When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

I was recently able to combine my film background and writing work when I was asked to create web content for a Canadian film company called Laffstock, best known as the distributor of Corner Gas, CBC's breakout hit comedy. You can read my film reviews here. This will be an ongoing project as I plan on adding additional reviews over the next few months. I will also be reviewing films on this blog. If you'd like to know what I think of a specific film or have a question about the film industry, email me.

At the moment I'm finishing up some web content for a law firm, and continuing my own creative writing. As a matter of course, I tend to use the computer for business writing but a notepad and pen for my scripts and stories. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with the artistic process. But I feel a bit like a dinosaur as I scratch each letter into the paper, words forming like little doodles; I know the process would be quicker on the computer but I appreciate being able to track my changes, words and paragraphs crossed out and re-inserted; drawings of characters and places litter each page.

At one time, every written work - from an intricate parchment manuscript to a list of items in a stockroom - was penned lovingly by hand, each stroke a reflection of the author. We study old texts today not only for the words but also the style and penmanship of the writer. For the time being, I'll be using the laptop to compose blog entries because it's faster and more efficient. Perhaps one day writing by hand will "go extinct" like the dinosaurs, but not today. Some things must still be done by hand.