about chinese culture, because I want it to be realistic and believable. I hate trying to write something without enough information. it always feels like I'm walking through a dangerous jungle blind. So I research and I research, and I still end up walking through the jungle blind. Maybe it's just apart of writing and creating, kind of like leaping into the abyss for awhile. Definitely a scary thing.
* * *
Hmm. This post went an interesting direction. When I started this post, I intended to write about how I had to walk three blocks back to my car carrying eight very heavy books, and how I was tired afterward. And how I felt like such a geek, in a good way. Which was where the title came from, you know, overloaded with books. Ah well. these things happen.
The original idea came from two places:
1) I love those incredibly cheesy flicks that center around a martial arts competition in a mythical temple. Or more specifically, I like seeing all the different styles of martial arts forms go up against each other. I liked the martial arts, since the storyline was often horrible.
2) I once read a story about sumo wrestling. In the story (which could be totally deluded from the truth, as I try to remember it) there was a woman who was in a position of respect. I want to say prime minister, or the equivalent. And whoever is in the position, whatever it was, is supposed to present the award to the winning sumo wrestler at the end of the match.
But there is a belief and a tradition which says that women cannot enter the sumo wring, because they would contaminate it. So, in the end, the woman prime minister was not allowed to hand out the award because of this. The award was presented by a subordinate.
So the idea that grew was this: a woman who is a martial artist ends up at the competition and has to enter secretly, because of this rule about women. I never did figure out a reason for the competition, or how she got into it, or how she could believable win the competition. I tried to BS my way through it, in the hopes of just getting it written. And of course it had no sensible plot whatsoever, and I could not make it in the slightest bit believable, so it got chucked.
But I did manage to meet a few interesting characters, who I have held onto all this time. I have another story in mind for them, something that has recaptured my interest and has me excited to get to it.
Now I am again desperately trying to learn as much as I can about chinese culture, because I want it to be realistic and believable. I hate trying to write something without enough information. it always feels like I'm walking through a dangerous jungle blind. So I research and I research, and I still end up walking through the jungle blind. Maybe it's just apart of writing and creating, kind of like leaping into the abyss for awhile. Definitely a scary thing.
* * *
Hmm. This post went an interesting direction. When I started this post, I intended to write about how I had to walk three blocks back to my car carrying eight very heavy books, and how I was tired afterward. And how I felt like such a geek, in a good way. Which was where the title came from, you know, overloaded with books. Ah well. these things happen.