I have the blues...Today I have the blues. I have many script ideas with great potential --at least I believe--, but I seem to lack motivation. Fact is, I need a mentor. Someone with experience who could follow me, believe in me, help me with sound advices. My wife is not objective and, I'm sorry to say, lacks critical judgement. It's a terrible thing to say, I know. I don't want to hurt her. She's very special in many ways. She's "fresh" and "true". Her parents are wonderful too. Very generous, with a big heart. But, as far as writing is concerned, they're not of great help either.
"Why don't you turn to your own parents then?" you ask me! I can't. My father died when I was fifteen and my mother is a conceited person. We say suffisant in French. Of course, she doesn't do that on purpose. She doesn't realise she wallows in prejudices.
"What about yours friends? .................. My friends?! Yes. Well, I had friends when I was in England. I had friends when I was in Italy. But here, in France, it's all different. I came to live in Vienne because my wife wanted to remain near her parents. Understandable. But Vienne is a small town, with small minded people...! I don't seem to connect with them.
I'm 31, I know what I want, but I can't do it alone. I desperatly need some backup. I know I have talent. I know I can go far. I'm not being pretentious when I say that. But I'm stuck in a hole. I need someone to hold out his hand and help me getting out of it.
Comment 1
Hey! Come on Sheri!! Be positive! I am no expert, but I enjoy writing too. Remember, I run a web-site dedicated to Desmond Bagley (have I mentioned this before ? ;) ) and I've talked with a lot of people in and around the "writing and publishing industry".
The two sure-fire things to improve your situation are - 1) write about what you know. For most of us this just means a lot of research as DB used to do; and - 2) Keep writing, no matter what it is just keep the flow going. Set yourself a routine and don't judge yourself too harshly.
Coincidentally I moved away from most of my own friends to be with my wife (in the UK this is sometimes sometimes called being a "Modern Man"!!) I can travel 150-miles and be with a lot of good frineds, but life isn't working like that at the moment.
Things will improve! When are Christelle and Brinsley coming home? Perhaps you are just feeling isolation at the moment?
Posted by Nigel at 2006/04/29 22:43:11.
Comment 2
I have an image of France as being full of writers and philosophers, sitting around in cafés, smoking Gauloises, drinking coffee and talking about Jean Paul Sartre / Simone de Beauvoir.
Perhaps this is a little outdated now!
...but could there still be some remnant of this culture hanging around in the cafés of France... Perhaps you need to get out and about more!
Posted by John at 2006/04/30 03:06:06.
Comment 3
John. That's more of a stereotype, I'm afraid. And they're way too provincial here in Vienne. When I say small-minded, I mean it! (But I s'pose I could be wrong. My judgment is not infallible...)
Plus going out is not that easy when you have a child. I'm very happy with my son, no doubt of that, but it monopolizes a lot of one's time.
Nigel. They're coming back on Wednesday. My problem is that, when I'm alone, I think too much.
Posted by Sheri at 2006/04/30 09:46:03.
Comment 4
We are quite similar again, I too live in a small place, crappy and narrow-minded, sometimes I feel like a bird in a cage. Yes I do earn good money but the work side of things doesn't seem to cover for the lack of friends that I would have anywhereelse in the world, but not here.
Nigel gave you a good advice, write on things that you know start sending the papers eevrywhere and maybe something will come out.
On the need of a mentor, I wouldn't know. It seems the "easy excuse out". Many good writers neevr had a mentor (read the book "On Writing" Stephen King, it's his biography and it's extremely useful to anyone like me who approached writing some time ago).
Come on! You've got the numbers, but it's up to you to show them all. We can all read the scripts, or you can publish them on the net for more feedback (but they could get stolen, mind you)...
Posted by Lox at 2006/04/30 10:18:43.
Comment 5
About the mentor, I don't think it's a cheap excuse. I need SOUND feedbacks. I have the feeling I got stuck in marshy lands, though I know the terra firma isn't far away.
Posted by Sheri at 2006/04/30 11:05:24.
Comment 6
Feeling terribly sorry not to be able to help you...
Posted by Michèle at 2006/05/02 10:19:41.
Comment 7
You know what would cheer me up, Michèle...! .........................................A foot massage!
Posted by Sheri at 2006/05/02 15:37:03.
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