04 Sep
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: history, Muhammad (peace be upon him), writing
And extra heavy on that action!
Apparently we literary writers tend to let our characters just stand around and talk too much.
Boring!
That’s what I mean when I said in an earlier post that part of the learning curve when it comes to screen writing has been thinking in three and even four dimensions.
Frankly I’m not sure how I’m even doing it.
I write at least two pages soon as I get up on the sequel for Wanting Mor, then I come down to my downstairs computer and write I don’t know how many revisions of the screenplay.
I want to get the first one just right! (Well actually I’ll want to get them all just write, but the first one is especially important.) It sets the course.
And I’m just about done.
One episode!
Nineteen to go!
It helps to think of them each as chapters in a bigger story.
The nice thing is I love my characters, even the villain! (I’ve only got one so far, but he’s a hoot!)
And there’s such a feeling of liberation in some ways.
So many times with writing books, you’re limited because some jokes, some situations, just need the visual aspect to get the joke.
And now it’s available! Yeehaw!
And yet, I have the creative control of this project! I’m the sole writer! Yeehaw again!
I can infuse a bit of depth into this series that might not otherwise get in there.
It’s quite difficult, but quite a bit of fun!
I love it, even as I feel like I’m coming up for air.
And now Ramadan is winding down, and I’m feeling all nostalgic, thinking where did the month go?
It always flies by.
I’m up to chapter 40 in the Quran and I have about five days left to finish reading it, basically about seventy-four more chapters, but the thing about the Quran is that the first chapters are the longest.
And every time I read it, I find things I missed.
This time I came across a verse where God talked about how He had made the enemy at the battle of Badr appear smaller than they really were in a vision that the Prophet (peace be upon him) received, and He said He did this because if the Prophet (peace be upon him) had seen their actual size, he would have gotten discouraged.
And I thought, what a mercy!
The battle of Badr was the first battle that the fledgling Muslim community fought after they ran away from persecution in Mecca, to live in what would become Medinat al Nabee or simply Medina (The city of the Prophet (peace be upon him))
The Muslim army didn’t leave Medina expecting to battle another army. They left expecting to intercept a camel caravan that would compensate them for the wealth they’d had to leave behind in Mecca (which was stolen by their enemies).
But the caravan diverted its route and an Army of one thousand strong came out to meet the puny Muslim force of 313.
It was a decisive victory!
To think that God made the enemy seem smaller than they really were, such a mercy.
Anyone thinking that they’d have to fight odds of 3 – 1, would be discouraged.
And even now, with this whole script writing, maybe it was a blessing that I thought it would be easier than it turned out to be.
Would we necessarily have the courage to do things if we didn’t rush into them with false bravado?
Does courage come when the going gets tough and you don’t quit?
Perhaps.
It’s been tough.
And it’s getting easier.
Thank God!