Musing about Woody Allen - 24th June, 2012
I love Woody Allen”s work. Not all of it, but a lot of his stuff since Annie Hall, although I have yet to see his latest offering starring Owen Wilson – but that was from a lack of time more than anything. Not that I condone all the stuff about his divorce from Mia Farrow and subsequent marriage to Soon-Yi Previn, although having said that what I don”t condone is the media”s interpretation of that situation. Since I”ve yet to make the man”s acquaintance and Soon-Yi doesn”t appear to be unhappy, I”m not in a true position to pass judgment.
Last night there was a documentary on him and it”s his artistic panache that I really admire. The way his mind works. In the documentary he mentioned that he was so disappointed with the end result of Manhattan (apparently it didn”t meet the vision in his head) he offered United Studios that he would do his next movie for free if they didn”t release it. His logic was that if this was the best he could do as an artist then he didn”t deserve to get paid. Of course Manhattan is one of his most acclaimed films.
But it was interesting because I”m not sure what i think of the book I just handed into my editor. I love the idea of the book and the characters but it is slightly different from my first two books and I don”t have the distance yet to see if I”ve achieved the vision in my head. This has been causing me some underlying angst as I wait for my editor”s final verdict, my mind constantly pointing out places the novel still needs to be tweaked.
Listening to Woody Allen talk about his process and his uncertainties and the way he evolved as an artist was revelatory. Because Woody also said that he would prefer to fail while stretching himself to do something new than succeed at something he already knows he can do well. And I think this is the crux of being an author. To always stretch ourselves and dig deep into our minds casino online to see what lays beneath.
So I”m giving myself a break over book three. I”ve attempted to write the type of book I love to read. Have I pulled it off? Certainly in places I know I have, but the jury is out about the whole package. But I can”t wait to reread it with some distance and see if I get lost in the magic of the story. To see if I get wrapped up in the chemistry between the two characters. To learn what worked and what didn”t and why. And of course I can”t wait to hear what my readers think. Whether we are on the same page, or whether they wanted something different from the story than I delivered. It will be interesting. And in the meantime I will keep working on producing the best books that I can, because for me, there is nothing better than a well told story that delivers an emotional punch that stays with the reader for a long time after they”ve put it down.
Maybe next week I will blog on books and movies that have delivered this for me. Reminscing about stories is almost as good as rereading/reviewing them! Now, it”s time to get packing . Literally. We move house in five days and I am woefully underprepared…. my husband thinks that I was royalty in a past life because I”m very good at ordering others around and very good at taking all the good jobs! Like writing on my blog. Sigh…
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Of course. Borrow away! All information is copy after all. Isn’t that what the late Nora Ephron said!
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It’s an absolute pleasure! Glad you stopped by to visit.