Recharging at a writer's paradise

There's a lake under here?

Marsh Lake housesit

Waking up every morning to the view over Marsh Lake is inspiring all by itself, never mind when a grouse casually strolls by in front of the window. Taking his time, he seems to be inspecting the snowy garden with coloured xmas lights strung overhead, birdfeeders brimming with seed and the red paper lantern stilled today in the calm after the storm.

The power was out yesterday for several hours but with no computer access I curled up to reread an early book version of my screenplay in front of the cozy woodstove. I kept the fire and my creativity stoked with this rare leisure. To avoid the icy roads, I had already canceled my plan to spend the day at the Whitehorse Library and then the Archives doing research for both an MFA assignment and the biography I'm readying to submit to publishers.  

Reflective time is so necessary for me as a writer and too often gets lost in the hurly burly of work as a freelancer. That's one of the reasons I applied to be part of Nakai's Homegrown Theatre Festival: http://new.nakaitheatre.com/component/content/article/37-on-stage/87-homegrown-theatre-festival.html

It was even worth staying up until 4 one night to rewrite the opening scene of my screenplay, Hit and Run. It will be produced as a short play, tentatively called, "The Gamble" or just "Gamble." And it
all started with encouragement from my inspiring friend, Anna Hamilton, whose Traveling North had been entered in a prior showcase. Then Jessica Simon, kindly read over my entry - my pitch, sitting steadfastly by while I clicked "send."

Homegrown will give me the chance to work with a dramaturg who can help raise my dialogue up to a level Elmore Leonard or Roger Avery would be proud of - like the infamous Royale with Cheese discussion between Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. A girl can dream, can't she?
Don't discount that dreaming from a snowy oasis can take you to some surprising places.

Another great support was recently offered by Greg Blanchette, who set up our new Clayoquot Writers' Group shared folder on Google docs - the better to review and comment on each other's work. No sweeter words could I hear than Caroline Woodward's "this script is an actor's dream candy."

As part of the Available Light Film Festival this week there are also workshops on pitching your film  project as well as on story with dramaturg Kim Hudson that I'm very excited to be attending. All babysteps towards my bigger goal - a direction I hope to keep developing with scriptwriting courses as part of my MFA in the fall semester. I'm going to have to work hard to make it happen but it's easier when you have great people behind you.   

So next time you picture a writer sitting all alone in a cabin dreaming up their future, make sure you crayon in the denizens of kind friends and supportive fellow writers that help make it happen. Or the homeowner who entrusted you with this handbuilt cabin and K-9 buddies for Wolf and Owl.

Don't forget to colour in the light over the mountains spilling onto the front yard and the dog who paces in through the dog door to remind you that a lot of great ideas are hatched on a walk through the woods, too!