Silence Please!

I think I’ve written about this before, but I simply need to know again: What is it with people talking in theatres?

 
I mean, is nothing sacred anymore? Should I just sit there while everyone acts like they are sitting in the privacy of their own homes commenting on a TV show, instead of a public place where other people are trying to enjoy the movie?

As Firefly so brilliantly teaches us, there is a special hell reserved for people who talk in the theatres.

But what about people who constantly check their phones, blinding the people behind them for several rows. Or the people who actually—and I kid you not—start CALLING someone during a show. “No I can talk.”  …. No you really can’t. You’re in a freaking cinema!

A (good) movie is a form of escapism. It provides us with about two hours of fun in which we get to be someone else and not worry about our own problems. Even as a kid I loved that feeling a good movie could give you, walking down the stairs to the exit, feeling for a moment longer like you were the hero of the movie and just did all those kick-ass stunts or delivered that clever dialogue. And whenever I see someone whip out their phone twenty times an hour, horror images from 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Feed, A Brave New World and several Doctor Who episodes featuring the Cybermen come to mind. And I wonder how much of those novels is still completely fiction. What is so important that it couldn’t wait two hours? Are they really so addicted to their phones that they don’t even notice?

I won’t lie, I usually have my phone ready as well and it has spared me many awkward moments where you are waiting for someone, with nothing to do and can be saved by not just pretending to have a text, but actually playing a game or surf the internet. But thankfully I am still able to refrain from checking my phone constantly during other activities such as reading, having a conversation or being at the movies.

Then there are the people who just comment constantly on what is being said, in a voice loud enough so that the whole theatre will be able to hear them. Only a few days ago I went to see Last Vegas with my mother and this guy next to me kept on commenting on EVERY JOKE. Instead of laughing, like a normal human being he kept on shouting things like “Oh that’s good. That there is brilliant, who wrote this. That is quality work” etc. Etc. Etc. That’s just as bad as being one of those people who keep saying “LOL” or “That’s so funny” instead of giving you a chuckle. Still, I could live with it. But to top it up he then started to have this whole loud conversation with his girlfriend, while I tried to actually hear what  was being said on screen.

After a while I got too pissed off to enjoy the movie so I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to be quiet. The same thing happened that usually happen when I ask this, mostly in the silent compartment of trains: *eyes widen like they had no idea other people could also hear their raised voices and they weren’t living in a private glass bubble* (Reminds me of people who say bad things on twitter about @someone and then are surprised when they find out) “Oh I’m sorry. Sure!” and then turn to the girlfriend to say in a very loud whisper that I want them to be quiet.

And of course, nothing changes. Only now they are aware of my annoyance. To their credit, they didn’t start another conversation, but still.

And don’t get me started on people who walk about several times to go to the bathroom, get a snack etc. etc. Especially since in the Netherlands there is a 15 minute break in between the movie! I swear if I had a remote to pause the film every time something like this happened, I would still be in there now…

What cinema horror stories do you have? Or do you think talking at a cinema should be allowed? Let me know!

And as always, keep writing!

Xx
Noortje

Ps. Yes I use movies and cinema and theatre. I always speak a mix of American and British which really messes up my grammar! In the Netherlands we call it ‘Naar de film gaan” (or bioscoop) aka “going to the films.”

Avoiding Endings

I am not good with endings. In pretty much every sense of the word. I hate saying goodbye to people knowing it's pretty much forever (mostly when they go back to their countries and I go back to mine and you say you'll be in touch, but really, it's going to be a "like" of status relationship on facebook) and I hate ending a fun night out with friends.

I also have quite some trouble with finishing books, as anyone who have seen my "reading" shelf on Goodreads will know. Or, maybe more accurately, I have a short attention span and tend to start way to many new books. There are probably many reasons for this. One of them is that I simply want to read EVERYTHING and it's so hard not to start a book that just came in the mail and which you've been waiting for for ages--when you also have twenty other books you still need to finish.

Sometimes, on rare occasions a book simply isn't working for me and although I hate not finishing books (I usually finish them eventually, even if it can take more than a year) some juts don't see worth my reading time to finish.

Mostly though I get this reluctance to read on because reading on means that the book will end--and then what? (It's a wonder that it didn't take me three years to finish Harry Potter. I devoured the last book, my curiosity of what was going to happen even larger than not wanting it to end).

This problem in finishing things manifests in pretty much everything in my life. From the drawings that still need to be inked, coloured in or completely sketched out, to the guitar that I still haven't really learned to play even a little, to songs on the piano that I only know halfway.

But maybe the worst thing is when it happens with writing. Because I love my stories and I want them to be told, even if no one but me is going to read it. I want to know what happens to my characters and I feel like they deserve to have their story told properly, ending and all.

As most of you probably know, endings are incredibly hard to write and so hard to get right. I've probably re-written my endings and beginnings more than anything else in my stories.

 

Which is why one of my stories, that of Meggie, was lying silently in a metaphorical drawer, waiting to be finished, while I darted around editing this, starting that and re-visiting old stories.

Now that it's a new year and I've decided to write 1500 words a day, I decided to spend that time on Meggie, hoping that a sense of schedule of habit will help in finding an ending. And so far it's working! It was really hard in the beginning and I had to really fight to get words. And then suddenly this morning they just came, easy as in the middle of the story and I had new ideas and my characters went off in new directions that I hadn't even thought of and that were more surprising and better than some rough sketches of "where it was going to go".

Endings are worth it. They resolve things, they make sure that the characters had the time to make their say. It gets the story told. Which is why I urge any writers who have unfinished projects waiting for some attention, to just sit down and start writing until the ending comes to you!

Somewhere this week I'm going to the music store and get some new guitar strings. Then I'm going to start all over and start to learn.

Keep writing,

Xx
Noortje

 

 

The Opportunity of a New Year

The new year for me has always felt like a clean slate. The perfect opportunity to make some drastic changes in your life and to change any bad habits you might have acquired over the past year(s). And for me this is probably why I love the holidays. Not just because you are reminded of how loved you are and how thankful for all the things in your life, but also because I made it up in my mind to be this big event. When really, all it is are the ticking of the clock and fireworks. 

But right now, at the start of 2014, I feel quite different. Because this year there were a lot of bad things I had to go through. Today, I am not the person I want to be and I am utterly different from the person I was two years ago. And just because we now write a little 4 instead of a 3 whenever we have to note down the date, does not mean that I suddenly stopped going through all those things. The love and cheer of the last couple of weeks has not changed everything that was wrong. 

And I suppose I am taking it all a little harder than I thought I would. I still wouldn't want to swap my life with anyone else out there, no matter how happy or successful or loved they might be (or appear to be from the outside). I am happy with my life because it's mine. It just needs a little work. And some changes aren't easy. Some are hard and you have to fight for it and keep fighting even when you are too ill and tired to fight or when you're constantly pushed back when you think you are getting better, or when you do not even understand what is exactly wrong to begin with. 

What I am trying to say with all this rambling, is that I probably shouldn't be too hard on myself. A new year doesn't change anything, it just presents an opportunity. And I still intend to take that opportunity. There just isn't a magic wand that makes it all better once the fireworks go off. 

I have already made some promises to myself for 2014 as I am sure many of you have as well. I've added 75 books to read in 2014 as a challenge again on goodreads and have started anew on my query letter and research for agents. Which is why some more writing tips/chatter might be coming along.

I have also challenged myself to writing 1500 words a day for the whole of January... excepting January 1st because I only thought this thing up yesterday. 

If you want to follow that process, or if you want to join me in trying to write each day (whatever the amount you want) follow me on twitter or via #1500WordsaDay and #amwriting

You can befriend me on Goodreads if you're curious what kinds of books I read by searching for "Noortje de Graaff".  

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2014! May it be filled with lots of writing.
Thank you for sticking with me another year :)

Keep writing!

Xx
Noortje