Things are quiet. At the moment, I spend a lot of time fighting fairly intense cabin-fever, and still looking for some kind of regular day work. There's the writing, but when it comes down to it I'm one of those people who needs fairly constant external stimulation in order to keep from running down - and that external stimulation usually comes in the form of part-time work. It gets me out of the house, talking to people, and making some extra money. I've applied for a couple of dozen jobs in the past month alone, but no success so far.
But, at the very least, I can get out in the evenings. This is a relatively quiet week, however, the first since the start of the year. Prior to this I've been out pretty constantly since post-Christmas with friends, and that's helped me at least retain my sanity a little bit. To this end I'm thinking about doing a little voluntary work of some kind, simply to get me out of the freaking house for a day or two a week.
In terms of actual writing, things are at least going pretty well. I'm halfway through my editor's edits on Stealing Light, and Tor/Pan MacMillan are generally making exceptionally positive noises concerning the book. This bodes well.
Then there's the ten-minute movie script, currently still caught in its own special form of development hell. It's been through another three drafts since it was first submitted to GMAC, and I think it's improved. The real problem facing myself, Shona (director) and to a certain extent Emily (development), is the cost of the project.
The script is set in a remote Scottish religious community. I've described it as a farmhouse surrounded by caravans, and beyond that a wire fence with surveillance cameras. There are other considerations, but as far as outside shooting goes, that's about it. It's only a ten minute movie, but in that space we have to show a lot.
Until now, it's only been a question of developing the script. But once that part has been done, myself, the director and a producer (assuming we can find one) are going to have to pitch this whole thing - again - to the people with the money, and if we can't prove we can make this movie for the available funds, then our chances of getting any funds at all are pretty much screwed.
Part of the problem is my own unfamiliarity with what it takes to make a movie. Because the idea is science fiction, this of course brings its own wealth of problems in terms of costs of shooting, and if anything trips us up, it's almost certainly going to be this. Other people will be filming scripts set in living rooms, suburban streets, or whatever. But we need ... an isolated community, robots, surveillance gear, you name it.
Next time, I write a story set in someone's living room.
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