I was up and ready to rock this morning. I’d written my pages and I was about to dive in on where I’d left my editing lesson the night before…when I realized that I was already feeling pretty fatigued. And, looking at only taking one day off and then working for 6 straight…and I’m already feeling fatigued…? Not a good idea.

So, I took a day off today. A planned, albeit at the last minute, day off.

It was very necessary. I did’t really get any napping in, but I took a mental day off and I totally didn’t realize how much I needed it. I would *just* be finishing work right now if I hadn’t. And, tomorrow would be it in terms of rest.

The writing was good today, too. I think, anyway. It *felt* good. Who knows if this stuff is actually any good, you know? We’ll see when I got back and read it all. Tomorrow, I’m going to write some extra novel pages, I think. give me a couple, two or three days this coming work week to work on my pilot script instead. That project needs to have it’s own time carved out, and I think this might be the way to do it.

There was kind of this transition period in the novel that I just sort of slogged through. Not a ton of plot happening, or at least in between some major plot stuff. So, it was character work. People getting to know people. Conflicts being set up. I hope it works. We’ll see. But, right around the corner now is a major new setting, which is totally fun.

I was reading tonight about Michael Ende. He wrote The Neverending Story. The book, not the movie. I’ve never read it, and apparently the movie is much more broadly-stroked than the novel, but that movie was my favorite as a kid. Or, at least, one of them. It was that movie, actually, the made me realize I wanted to tell stories. That imagination was incredibly important and should be encouraged.

Anyway, I read a little clip tid-bit about how he wrote his first novel. He just sat down with an idea, literally just a couple lines, and then the story unfolded from there. A bit more extreme than where I am, but my process is literally exactly what he describes; that writing stories is an adventure. You don’t even know exactly what’s going to happen next. You write what feels right, or is the most exciting.

I live my stories in my head as I write them. That’s why I love listening to movie scores so much while I do, because I can see them unfolding as I type. It’s fun. I love doing it.

The Ho and I also went out, impromptu together, to see Big Hero 6 tonight, which is something we’ve been looking forward to coming out since the very first trailer came out earlier in the year. It was…disappointing. Unfortunately. Honestly, neither of us saw that coming. We’d seen Wreck it Ralph, and this one is essentially done by the same people, and it had the advantage of a killer premise and straight-up amazing animation. THAT did not disappoint. But, what did was the story-telling.

Sloppy. Basic. It sounded like a Saturday morning cartoon. So many missed opportunities, wrong turns, or just plain poor execution. It was very disappointing.

All that said, they did do a lot of stuff right. Baymax is one of the most endearing characters to come along in a very long time. The aforementioned animation was breath-taking at times. And, the *world* in which the story takes place is fucking awesome. San Fransokyo. The Bay and Japan melded into one. Awesome.

So, I’d still say it’s worth seeing. If you like animated movie in 3D, go see it. The kids obviously *loved* it. But, it’s not Wreck it Ralph. There’s a lot that doesn’t make any sense at all, and a lot that will make your adult brain cringe if you think about it too much.

I really blame Pixar, right? Pre-Pixar, this movie would have been a mindless romp of a good time. But damned Pixar proved to everyone how actually really REALLY good one could make a “kid’s movie” script/movie. This movie is waaaayyyy below that bar.

Damn Pixar.

Goodnight, guys. Tomorrow, we see Interstellar. I’m preparing to be underwhelmed, but we’ll see 😛

(such a grouch, I know)