Limitless

Hi Marly!

It's been a long time since any of us has written a post, so I thought I should give it a try again. I wanted to talk about something that's kept us both busy for quite some time (and to which you introduced me actually), namely: web series. There are so many cool ones out there, each one with its own aims and aspirations. Because they exist through sponsoring (for a great part at least), they have a much greater creational freedom than series on TV, and can reach a big audience. I decided to make a list with my favorites, in no particular order:

1. Squaresville



It's quirky, it's experimental, yet it tells the story of two average teenage girls. It follows Zelda and Esther as they try to escape their suburbian town ('Squaresville'), mainly through lots of daydreaming. I love it so much because the characters are so real, so imperfect and recognisable.

2. Space Janitors



This is so awesome, so goofy, so AWESOME! I'm not a science fiction fan (although I make a HUGE exception for Doctor Who), but this just plays with all the genre cliche's and is totally hilarious. Also, the special effects (low budget!) are amazing.

3. The autobiography of Jane Eyre


Okay, it all started out with the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which was pretty awesome too. But I think I like this little gem even better. Jane (played by the amazing Alysson Hall) is very lovable and most of all, very convincing. It's less polished and a bit more experimental than LBD, and sometimes downright scary. Very, very nice.

I hope more people discover these great series, because they really deserve it!

Love, Suze

The succes of FAILURE

Yes, I failed. I started off so optimistic this month, ready to write 50.000 words. And what's more, I wanted to write a new story every day. It would be amazing! I would explore new themes, new ways of writing and I would discover new sides of myself as a writer.

What happened? What happened to that optimism, that determination, that drive? How could I just lose that?

Looking back on July (and the month isn't finished yet, which means I have a voice shouting 'write, write, while you still can!!!' in my head) I think I can safely say that I didn't lose that drive, or the determination. The problem was not a lack of energy, or a writers block, or a lack of ideas, it was the opposite. I once heard that when you are stuck with your writing, it is because you have too much ideas, and you don't know which one is best. That is the same problem I encountered this month.

Let's see what I did do:
1. Made plans for a book, or a series of books (detailed plans, not just thought about it)
2. Started with a radio play.
3. Recorded a song with my lovely sister, then
4. Made a video for that song and uploaded it.
5. Worked on and recorded another cover.
6. Did write 10 short stories, and started even more.

Actually I am pretty proud of myself, even when I didn't succeed with Nanowrimo. Moreover, I have booked tickets to Japan and send all the required documents, so I have done some important, obligatory stuff too. This shows that you always should look at why you failed and what you wanted to achieve in the first place. For me, it wasn't just about the words, it was about developing myself on the creative level. And in that respect, I haven't failed. Yes, I think I'll look upon this failure as a succes.

We're going backwards

What is this? 

A song by Murderous Mango aka US!!! WOOHOO!!!

It's a cover of this song by Matthias, a contestant (and finalist) of Internet Icon season 2!

Enjoy!

Crying

Today I said goodbye to a friend and housemate. She is going to study in South-Africa for 5 months. As I will be going to Japan in October and only return in March, this means I won't see her for a very long time. She was crying. Her mother was crying. Her sister was crying and some of her other friends were crying. I did not cry. In fact, I wasn't even sad. No matter how I tried, I couldn't grasp the fact that she was really leaving. I just couldn't feel it.

I just have that sometimes. I know that something is coming, but I just can't see it until it is real. I almost never cry in situations where other people are crying. When something is not real on the other hand, like a movie or a series when someone (almost) dies, I cry my eyes out.

I know it's not obligatory to cry, but sometimes you just feel as if you lack something. And not just the tears, the entire feeling of sadness is absent. I do feel it at the strangest moments. One casual remark from someone - who is perfectly happy at that moment - and there are tears in my eyes.

I don't understand myself. Am I weird? Maybe I should take notes of the times I do feel things and find out what the determining factor is...

Lots of love,
Marly

ps. Later than I promised, but there is a story on my blog. The theme was Envy.

Someday I'll grow my wings and fly away

How I went to England and fell in love with it.

*

Pictures of London, Cambridge, Grantchester and Brighton. I'm not a professional photographer, and that's not my aim. I just wanted to make some pictures of the beautiful things I saw. Can't wait to go back there.

Lots of love, Suze

Challenge

Holidays are upon us and that means…  that I’m going to take it easy, right? Just laying around all day, reading books, watching series (okay, so pretty much as always).

But that’s not what’s going to happen. Because tomorrow is the first day of Camp Nanowrimo. This July will be filled with writing, writing, writing, until at the end of the month I will (hopefully) hit the magical wordcount of 50.000.

Still, as I already  achieved this once, in November, this time I decided to make it more difficult. Because vacation is here and… no, I don’t understand it either.

You know that I tried to challenge myself in April too, and that was a big fail. That time the plan was to use the storygenerator of TV-tropes as the basis of my story. I had to use the elements the generator provided me with. It was hard. I failed hard too.

This time, instead of writing on one story, I will try to write one every day. The wordcount for one short story is 1613, so that I will eventually reach the 50.000 goal.

To tell you the truth, I am not at all convinced that I will be able to pull it off. I will have to have a good idea every day. I do have a theme for every day, but I will still have to start from scratch every day… Also, I was planning on abandoning the fantasy genre I usually write in for realism. All stories will take place in the same city, Utrecht. That will link them, but it will also limit the possibilities. Yes, I am scared.

Why I still choose to spend my first free month wrestling with deadlines, stress and despair (probably)? Because I like to challenge myself. And I really think that, if this will work, I will grow as a writer. Trying out new things must bring out new elements of yourself, right? Let’s hope so anyway.

To keep myself motivated, I will try to post one of the stories on Marly’s short stories each week. That does mean I will have to translate them, as I write in Dutch. Oh well, another challenge. Why not?

Love, Marly

Ps. Sorry I didn’t write last week. I was busy, but looking back I can’t remember what with.  Won’t happen again. Hopefully.

Some haunting music videos

The first song is 'The Suburbs' by Arcade Fire. The shots are taken from the short film made by request of the band, directed by Spike Jonze (you can find it on vimeo). It looks really promising, and I'm planning to watch it later this week.

This is a short film by Laura Marling (yeah I'm obsessed). It covers the first 4 songs of her new album, and it's just.... gorgeous. GO WATCH IT. 

Okay, not so haunting. But Feist is awesome and I love the simplicity and the enthusiasm in this video. By the way, she's got a killer body. 

Lots of love, 

Suze