I finally watched 'The Shape of Water'.

A couple of weeks ago me and my friend had the chance to watch Guillermo del Toro's film 'The Shape of Water'. After having postponed watching the movie for quite some time, we managed to find time to finally watch it.

The reason that we both wanted to watch the film was pretty obvious. Since the movie had won the Academy Award for best picture earlier this year, we thought that it would be a safe bet to watch it and give it a chance.

So having now seen the film, it has to be said that I have somewhat mixed feelings about it. Even though I obviously don't think that the movie is bad per se, there are some aspects about it that didn't work that well.

In any case, when it comes to the film, 'The Shape of Water', is a story about a relationship between a lonely mute cleaning lady and a mysterious sea creature. It's a fairy tale that takes place during the cold war in a high security laboratory in the U.S. 

When it comes to the story in the film, there's no denying that during its first half, the movie manages to be really entertaining and charming. It manages to keep you interested and you want to know more about the world the you're being introduced to.

After all, the first half of the movie is when I enjoyed watching all the things that happened in the movie. I found the stuff to be fascinating and it's obvious that a lot of work went into making sure that everything would look as 'authentic' as possible.

When it comes to the characters in the movie, this is the part when it's easy to feel for the main characters too. You can't help but to feel for the main protagonist lady who is trying to save the sea creature from being killed.

Not surprisingly, when the escape from the high security installment eventually happens, the movie is at its best. This is when it feels like you're watching a film that really knows what it's about and that it can't do anything wrong.

Unfortunately, it's during the second half of the movie when the story more or less runs out of steam. This is when the script goes on an autopilot and the writers are only able to come up with story beats that are predictable and lazy.

By that I mean that in the second half of the movie, there are too many moments where the characters make very little sense. In these scenes it's the plot of the movie that drives the characters instead of the characters driving the plot.

Especially when it comes to the scene where the doctor who helped our cleaning lady gives out crucial information to the villain, I just couldn't help but to be disappointed. This forced plot driven scene in my opinion made no sense at all.

In that sense, when I think about the film as a whole, it's really unfortunate that there are problems in the film's script. It's really disappointing that the story gets unimaginative and that the writers took the 'easy' way out.

After all, had the writers decided to get a bit more creative in their decisions, the movie would have been better. Had they taken some risks and had they cut some of the needless 'villain' scenes, the story would have been much more coherent.

In the end, I can't but help to be slightly underwhelmed by 'The Shape of Water'. I can't help but to think that the movie - despite being well received - is a bit underwhelming and that the writers should have done their jobs better.

After all, even though there are a lot of good things about the movie, as a whole, there are too many flaws in the story. These problems that have to do with the film's screenplay weigh the movie down a bit too much.

In that sense, I can't help but to wonder how the film managed to win the best picture award at the Oscars. I can't help but to wonder how it did that, because at least in my opinion, the movie just isn't that good and doesn't live up to its reputation.

I'm adapting my screenplay into a book.

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from one of the publishers that I had contacted earlier this year. I had inquired whether there was any chance that they could adapt my animated movie screenplay into a children's book.

After all, my script - at least in my opinion - was pretty well written and had universal appeal as a story. I thought that the story as a whole was good enough and that it deserved to be published in print form too.

So when it comes to the publisher's response, the representative of the company told me that I had some work to do. In their answer they told me that the screenplay would have to be written in Finnish, before they would read it.

Naturally, I thought that this policy that they had didn't make much sense. Why on earth would I have to translate a story from English to Finnish, considering that they all understood English and could evaluate the story based on that?

Besides, the screenplay that I wrote wouldn't be published in its current form anyway. In case they wanted to get the story adapted and published, the original screenplay would merely be used as a blueprint for the novel.

Not surprisingly, I didn't feel like spending time translating the script. Even though I certainly could have translated the story, I thought it would probably be better if I'd manage to come up with a better solution myself.

So when it comes to thinking about what to do with my script, it didn't take that long before I managed to come up with an idea. I thought that perhaps it could be me who could write the book adaptation of the screenplay.

The biggest reason for this is that since I had written the original 'film' version, I likely had the talent to write book version too. Since I had already done the hardest part of the project, I might as well do the rest of the things too.

After all, in the adaptation one would more or less only have to follow the script and write based on that. It wouldn't require the writer to  come up with any new themes, characters, storylines or anything else that mattered.

In that sense, now that I'm going to do the writing myself, I shouldn't be that worried about the process. I shouldn't be worried just because I lack experience in writing novels and just because I have to learn some basics about the craft.

After all, considering that screenwriting is universally considered to be harder than writing novels, things don't look that bad here. The fact that I've written scripts that are tight makes writing novels a lot easier when it comes to quality storytelling.

In the end, even though I'm not necessarily that excited about the upcoming project, writing a novel is a really good challenge for me. It's certainly going to challenge me and make me better as an all-around writer.

Especially considering that I don't have that many bigger projects going on at the moment, I finally have something to look forward to. I get to learn something new about writing and I'll also get out of my comfort zone.

In that sense, I can only hope that things will go well with this task. I can only hope that I'll be able to come up with a solid adaptation, because if I'm able to do that, there's a good chance that the book is going to be published and that it's going to be a hit.

The importance of silence in writing.

When it comes to being a writer, one of the most important things about the craft has to do with your ability to concentrate. As a writer, you have to be able to concentrate on your tasks, so that you could come up with quality stuff on a consistent basis.

After all, the better you are at concentrating on your projects, the more likely it is that you'll succeed in these tasks. The more you're able to control these writing projects, the higher the chances are that you'll be able to write something that has value.

The reason that I'm writing about this is that even though most of us know how important it is to concentrate on your tasks, it's not always that easy to do. Paying attention and being able to focus is a lot more difficult than one might think.

The biggest reason that concentrating can be so hard is that there is so much noise around us. Whether we're talking about workplace environment or simply being at home, there's a good chance that you have things around that distract you.

For example, when it comes to me, I happen to work in an environment where I don't have my own office. I have to do things and write in a place where there are usually like a dozen other people who are trying to do their own things.

Not surprisingly, whenever I have to do stuff that includes creative writing, it's really difficult to write anything that makes sense. No matter how hard I'm trying, I can't manage to write stuff that is consistent and coherent enough.

As unfortunate as it is, in these cases, since I don't really have a choice, I simply have to take my projects from work to my home and continue writing there. I have to do that, because otherwise the quality of my work wouldn't be good enough.

The upside to bringing my projects to home from work is that I'm usually able to write pretty well there. My home is the place where I can write without others bothering me or creating noise that would interrupt my concentration.

After all, this is the place where it's so much easier to relax and to feel at peace as a writer. It's so much easier to be in control of my projects and focus on them, since I don't have to be in the presence of the others anymore.

Of course, just because I'm writing at my home, that doesn't automatically mean that I'm going to deliver stuff that is good enough. I'm not saying that I won't get distracted by the internet or some other things that might take my focus off my work.

At the same time, even though I have my own distractions there too, I'm certainly able to be significantly more consistent at my home. This is where my introverted mind won't get bombarded by all that noise coming from the outside world.

In that sense, when it comes to being able to concentrate and create something as a writer, it's pretty obvious that it matters where you work. It makes a huge difference whether you're working in a chaotic environment or in a place where you feel safe.

After all, the more distractions and the more hectic the environment that your workplace has, the harder it becomes to come up with quality stuff. The more chaotic your work environment is, the harder it is to create anything that works.

In that sense, considering all things, it's clear that even though we all know the importance of silence, we should pay more attention to it. We should focus on trying to make sure that we work in an environment where we can focus on what we're doing.

After all, even though there is noise, distraction and stress almost everywhere around us, those things are not good for us. We shouldn't think that being in a chaotic environment is the way to go and that you can thrive in that kind of culture.

On the contrary, if you want to succeed as a writer, you need to be in a place where you get to concentrate. You need to be able to do that, because that's the only way you get to be yourself and how you create stuff that makes sense and that has value.