Stumbling towards completion...

Monday... Need I say more? Well, okay.
I have things I need to do, things I don't really need to do, but should, and the things that I'm actually doing, which don't fall into either of the other two categories... How is it that we can find so much time for garbage, but there never seems to be time for important stuff.

The writing is still going. Although I had a bit of hiccup at the end of last week. I was writing a section that takes place in the middle of the book, and, well, I finished it. It came to a natural completion, and I'm happy with it. But, this left me completely confounded as to what to do next. I realized that I had no overall picture of what was happening in the book. It was mostly formed in my head, and was made up of little bits of the story here and there.
So, that Thursday, after sitting around asking myself, 'what the hell am I going to do?' I made a trip to the local Staples and bought three sheets of bristol board, and a three pack of cue cards. Now, I've started laying out a visible timeline of the things that are occuring in the story. This has allowed me to get an idea of the order of events, as well as arrange the sequences and their respective beats. Suffice it to say, I've gotten a handle on what I'm going to work on next and have already started. This is a great tool, especially if you have vague ideas about your story. When you start placing them on the board in cue cards, it shows you what you really know, or don't know about your story.

Treatments - A Necessary Evil

Now, the title sorta screams, “Duh!” We all know that they’re needed for marketing a story, selling it, etc. Here’s the thing that I’ve known for some time, but have failed to put into practice. They’re necessary as a writing tool. As proud as I am of the latest draft of my sci-fi spec, I’m finding little areas that need improvement as I work on this piece of crap treatment. Little things that fell through the cracks, things that didn’t even occur to me in the heat of blasting out my action and dialogue. Little bits of missing story logic coming up in the treatment and it’s giving me the opportunity to make a quick note or two in a separate file I’ve marked down as a “to do” list before I submit the script. I’ve always known that I should try to work on a treatment before, or while writing the screenplay, but now it’s something I can appreciate. The scary thing is, I think I need to try writing more than one at different stages.

Before sitting down to write my next screenplay, I want to take a stab at a treatment. Just a quick compilation of my notes and outline in prose form. Then I want to update it as I write the script. The hope here is to be able to look at the original version, and the updated one, for a quick painless tweak and presto: marketing tool.

But after today’s brief stab at the treatment before going to work at my day job, I know it’s not going to be that simple. The reason a treatment is an invaluable revision tool AFTER I’ve written the screenplay is because I’m not “in it” as I read and write. I’ve got some distance from the script which gives me a different perspective. Now, another contributing factor could also be that I have gotten some distance from the script since I haven’t worked on it in about a month, but something about the process of writing a treatment, I suspect, forces a different perspective. And I think that’s because it’s a different way of writing.

I’m not at all suggesting that this is how the pros do it.  How the hell do I know?  Besides, everyone will tell you they have their own process.  This is just an idea, a theory I thought I’d share.  And let’s dispense with the industry jargon to further that different perspective:  If you’re plugging away at your script or novel or whatever, and you want to know how the bigger picture is shaping out, try summarizing it in prose or outline as you go along and include what you’ve already written.  You may be surprised at what’s there.  Good or bad, you’ll definitely be ahead of the game for your first (or next) revision.

Does it Always Suck?

Recently, Mary over at Ruts and Grooves had something to say about not being afraid to write crap. Now, I’m paraphrasing here, going on memory as I’m in my “writing” coffee shop without internet access. The thing is, even before I read that post of hers, I was already telling myself that first drafts suck. I really did, and have done so for some time.  Of course, I would always forget, and still do. I let myself have hope that the next project will be AWESOME in the first draft, thus I won’t lose any sleep during the revisions. Of course, that’s never the case. But here’s the scary thing… I might just really suck. Seriously.

I’ve been fretting over this 5 page treatment so I can upload a script to Greenwriter.org and be better prepared with material for when I (finally) start marketing myself, and (finally) send out some queries. But man, it ain’t easy. Not five minutes ago I was reading my treatment and found some common writing mistakes. Mistakes that I always make. What the hell? Have I not learned anything? Well, I know I have. In fact, I’ve learned a lot. I guess moments like this remind me that I have a ways to go. I also wonder if every writer makes the same mistakes over and over. I wonder if that’s me making excuses for myself. I wonder if I’m just in a rut, panicking, and using the panic and my stupendous gift of procrastination to write up a blog entry.

But worst of all, I wonder if I’m kidding myself with this whole writing thing.

So here’s what this little bit of therapeutic blogging has taught me today.

1. I keep coming back to the fact that I love to write. So, when I consider that, and the fact that I’ve invested too much time and energy to give up, I know I just gotta shut the hell up and chill.

2. Recognizing those mistakes for what they are on the first read through is progress in itself. So I should just shut the hell up and chill.

3. Wondering out loud in a coffee shop in the middle of the night incites strange looks from late night truckers. So I should just…..(say it with me now)

Tomorrow?

I'll continue my post tomorrow, and here it is, ten days later. And thats how it usually happens, I'll do this tomorrow, I'll get to that soon, oh I really should do that... And the days slip by like the sea, without you ever realizing. You get caught up in the tide, being pulled along with it, without ever noticing. And soon, you find yourself drowning, in work, in marriage, in kids. And that thing that you were gonna get to tomorrow, well, tomorrow just doesn't seem to come around.

But there's another side to that coin too. When you're so afraid of losing that thing that you hold onto it so tightly, you plant yourself firmly down with it, never giving up or letting go. And sure enough, you stand firm, but the days begin to slip by without you. And those precious moments in marriage, kids, and sometimes even work. Those things that are drowning everyone else become the commodity. No matter what side of that coin faces up, you begin to question. If the choice that you made, or was made for you was the right one.

There's a delicate balance to hold. I've always railed against the first option. I've been known to call it being a 'victim of life'. But there is an opposite extreme. Never really even thought about it until I typed it out here. Maybe it's been on my mind without my even knowing it. But I'm just wandering here. Typing for the sake of typing.

As for me, I'm still writing, and have come across problems and solutions. But this time, as opposed to all the other times Ive gotten to this point, I've persisted. I push on. I like everything that is coming out, and maybe that worries me a bit. I feel there should be more garbage, but there doesn't seem to be much at all. Maybe I'm not a harsh enough critic of my own work. It will all be sorted out in the wash though.
Still on one page a day but I'm trying to get more out. I have a deadline at the end of the month for 35 pages, which is a handful more then my quota. Not really worried about reaching it, but I wanted to far exceed it. Really, I wanted to double it next month. Might still do that. Have to get this book done. For my own sanity...
M

Final Steps, courtesy of John August

About a month ago, I typed out a rewrite schedule that I've used. Today, John August has a post about the final steps to take before turning in a script.

Just thought I'd share.

This week in writing....

Well, I just finished my pages for the week. Yes. Five. Hey, it's a start. This week has been harder then the others. This is the week I usually quit, or slow right down. But I'm desperatly trying to turn that historical fact around. And finishing my pages for the week is a big boost in the right direction.
Im starting to write about things that were never in the original idea. Things that just came out of left field. It's a great feeling. It really is like the story and the character is leading you in a direction, and you have no choice but to follow and, in effect, journalise it. I don't think that's a word, but its what i mean.
Well, my battery is running low, so I gotta go. Ill continue my post tomorrow.

Focus

Or lack of. This is what's on my mind.
I need space here. And a coffee. And a life.

Un-Fun 1.2 – Making it Fun

The outline is done. Now comes the hard part… the other hard part. Making it -- forcing it -- into prose. Exciting prose. Not flowery, not literary. It’s just gotta get the story across while revealing character, but it definitely needs a voice. And I’d like the voice to be representative of the tone, and of me.

Last night, after I finished my outline, I decided to skim over an unfinished novel from a few years ago. It made me cringe in some spots; the immaturity of some ideas and the writing, and made me smile in other spots. There were plot points, characters, and setups in that prologue and first two chapters that I completely forgot about.

It was never my plan to re-read some of my own prose before sitting down to hammer out these treatments and synopsis, but I’m glad I did. Writing a treatment isn’t the same as writing a novel, but they share some obvious things in common and reading that stuff last night actually has me looking forward to what I used to think of as a daunting and painful task.

Here it is....

My first post. A year, almost to the day, from when Dan posted the first entry. And now, Im coming in from the cold to settle down into the role of a serious writer. Is that possible? Im not really sure. But this is a first big step.

Already my thoughts go haywire. Where do I begin? I've already started typing and erased the previous line about five times. This is not a good sign. So, I'm going to put some pertinent stuff here and call it done.

I'm writing. A novel. A slow, meandering process. Its a novel that I've been writing for fifteen years. It started strong, so many years ago, with a great opening paragraph. In my mind it became the paragraph that could never be topped. Then it became a few pages here, a few pages there. I turned to other stories, short ones. And completed a good handful. One of them was even published. It was a story called 'Permission'. It was published in Tesseracts 10, a Canadian anthology, which came out in 2006.

But. And this is the big, But. I never, ever could bring myself to restart that novel. It was my albatross. Lack of confidence, lack of motivation, lack of discipline. So many lacks, conspired against me. But, I've started again. Ive started at a page a day. A goal that has been mutually arranged with Hugh. As he is also fighting demons to complete his novel.

Questions and reasons and further musings will all be address in later posts. But for now, it's going well. Slowly, but well.

Un-Fun

I’m still here.
Currently in a bit of a rut. You see, I stress over the “un-fun” things. Writing a synopsis and treatment falls under that heading. I had hoped to get it all done in a couple of days, but here I am, two weeks later. In a bit of a rut.

I’ll be done by the end of the week.

Here are some links I found on the “un-fun.”

Rewrite Schedule

Here's something I went looking for in my notebooks. It's from Nika Rylski's Act 3 Workshop, though I seemed to have scribbled something she said about borrowing it from McKee. It's a good place to start after you complete your first draft, especially if it's your first script.

1st Draft Rewrite – Overall Structure
1. Key Questions (McKee handout) [This, I'll post if I can find it in my files]
2. What is the relationship between POA* – Crisis – Climax?

2nd Draft Rewrite – Sequencing
1. Are sequences ordered correctly?
2. Can script be broken down into sequences?
3. Are there “Qs?”

3rd Draft Rewrite - Character
1. Does each character have life off screen?
2. Are they three dimensional?
3. Is each character necessary to the plot?
4. Related to Protagonist in terms of function?
5. Does each character have a spine?
6. Is Master Antagonist as strong as Protagonist?
7. Is there a character arc?
8. Is motivation clear?

4th Draft Rewrite – Scene by Scene
1. Is each scene necessary?
2. Is each scene doing more than one thing?
3. Can talking heads scene be replaced by visuals?
4. Does opening scene “grab?”

5th Draft Rewrite – Recurring Motifs
1. Looking for motifs that contribute to Script cohesion

6th Draft Rewrite – Dialogue
1. Try a reading.
2. Try reading it to yourself out loud.

7th Draft Rewrite – Formatting + Spelling + Typos

*POA - Point of attack. I'm only clarifying it because I seem to remember Nika saying that it's what she calls it, and point in fact, most literature on three act structure I've read (including "Story" and Syd Fields "Screenplay") refer to this as the "Inciting Incident."

Where's the time?

I don't know how the pros do it. Seriously, they write screenplays, short stories, novels, and some of them still maintain a blog. Nuts.

Got a little pumped up after some recent emails and facebook correspondence with a writer buddy currently in Trinidad, (Hugh...post something here!) so here's another attempt at a blog entry. In fact, last night I came up with some more ideas about what I'd like TWIP to be and shared them with Hugh this afternoon. Waiting on his reply....

Anywho....looking back on that last entry kind of made me laugh. But all in all, I did stick with that plan I outlined there. I did however take a long detour in March, April, and May to work on my second script which is finally in GREAT shape. Actually, I think May and part of June were spent reading and recharging my batteries. After that, I started to re-outline my 3rd screenplay. I refuse to look at the original draft, and I gotta say, this approach is really working.

I've been half assed with my market research, but it's coming along. I'm hoping to start sending queries in September or October. And though my focus has been on features, I'm still hoping to go back to that TV pilot I wrote with Mark and today I found a great entry on Dead Things on Sticks which will have me glued to my laptop this week (and inspired the beginning of this entry) Check it out here.

Hopefully I'll be back sometime this week as opposed to nine months from now.

What's this? Oh.... a blog.

Well, it's been a while, but with very good reason. The TV pilot was handed off to my partner, who still hasn't contributed to this blog or done any work on the pilot. My attention then went to scripts 1 and 2, both feature length. One is a caper/drama, the other a sci-fi drama. 99% of the last month was spent on script #1, where as 1 day was spent on #2. Why? 'Cause that's all the time I could afford in order to meet the Dec 1 deadline at Blue Cat. Blue Cat is a great way to get some feedback on your screenplay. While not as in depth as say, Coverage Ink, they're not as expensive and provide enough feedback to let you know if you're on the right track and even offer suggestions on how to strengthen the weak points. The other reason why I spent more time on the caper, less on the scifi, was because the caper needed more work, and I already had notes on how I wanted to revise it. The scifi script is something I've been working on for some time and I still need more time away from it (another month will do).

So now it's time for me to get some reading done, and take it easy for the month of December. And I plan to start messing around with script #3, which I haven't worked on in 2 or 3 years. I figure it's a page 1 rewrite and will use the next month to jot down ideas and outline whenever I feel like it. Then the work will begin in January. John August has a good post on how long it should take to write a script. After the learning process I took with writing the caper drama in a screenwriting class, I've found 12 weeks works for me. And that's with my measly 2-3 hours a night, 5 nights a week routine. Now if someone paid me to write so I could quit my job....

The Kind of Writing that Pisses Me Off

Shortcuts, for one.

Now, let’s say you have a goal for your character(s). Let’s say they fight to achieve this goal and finally win. Let’s say this is a television show. Let’s say they fight for this goal for a good chunk of the first season. Let’s say we even get reminded of that goal and subsequent victory later in the season, maybe even in the second season.

DO NOT make it all pointless in the first episode of season 3. Don’t. That’s bad. And the writers of Heroes should know better.

Walt!

Well, since that last entry, I got the chicken pox and did nothing. So here I am, trying to get back into the groove. Again. Here goes....

“Walt! Walt!”

That seemed to be regular dialogue for Michael throughout most of seasons 1 and 2 of “Lost.” Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because it crystallized Michael’s story; the struggles of a single father who had fatherhood thrust upon him when Walt’s mother died. (Quickly followed by crashing on an island overrun by psychotic cave-people posers and physics-defying smoke)

Scenes between Walt and Michael furthered Michael’s story, and to a lesser degree, Walt’s. But it was the scenes between Walt and John Locke that really hinted at what many hoped to be an incredible future story arc (journey) for Walt. It remains to be seen if fans will get to see that journey. I for one am no longer sure we will and sometimes believe that there WAS a story there, but was later shelved as priorities in the writer’s room changed.

Events in season 1 (and season 2 thanks to Miss Clue) suggested a big Walt story. “He’s special,” they said. From learning how to play backgammon to throwing knives, conjuring dead birds and (foreseeing?) polar bears, it was clear that something was “up” with Walt. But when did it start? When did we, the audience, get our first “Walt’s arc story beat?”

If I had access to my season 1 DVDs, I’d tell you.

I can say with complete... okay, almost complete certainty, that we didn’t get it in the pilot. Or did we? It certainly doesn’t seem like we did. So now, my dear nonexistent readers, I come to the point. (finally) When writing an ensemble, one that has…say… strong serial elements[1], how many character arcs do you set up in the first half of a two hour pilot?

The Secret TV Pilot
“A bunch of people struggle to maintain and protect their way of life. When it’s threatened and it seems all is lost, they go on the run to start over someplace new and safe.”

That’s a non specific concept for the TV show I’m writing with Mark and no, we wouldn’t/don’t pitch it that way.

The characters we focus on, the ones that lead the audience into this new world, have an arc that is set up in “Pilot – Part 1.” The characters grow and develop and are not static within the confines of that one 50 odd page script. Two of them, brothers who couldn’t be more different, have a kid brother they both care about. We call him…. Richard, and he’s our Walt.

When Mark and I were first brainstorming on this show over frosty pints,[2] we decided these two brothers needed… something. Something in common. Something they both care about. We discussed giving them a younger brother and after bouncing around story ideas and seeing just what we could do with this new character, Richard was born. (7 pounds, 3 ounces) But in our notes, Richard was merely described as a “wide eyed kid.” I think this MIGHT be where we went wrong, ‘cause you see, there’s something bothering me about Richard in “Pilot – Part 1.” Over the course of that script, Richard supplies some exposition (and we actually like how that scene plays out) and manages to get kidnapped at the end. But none of that, as far as we know, really sets up his character arc. And now that I think about it, I know it doesn’t. As writers, we’re not going to write this character as the kid who’s traumatized for a season or two by the kidnapping. The show isn’t about the kidnapping. The event will certainly inform the character, but nothing more. So my problem is Richard comes across as a tool. He’s just there to give these two brothers something they both care about because that makes them (especially the bad brother) nice guys the audience could like.

I want more for/from my characters.

I started writing this blog entry as a means of working my way through a dilemma. Writing is making decisions. Do we take all those scenes with Richard in the first part of the pilot and tweak them to set up some grand character arc and hint at the journey to come? Or will that merely be distraction and confuse the audience?

Well, hopefully this blogging thing has helped me again.

The Pilot is setup for the series.

Richard’s journey could only happen AFTER the events of the pilot (bunch of people going on the run). It could only happen after his ordinary world is interrupted and changed forever. Yes, he gets kidnapped, but he’s not the main character. I’ll come back to the kidnapping in a bit.

A character’s introduction is his first beat.

Firefly: Mal at the height of the war with the Alliance. Lost: Jack racing to save people. Sawyer being a jackass. (And being alone, smoking, reading the letter). In “Heroes,” Claire is introduced hurting herself because she can regenerate, but doesn’t know what to make of it. But Hiro is trying to stop a clock, and when he does, he gets excited and tells his buddy, Ando, all about it. He wants that kind of power because he wants to be a hero.

So, in writing this entry, I’m leaning towards NOT making Richard a busy-body to set up stuff the audience won’t care about yet. You see (if you had eyes, but don’t since you don’t exist, dear reader), our notes said “wide-eyed-kid” and that’s exactly what we wrote. Richard is static. The first step is making his introduction a little more interesting.

Getting kidnapped is a big deal; it’s obviously bad news for him. But it FEELS like it’s worse for his brothers, the people who care about him. One reason for that is they’re the main characters in the pilot, they’re the ones we’re invested in. I’m thinking Mark[3] and I just need a subtle change in Richard, one that’s brought about by the events of the pilot BEFORE he gets kidnapped. When this group decides to go on the run, we need to see how that affects him. We need to feel it. And if we can nudge him into a slightly negative headspace right before he gets kidnapped, we’ll feel for him too. Then, I’m hoping, he won’t feel so static.


[1] Mark and I want to write a serial. The first time I pitched our pilot at a pitchfest, the people I met with told me nobody wants serials anymore. They also said there’s no market for Sci-Fi. This was back in summer of 2006. Because of that experience, and because I’m a wimp, I say stupid things like “strong serial elements.”

[2] I’ve since switched to bottles. I drink slow and beer gets flat by the time I’m two thirds through a pint.

[3] I’m also thinking I gotta give Mark another nudge to start contributing to this blog. Otherwise I’ll REALLY come across as a lunatic talking about non existent readers and writers.

Trying to get the groove back.

Been off for the last couple of weeks. Off the day job, and pretty much off from the writing thing. The time off was GREAT. Saw a couple of friends get married, took a ton of pictures at the stag and wedding, and hung out with a couple of friends from out of town. So after such a memorable pair of weeks, I gotta now figure out how to shift back into work mode. And by work, I mean writing.

Well, the focus is still screenwriting. The TV pilot and screenplay #1. So the other day I watched Miami Vice (the movie). Next up is season 1 of Heroes, which I haven't seen in over a year. After that, I'll probably re-watch Season 4 of Lost (I'd watch every season but my dvds have been loaned out to friends and family.) The tricky thing, I guess, is finding the right inspiration and then eventually admitting that it's all bullshit. Man-up. Sit down and write.

One thing that helps is the little victories. A week after I received notification from the Nicholl Fellowship stating my screenplay did NOT make it to the quarter finals, I received another letter from them. The same one. I didn't make it. Not once, but twice in the same competition.

That must be a record.

But.... then I looked down at the bottom of the letter. Underneath Mr. Beal's signature was a little handwritten note: "Close - in the top 10%"

Wicked. Wicked cool.

I know that I'm not the only person to get that. I know it wasn't a "personal" note. But the point is that was a victory for me. Especially considering that this particular screenplay has been a curse. I wanted to know if I was on the right track with my revisions. And now I know thanks to Greg Beal.

I'll take that little victory the way I took positive feedback from friends on mere ideas. Anything positive to fuel my "improbability drive." Anything to help me sit, and stare down that blank page.

I won't blink. And eventually, I'll jot down a thing or two.

Doh ver. 1.2

Wednesday night, I had a good talk about the tv pilot with Mark, my writing partner (and hopefully future contributor to this blog). So in a way... some work got done on it (don't forget; Bailey has scars, Miranda doesn't). But it feels like I slacked off since I was planning on going to a coffee shop to do a pass or two on a scene. You see, everything was going according to plan, then "work" got in the way. I left late. Mark called and asked if I wanted to meet up for a beer.

H-E-L-L-O.

Sure, I could use a beer. Initially, I turned him down. Got work to do. But then I saw my plan go out the window. (the plan was complicated, relying on the TTC [uh...] and the ability to leave work on time [yeah, right]) So what ended up happening was the usual shits and giggles, some brainstorming, followed by the requisite "We're geniuses. This is G-O-L-D."

Uh-huh. Then of course, I end up feeling like crap the next morning. And guilty. Guilty hangover.

The interesting thing was our conversation about character. The pilot is an ensemble and we had slightly differing opinions on who you could call the main character. Actually, we agreed on which character is becoming numero uno, but it's not who we originally intended to be the protagonist, our Jack Sheppherd. Our Malcom Reynalds. Our Bugs Bunny.

Now, this is not a bad thing. Characters are coming to life, taking over the story and all that other crap writers say when they're buzzing from a creative burst. The only thing that concerns me is that - at least as far as the way I write - this is a sign that the former main character has been somewhat neglected. I mean, this is an ensemble, but imagine if the crew behind LOST were developing their stories and designing their characters... and Locke suddenly became Bernard. Or Dr. Artz.

So, while I agree that our new protag will fill that role nicely and won't change that, at some point me and Mark are gonna have to put some serious thought into this other, neglected character. 'Cause when characters come to life, it's awesome. Until they knock on your door with a chip on their shoulder and slap you around for neglecting them.
Either that, or they start a band.
A grunge band.
A whiny grunge band.

Progress ver. 1

From about 12:30am until 2am this morning, I finally got some work done on the tv pilot. One scene. One scene, rewritten about three times. And then I couldn't sleep until about, oh... 4:30am. Tricky thing was there were a lot of characters in the scene, and the show is an ensemble. Everyone's trying to put there two cents in and I realized it came down to the pov of the one character who's the most emotionally invested in the situation. And if his pov or motivation clashes with say... his son, then perfect. Conflict. Drama. Just add water. (ok, there's a little more involved that that.)

In other news, someone is getting married soon and their stag is this weekend. Paintball and Pubs. How much fun is that? Lots. I'll be bringing the camera (my new Canon Rebel XSI) but am a little irked that my trial copy of Lightroom 2 keeps crashing my laptop. What gives?

Doh.

Still no work done on the tv pilot. Aggravating. Todays distractions
shouldn't put me behind but, man... what a frustrating day. I don't
think a "retail environment" is good for creative energy. But it does
help out in the character development area. Especially if your
characters are all asses.

Not enough Espresso

This is not a drug. It's motivation in a tiny cup and today, it just wasn't enough.

Having a very slow start. I'm usually out the door at this point, but not today. I did my usual web-trolling and there's not a lot of interesting stuff going on in film, literature, or music. Though at some point I'm gonna have to look up the Chris Cornell/Timbaland album. Hey, I'm curious.

Haven't gotten any work done, but soon I'll be combing through the TV pilot. If all goes well, the latest draft will be done by the end of the month and uploaded to Inktip. And if I'm really smart, I'll come up with a plan for this here blog. Or rather, a direction.