Elizabeth Gilbert: in The Universe in Verse

Today, I was going through a few poetry recitals of the 2020 Universe in Verse. One of the recitals that I listened to was by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of several books including Eat, Pray, Love (that was also made into a popular film later starring Julia Roberts), and she read Ursa Major by James Kirkup. I really enjoyed her recital of this poem. 

We all wonder at the cosmic miracles, and the endless awe it brings us. Not long ago I felt myself reminiscing on these wondrous diamonds in the sky. Fresh from such nostalgic memories, listening to Ursa Major as Kirkup explores it's beauty and significance through his bewitching poem, I wanted to share this lovely discovery with you all. Here's the poem for your reading:

Slung between the homely poplars at the end

of the familiar avenue, the Great

Bear in its lighted hammock swings,

like a neglected gate that neither bars admission nor invites,

hangs on the sagging pole its seven-pointed shape.

Drawn with the precision of an unknown problem

solved n the topmost classroom of the empty sky,

it demonstrates upon the inky blackboard of the night’s

immeasurable finity the focal point of light.

For though the pointers seem to indicate the pole,

each star looks through us into outer space

from where the sun that burns behind and past us

animates immediately each barren, crystal face

with ravaged brilliance, that our eyes

must lean out into time to catch, and die in seeing.

Since an embed was available for the same on Brainpickings, you can listen to Elizabeth Gilbert's lovely reading here:

If you want to read more about this, do check out the post on this on Brainpickings. It's a beautiful blog, and one that will stay my favourite, do subscribe to it if you are interested across topics like science, art, literature, poetry, philosophy, and would like to discover treasures- both contemporary and old ones. Happy reading!

Screenplay Writing

Image from Powtoon

Stories have always captured my attention. Fiction has been the sweetest, most precious gift in my childhood. So naturally, I went around making up stories in my head all the time- some of them heavily influenced by what I read, and some of them just plain original born from the grey cells of my brain. But, it has mostly been novels. When I tried writing my own stories, they were also in a novel-type format, with conversations and long drawn detailed descriptions, and I loved it.

Several years back, my dad sent a link to an article on No Film School which talks about (Big Spaceship) Victor Pineiro’s crash course on how to write a screenplay. And, since that day, that one article has constantly been on my bookmarks bar. And, I’ve looked at it every time only to want to try it out.

So, during the December holidays in 2019, I started trying it out, and it’s pretty cool. Here is why the crash course is brilliant.

1. Gives insights. It beautifully gives you a way to structure the idea that wafts around in your head. It gives you a way to tame your wild imagination in order to actually write it out, especially if you are writing a screenplay. 

2. Insights are actionable. I hate people who advice in an abstract manner when something needs a concrete solution. So, when giving insights on how to write a screenplay, Pineiro sticks to insights that are actionable, and step-wise follow worthy advice. I loved them. 

3. Page-line(like timeline). One of the most important things is to introduce characters at the right time, and bring right events at the right time. You own your story and how you want to say it, but the rough page-line, as I'd like to call it, just gives you an absolutely sensible perspective. 

4. Words with meanings. Plot, theme, logline, story, scene, sequence, acts: there are so, so many words that we use when we think of the components of a story. But, do we clearly and exactly know what they are? The crash course gives you that, and personally I really liked that. 

5. Examples. It doesn't just explain things, and give you an insight. The slides give examples that we know, and can easily relate to and understand. 

Nothing is set in stone. You can bend rules, you can make rules, and you can own your style. I myself experiment a lot with story writing in different styles and perspectives. All said, I still loved the universality of this crash course that fits almost every story. 

Do check it out! Also, I hope soon you'll get to read a completed screenplay from me!