The albatross around my neck seems to be my imagination.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s somewhat comforting that my imagination is still running full throttle after years of high school, university and career.
Back in my final year of university, an archaeology professor I had for a fourth-year course confessed he was surprised by my imagination. I believe his exact words were, “I can’t believe you still have an imagination after four years of university”.
I will forever see that as a feather in my cap. As a writer, it’s great to know there’s an infinite well of creativity in my noggin. Still, as I try to focus on one story, Incarceration, my mind keeps creating other worlds.
It’s one of my weaknesses. I get started on one tale and another creeps in.
For the most part, I’ll write down my brainstorms in a leather-bound book. In particular a few End of Days notions that have crept in with all this talk of the Mayan calendar running out.
One idea though, which I think would be phenomenal, is a screenplay of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.
Hollywood seems to be dipping back into the deep blue yonder of yesteryear with their film ideas, and reinventions. Why not get Peter Jackson (King Kong), Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) or Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) to get behind the camera.
This goes back to my OAC drama class (1998), where our teacher had us write a stage adaptation of our favourite short story or in my case, poem. Coleridge’s famous Rime came to mind. Admittedly, when I dig up my old script it seems very awkward and wooden, but with a burst of added creativity and 15 years of additional experience it wouldn’t be a hassle to inject new life.
Or rewrite completely. The latter being my preferred choice.
Still, that detracts from my current writing project. It’s not as if Gore Verbinski is going to read this himself and give a shot at screenplay writing to a journalist/editor in Toronto.
One can always imagine though.