Why my movie fix is tax deductible
Went to see Denzel Washington (pause, imagine him, right, okay, go on) in Deja Vu yesterday. Smart, exciting, thought-provoking movie which served as a great example of how to use fast-paced, natural dialogue to explain some pretty out-there scientific and theoretical concepts.
And that’s why I get to deduct the price of my movie ticket. And the cost of seeing plays and going to the Sundance Film Festival every year. Because seeing how the pros handle plot and narrative and dialogue is one of the ways I as a writer educate myself. It’s like lawyers having to get their fifteen hours of continuing education every year–they need to stay up on the latest case law and technology and ethics opinions to make sure they’re not malpracticing all over the place.
Writers are in danger of malpracticing, too. We can be guilty of boring people to death, falling back on cliches, writing dialogue that sounds nothing at all like how real people speak. So reading great books and watching smart TV (Lost, for example) and taking in the well-done flick on a regular basis is a way of improving our art by seeing how our betters handle it.
But there’s also a danger in only recycling what we see in movies and read in books. Which is why we have to actually get out there in the world and mix it up with people and places, even if what we really think we should be doing is sitting chained to our desks. I know that every time I have an outdoor adventure, I come back a little wiser and bolder, and I have new things to write about. Since I love being outdoors, that’s an easy break for me to take every month or so.
What’s harder is forcing myself to socialize. I’m not a party person–don’t like having to slap on the makeup and wear something other than fleece–but I do recognize that talking to real people is somewhat necessary for my job. Otherwise every one of my characters ends up sounding just like me. Which is fine from an ego-trip standpoint, not so fine for my readers who think, “Haven’t we already heard about this dog-loving, caffeine-addicted, hand-washing-police kind of woman before?”
I’m going to one of those weddings this week where the bridesmaid is a man. It’s a dojo wedding–bride, groom, guests all part of the school where I learned martial arts. It’s been too long since I was around all of them, and I’m looking forward to being reminded how they think and talk. I doubt that that makes my wedding gift tax-deductible, but I’m still going to use the event as a way to freshen up my characterization and dialogue-crafting skills.
It’s always been a private goal of mine to live a largely tax-deductible life. It’s not the financial part of that that thrills me so much as the idea that everything I do during my day–from watching movies to reading books to taking myself on fun play dates to the zoo or a museum or the comic book store–would all qualify as something that feeds into my writing. In other words, to live this fully-integrated life where my work is my play and vice versa.
Time to get back to working on my novel now. Thanks to the screenwriter of Deja Vu, I have a good idea how to fix one of my bothersome scenes. If Deja Vu can tell such a complicated story in only two hours, I should be able to trim my story down to its essentials, too, and stop boring even myself with all that exposition.
And meanwhile that little ticket stub goes in my tax file.
Technorati Tags: Writing, Publishing, Movies, Deja Vu, Denzel Washington
November 27th, 2006 at 10:27 am
The IRS gives me hives. But I do like the idea of being able to write-off fun expenses.
Artist dates are important.
November 27th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
You have given me what I think is a great idea-I’m going to write off my weekly grocery bills as continuing education costs for my psychology license. I must give out a therapist vibe because I cannot wait in a grocery line for more than 2 minutes without the person in front or in back of me beginning to tell me their whole life story. The things people have told me while I’m unloading my cart full of frozen corn dogs and potato chips is stunning. What better way to educate myself on how to help patients with their problems than by listening to other people tell me how they dealt with their life problems? It’s a clear tax deduction in my opinion, but do you know of any good tax attorneys in case the IRS does not see it my way?
November 27th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
EXCELLENT idea, Deborah. Too bad I’m not practicing law anymore–I’d totally take that case for you.
I want to know what grocery store you go to and when, because I might have a few childhood issues that need sorting out while the clerk rings up my toilet paper and milk.
November 27th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Isn’t a dojo wedding just begging for a ninja raid?
I’m just saying, be prepared for smoke bombs and wear a stiff collar to protect against blow darts to the neck.
November 27th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Patrick, this is my fourth dojo wedding. You have no idea how pro we all are by now.
“There will be blood tonight!”
November 27th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
rb, “fleece” is the uncarded wool from a sheep, llama or goat. it is not 100% polyester, it is not “polar”, nor is it to be confused with “turtle fur”. what kind of example do you think you are setting for blog newbies? (unless, of course, it is “armani” fur.)
by the way, i’m deducting (as a charitable contribution) all my billable hours sacrificed to the tyranny of the blog. if i get audited i’ll roll on robin and deborah.
November 27th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Annette, how come you have Patrick’s back, but not Deborah’s or mine?
November 28th, 2006 at 12:08 am
I’m not 100% sure, but I think this may be the first time a Tony Scott movie has ever been mentioned in the same breath as “smart, exciting, thought-provoking”.
Just throwing that out there…
November 28th, 2006 at 4:33 am
Isn’t it obvious?
November 28th, 2006 at 7:42 am
Well, Lizzie, see it and you tell me for yourself. I realize you’re a much tougher customer to please than I am. Report back.
November 28th, 2006 at 11:32 am
i have to ditto patrick–although deborah may have some deeper psycological take on it. please keep in mind that i have taken an oath to protect him against ALL danger (not just serbian/columbian drug dealing bio-terrorist, although that is where the bulk of my training lies), i believe that would include the irs.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
OBVIOUSLY, this relates to early toilet training experiences: the feeling of omnipotence and pride at producing. We’ll need to talk further. I’m out of cheese doodles, shall we say 9 o’clock, the Express Lane at Safeway?
November 28th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Deborah, you’re on. I’ll be the one wearing a ball gown and snow boots.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
omg. whose, mine or patrick’s? (oh please don’t say BOTH!)
November 28th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Oh, I thought she was talking about me.
But of course it must be you or Patrick.
November 28th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
I’m going to defer for the moment on answering the ‘whose, mine or patrick’s’ question-there’s a lot going on there.
Robin, I didn’t mean to leave you out. The ball gown and snow boots is a fine place for us to start-we may need more time than the Express Lane will allow us though.
November 28th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
If I could count the number of adventures that start out with “I’m all out of cheese doodles”
November 28th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
deborah-DUCK!!!!
November 28th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Sometimes a cheese doodle is just a cheese doodle.
November 28th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
What???? Ninjas? Where? The smoke cloud? Boba Fett? Where’s Boba Fett?