Most people will say I’m a nice guy, but something’s happening with this rewrite that seems to be awakening my inner ‘bad boy’.

At least from a writing perspective.

One of the guidelines I’ve always felt compelled to follow is when something is supposed to happen, such as Statement of Theme on Page 3, or Inciting Incident on Page 10, then that’s when it happens. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

So even though I’m making some good progress, the way the story’s playing out, it’s getting more difficult to follow the rules.  The pages are playing out differently.

My first response was “oh no! this isn’t right! I’ve got to fix it!”  But that would weaken the story, so…I’m just going to leave it as is.

I know. Quite the rebel.

Part of me feels almost guilty for not doing what I’m supposed to. ‘Almost’ being the key word here.

I really like how this thing is shaping up, so that basically kicks the guilt out of the picture.  I’d rather a reader remembers this as a story that really grabs hold and doesn’t let go, rather than focusing on whether or not something happens exactly when the rules say it’s supposed to.

I’ve been told I’m pretty good with structure, so again, not feeling too guilty. Actually, it feels…really cool.

I’m 10 pages in, and this already feels different than previous drafts. Different in a good way. Like this could actually (finally?) be my breakthrough script.

And that’s kind of exciting.

Even better, that excitement seems to be finding its way into this draft, which I sincerely hope others will pick up on as well.

Maybe they’ll even get a glimpse at what this ‘bad boy’ has to offer and like what they see.