Okay, now that I'm changing my direction in writing, I wanted to give you a bit of background in to how Sci-Fi has effected my life and how it has molded me into the person I am.
When I was a young lad, most of my reading experience was with scripture, or baby books, or Roald Dahl (still a big fan of his today). One day my mother wanted to encourage me to read more, so she handed me a copy of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and encouraged me to read it with her. The book was so different from anything that I had experienced before. It was so mature and it spoke to the loneliness and angst that I was feeling at the time. The visuals told within the book opened up a new world in my mind and I could feel myself right along Ender watching it all unfold. This was the first time that I could say that I envisioned the entire book.
Later on, for a friend's birthday, I went to the theater to watch the movie The Fifth Element. We had some crappy seats, and I remember being annoyed by that until the movie began. Once it got started I couldn't think, look or listen to anything else. My mind and body was glued to the screen. It was so fantastical and quick. It was funny, but action-packed. I remember thinking at that exact moment in my life "This is what I want to do with my life." From that moment on I focused my time and energy into becoming a filmmaker. I wrote stories that were in the same style (and looking back on it now, probably copied almost entirely) as the movie that had knocked me off my feet. It has been an obsession that has lasted me for a majority of my life. I even had to buy the Blu-ray when I could afford it because the DVD just wasn't cutting it.
In the last year or so, another Sci-Fi piece of literature has effected me so much so, that it has helped drive my decision to focus my life in pursuit of writing and becoming more adept at Sci-Fi. It was a script. An unproduced, but up and coming spec called I'm.Mortal by famed writer/director Andrew Niccol (who also did Gattica and S1m0ne). He has now finished production on the film and the title has changed to the generic In Time, but I warn you - do not think of this film as generic. It has impacted me in a way that few may understand and even more may find ridiculous, but to me it is significant. I eagerly anticipate the release of the film, but I know that because I love the screenplay so much I may be disappointed (it kind of happened with Source Code). Either way, I am excited by writing and talking about Sci-Fi now and I hope to be able to do as good of a job as Mr. Niccol someday.
So those are only a few examples of how it has effected and changed my life. What about you? Have you been effected by Sci-Fi (good or bad)? What experiences have you had that made you love/hate it?
3 comments:
Well, sci-fi impacts most of my life because I don't like it at all and you love it. So trying to find something we can both watch has become nearly impossible it would seem. However, I think the reason I don't like is because I find the fantasy hard to relate to at times, but there are moments when it's truly about character that I get it and thoroughly enjoy it.
Thank you for letting us in and understand you a bit better. Even after 6 years I get you a little better now since reading this. You're awesome!
Hi, I found your blog via your wife's facebook (we lived on the same floor in U-hall, way back). Anyway, I enjoyed this post. I write, too. At least, I'm trying.
Did you know that Orson Scott Card's website hatrack.com has a "Writer's Workshop" forum? I'm sure you already belong to some kind of online community like this, or maybe you don't need it at all, but since you mentioned "Ender's Game," I thought you might be interested.
Hey Caitlyn, thanks for checking out the blog! I didn't know about the forum. I'm not really good at keeping up with forums, maybe I should do better.
I'm going to check out hatrack.com, see where it takes me. Thanks again!
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