Shit that doesn't go away

those of you that have bothered to read my blogger profile will know that I have an ambition to be a writer, preferably for children. Now while I have ambition and firmly believe in per suing your dreams I also have a sense of realism, I know that the odds of ever making my living by writing are slim. Only about 1 in 40 (I think) of those that complete a novel get published, and of those published only 1 in 10 make enough money to live off. So I know the deal and in actual fact I think that has helped me develop my writing skills because it has meant that I have been forced to face up to my own limitations as a writer.

I believe that my biggest limitation is the ability to develop a sense of menace in my writing, particularly through my prose (I think that my dialogue is one of my stronger points as a writer).

Why am I writing this now? Well I've just got home and watched part of the film "A history of violence" where a man's history comes back to bite him on the arse.

I don't think that this is the best film ever made but what I think it does have is one of the best uses of a sense of menace that I have yet seen on the screen. Something that the protagonist thought he had left behind comes back, the most horrifying memories are brought back, all by a chance coincidence.

While most of us are lucky enough not to have the issues in our past as the protagonist in this film (I wont go into it, you may yet want to watch it without having too much given away!) I'm sure that most of us have stuff that we want to leave behind us and wouldn't want it suddenly coming back to haunt us. And this film shows what it's like to have it all come back none the less.

It is utter genius and genius that I wish that I could repeat in my own writing.

Maybe one day.