ESSAY FILMS

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I tend to find most of my reading material in 2nd hand book shops or local council/library sales. Bought Frederick Forsyth’s “The Negotiator” at one such sale recently and finished it today. In chapter 17 when Quinn is looking to rent a log cabin in  Vermont’s  (US) frozen, isolated Northeast Kingdom he pretends he is a writer seeking a quiet spot to write his book, Forsyth sums it up wonderfully. “‘Oh, a writer,’ said the agent, satisfied. People make allowances for writers, as for all other lunatics.” I must make sure I don’t write on the night of the full moon!

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Have always found the following  quote a very inspiring piece:

“ This is the first thing we are entitled to expect from any work of art, that it shall have unity, and be a thing complete in itself that we can appreciate for its own sake, every part falling into place to create a satisfying pattern unmarred by redundancies, irrelevances or omissions.”

                                                                                                    Ernest Lindgren

                                                                                                   'The Art of Film' 1948

 

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Not sure where I read this but a Producer from the US some years ago said,  “All art is knowing when to stop.”                           

 

Sounds reasonable.    

 

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As author James Kilpatrick once observed, “Paper and ink are precious, and they ought never be wasted. Conscientious writers have a duty to strike every useless word, and good writers will use no more words than are necessary to the task at hand.” To that end, brevity in writing unquestionably has value, if not virtue. And, writing is more likely to be read if the reader’s time is not wasted, and the words are always worth something.

 

Dave Dowling

Saratoga Springs, NY

 

Copyright © 2012 by Dave Dowling 

 

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It just occurred to me; I hope I have not transgressed with any of the above with regard to copyright. Where possible I have acknowledged the source. If anyone has an issue, please advise me and I will take appropriate action. 

 

“A good writer is an expert on nothing except himself .”    David John Moore Cornwall  (aka John le Carre) from his official website. 

 

“Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”

• George Bernard Shaw 

(So why not write those dreams or act those dreams or sing those dreams or dance those dreams or paint those dreams or...? )