These Shoes ....

The script that I am writing (developing?) for Script Frenzy has foundations in the fairy tale of 'The Red Shoes'. In her deconstruction of the story Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes (in Women Who Run With Wolves) talks about the symbolism of shoes.

She suggests that shoes are a way of recognising one type of person from another - that shoes tell something of who we are as a person, and who we are aspiring to me. I find this really interesting, because I am a proclamed 'non shoe-ist' ... that is I love to go barefoot. Shoes, apparently were what separated (at one level) master and slave - the master had money, position, status and shoes! Puts a whole new spin on the term 'barefoot and pregnant'. Whilst not exactly 'pregnant' for the past four years, my love affair with barefeet has reached a peak during these seminal years of mothering. Is this a symoblic?

Dr Estes goes on to say that symbolically shoes protect and defend our feet - that is our mobility and freedom. Which makes me muse, as to whether I've needed to protect my mobility or freedom, or whether all these years I've been trying to fashion my own version of mobility and freedom (walking my own walk so to speak?) ... as both these concepts/themes have been, and continue to be, very important in my life, though motherhood has brought a whole new plethora of challenges to ideas or desire concerning them.

So a new pair of shoes? A new conviction for my beliefs and the energy to act on them?

I finally got myself a pair of hiking boots yesterday. A lovely shiny black pair that I am sure will be very well used in a week's time. Until recently I always wore boots. I'm a practical woman and boots are practical footwear - I am sure that no one would argue that. Not necessarily convenient - buyt practical. My last pair of 'practical boots' fell to bits around the same time that I met my partner - I remember the slap of the left sole on the wooden boards of the verandah out the front of his office at uni. So this feels like a returning to my self.

It seems to be symbolic in a way of trying to merge the best of the 'old' (that's before child) with the 'new' (afer child) to create the me that sits in the here and the now. The woman who is a writer, a mother, a partner ... a new pair of boots to negotiate both the inner and outer terrains?

I'm sure that there are many adventures awaiting in the Tasmania - and I'm sure that it will be another turning point (just as our trip to the mountains was last August). I'm ready to begin negotiating the last steps of metamorphosis, to step into my authenticity.

And they're off and running

Script Frenzy started today and I got off the mark with seven pages. It's quite twisted and strange after NaNo and a completely different writing style. It really is the bare bones. I've always had an affinity for dialogue, so one would think that I'd be in my element, but I'm at present finding it all a bit disconnected ... so we'll see how we go. At least if I can get ahead in the next day or so, then I will have a few pages up my sleeve, as we'll spend most of Thursday travelling either by plane or by car.

This is going to be a great challenge and I am glad (though I may have to eat those words a few weeks down the track) I chose to do it. It seems to be a way of indulging all those voices in my head.

Just a little crazy

It's the 30th of March today - meaning that there is in reality, just one day left until Script Frenzy begins. It's the stage and screen version of NaNo.

My confession is that I've always wanted to write a movie - just because! And when I saw that the Office of Letters and Light also runss Script Frenzy late last year, it piqued my interest ... but then the caucophony of naysayers in my head started up. All the reasons why I could not possible write a script.

If it hadn't been for Demon Lover I would never have considered signing up ... because lets face it, if you're going to do something, of a literary nature, that you've never done before it helps (well its a bloody good start) if you have at least the tiny seed of an interesting story. So two weeks ago the Universe gifted me the dream from which Demon Lover was born, and my gift back to the universe will be a screen play.

The beauty of this, having never done it before, is that I give myself permission to do it really badly ... after all I am just a beginner at writing scripted dialogue. And there's something incredibly freeing about it. Like NaNo - my script will only be a FIRST DRAFT

I've done some research to find out how to format a script, and read a couple of them (they really are the stark bare bones of what ends up on the screen!), done some more research into the fairy tale from which all of this was intitally born (The Red Shoes) and have started to search out music that I think will fit with it. And well - we'll see what happens. Oh and slowly but surely my characters and a slightly more fleshed out plot are appearing.

Did I also mention, that in additon to having never written a screen play and committing to write 100 pages of script in 30 days, I will also be on holidays for the great part of April, travelling around Tasmania with my family. Another great reason to suggest to myself, that next year would be a better year ... but if I said that, I'd be 70 and suggesting that 71 would be a better year.

Again, I'm lucky enough to have a family that is 100% behind me on this. They don't really have a lot of choice really - seeings we're all going to be travelling together.

Is there anyone else out there who is also attempting Script Frenzy?