Taking this entry off my public site and putting it here, just to remind me when and why I started doing this blogger stuff. And not wanting to ppiss of Pierre or Niamh if they see this entry on the public site.

Thursday, July 25, 2002
Checking out this blogger stuff. Just had a crap review, dont feel like working today......
posted by Paul O'Regan at 7/25/2002 04:27:00 PM

story idea:

A friend going traveling goes missing somewhere in New Zeland. Main character goes off in search of them.

Protagionaist is a computer programmer working in some unspecified city. Busy saving for a house and completly tired of his job. Wakes up one morning to hear the news report 2 backpackers gone missnig in NZ. His friends/former lover/ family, something. Nothing happens with the investigation so he decides to quit the job, take the money he has saved and his abbility to get stand by tickets and heads off in search of them. Armed with just Emails and the odd letter heads to NZ. When he gets down there he soon finds out why there is no movement on the case, the trail is dead cold. He decides that in order to find out what has happened he must back track, retrace the journy this couple have taken, via south america.

Start to tell the story of their journey, the poeple they meet along the way, something that sparks them off on an adventure of their own (trying to find something), have our protaginist havve to do the same, get the same clues, find the sane thing. And see if this leads him to his friends.

(flesh out more later)

monologue, dialogue, got the idea when reading about a book just realease by Sam Shepeard. He has written other books and plays using just a monoluge or dialoge for the main plot. Could do te same. Start off as a story in the pub between two people. Have in mind a conversation with Colm that starts off general and then as the drikn flows, becomes more and more exagerated. Things like starting a revoltion in the world, start=ed out as a comlpaint that big business control us all. Not exactly
crusties or anti capitalist, but based on the idea I heard from Carmel when Eammon was being given out to by his boss when his son was sick. Some sort of way that the small man can fight back against the opproseors. Fight the power and all that.

Converstion could just start off simple and then let it wander, dont ever identifiy the two ends of the converstaion, let it drift as it does over pints. Start off with a story, like the one above, see what the charcters say, how they react to each other. Let a phone call interuppt them, let the converstaion flow in different directions, but try to keep a common thread. Make it start out like a converstion between tweomates over pints, but then let it turn out to be conversation between bush and blair. Or some such similar super power tpye people. Or possible let it turn out to be the germination of a movement, a group starting out, like fight club, all underground and weird. But let the aim be true, give power back to the people, let people get back their dignity, not have to worm up to bosses.

Sounds a bit like Animal Farm, but dont really know much about communisim to keep that one valid. How aobut communist ideas for the new world. Not exactly anti capitalist, still think capitalism is a good idea, but something along the lines of hackers, hactivism I heard yesterday in the new york times. Not spottie little oikes with fuck all to do except wreck peoples heads with their witicism, but something more truer.

Need to work on the core ideas for this story......

Anyway, back to wokr, not quiting time yet ;-)

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Just started reading "The Salmon of Doubt". The postumously compiled collection of Douglas Adams works. Really fancinating, loads of things in there for ideas, starter ideas even. One that i noticed was the difference beteween the working stiff and the creative working stiff. Well, what I think I am trying to say is, the difference between when I was in college and was fascinated with computers, would spent any free time in the lab, meesing, learing,experimenting. And now, full time in computers, havenot come accross anything as midly interesting until I bumpt into bloggers. Its all boring, work and rubish in computers. The odd good game, and then thats only jsut a distraction. But, blogs. Dunno why I feel excited ouabt this. Its not as if its any different to the way things were before. It might just be that its the accessibility to it all thogh. Or is it that its got that thing that you want when your surfing the web. A place to call home, without having to go getting a mortgage, or learning carpentry, or whatever. I've got a bit of what I want, with out all the hard owrk. I can log on anyhere, do loads of stuff and look busy. Now all I need is some sort of feed back. All the traffic looks like its one way at the moment. I wonder is there anything I could do to get some return for my messing, dossing, pretneding to be busy.

Just rereading what I wrote. Defo need loads of practice at this writing thing. Just do It, as they say, eh!

The little green book. Since going to an evening creative Writing course, and enjoying the process and entertainment of writing very much. I havent done a tap since. ThenI cam accross the idea of bloggs. And agian, really excited, day dreams of typeing away toa blog service and publishing all my thoughts. As with the little green book from Creative Writing on an Monday, it has remained an untouched hobby. As all writers seem to say, its easier to think about writing then to put pen to paper, finger to keyoboard, and come up with the prose. Like all new years resoultions (even in the middle of the year) here we go again and see how far we get. Not sure the topic, or thread to follow, so will start typing aimlessly, like warm ups, and see what happens.

Roddy Doyle here we go!!!