When it rains, there are more problems out on the roadways, resulting in more work for us already heavily-burdened traffic reporters. End result – I’ve worked a lot of hours this week, so not as much time to write as I’d hoped.  A couple of pages a day at best.  Positive spin – nearing the end of Act Two.

Even though I’m working off an outline, sometimes a new approach to a scene will pop in.  Will this work? Does it impact the scene better than the original? Is there conflict? Does it move the story forward?  If it involves the main character, is he the one driving the action? (important questions all).  If I can say ‘yes’ to these questions, then I give it a try.  Lately, it’s been working out.

Case in point: the current sequence.  The way I had it was good, but thought it could be better.  I wanted to expand on it a little.  Keep the tension going.  What would be the most effective way to accomplish this?  I came up with a few different scenarios, finally picking the one I thought worked best. The reshuffling of and minor rewriting of the involved scenes wasn’t as bad as I expected, and I liked the end result.

-My guest on The Script Adventurer! this coming Monday will be UCLA Screenwriting Dept Head Richard Walter.  If you have a question you’d like to ask him, email it to me and I’ll try to ask it during the show.

-Movie of the Moment – JOHN CARTER (2012). This was not the debacle I’d been led to believe; it was actually pretty good. Although I didn’t see the need for the 3-D.

For the most part, I liked it, but some of the story details were a little confusing.  I remember that from the book as well.  If I really like a movie I see in the theatre, I’d consider planning ahead to get it on DVD. I didn’t get that vibe, but I’m more likely to read the book again.

I was surprised Michael Chabon had a hand in the script. I can see that, especially after the great job he did on SPIDER-MAN 2.

Disney’s marketing department completely messed up.  You’d think they’d know better.  A sci-fi adventure story with romantic elements.  How can you not sell that?

I thought Taylor Kitsch did an okay job in the title role, but he looks too generic. A character like this needs more than just a pretty face and muscles.