Laying Fallow

Much like the ground outside which (although warming) is still laying fallow, so, too am I. Creatively I plink and ponder. Not much gets done. I contemplate spring, watch the birds, and listen to the cats meow outside the door. Whenever I can I sit in the sun, soaking up heat and vitamin D while crocheting, knitting, reading, and pondering the universe.

Next month will be different. I've signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, much like National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo: write 50K words of a novel in 30 days), except you can choose whatever wordy project comes to mind. Temporarily I've signed up for a screenplay. (Or is it script? I never know. I guess script covers them all from stageplay to TV spec.)

As usual, I am laying fallow as I do in October, resisting working, letting stories and dreams flit through my brain without trying to capture them. Come April 1 (no joke!) I'll start writing as action and characters jell on the page.

I like this adventure. I have yet to turn a profit (as I drone each time I begin) and I don't care. I do wish I was more disciplined about the actual seat-in-the-chair-fingers-to-the-keyboard thing. However, I'l settle for what I can get. I'm flexible that way.

Interesting Beginnings: Coarse Corrections

I wrote a screenplay!

In honor of Script Frenzy, which ended April 30 at midnight local time, I'm posting the beginning of another screenplay I began last fall. I made up the idea based on some wild women friends and a day dream.

NOTICE: There's some strong language towards the end.

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INT. Deck of confabulated magical ship-like thing - Day

Behind the helm on the mostly wooden deck, stands a very large mature woman with hair flying. Her clothes fly too, being a confabulation of whatever was to hand. The weather is windy and rainy. The woman, MATHILDA, peers through the storm intent on her destination. On the deck in front of her, oblivious to the weather, is SATCHA, a mature, reasonable woman. She stands with her eyes closed, arms outstretched parallel in front of her, palms perpendicular to her arms.


The ship is an amalgam of fantasy and fairtale construction with wide sails and strange wings; a mixture of wood, metal, plastic and whatever other parts could be salvaged from wrecks. A skeleton is attached to the bow. Skulls line some of the railings. Various shades of pink and purple, faded and new, are prominent. There are a lot of long, narrow flags. Inexplicably, steam and smoke periodically arise.

MATHILDA

Can't you do that in your room?

SATCHA

(without opening her eyes or moving)

No!

The wind howls. Another woman emerges from below deck. This is SILVIA, a lovely blond mature woman, her long hair showing three inches of gray roots. She is pleasingly plump.

SILVIA

Are we there yet?

MATHILDA

Nearly.

SILVIA

Good. I'm fresh out of larkspur. (pause) I see she's at it again.

MATHILDA

Yes.

SILVIA

If it works, I'm next.

Silvia disappears below decks. Satcha lowers her arms and opens her eyes.

MATHILDA

Was he there?

SATCHA

(nods a bit sadly)

I miss him.

MATHILDA

You've never met him.

SATCHA

But I will.

MATHILDA

Secure that rope, will you? And bring me a glass of wine.

Satcha secures a rope and then disappears below deck. The wind quiets and the rain stops. Mathilda secures the wheel and adjusts her appearance. She pulls a cloth from the interior of her clothing and wipes her face.

MATHILDA

There. That's better. Satcha!

Satcha is behind her.

SATCHA

Here's your wine. You didn't say, so I brought you white. It was open.

Mathilda takes the wine and gulps it down. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

MATHILDA

Excellent. So, how is he today?

SATCHA

Tolerably well. (sighs) It's taking such a long time.

MATHILDA

Try not to wait so hard. A lady keeps her man waiting.

SATCHA

(dryly)

Oh ha ha. What if it's a woman?

MATHILDA

Then you'd better get out of my way!

There is a pause while Mathilda finishes the dregs of her wine and peers into the distance.

MATHILDA

You see that glittering thing over there?

SATCHA

(peers into the distance)

Yep. Barely. It's just a nuanced anomaly.

MATHILDA

I don't think so. This looks like something. A vehicle. Headed toward us.

Satcha peers again. She climbs up on the shrouds and leans out over the edge of the ship.

SATCHA

You may be right.

MATHILDA

Thank you.

SATCHA

Looks like another ship ... or maybe a plane.

MATHILDA

A plane. That's all we need.

WILLA, a plain-face, matter-of-fact mature woman appears on deck. She dresses traditionally in keeping with present cultural norms.

WILLA

Do we have time for a stop over? I've got a call from my daughter. The grandchildren need me.

MATHILDA

Time is what we're made of. What's the location?

WILLA

(peers at a small, rectangular electronic in the palm of her hand)

Uh, ... let me see ... I think ... oh, here it is. Richmond, 2011.

MATHILDA

(grabbing the helm and bringing the ship about)

That's it? You know I hate fuzzy logic.

WILLA

No. There's more. Give me a minute. Uh, June ... 13th ... about 6 p.m.

MATHILDA

Got it.

Willa taps her device and then puts it to her ear.

WILLA

Honey? Okay. I'll be there. Should I bring something? You want me to stop by the grocery store? (she listens) Alright. Love you!

MATHILDA

We've got a situation. Might not be able to pick you up right at the precise moment.

WILLA

That's fine. I can stay the night if I need to.

Mathilda grunts. She whirls the helm. The ship is consumed by cloudy steam or possibly clouds. Only the helm and Willa can be seen. Willa flips out a ladder and steps down into the cloud.

WILLA

I'll call you.

MATHILDA

Got it!

Willa descends into the cloud. Mathilda swings the helm. The clouds and steam clear and we are back to the previous view of the ship. Satcha is still in the shrouds.

SATCHA

I think it's a pirate ship. ... Plane. Whatever. It's turning back.

MATHILDA

Silvia!

Muffled from below comes a reply.

MATHILDA

Is your Ex after you again?

A couple of bumps are heard. Silvia appears on deck.

SILVIA

No. Why do you ask?

Mathilda indicates with a rough gesture. Silvia peers out toward the object.

SILVIA

That's not him.

MATHILDA

Great. Who is it then?

SILVIA

I don't know. Why don't you ask him?

MATHILDA

Him?

SILVIA

Well, yeah. It's some guy with a bunch of his buddies. Looks like racers or sky divers.

SATCHA

Bungee jumpers.

SILVIA

Yeah. That's it. Bungee jumpers.

The vehicle flies closer, appearing to be at first a black galleon and then transforming as we close in to a black catamaran and then a black glider. Hanging from the glider are six guys dressed in black, each one suspended from a different type and color of bungee cord. They wave raucously as they swoop past the ship and then disappear into the horizon.

SATCHA

Was that ...?

SILVIA

No. Never. Nuh ah. ... Anyway, I've got water boiling. Tea anyone?

SATCHA

(raises her hand)

MATHILDA

None for me, thanks.

Silvia goes below deck.

MATHILDA

What you got on for today?

SATCHA

Thought I'd make a few visits.

MATHILDA

Were you going to file a flight plan or did you want me to use my ESP?

SATCHA

Both. (pulls out a crumpled map) Here. And, uh, here.

MATHILDA

What's this in aid of?

SATCHA

My sanity? The order of the universe? Dying children in Cambodia?

MATHILDA

You think you're going to find him in one of those spots?

SATCHA

Uh, yeah. Why not?

MATHILDA

So, okay. Let's imagine that were possible ...

SATCHA

It isn't?

MATHILDA

Tell me about him.

SATCHA

He's a pilot, flies for a commercial airline, used to make long flights - now just does short hops. You know, there and back again. Gets to the airport, doesn't even leave the plane, and then back again.

MATHILDA

But you don't know which airport?

SATCHA

Right.

Mathilda peers at the map.

MATHILDA

Or the time.

SATCHA

Just a minor insignificant detail.

MATHILDA

I can't run around all day with you. I've got a schedule, you know.

SATCHA

Won't take ALL day.

MATHILDA

(sound of disgust)

Might as well.

SATCHA

Thanks.

INT. Passenger Airplane Cockpit - Afternoon

WRIGHT, a well matured male pilot, sits in the cockpit with a clipboard and a laptop checking over the equipment. The clipboard is his backup, having once lost his laptop to the cleaning crew. FUNK, the male co-pilot, enters and sits in the co-pilot seat.

FUNK

Gees. How do you do this everyday?

WRIGHT

(not looking up)

Practice.

FUNK

What's the weather look like.

WRIGHT

Good. Check the maps will you?

Funk turns to the displays and taps screens and shit. Might need someone in here who actually knows something about flight displays. On the other hand, you could just have the ubiquitous big red button.

FUNK

Looks accurate.

WRIGHT

Hmmmfff. Take a look. What's this look like to you?

Wright shows his laptop display to Funk. Do not zoom in on this. No one needs that level of detail.

FUNK

Like a storm.

WRIGHT

And doesn't the flight path take us squarely into it?

FUNK

Uh,.. yeah.

WRIGHT

What have you been smokin'?

FUNK

Nothing. Lately.

WRIGHT

Dammit! Do I gotta report you?

FUNK

Fuck, Wright. You know I fly better when I'm relaxed.

WRIGHT

Relaxed is one thing - damn out of it is another. Get the fuck off my plane!

Funk stands, picking up his cap from the dash.

FUNK

Happy Trails, mother fucker.

WRIGHT

Thanks.

Funk exits leaving the cockpit door open.

WRIGHT

(shouts after Funk)

And tell the duty manager to send in another navigator!

At the Cafe

Once again, I am amazed at how much sweeter life is when I'm writing on a project with a deadline. Unfortunately, this also involves a virtual supporting cast of thousands, i.e. Script Frenzy or National Novel Writing Month.

Wether or not these projects (six novels and two screenplays) see the light of day or not doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm writing.

Having given in and created a mild outline and/or structure for this year's script, I am very glad to be hanging on it. Even though there are already signs of the structure, once a sensible sail boat, turning into a flying pirate ship, I'm still writing about four pages a day.

Ideas and plot points are falling into my head. I'm reading about William Goldman and agreeing and feeling a little smug about his assertion that the draft, the first draft, is the best part of the script. I am a little daunted by his extensive research.

Once again I have made peace with the process which involves lots of reading of research sources as I write. It doesn't matter how much I think I already know, or how committed I am to writing what I know (so as to make things easier) I always end up writing about stuff I haven't done or know little or nothing about. The research takes extra time, expanding my writing time from an hour to sometimes three hours. Seems so inefficient. Yet without the research I can't write.

Simple things, such as what is in a cart, how foodstuffs are wrapped, whether or not tobacco was commonly available, and more complex things such as the legal obligations of a daughter to her father - need to be determined regarding the MIddle Ages before the action can continue.

I actually enjoy the research. Aside from giving me a good excuse not to write, I like learning stuff. Especially when that stuff has an immediate application.

Every year I learn this again. Some of the experience sticks from one year to the next. The motivational part: joining Script Frenzy, hosting write-ins, telling friends about my goals - all that I remember and do each year. All part of committing to the task.

I guess it's the commitment that I remember. Sort of like a sign post that says, "Start Here."

This is going better than I'd hoped

I am amazed at how much easier it is to write a script when I have an rough outline of what is going to happen. While preparing for Script Frenzy, I discovered that I am a little weak on structure. I mean, it's obvious, isn't it? My scripts wander like nightmares on Serpentine Avenue. The characters do things yet not much seems to happen. There isn't so much an ending as there is a reaching of appropriate page count.

Using "beat sheets" from two script specialists (Michael Hauge and Blake Snyder – if you must know), I sketched in brief summaries of what happens when. Thus removing some of the blocks that stop me from forward movement. I haven't tried this in the past due to my aversion to regimentation. However, having completed only two scripts out of six attempts ... I really needed to give a written outline a shot.

I'm writing and I don't want to stop! So uncharacteristic of me when writing a script. It's usually like pulling hen's teeth.

I hope this keeps up.

There's a counter on my home page where you can follow along. You can also check the statistics on my Script Frenzy profile.
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"whammablamma" (working title) Gender role reversal in 1300's English village.
Statistics
Total pages written: 5
Daily page count goal: 3.3
Pages written today: 5

I'm ahead ... for now. Or I was yesterday.

I reformatted the script as a comic book. (Very simple to do, thanks to Celtx.) It seems to work better that way. Apparently, I see better in "comic book" than I do in "movie." Probably comes from years of comic book reading as a teenager. I'm going to continue writing as a screenplay and then, hopefully, go back and work on the comic book version.

Primarily this reformatting means the scene descriptions get broken up into panels. When I do that, I can clearly see the panels and the angles and everything. When I see the story as a screenplay it's more like being in a dream with that omni-vision panoramic camera we all have in our heads. It feels good to think of the scenes as focused and properly arranged.

Experiencing a bit of resistance as the editor begins piping up with suggestions. I'm sure the editor has my best interest at heart, but I'm stuffing him back in the closet again. He can help out later. Like on May 1st.
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"On a White Palfrey" is a fantasy story about an time-bending angelic quest interrupted by a man in love.

Page Count Statistics

Goal: 100 Pages

Today's Total: 29 pages (including title page)

Written Today: 0.5 pages

Screnzied! ... so far

Enora Undoni on Palfrey

I'm deeply thrilled that my screenplay script is quickly moving along. My strategy, to ignore the finer details of formating and to concentrate on story, is working. I'm able to write unimpeded – so far.

It helps that I have written (or attempted to write) four other scripts, one of which reached the goal of 100 pages. This makes it easier to select the correct line format (scene, character, etc.) on the fly. Having used Celtx for five years also helps.

I'm ignoring all the technical advice about how to write a screenplay, concentrating instead on Ann Lamott's idea of writing shitty first drafts, Robert McKee's idea of writing the story backwards (once I've discovered what it is by writing an entire script), and by following my own rules about creating a story by staying in it.

I refuse to think of the ultimate outcome for most scripts – to be produced. That's not my business now. My only job is to write the darn thing. All the rest is gravy. Or icing. Or maybe fudge.
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"On a White Palfrey" is a fantasy story about an time-bending angelic quest interrupted by a man in love.

Word Count Statistics

Goal: 100 pages

Today's Total: 18 pages

Written Today: 6 pages

Writing A Script: No Experience Necessary

It's nearly that time again: time to fall on the sword of inspiration and kill myself over a script. This year I have insurance, of sorts. I'm the Municipal Liaison for Script Frenzy. This means I round them up and point them in the right direction. While writing my own screenplay. I can't not finish. I would disappoint myself and them.

What's held me back in the past (I won one of the four previous attempts) is my inability to write with the same loose abandon of NaNoWriMo. I think it's the formatting. Or the structure. Or the strain of having to visualize. Or it could just be I have test anxiety or jump refusal (wait – that's horses).

Whatever! This year I'm going to have fun and screw the formatting, the plot, the characters, and the structure. For 30 glorious days I'm going to forget everything I've learned studying screenwriting and just go.

My (imaginary) scriptwriting editor is much more formidable than my novel writing editor. Actually, I think the scriptwriting editor is more like a guerilla street gang. I'm going to head them off at an alley, lead them over a cliff, and make sure I have my safety sneakers on.

You can too! Sign up now! No experience required. If you've ever seen a movie you can write a script! At least for the 30 days of Script Frenzy. No one said you had to show your script to anyone – ever. And what else are you doing? If you're the lenten type, this is a good way to fill in the time left vacant from giving up your favorite vice. The month will soar by and before you know it Easter will be here. Then you can celebrate by finishing your script.

See! Drivel is easy. Anyone can do it. And it's fun! Don't wait! Sign up now! (before sanity kicks in)
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"Untitled Masterpiece", The Phantom of the Opera, masquerading as a cable guy, donates his fortune to a poor old woman by repeatedly fixing her cable for no charge.

Word Count Statistics

Goal: 100 pages

Today's Total: xxxx

Written Today: x

ps: For those of you who insist on formatting a script correctly, you can let Celtx do it for you. It's free! And easy to use! And it handles a bunch of formats, not just screenplays. There are still 63 hours before Screnzy begins. You can study up if you prefer to be prepared.

Movies I Love, explained

Shades of immortals!

To expand on my tweet about #moviesilove, here is what makes my favorite movies worthy of love.

1. Slaves Of New York: Wondering what it's like to be an artist? Reminds me a lot of my art school days at Virginia Commonwealth University. And no wonder! Screenplay and book by Tama Janowitz who wrote about the world of Andy Warhol during the era when I was in art school. Heart warming in a satirical kind of way.
2. Defending Your Life: Albert Brooks' subtle humor gets better with rewatching. Even the concept is funny: purgatory as resort. Meryl Streep balances Albert nicely. Eating all you want and never gaining any weight? Puh-leese!
3. Galaxy Quest: I save this up to watch during the winter holidays every year.There's a parallel between the insanity of creating a universe based on fake science and families at Christmas. Everyone thinks they're doing the right thing but it all works out anyway. "... by Grabthar's hammer... by the Sons of Warvan..."
4. The Princess Bride: A lovely fairy tale for adults. A funny one. Full of sweet silly innuendoes. Sending up the fairy tale genre with a noble pirate, a gutsy princess, and a pretty villain. "Do you think it will work?" "It would take a miracle."
5. Star Wars: Do I really need to explain this? And, yes, I like them all in spite of "the phantom plot", other flung pejoratives, and JarJar Binks. I particularly enjoy seeing extra footage of Jabba the Hutt in the digital remake and being able to jump from III to VI to see Vader turn around. Although, it's kinda weird to see a young Hayden Christensen as the unmasked Darth Vader.
6. Harry Potter: I was dragged kicking and screaming into reading Harry Potter by my daughter who agreed to read all of The Lord of the Rings if I read HP – a mutually beneficial exchange. This series brought me understanding of the differences in storytelling technique between books and movies. I like each in their own way as great stories. Movie 6 (... The Half-Blood Prince) is so incredibly artsy. It even got a Cinematography Oscar nomination. 
7. Notting Hill: Most amazing long shot of changing seasons to the tune "Ain't No Sunshine." Lovely will-never-happen romance between a scuzzy book seller and famous actress. I hope Working Title won't flame me for telling you that I use this movie to go to sleep with every night. I watch it on my iPhone, enjoying all the little nuances that can only be noticed after 84 viewings. This title slid into seventh place because the number of tweet characters remaining precluded a lot of other favorites. Other options for 7th place: The Lord of the Rings, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Bridget Jones' Diary, Amadeus, Phantom of the Opera.

With Script Frenzy coming up I thought this an appropriate post. I am in a mild panic because I can't settle on an idea or even characters. I'm the Municipal Liaison for Richmond this year so I have to finish. Nine days to figure it out. Wish me luck. Or a broken leg or something.

Not Writing a Script

Ever since Script Frenzy began, well almost since then, I have been happily not writing a script. Just yesterday, in fact, I reveled in the joy of not script writing. Whenever I am writing, and a script seems to be the biggest catalyst, the rest of my life goes beautifully by comparison. It's a crazy insanity (uh huh) that I feel so much better when I am not writing a script. But when I write a novel, I am happier when I have written. Even though not writing a novel is also gives me a good feeling. It's like not script writing throws the rest of my life in sharp relief as a real cake walk by comparison. And I guess I get a charge out of defying whatever plan I have made to write.

It's not that I don't know what to write. I have stories in my head all the time. It's just that I prefer to think of them than write them down. If I could make movies just for me, I would. Unfortunately I haven't the patience for that. In the meantime there's not script writing.

Surprisingly, I did sit down this morning and bash out four pages of script. I am, however, far behind the goal for daily output if I am to reach 100 pages by April 30. The nice thing is that this story actually seems promising. I think it could actually make a movie.

I did some research to see if there was some way to write "natively" in the film medium. There isn't. Even graphic novels and comics take their labels from the film industry. It's all adaptation. There is no native film medium. Sort of odd. The closest I can get is to see the movie in my head and try to put that on paper. Scary sometimes how clearly I can see it.

I'm off now for a walk — a break from all this mad production. Maybe I'll come back and write some more, maybe not. After all, it feels so good to not write a script. Maybe I'll get some of those projects done that have been hanging around here for a long, long time.

Script Frenzy over - screenplay not done

I made it to 74 pages. I believe I can finish the story and the screenplay if I write a little everyday. But not today. Ha ha.

There an interesting site called MakingOf, apparently the brain-child of Natlie Portman, which has a ton of those "making of" videos. Amongst all that I found this lovely article about writing everyday. Sounds like good advice to me and a good reason to start another blog. Yikes!

A Swing and a Miss

Heh heh. That title suggests something to me – like a brand new screenplay (which is ridiculous as I still have to finish this one) – and that's not going to happen. I'm at 74 pages and need to write 26 by tomorrow morning at 9 am. Script Frenzy goes until midnight, but I won't be at home and, so, away from the keyboard that has the application I need to finish. I suppose I could always take the file with me, install the application at the keyboard I will be at and then write and delete the application when I'm done. I could do that. Not sure it's a realistic option. I'm painfully resigning myself to not winning this one.

I did better than my last attemp, which was two years ago. Got a lot more pages, got a lot further and learned more about the way I work and that scriptwriting is definitely different from novel writing. It's not just my imagination. So, there we go. Done. Mostly. Pretty much.

I could say I'll keep writing and finish the script after the 30th. I could but I wouldn't believe myself if I did. Still. It could happen.

The Engine Stalls

Yep. Since Thursday (five days, although today is not over yet) I have not written a thing. Oh, well, maybe a word or two. I did open the file and look at it. But I just don't wanna!! Wah! I don't want to get to know the characters. If they were all sitting a room together it would be very quiet as they would not be talking to each other. There would be a lot of tension. I'm at a scene now that is kind of like that except it's not all the characters. And it is tense but mostly for the viewer because the characters don't know about all the undertow and how one of them isn't being exactly up front. A situation like that should make for good theater but I don't want to know about it.

There is still time to get to 100 pages before midnight on Wednesday. Will I? I have no idea.

Firm Ground

I'm still a little stunned from my day's writing. I wrote six pages and they were good pages and it was productive work. I don't feel like I'm floundering around so much anymore. It's a good feeling but not what I'm used to. I expected to be issuing recriminations and shaking my head and wondering what the heck! Well, I did wonder what the heck for about an hour (what have I got myself into? who's idea was this anyway? why am I wasting my time with this?) Then I shook it off and got to work. It's a good day.

Instead of writing, I make a poster

And here it is.
It's not movie posterish enough but I spent an hour and a half working on it while talking to a friend and letting the dishes get cold in a sink-full of water. It's as done as it's going to get and I still have five pages to write today. And beans to plant, and ... well, let's not get into it. Just think of the sink full of dirty dishes in cold water and you'll get the picture.

Here I am updating you instead of actually writing

I missed Thursday because I was babysitting the grandchildren and had other work to do at the end of the day. Which, really, is no excuse. To keep up and write the four pages I needed to write that day would have taken about 40 minutes or maybe 60 at the outside. Yesterday I wrote one page. It takes me about 20 minutes to get into the groove or about a page and a half. Then I'm rolling. I tell myself I'm worried about going on too long – until I'm exhausted. That hasn't happened yet. Well, sort of it did with the first screenplay. I can still finish by writing a reasonable amount of pages a day: 5. Not bad. I am there again, at the stage where I realize I can still win if I stick to a highly manageable goal.

Screenwriting is not the free flow of noveling. There are so many elements to consider in different formats. I guess that's the stumbling block: the structure. Each element is structured differently. Each element needs a different tone. In a screenplay, more than in a novel, you have to be all the characters and the director and ... well, all those parts. When I write a novel all I have to do is dream, basically. Which is like being a lot of characters. So, that, really, is one point of view: the point of view of the actors. 

I sometimes peek over into my alternate life where I developed my singing, dancing and acting talents and lived the good life of a successful thespian who later got into directing and made enough profit to start a charitable foundation. That woman did a lot of voluntary traveling and was a lot braver than I. She was also happier and avoided the potholes I fell into in this life. I tried to write that story but it came out science fiction fantasy and was translated into something else entirely. This is why I write. To live those alternate lives. Really its about the grass being greener elsewhere. You know how much better the neighbors' lawns look from a distance. 

I'd better start writing now or it will be six pages a day.

The smaller half of the job

One of those brain farts happened when I wasn't looking because of course that's when they always happen. Somehow embedded in my head was that today is the halfway mark (correct) and I should be at 40 pages (incorrect). It wasn't until I had huffed and puffed to page 42, posted my count and read a post in the forum that I discovered that half way is 50 pages. Well, of course it is. It's 100 pages in 30 days - not 80. Where did 40 come in? Maybe I was looking at the desired goal of some previous day and the number 40 got lodged in  my head. 

Anyway, I did write (at last). Took me all day to do it. Feel undermotivated and deformed somehow. However, I will move forward especially after reading todays most excellent advice by Daniel Heath. Four pages a day will do it and I did more than that today. I feel like The Little Engine That Could. 

Plot Points Develop Dramatically

The screen play continues apace. And a slow but steady pace it is. Thank goodness Screnzy not a race. I don't need to keep up with anyone as long as I get to 100 pages by the end of the month. I seem to be following my usual pattern of slow start and steady mid-stream which means, if I stick to this pattern, I will get stuck about 3/4 of the way through. If I write five pages a day, I can win (i.e., write 100 pages in 30 days).

More interesting to me is how the plot is evolving as I write. Let's keep in mind that the novel is written (although not fully edited) and the plot is pretty much decided. However, to make the story play, I discovered I need to redramatize it. Basically, I'm pulling all the dramatic scenes from the book, writing them down as isolated incidents and hoping that the scenes will all gel into a movie. I've no idea how writers who regularly do adaptations manage to make the movie so much like the book. Even movies that aren't a lot like the book are still more like the book than my screenplay seems to be at this moment. It's an interesting process.

I'm curious to see how the screen play will turn out. I still have that lingering big problem to resolve: how the woman goes from an inescapable situation to victory in a scene or two. I'm looking forward to working that out, actually. Bits of action are playing themselves in my head as potential solutions. As I mull it over, the the solutions get more interesting and the plot progresses. It's great.

Day Two - Six Pages

I have arrived abruptly and sooner than expected at that brick wall which says, "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." I am thinking how much of what I do is an interpretation to the world, a way to round up information and organize it into digestible chunks. And I don't want to. I mean, why should I explain the world to you? Don't you get it? Of course you do. You know what the world is. That's what you do. If you didn't you wouldn't be able to lead your life. Then what can I do? Is there really so much unexplained that you would like to know? Who cares?

It's quite a wall. I'm not sure how I will get through or around it. At least I'm working.

I've done it again - signed up for Script Frenzy

I'm a real fool for punishment, that's for sure. I have, once again, signed up for Script Frenzy, even though I didn't finish last year. What I learned from that is I need a plan. I can't just dive in like I do with novelling. So, I have a plan. I'm going to adapt my unpublished novel. Although it's not a best seller, yet, I think it would make a great movie. The more I think about it, the more I see that my novel is really a collection of scenes held together by transition. The only drawback I can think of at the moment is that there is a critical plot point I haven't resolved yet. Writing the screenplay will mean rewriting the novel and that will, hopefully, make that plot point emerge. Wish me luck. And, if you want to help, keep checking on my progress and send me encouraging emails.

Posts from Previous Years
2008
2007 - Winner