Lost Marbles

So I recently suffered a personal setback and, in an effort to distract myself, I poured myself into the new novel. I had already begun chipping back at it, but found (with the amount of distraction I needed) that I was able to increase my output dramatically. I now have a rough first draft and am planning to jump right into the rewrite.

The thing that struck me (as it has with every completed project) was the question: "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

The answers are numerous, but the main point of it is distraction. Distracted by life, television, work, money, fb, hanging-out/"liming", family, etc. etc... All the distractions are there for entertainment and necessity. The necessities must be dealt with. There's just no way around that. But the entertainment... well that's where you can sit down and write. Write for the joy of it and remember what it is that really fuels the desire, which is the love of the craft.

I hope I'm finally learning to let the writing become the distraction (at least until it can become "the work").

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I lost my way, but I would sit and churn out a page here and there like it was my duty, a promise I had made to some old former-self to never give up on this dream, to put in the time until the windfall. Because, you see, you reach a point where you feel, "I need to do this," and forget how much you really WANT to do it.

For the first time in a long time I think I feel that old desire again. Not just the desire driven by the knowledge that I AM a writer. That nowhere else do I feel as at home, as relevant, or as satisfied. That this is what I have to do. But the desire also driven by the fun of it, of losing myself in a world of my own creation, of chasing my shadow through widows and refusing to let the real world catch me, age and reason be damned - at least for a little while, at least for a moment...

Life will surely come beckoning. Right now though, I'm writing for me again. Because I want to.

And I like it.

Aftermath ver. 1.1

The holidays came and went and I took the time to relax.  I read a couple of books (The Dream of Perpetual Motion and Coppermine) and at some point, I went over my short story.  Unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it, so I decided to shelve it for now and stay focused on screenwriting as things are “looking up.”

I got feedback from Blue Cat in early January and it was very positive.  WOOT!  The one thing they suggested I work on was some of my conversational dialogue, and that didn’t come as a surprise as I had rushed to meet the early deadline and neglected doing a proper dialogue revision.  So the past couple of weeks have been spent on reading, and re-reading, the script and trying to tweak it here and there.  I thought I was done marking it up tonight, but when I got home I got to thinking that I need to look at the bigger picture.  I’ve been so focused on the words and changing them around that I haven’t sat back and looked at each scene from the perspective of the character.  That is to say, I’ve been shying away from overhauling complete scenes.

The scenes themselves and their placement within the sequences and screenplay aren’t the problem.  It’s the characters’ voices that’s bugging me.  I just feel like I should be sitting down and brainstorming more on how the characters would express themselves because right now, in some cases, it feels as though they’re just taking instructions from me.  And that blows.

Don’t get me wrong.  There’s some dialogue that I’m happy with, even proud of.  The feedback from Blue Cat didn’t indicate that all the dialogue sucks.  They just recommended that I pay closer attention to some of the conversational dialogue as sometimes it’s a little too conveniently plot heavy.  (They were nice enough to point out that I tend to “show” more than I “tell,” which is good. )

So I think I’ll be giving it another read before typing up my revisions and passing it off to friends for feedback.  In the meantime, I’ve already started reworking my logline and one pager, and I’ll be giving another screenplay the revision treatment as well.  Research into agents and managers who accept unsolicited queries is progressing and there have been not one, but TWO recent issues of Creative Screenwriting containing articles that express cautious optimism for the spec market.  Online research into the spec market seems to confirm that 2011 could be a better year than 2009 and 2010. 

Now’s the time to learn how to type when fingers are crossed.

Aftermath ver. 1.0

I’ve been neglecting this here blog with good reason: The Screenplay.

October was divided between typing the screenplay and a vacation in Florida. The warm weather and rest was perfect. Upon my return, I resumed typing the screenplay and began my revisions in earnest. After all the hair pulling I did this past year, it was extremely gratifying to see all the pieces fall into place. Plot, character, theme. Cause and effect. Action. Emotion. Everything came together. I submitted it to the Blue Cat Screenplay competition in early December and should have some feedback from them in early January.

Now, word on the blogosphere is that competitions are a waste of time and money, but I disagree to a point. You have to do your research. If it’s clout you’re looking for when your screenplay makes the finals or even wins, there’s nothing that compares to the Nicholl Fellowship. I’m not sure where Blue Cat is on the list of prestigious competitions, but they’re the best bang for your buck in the feedback department. My two previous scripts are better for the feedback I received from them.

The one thing that ALL screenplay competitions offer that writers benefit from is deadlines. It’s been said before all over the net (and books and classes and seminars) but I’m saying it again ‘cause us writers need deadlines. The thing is you got to be smart about deadlines so you can submit your best work. This means you have to be smarter than me.

What I submitted to Blue Cat was not my best work. As proud as I was of that draft, I discovered some small things that needed improvement in the days that followed my submission. You need to look at the year ahead in regards to competitions. Pick the ones you want to submit to and make note of their deadlines.

Then meet those deadlines.

I allowed myself a week or two to revise before submitting. I should’ve given myself at least a month.

That said, I truly feel the current draft of the screenplay is some of my best work. It’s a scary feeling because I know I need outside feedback. So I’m not looking at this thing again until the feedback from Blue Cat comes in.

Thus, I enter the Aftermath of being focused on a screenplay for so long.

My home office was a mess and I’ve begun to clean it up. There are stacks of books I want to read that I’m going to get to, as well as stacks of magazines. And there’s a short story that I rewrote a year ago that I need to revise. Slowly.

Taking my time with this short story will allow me to keep those muscles in shape while reading those books will help me recharge. There’s also a slew of emails to catch up on, most of which are screenwriting newsletters with great articles that have been filed away for future consumption. Many of those articles will assist in the post revision-post aftermath phase; a phase I’ve never entered before.

Query letter phase. (Or rather, query email)

In the new year, once that short story is done and submitted, I’ll begin researching production companies, agents, and managers who accept unsolicited queries. Creative Screenwriting Magazine and Script Magazine have great articles and listings, as does Inktip. I’ll probably put this latest screenplay on Inktip and sign up for the Hollywood Creative Directory Online which has (the last time I checked) options for yearly or monthly subscriptions. All this research and query writing will be interspersed with revisions on the previous two scripts, then with brainstorming on the next screenplay. And given the whining (and preaching) I’ve done on this blog about running out of steam, I know I need to plan a short break in April or May.

So here’s to 2011. The aftermath of 2010.

Progress ver 1.3

Just over two weeks past my deadline, and I’m done.  I finished the first draft of this sucker last night, but of course I’m a wee bit behind on typing it.  Structurally, the script is working.  I’ve got some issues to deal, with and my third act has some elements that are making me rethink how I approached it.  All in all, I’ve still got a ton of work to do and I’m really looking forward to it.  Once I address these issues, I’ll start the list of revisions I mentioned way back when.

Soundtracks

John August has a post about music while writing that everyone should check out.  The thing I find interesting is using these playlists as a tool when you’re stuck or when you’re ping-ponging between projects.  (I find that’s more applicable to working writers.  I feel the rest of us should try hard to focus on one thing at a time)

I’ve dabbled a bit with playlists for writing, but the intent was for something to start off with in the search for inspiration.  Using it as a tool to compliment, let’s say an outline, is something new to me.  Outlines tend to detail plot points, and lately I’ve been making little notes about the impact of those beats on the character, and vice versa.  The thing that interests me about setting up a playlist (and perhaps being act/sequence/scene specific) is that it could remind me of the emotion I feel should underline the scene.  It’s details like that that sometimes get lost in all that plot and structure thinking that occupies a lot of the writing process.

The only problem I’m faced with is the fact that music with lyrics can be a distraction.  Well, unless it’s the crap that plays at the coffee shop I write at.  I tend to tune out that stuff, but with music I like… I tend to get sucked into it.  In the past, I’ve reached for instrumental music, some of which are soundtracks for films I’ve enjoyed.

Heat has got some great music, some composed for the film (Heat, Coffee Shop) and some tracks from a variety of artists ranging from Moby to Michael Brook.  (I discovered Terje Rypdal through this soundtrack and have collected a number of his albums since)

Lately, I’ve been listening to David Julyan’s score for Insomnia, and Elliot Goldenthal’s score for Public Enemies.  Micahel Nyman’s scores for Gattaca and The End of the Affair are old favourites, too.

For music that hasn’t necessarily been written for film, there’s always guys like Moby, Synaesthesia, Future Sound of London, Dead Voices on Air, and the list goes on…

I’m thinking my new playlist will need some of Nine Inch Nails “Ghosts,” selections from the soundtracks I mentioned above, and a good serving of Mogwai.

I love the idea that a playlist can be used as a tool and look forward to giving it a try.

Procrastinate Efficiently

My September 22 deadline is approaching and I’m a little behind. I’m only a little worried ‘cause I figure if I’m gonna procrastinate, I gotta do a thorough job of it. So I’m gonna procrastinate on worrying about the looming deadline. What the hell. I’ll start worrying about it on September 1^st or later. Keep in mind that this isn’t the same as procrastinating on writing. Just the worrying part.

I decided to take it easy this summer. I’ve got a good routine writing on weeknights so I figured it wouldn’t kill me to enjoy my Friday afternoons instead of labouring away at the library. (I’ve got Friday’s off from my part-time day job) And besides, them libraries gots bed bugs.

The thing that’s been on my mind is this feeling that at some point, I‘m going to have to work a little harder at this script. I’m going to have to start going back to the library (or a bug free location, if they exist in this city) and crank out more pages. The funny thing is it’s getting easier as the script progresses. I seemed to have struggled with the setup of this one, and as I ironed out the wrinkles there, everything else has started to fall into place. It’s far from perfect (already started a list of things I want to look at closely in the first revision) but it feels like it’s coming together. And that’s key.

Staying positive will help make the writing go smoother. So in order to stay positive, I’m going to put off the worrying. At least for a couple of weeks.

MLA with a mouth

So the current controversy is this MLA, Alberta Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett, saying Canadian content is shit.

Hey Lindsay, even if that were the case, (and it’s not) you learn by doing.  And you get better.  Statements like that don’t promote Canadian stories.  Statements like that could drive people away.  How is THAT gonna help?  How is shooting your mouth off and shrinking our audience going to help the industry?  Our storytellers need deserve the chance to grow in their craft to tell OUR stories.  I’m not just talking about the folks currently fortunate enough to be working in the industry.  I’m talking about everyone with something to say and/or express.  There are a lot of creative people you haven’t heard of who are working very hard at their craft RIGHT NOW.  It would be a shame if your comments, your lack of vision, your small mindedness, damaged an already struggling industry to the point where it becomes even more difficult for these people to find a channel, and outlet, to share OUR stories with the rest of the country. (and hopefully, the world)

Shame on you.

Yes, there’s Heartland. There’s also The Bridge.  No, I’m not gonna make a list.  I’m not insecure. 

I don’t feel the need to walk around with a tape measure.

Progress ver 1.2

While the Yellowjester (Mark) is still taking a hammer and chisel to his novel, I had a slight setback on the sci-fi script.

And a great one at that.

I looked over my act 1 and felt it didn’t work. A quick review of my outline told me why and it was one of those head slapping moments. I kept thinking, “was I asleep when I wrote this?” It truly was one of those moments where you look back and realize you were asleep at the wheel. Did I just go through a red light? Did I already put sugar in my coffee?

So over the last week, I’ve re-outlined and have already started re-writing Act 1. It’s definitely more cohesive, more exciting, and more engaging than the dribble I printed on May 30^th. And it’s strengthening Act 2.

So at the risk of sounding lame, I feel I should point out something Syd Field mentions a lot in his books. “What doesn’t work will shows us what does work.” And that’s why I am grateful for my little setback.

Inspiration

As per usual, I troll the internet looking for inspiration.  Denis McGrath has had some particularly inspiring posts here and here and here. Then there’s Lightspeed Magazine for those of you looking for a new market to submit your prose to.  I’ve also rediscovered Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s series of Podcasts.  So far my favourites are:

Cloverfield
Star Trek
The Kingdom
The Prestige
The Dark Knight

Check ‘em out. 

If I had the contacts, and the stones, I’d try to get something like that going up here.  Maybe someone better qualified will one day.  We can only hope.  The more noise that gets made, the better chances the media will pay more attention to Canadian creatives.

My Favourite Headache

The reason for such a huge gap in this blog, as with previous attempts to maintain a blog, is that I was busy. Writing. And panicking. Sort of.

From October of last year through December, I spent my writing time on reading. Recharging my batteries is something I tend to forget to do. I read some good great books in that time:

Broken Angels – Richard K. Morgan
Beyond Belfast – Will Ferguson
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union – Michael Chabon
The Killing Circle – Andrew Pyper

It was also important to feel like I was doing something. I had a complete breakdown in confidence, both in my abilities and in the story I was working on. Reading was a chance to recharge and look for inspiration, so I told myself I was working at my craft -though this was more study than hands-on. By the new year, I had begun to re-outline the current screenplay to find what I liked and what I didn’t like. By February, I was working at a decent pace, and in March I got into a good groove and haven’t slowed down. I wrote the first Act in the last couple of weeks.

The confidence/panicking thing is something all writers talk about. One thing I’d like to know from the established writers/screenwriters is do they suffer from CRS like I do. CRS is a frightening condition that plagues me and is genetic. It was passed on to me by my father and there is no known cure. It is such a rare disease that even a Google search only yields a long list of unrelated results. The full medical term for CRS is Can’t Remember Shit.

I seem to forget, quite regularly, that first drafts are shit. I forget to recharge. I forget that Syd Field talks about all this in “Screenplay,” and that I’ve told myself in the past to re-read “Screenplay” as a reminder that panic is normal. And I forget that I shouldn’t regret the choices I’ve made because, after all, writing is my favourite headache.

Coincidence – Or just good writing all around.

Minor Spoiler Alert. Don't read if you're at all interested in Flashforward or Stargate: SGU

Earlier this week, Denis at Dead Things on Sticks had a post rounding up the new TV season. Being a fan of a couple of shows he mentioned (and curious about a few others) I decided to chime in with something that occurred to me on the weekend.

A couple of friends of mine watched the pilot of “Flashforward” and said I’d really like it. The thing about “Flashforward” is that I already knew about the book, but never got around to reading it. The author, Rob Sawyer, is Canadian and really, I owe him a lot. My buddy/co-writer/co-blogger Mark met a mutual friend in Sawyer’s sci-fi writing class at (I believe) the University of Toronto. If it hadn’t been for that class, I would never have met Mark, thus I wouldn’t be broke after many nights spent at the pub. Thanks a lot Rob! But seriously, I forgot that David Goyer was involved with the show and he’s someone I’m a bit of a fan of. (Check out the “Dialogue Series” DVD with Goyer) Anyhow, back to my point. One of my friends, a non-writer, asked me to watch it. She also wanted to know if the beginning reminded me of the pilot for “Lost.”

So the weekend came, and I got my hands on the pilots for “Flashforward,” and another show I was looking forward to, “Stargate Universe.” And here’s the thing: They obeyed rule #1 for any kind of storytelling, be it novel, short story, film, or television. GRAB ‘EM. Hook the audience. Get their attention from the start. The interesting thing is, both pilots did in fact remind of the pilot for “Lost.”

I’m not suggesting that the writer’s of FF and SGU were ripping off Lindelof and Abrams. I’m not even suggesting they were inspired by the “Lost” pilot, though it’s a possibility, for reasons possibly exclusive to the two shows. But it makes the case for what works, particularly for the sci-fi genre. (I’m not gonna go into the Sawyer/Crichton sci-fi, but not sci-fi, debate)

Here’s why they reminded me of Lost. In a nutshell: Lots of people on screen confused, scared, screaming, hurt. And even if you didn’t know who Joseph Fienns is, or recognize any of the principal characters from the ads, you would be able to lock in on who the “heroes” are based on their action (or positive reaction) to their predicament. I’m kicking myself for the way I just spelled it out, because it sounds like formula. It’s not. It’s good writing. Because there’s a world, a plot, a story, and real characters that hold it all together.

The moment Lt. Scott stumbles through the stargate aboard the “Destiny,” we know something is wrong. He looks around, he’s out of breath, he raises his gun. Before he can finish scanning the large dark gate-room, people are being flung through the stargate and he’s trying to help them. And the situation deteriorates from there. Same thing with Flashforward.

The reason I risk the wrath of geeks everywhere by saying the writers of both shows MIGHT have been influenced by Lost is because, well, I think they’re geeks too. Us geeks don’t always see other geeks as competitors. These guys are all fans of a) good television, b) the genre, and c) storytelling.

Goyer, and especially Braga (Star Trek, Threshold and more) have worked in TV before. So why wouldn’t they look at something like “Lost.” Both shows are not episodic, and from the looks of it so far, FF will most likely have a mythology.

The guys over at Stargate are massive geeks, and I say that with the utmost respect. If you look at any past episode of either SG-1 or Atlantis, there are all sorts of nods and winks at other stories in the sci-fi genre. Look at the 200th episode of SG-1. They’re also fans of great story and have experimented within their show’s framework to stretch out a little. The two-part SG-1 episode “Heroes” is one of my favourites. (The writer’s gave Saul Rubinek a juicy part and his speech/rant in part two was brilliant) They made it clear from the moment SGU was announced that they were gonna try something different, and while some fans had doubts, I was pumped. I trust these guys based on on what I’ve seen they’re capable of with past Stargate episodes. So did they rip off “Lost?” No. Were they inspired by it? Maybe. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re fans of the show. Could they have never watched “Lost” but still come up with a great pilot for “SGU?” Absolutely. ‘Cause great minds think alike.

All these shows grabbed the audience and didn’t let go. They SHOWED us who our heroes are at a frantic pace while establishing a very strong QUESTION that will drive the characters on a journey while planting our butts in front of the TV week after week.

(Oh… it’s been a while since I’ve watched something that made me want to sit down and write a new story or overhaul an old one. SGU did just that. Even the music is awesome. I can’t get the opening out of my head)

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

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.

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.”

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.