In writing class tonight, I got applause. And then one of my classmates said it was a very polished scene, so he wasn't surprised it was from earlier in the story than the previous things I'd had workshopped. I said, "I've been writing the book out of order. I actually wrote this scene last night." They then clapped again.

I'm floating about six feet above the ground right now.

Cool. Go, Susan.

Something I've been working on. Needs polish

Borrowed

I heard you once
I heard you say
(heard someone say,
at least):

This seems like what it needs to be.
There you are. Where did you go?
I will! Let's go tomorrow.
(I'm so happy) What good news!
Did you? I did! Oh, good for you!

This isn't what it should have been.
Where are you going? I can't find you.
Will we finish by tomorrow?
(I'm so sorry) Is there news?
Did you? I did. Oh, that's awful.

This isn't what it used to be.
I think I lost you. How'd I lose you?
I'll be gone, this time tomorrow.
(I'm so tired) That's not news.
Why did you? I just... did.

I like it, Holli. I especially like the rhythum of the last stanza, "I think I lost you. How'd I lose you?/ I'll be gone, this time tomorrow."

The last line is a bit, um, clunky- 'I just... did' doesn't feel like it works. Perhaps something which worked with the metre rather than against it would be better?

The pattern of using brackets is clever, too- and it works. The first stanza doesn't go with the rest quite as well, although that doesn't feel like it stops it working.

Would it work better if I changed the last line to "How could you? I don't know."? That sounds better in my head.

I think 'Yes" Holli.

I think 'yes' too.

Ooh, coming in late to the s's discussion, but I've been wondering. What am I supposed to do with my name? It doesn't actually end in an s, just an s sound. But if the Buffistas are saying s's for everyone except Moses and Jesus, and I'm evidently not them, I suppose it's s's for me. Liese's. It looks funny. But not as funny as Liese S.'s message center, which, as I may have mentioned before, amuses me with the sibilance every. single. day. I may start using it as my standard mic check routine, instead of Jabberwocky.

Anyway, it's not an issue with my name name, just my pseudonym, which I rarely say, but I always vacillate before posting.

OK here's a question, not about writing, but about selling writing.

Suppose I've come across an old novel, a neglected novel by a famous and long-dead writer, and I think it would make a great movie.

Let's say it's the neglected Dashiel Hammett novel, The Maltese Pigeon.

I want to write a screenplay, an adaptation of this book.

If I write it, and send it off to a studio or whatever, what stops them from saying "oh yeah, good idea, an adaptation of The Maltese Pigeon" and doing it themselves?

(What would quite possibly stop them is the fact that most studio executives don't read books or even watch films, going by the story of the guy who changed the names in the screenplay of Casablanca and had it rejected by all the major studios without them recognising it. But apart from that.)

Assuming they did recognise it, and they didn't use any of the things that were specific to my screenplay, could they just grab the idea and go with it? I mean, I can hardly copyright the idea of a modern version of an old book...

Suppose I've come across an old novel, a neglected novel by a famous and long-dead writer, and I think it would make a great movie.

Okay, you are on VERY dicey ground already. How dead is long dead? A hundred years? Any less than that and it's still copywrited material that SOMEONE could make a claim against you. Children, cousins, original publishers, estates.

Second of all, most production companies don't take adaptions from unknown writers. If they wanted to do an adaption, they'd just go through the motions on their own. If they DID get inspired to seek out the original, they'd most likely discard your script. On the other hand, I'd doubt they'd actively steal from you.

Oh, and you'd be surprised about studio execs reading books. When most people in film or TV go home, the last thing they want to do is watch TV or a movie. Fiction does quite well in L.A.