If I Said you had a Beautiful Body Would you Take your Pants off and Dance Around a Little?

Added another 7oo words to Chapter 7 of Dearest . . ., but this one seems to be just running and running. I keep pouring words into it, and I still don't seem to be any closer towards the end. Kiara's entered the building where her dream was set now, and she's just about to recognise it. I keep describing the surroundings though, putting off having to write the good stuff. It's frustrating.

Wrote a review for a prologue on the Zoo.

Did some more plotting.

Later . . .

Look at that Worm Go. Who Says There are no More Heroes?

Well, Friday's interview went better than the last two, so much so I didn't even bother going up to the one scheduled for today. I got there, had a surprisingly short talk with a couple of the engineers, and got offered the job. I'm still waiting for some written confirmation to arrive, so I'm not getting too excited, but . . . I am happy :)

I know some people spend ages interviewing and getting a job, and I know that some people send out a lot more applications and get a lot more rejections than I have, but it still feels like this job hunt has taken far too long. It's only been three months, but they were a long three months. That and the fact that most of my course-mates are either working already, or have jobs to come back to, have made me particularly impatient. As long as I think about the bloke in London who said he sent out thirty applications, rather than Guy who got a job on his first attempt, or Al who everybody wanted to employ (or any of the others for that matter), I can call this a victory of form completion and CV writing.

Okay, maybe I'm deluding myself, being silly and getting too excited about this, but I don't care . . . I've got a job.

Your Catchphrase is Hysterical. Please Say it Clearly for my Answer Machine Tape

Busy and expensive weekend. Friday: interview; mate's girlfriend's sister's birthday party.

Saturday: standard jaunt into the very heart of the Sticks' social scene.

Sunday: babysitting cottage, dogs and kittens; Listening to Pantera at ridiculously high volume levels because there are no neighbours to upset.

Coming soon: Whining About Accomadation.

Now that the job hunt is winding down, you might actually notice less whining and actually some updates about writing. Not a lot to say today though: added 400 words to Dearest . . .

Later . . .

You Call Yourself King of the Jungle?

It was review frenzy when I checked my two workshopped pieces last night. Curiosity had an extra one, and The Well had an extra two (after sitting on the horror'shop with one for almost three weeks). I like getting reviews, it feels more like I'm not wasting my time at this.

What I like even more, however, is when they start with:

Professionalism of writing:5

Setting:5

Character development:5

Plot credibility/suspense:5

Dialogue:5

Overall rating:5

Of course, the guy was probably drunk, and it confirms my attitude towards the scoring system (being it doesn't work, it is completely misleading and it varies hugely on individual perspective) but it's still nice to see :) I've definitely got something to work with.

Today: 550 extra words added to Dearest . . .

Later . . .

I Can't Feel Nothing Beneath my Chin

Well, I got rejected by that job in the City. No clear reason in the form rejection they sent in the post this morning. Their loss.

I have two interviews coming up: Friday and Monday.

Gonna Leave the City, Gonna Hop the Train Tonight

Today: another 300 words towards Dearest . . ..

Have not Been Shortlisted for Interview

Picked up another review for 'Curiosity' last night. Seemed to enjoy reading it, yet he said he was disappointed by the ending, that he wanted some of the mystery of the piece explored. That's the first time anyone has mentioned this, so I think I'm going to see if it comes up again before I make any drastic changes.

Returned M's review. His prologue was pretty cool, so I'm going to check out the first two chapters later on. I'm trying to keep a philosophy of critting two stories for every unprompted review I recieve (in other words, I return the review and then crit someone new--kind of a pay it forward type thing), so I critted another piece.

Another 750 words typed towards Chapter 7. Worked on some plotting.

Changes

Today: another 45o words on my Work in Progress. I've started Chapter 7 (called Changes) with another Journal entry. I should be able to start the chapter proper tomorrow.

Picked up one review for the new draft of Curiosity. It was from someone who had read the earlier draft, and he seemed to like the changes I've made.

Also, I had an idea for a flash piece whilst I was on the bus--although if I'm honest the idea has been hanging around unformed since I went to the city--so I tried to get some words down for that. It doesn't have a title of yet, so lets just call it The Flash Fiction Idea I Had on the Bus.

Action Man Line

Got another interview date through. This one is from the company that already rejected me. They said that they would pass my details onto another department, and it turns out that department may now have something for me. I guess it's reassuring that the first department didn't tell the second not to even bother interviewing me. I'm liking to think that the Second Department haven't heard Bad Things about me, but we'll see how it goes on Friday.

I also had another one come this Thursday, but I've had to rearrange this as it was difficult to get to and back in the same day (it being on the far side of London to me). I could have travelled back the next morning, as I got somewhere to crash at Student With No Razor's, but would have meant travelling back on Friday, which means more expense. They want me next Monday now instead.

Later . . .

Most Important Formula you will Ever Require

Over the last couple of days I have made some changes to Curiosity. I think the biggest problem with that last draft was the over extensive use of the passive voice. I've tried to get rid of all of it (I left a few instances in because they seemed to fit), but we'll have to see if people think the new slicker version is any better.

You'll Only Get More Wrath

When recieving my train tickets to and from the interview yesterday I grossly underestimated my timings. I ended up with two and a half hours to kill before the interview, so I had lunch by the river and then I went to St. Pauls to watch the 9-11 memorial service.

The interview went okay. I think I managed to convince the first guy who interviewed me of my abilities. However then we went upstairs and I found myself talking to one of the senior partners (the one that the company was actually named for). He asked me a series of questions that I didn't have prepared answers for, and I'm fairly convinced that I came across as a bumbling idiot. I guess I shall know soon enough if he thought the same thing or not.

After the interview I had another load of time to kill. I was beginning to get my bearings--get an idea of what was within walking distance--so I decided to the tourist thing. The engineer in me dragged the rest of me up the river to the Amazing Oscillating Bridge, as it was the 'attraction' within walking distance that I most wanted to see. Whilst I'm disappointed that I never got a chance to walk across the bridge whilst it still wobbled, it's quite an impressive sight nonetheless. The views up and down the river are pretty cool as well.

Yesterday was my first visit to the capital in three years, the first in five years where I've done anything other than ride on trains. Some things I've learned/remembered:

The city is filthy. Seven hours and everything I own is grey/black.

There are more cafes and coffee chains than any respectable city needs.

There are no bins anywhere. It's as if they want you to litter.

The bridge has stopped wobbling

Trust in me and I'll Lay all your Nightmares to Waste

Finished the first draft of Thanks for Listening this afternoon. Added another 65o words to it. I don't imagine for a second they're all very good words, but they're new, and that's the most important thing. I have a feeling the story will change a lot in the rewrite.

Did an impromptu word count to see how far along Dearest . . . has gotten. It came to 16ooo words, which is further than I've got before. Not great, when you consider how much time has been inputted, but not bad either.

Later . . .

The Pink Ones Keep you from Screaming

I wrote another review this afternoon, and have been feeling guilty ever since. It was a bit of a savaging, and I really tried not to be too discouraging, yet I can't help but feel that the guy will never write another word again after reading it. I know how demoralising it can be when you get a bad review, and when I write one I wouldn't be happy to receive I feel like I'm a complete bastard. I do try to add constructive criticism, and I know that it's not as bad as some of the reviews people get (I've never used the word 'terrible', for example), but I still feel like I'm kicking someone in the head.

Later . . .

And Here I am Using my Legs Like a Sucker

And yes, I borrowed the cufflinks. Am I ready for the interview? I think so, but I shall be glad, regardless of the outcome, when it's over.

Wish me luck . . .

There's a Possibility of Narcolepsy

Wednesday's interview in the capital is looming and as usual my preparations for such an event have started with what I see to be the important things. First step: ensure that you have something to read on the train journey back. To that end, I bought The Ill-Made Mute. Tomorrow, we begin step two: borrowing some cuff-links. Stay tuned, it promises to be a riproaring journal entry.

I Kissed my Sweetie with my Fist

Today: worked a little more on Thanks for Listening and wrote another review. That is all.

Came, Saw, Conquered

We took a trip to the Largest Maze in the World yesterday. It's in Christchurch, Dorset, in a large field of maize. It has 7.61 miles of paths set into this field (the paths were set out before planting with a GPS receiver) and it actually consists of three mazes of increasing difficulty: silver, gold and platinum.

It took us three hours to drive up there from the Sticks, but it was worth it. We left early, so Jack and Big Ron spent most of the journey asleep. We got there earlier than expected and, as the maze didn't take as long as we thought, we were back home again by six.

We were visiting the attraction fairly late in the season (it's only two weeks now until the crop gets harvested), so the maize had grown to above our heads. At times (especially in the platinum maze, when we started to think we were going around in circles) you couldn't see anything other than crop; not any of the bridges or observation decks, not the marquee that awaited us in the centre, not the railway line that ran along the side of the field.

We didn't find the first two mazes much of a challenge: the silver maze was easy once you remembered where you'd been, and the gold maze we completed using the effective-but-boring method of only ever turning left (my associates didn't think it would work, but we completed it in 20 minutes). The final maze, however . . .

We got put in mind of those horror films, where the hero is chased through a cropfield and ends up getting lost. When Jack led us at a run through the platinum maze, taking random turns as he did so, not one of us managed to keep our bearings. It's easy enough to do if you take it slowly--navigate by the sun, or just keep account of how many lefts and rights you've taken--but running makes it easier to get lost. I never understood that before, how anyone can get lost in those situations, but I do now. I like to think that I've got a pretty good sense of direction (unlike Elydian, who can get himself lost in people's houses) but even I got turned around. You can't remember junctions because they all look the same. You can't head in the right direction, because you can't tell what the right direction is.

Just when we were beginning to think that we had wandered into a big loop, which we were just repeating over and over, we found the exit, and felt an immediate sense of disappointment that, even lost, we had managed to complete it. Still, that didn't last long, and we were soon standing on the victory bridge, laughing at those still inside and doing the victory dance.

Okay, it was only me doing the victory dance, and I stopped fairly quickly when the staff threatened to take my certificates away.

Staggered . . . but Lived to Tell the Tale

Watched The Bourne Identity last night. Quite good, Matt Damon was surprisingly convincing in an action role.

Amaized and Dazed but not Fazed

Today: when I managed to stop our new kittens from attacking my feet, I worked a little on Thanks for Listening. Have added 300 words to the total.

Also read through another story ready to write a review.

I am Evil, Hear me Cackle

Today: wrote another review. Added words to Pound Store (by hand, so word count will be increased later) and Thanks for Listening (on computer).

I've also taken Curiosity down from the zoo. I'll make some changes and repost it just as soon as I finish this draft of Thanks for Listening.

Later . . .

BritFlick Plot Generator

I've just updated infinitewhite.net and one of the new additions was the project I've been nattering on about this past few days. The BritFlick Plot Generator generates a random plot for a BritFlick everytime the page is loaded. It's of medium fun.

Wanna play? Just go to thoughts of the misguided and click on the appropriate link.

Other than that, there's not a great deal new to the site. A few more links, and an images website with very few images.

Enjoy, and send comments, crits and abuse to the usual address iapetus@mechanios.com.

All the Getaway Cars

Well, the 'BritFlick Plot Generator' is finished (and quite funny, I might add), but I've decided that I'm not going to update the website until tomorrow, maybe later. I want a chance to tidy up the links page before I do anything like that. I don't have a lot of time tonight.

More tomorrow . . .

Dancing, Singing and Killing One Another

Today: added another 350 words to Thanks for Listening. Getting closer now, getting closer. Wrote another review.

Finally worked out a way to do the 'Brit Flick Plot Generator' so that the results will come out random each time the page is loaded. I've got to finish writing it, so I'll probably try and update the website tomorrow night.

Speaking of which, I tried to visit Regisuck's url forwarding. I haven't checked it for a long time, so I'm not sure how long it's been like this. If it's been like it for a while then I'm going to have to start shouting at some people. I'm really not happy with these bastards.

Later . . .

Her name is Nona, she's a rocker with a nose ring

Today: another four hundred words to Thanks for Listening.

Oh, and I updated this thing. It looks a little simpler than the old version, but at least it's all mine now.

Later . . .

The Well

Friday: Bit of thinking about storylines, but no new words. Have resigned myself to missing last month's total. Job applications. Watched Insomnia. I would heartily recommend that everybody watch this film--one of the best that I've seen this summer.

Yesterday: I resubmitted The Well, but this time to the Horror Workshop as that seems a more fitting place for it. It's a little worrying that this second draft has taken me almost a year to write (the first draft was EC runner up for September submissions at the Zoo last year). It's just as well I'm not trying to make a living out of this--eleven months to do a rewrite? I'd never eat.

Also yesterday: more job applications.

Today: tore Student With No Razor's story to pieces, and emailed him the remains. Okay, maybe I exagerrate, but I like to. Continued to work on Thanks for Listening, adding another 45o words.

Later . . .