They started with “How can we make a phone look like this?”
The past few days have been spent figuring my way through a handful of scenes, maybe 3 to 4 at the most. But these all lead up to the end of Act Two, which is supposed to be when “all seems lost” for our hero. He/she is so far away from achieving their goal, it’s scary. You can’t help but wonder “how in the world are they gonna get out of this?”
Way back when I was setting up the important plot points, I knew what the end of Act Two was going to be. As always, getting there is the biggest obstacle. I tried different scenarios, but none of them seemed to fit.
Then it hit me. Go backwards. Since I know the end result, what would make the most sense to happen right before it? And what happens before that? Repeat as necessary. All the while keeping in mind that each scene should also be advancing not only the story, but the theme and character’s development as well. This can be more productive than you realize. It’s a good exercise in writing, but also helps develop your creativity.
End result – that much closer to finishing, and hoping to have a pretty solid outline by the end of the month.
There’s this one line of dialogue that’s giving me a lot of trouble. Actually, I hate it. The way it’s written now is too much tell, and not enough show, rather than the other way around.
I know what I want the line to say, but coming up with exactly the right words is proving to be quite the challenge. This line is pretty important on several levels, so it really has to pack a punch.
Time once again to step back, take a breath and not think about it. That usually helps the solution present itself. Not time for panic mode yet.
Despite this minor setback, this summer is still off to a pretty good start.
Putting an even more positive spin on this, while part of my creativeness figures this one out, the other part can get back on track and resume the fine-tuning of the western-adventure outline.
Do you know how hard it is to find a picture of these guys looking badass?
After the debacle that was the recent THREE STOOGES feature, I’m not holding my breath for the studios to come a-runnin’ and embrace my much, much better idea.
But my muse has once more slapped me upside the head, resulting in…
A Disney cartoon version of DIE HARD set in the Magic Kingdom. I know! Brilliant, right?
Initial thoughts: The traditional Disney villains, tired of always losing, have taken over the park, and it’s up to Mickey, Donald and Goofy to save the day. Mickey as the John McClane-ish hero, Donald as his Justin Long-type sidekick (but without the whole computer angle), and Goofy as the Reginald VelJohnson cop.
Tell me the public wouldn’t flock to this. The possibilities are endless!
Why hasn’t anybody thought of this before? It practically screams “MONEY-MAKING MACHINE!”
We’ve all been there. After countless hours of slaving away on a project, you’re closing in on finally being done. Hallelujah, the end is in sight! The urge to steamroll your way through whatever’s left and be done once and for all overwhelms you. That is an option, but it’s also one of the worst things you could do.
My work on the current polish/rewrite is about 20 pages from being done. While the ambitious part of me is ready to start researching professional script analysts, and maybe some agents and managers, the more rational part is saying “Hold on there, speedy.” When I finish this draft, I’m going to go through it at least 2-3 more times with the proverbial fine-tooth comb, as well as get additional feedback from my trusted colleagues. A fresh pair of eyes on something you’ve practically memorized by now can be extremely helpful.
Even during this current stretch, I’ve found a few story points that needed a little touching up and some typos here and there. Nothing major, but I want to make sure everything is how it’s supposed to be. Even though all of this is pushing back the inevitable sending out, it’s more than worth it.
You’d think it would be common sense for somebody to make sure their work was as perfect as they can make it before submitting it to a professional. But this happens all the time. There are countless tales of somebody reading a script and easily identifying problems with it, both in terms of appearance and execution.
When you’re presenting something this important, wouldn’t you want it to be the absolute best it can be? Of course you do. Then check it as many times as possible to make it that much harder for somebody to say ‘no’.
-Movie of the Moment: Jam-packed edition! With V out of town, my movie-viewing has been plentiful.
-PROMETHEUS. As a friend put it, “A big hot mess.” Such a letdown, especially after all the hype. I didn’t like it. Pretty to look at, but a muddled plot that raised too many questions (as in “Would a person with any common sense really do that?”). Especially disappointing because of bad writing. Expected more from co-writer Damon Lindelof.
-MOONRISE KINGDOM. Loved it. I don’t have a problem with Wes Anderson’s style, but it did seem a little too similar to his earlier works. Still, a great story with perfectly-cast actors in each role. Nice to see Bruce Willis once again exercise his acting chops. The two leads, 12-year-olds who’ve never acted before, were really impressive.
-THE WOMAN IN BLACK. Wonderfully creepy gothic horror with a surprisingly spot-on lead performance by Daniel Radcliffe. What I liked most was that it seemed as if half of the scenes were dialogue-free, relying on mood and sound to raise goosebumps. Best when watched in the dark.
-TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL. I’m not a fan of slasher flicks, but this was a clever spin on the “college kids in the backwoods” story. Funnier than I expected. Maybe one more run at the script wouldn’t have been a bad idea, so call it almost-great.
Man, this rewrite is just zooming along, especially with the much-appreciated, very helpful feedback I’ve received. Spending so much time plotting things out before churning out pages really paid off. I tried to make sure any possible questions that arose could be easily answered through the course of the story. One or two small issues may still need a little work, but looks like they can be handled without too much heavy lifting.
Nevertheless, confidence levels still running high.
Most of the edits took no time, but the biggest challenge was changing how the antagonist’s story ends. This has been in place since day one, but I’ve received more than a few comments saying it seemed too intense compared to the rest of the story. So change was necessary.
I must have spent around two hours trying out at least a dozen scenarios until I finally came up with something I like. It may need a little fine-tuning, but the execution is pretty solid and I think it fits in nicely with the rest of it.
You know how a writer’s mantra is/should be “write every day”? I’ve tried to adhere to that as much as I can, and it really feels like it’s paying off in terms of being able to think my way out of potential writer’s block situations. Getting stuck trying to figure something out isn’t as much of a hassle as it used to be.
Cliched as it sounds, your creativity really is like a kind of muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. And you don’t even have to break a sweat.
Maximum Z 