Author: Maximum Z

A world of my own design OR Atlas, schmatlas

Maximum Z creativity, geography, history, Movie of the Moment, outlines, research, screenwriting, storytelling, westerns, writing
The land is mine to manipulate as I see fit. So there.
This land is mine to manipulate as I see fit.  So there.

Making some good progress on the western outline. This “working at least 30 minutes a day” thing has really moved things along; actually much faster than originally anticipated. Give it a try if you haven’t already.

Sure, there are still some small details here and there that need to be hammered out, but for the most part the majority of the story is pretty close to being done.

When I started this, I wanted to make it as realistic as possible (or at least as much as a story about a female train engineer in the Old West can be), and that included using real geographic settings.  I wanted the fort here, the showdown here, etc.

But that just raised more questions. If the fort’s here, how far is it to this other point, and how fast would the train have to go in order to get there, and could trains go that fast during that time, and was there even a rail line between those two points?

This was becoming way more complicated than it had to be. I want to tell a story, not set up a math word problem.

So as I was going back and forth between the new and previous drafts, it dawned on me: I can just make stuff up, including where things happen.

I’m the writer. I’m allowed to do that.

So out went locations that actually exist, and in came totally fabricated ones (yet another benefit to all those years of listening to old-time radio westerns).

The feeling’s quite liberating. No longer do I have to worry about making sure every single detail is spot-on accurate, and can now focus on developing a rousing tale of adventure populated with colorful characters.

Which is how it should be.

-Major crisis narrowly averted! I’d lost a flash drive with a lot of script stuff on it. Only during the DREAMSHIP rewrite did I start making additional copies onto my hard drive, so a lot of projects I’d started before that were apparently gone forever.

I did a fairly good job of masking my pain, but was internally kicking myself for not having more backups (20/20 hindsight and all that).

Happy ending – K found the flash drive. Lesson learned – I’m in the process of saving everything on Google Docs so I never have to panic like that again.

You’re probably thinking “that’ll never happen to me. I’m always careful.” I used to think that too. Now it’s all about taking extra precautions.

-Movie of the Moment – FRANKENWEENIE (2012). A lot of fun that cleverly pays homage to classic monster movies. Parental advisory – V cried when the dog was killed (done very tastefully offscreen)

Warning! Contents approaching levels of overstuffedness!

Maximum Z Bruce Campbell, editing, Sam Raimi, screenwriting, story, structure, writing
Why this man isn't a megastar is beyond all comprehension
Why this man isn’t a megastar is beyond all comprehension

This past Saturday night, K and I got to attend an extra-special screening of that beloved classic film: Sam Raimi’s ARMY OF DARKNESS.

Part of what made it extra-special was that before the show, there was a live, onstage Q&A with the film’s star, the immortal Bruce Campbell.  Icing on the cake – Patton Oswalt was the interviewer. Yes, it was fantastic as bon mots were liberally tossed about, audience questions were handled with severe aplomb and a rousing good time was had by all.

Then the movie started.

We’d never seen it on the big screen, which definitely makes it that much more of an enjoyable experience.

If you haven’t seen it, make a point of doing so.  It’s silly fun and clocks in at an amazing 81 minutes, including credits.  That may sound short, but writers Sam and Ivan Raimi really jam a lot into it. There’s no fat, every scene serves a purpose AND advances the story. Earlier drafts and certain scenes may have been longer, but they kept what was necessary to effectively tell the story.

I was reminded about this important rule this week as I worked on my outline. While a lot’s going on in the story, there are still things I need to include (mostly subplot stuff). What I have to be careful about is making sure there’s not too much going on.  You want to engage the reader/viewer and keep things moving; not make them feel like this is a slog they wish they didn’t have to endure.

For now, the best strategy is to keep pushing forward and make sure the story and characters are solid.  Once I’m confident that’s been accomplished, it shouldn’t be too much of an ordeal to go back and trim the fat (since I always put in more detail than I probably should during the outlining phase).

Look at it this way: nobody wants to read a bloated script. Specs over 120 pages better be incredible to warrant that kind of page length.

Go through your pages. You may be reluctant to edit them down, but it must be done. Once you get started, streamlining is easier than you think, and it also gives you the chance to flex those creative muscles. Find a way to say something in less words.  You can do it.

You’ll be surprised and possibly even impressed with the end result.

Don’t mind me. I’m just regrouping.

Maximum Z goals, motivation, pie, podcasts, productivity, Rocky & Bullwinkle, screenwriting, writing
Cut a little slice out of each day for creativeness (and done literally, you get pie!)
Cut a little slice out of each day for creativeness (bonus – pie while you work!)

Remember that New Year’s resolution you made about being more diligent and really sticking to a writing schedule and how you were going to be super-productive in 2013?  How’s that working out for you so far?

Well, here it is almost the middle of February and what does yours truly have to show for it, script-wise?

Zilch. Zip. Nada. The proverbial big fat goose egg and other colorful metaphors.

An outline with barely any dents in it and podcasting equipment that’s been taken out of the box twice.  How am I supposed to move ahead when I feel like I’m standing still? Not acceptable!

I could claim that most of January was focused on the query letters, but that’s kind of a lame excuse.  There’s no reason I (or any writer, for that matter) shouldn’t be able to set aside at least 30 minutes a day to work on something. Anything.

Maybe you’re like me and you’ve got that constantly-burning fire inside you that makes you want to write, create or produce something, and when you aren’t able to do that, you feel like you’re taking a step backward.

So consider the reset button officially pushed.  Let’s call this my New Year’s Resolution, Take 2.

I will do my best to try and accomplish at least one important thing each day for both script and podcast.  To be fair, there will be days where circumstances are just beyond my control and nothing will happen. It’s inevitable, and I accept that.

But the rest of the time – no excuses.

-Movie of the Moment. Not necessarily a movie, but a rediscovered treasure.  All 5 seasons of ROCKY & BULLWINKLE on Hulu Plus. Want to see countless examples of smart and hilarious writing in action?

Bullwinkle and a general watch helplessly as a missile takes off with Rocky strapped to it.

GENERAL: That squirrel is headed straight for Washington!

BULLWINKLE: Do you think he can carry the farm vote?

Look no further, my friends.

Nevertheless, I still play well with others

Maximum Z blog, feedback, public forums, screenwriting, social media, Twitter, writing , ,
I was told there'd be ice cream afterward...
Hey gang! Who wants ice cream?

I was reminded this week why it’s important to build up your own network of trusted friends and colleagues.

Even though I’m pretty confident about knowing certain things, and am more than willing to admit when I don’t know something, I need and always appreciate good feedback.

I’ve been very fortunate to be able to connect with a good number of talented writers over the past few years. The more we communicate (pretty much via email & Twitter), the more we respect and value each others’ opinions. So I’m extremely appreciative when they’re open to reading my stuff if I ask, or offering to read it, as well as asking if I’d do the same for them.

Everybody who’s read my script has liked it, but has also given thoughtful suggestions on how it could be improved.

This system has worked out pretty well for me, and hopefully it’s been reciprocal for them.

Which is why I don’t think I’ll be very active on public forums anymore. Not that I was overly active to begin with, but it’s hard for me to value the opinion of somebody I don’t know and has never seen anything I’ve written compared to somebody who knows me and my writing style.

Case in point: I once posted questions about what should and shouldn’t go into my query letter.  I got about a dozen responses, each with different answers and opinions. Of those, maybe two, possibly three, actually answered the question with well-thought, insightful and unexpectedly supportive comments. A majority weren’t very helpful, and one was just too cryptically-worded that I had no idea what they were talking about.

Don’t get me wrong – there’s a lot of helpful information out there, and connections are made all the time.  But reading responses to various posts, sometimes it feels like some folks don’t exactly have a firm grasp of what they’re talking about, or give advice not related to the original question.  Pointing you in the wrong direction will not help you in the long run.

Most of my connections have come through the other person’s online presence. I read their blog, newsletter or website, it gives me a bigger window into what kind of writer and person they are. I introduce myself, maybe there’s some email correspondence, and before you know it, both of our networks have increased by one.

It’s harder to accomplish that based on a 1-2 sentence not-as-helpful-as-you-had-hoped answer to your question.

It takes time to build up your network, but in the end you’ll be really glad you did.

Because ‘Journal of the Whills’ just doesn’t cut it*

Maximum Z creativity, screenwriting, Star Wars, title, writing
How DOES it look on a marquee?
How DOES it look on a marquee?

*the original title George Lucas had for STAR WARS. Not as good, right?

After reading countless spec titles in places such as The Black List and Done Deal Pro, I’ve come to the conclusion that my script really needs to undergo a name change.

DREAMSHIP

It sort of just…sits there, when instead it should be grabbing your attention and making you think, “Cool! I’ve gotta see this!”

Examples: BACK TO THE FUTURE. CHINATOWN. DIE HARD. See what I mean? Solid. Succinct. To the point.

I may go back to the original title – THE AMAZING DREAMSHIP ADVENTURE. It feels like it does a better job of conveying what the story’s about and what kind of ride you’re in for, but I wouldn’t put it past me to try and tweak it a little more.

It was also suggested that since this is more of a family-oriented kind of story, I should go the HARRY POTTER route and include the main character’s name. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Having a good, strong title is key because it and the logline create the first impression. Do an effective job with that and you’ve got their attention. Just make sure the script/story can hold onto it.