goals

Rip-roaring and ready to go yet again

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lightning
That’s me. All charged up.

Over the past week or so, the idea for a new story has been slowly developing inside my head.

Even though most of my attention continues to be focused on completing other projects, that seed has been planted and I work out a few details about it when I can.

This is just the beginning of the whole process, and my work is definitely cut out for me. Like with any script, it’s going to be tough.

But I also have to admit I’m quite thrilled about it.

There’s just something about coming up with a new idea that really reinvigorates your creative process. You’re excited about the story, the potential within it and possibly even (gasp!) looking forward to writing it.

I certainly doubt I’m the only who experiences this.

As expected, there will be days I get frustrated about any number of things related to this, which is par for the course. But I’ve also been doing this for a while, so the positive days steadily continue to outnumber the negative.

As has also been my experience, some of those negative days will most likely include outside comments of a tearing-down nature. Fortunately, I’ve developed a thick skin over the years and learned to ignore the ramblings of self-proclaimed “experts”.

For now, everything is still in the early-early development stage. It took a while just to come up with a good logline, and even that will probably still need work. Now I’m just figuring out the plot points. There’s no rush, especially since I already have several other scripts that require my attentions.

I like the concept of this one, and am really looking forward to seeing how things work out with it.

Enjoying that microsecond of contentedness

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cannoli
True, normally I’m a pie kind of guy, but I’ve really been craving these for a while…

Happy times around these parts, chums. The November writing project was a success. The first draft of the low-budget comedy is complete.

I listen to Pandora for white/background sounds while I write, and – this is absolutely true, swear to God – Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus was playing as I typed in “The End”. A pretty solid good omen, if you ask me.

So the draft is done, and now gets tucked away for a couple of weeks. It’ll definitely need a lot of work when I come back to it, but it’s great to know I have a completed draft to come back to.

This is that feeling that every writer should savor when they achieve a specific milestone like this. A lot of would-be writers start a project, then abandon ship when it “just gets too hard” or “don’t have time”. It’s those of us who are truly dedicated that toil away no matter what. You’ve had a long day at work. Stuff around the house needs to get done.

Through it all, we find the time and make the effort. Even if it’s only 30 minutes or one page a day. We do it not just because we want to, but because we have to. We consider not writing unthinkable.

There are good days and bad days, but you learn to work your way through both. You have a goal in mind, and do what you can to get there. And once you do, there’s nothing that can compare to that feeling of accomplishment.

Enjoy it. You’ve earned it. The first of what will probably many rewrites awaits, but it can wait just a little bit so you can reward yourself in a small but appropriate manner.

A friend told me that whenever they finish a first draft, they celebrate with scotch. Scotch really isn’t my thing, but I wouldn’t say no to a cannoli from this great Italian bakery down on the Peninsula…(diet be damned)

Have a great weekend, and get some great kickass writing done.

A workload on steroids

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Man drowning in stacks of paperwork
All I need to do is cut out the non-essentials. Who needs food, sleep or oxygen anyway?

I’m in the home stretch for the November writing project. I got into Act 3 over the weekend, and think there about 10-12 pages left before I can call it a day. No reason I can’t wrap things up in the next couple of days. Estimated final page count should be somewhere in the mid-90s, so pretty much where I was hoping it would be.

My original intent was to put that on the back burner once it was done and shift my focus to another script, but something else has developed that definitely requires my attention: other people’s work.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been very fortunate to have gotten some fantastic feedback from friends and trusted colleagues. Now it’s my turn to return the favor.

Actually, make that favors. Plural.

Every time I’ve asked someone if they’d be willing to read and give me notes, I always offer to do the same for them. And several have taken me up on the offer.

Which is totally fine. I just didn’t expect all of them to happen within such a short timeframe.  But it’s cool. Just requires a little planning.

Some script-related items, two scripts requiring special attention (with a bit of a time limitation), and at least 4-5 others getting straight-up notes. Yeah, that’s a lot, but I’d feel pretty shitty if I didn’t reciprocate the kindness all of these folks extended to me.

While I’d love to keep the 2-pages-a-day momentum going clear through to the end of December and have at least part of a draft of another script, taking care of these is now top priority.

It may take me a little longer than I expect, but I always strive to honor my commitments. I said I’d do something for you, and by gosh, I’ll do it.

It’s the least I can do.

Shouldn’t you already be doing this every day?

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"Hmm. How about Mrs Bates kills Marian while she's running through the sprinklers? Nah."
“Hmm. How about Mrs Bates kills Marion while she’s running through the sprinklers? Nah.”

Based on what I’m seeing on various social media outlets and assorted online forums, a lot of screenwriters, including myself, are taking part in the self-imposed project of cranking out an entire script by the end of November.

I think it’s great that so many writers are taking it upon themselves to accomplish this. It definitely helps you establish a kind of rhythm or pattern or whatever you want to call it that you can incorporate into your writing process the other eleven months of the year.

A few months ago, I’d originally set a personal goal of having this draft of the low-budget comedy done by the end of the year, so that’s what I’m shooting for. At the rate of approximately 2 pages a day, there’s no reason it couldn’t done by or at least around Thanksgiving, which would be nice.

What’s also proving to be very helpful is that because this is a first draft, which means it will most likely suck (as first drafts often do), and require the requisite inevitable extensive rewriting, I’m not constantly fretting over whether a scene or a line is perfect. I might spend a minute or two on it, trying alternate takes, but I get it out of my system and move on to the next scene. For right now, whatever I write down works.

It’s a very liberating sensation, and removes a lot of that “I have to get it done!” pressure.

Also good – setting a realistic goal. A lot of writers post updates like “Only 12 pages today. Will try to do better tomorrow.” My at-least-2-pages-a-day quota seems kind of dinky in comparison, and while I wish my output were higher, you gotta do what works for you. My schedule also plays a factor. I only have so much time to write, especially during the week, so I figure I can only produce so much in this timeframe, and take it from there.

What it all boils down to is that no matter how much or how often you’re writing, the important thing is that YOU ARE WRITING. Don’t stop, and definitely try to keep up the pace once the calendar changes to December 1st.

A thought that never truly goes away

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Just a little self-evaluation to pass the time
Just indulging in a little self-evaluation

I posted this just about a year ago, and after recently receiving some very supportive and encouraging script notes, think it’s still relevant.

“Am I getting better?

One of the sad truths about trying to make it as a screenwriter is that it’s an extremely frustrating process.

On certain days, the frustration feels like it extends to the uppermost part of the outer edge of the stratosphere. To the nth degree.

What is it about screenwriting that people who don’t do it think it’s easy? If you’re reading this, it’s more than likely you’ve given it a go, or at least know somebody who has, so you know full well that it most definitely is not.

We even try to warn those who think hammering out a first draft in a few weeks is a guaranteed million dollar paycheck. This is a long and arduous road, we say, but they don’t let that stop them. A legion of the truly unaware who will discover the scary truth soon enough.

Those of us who are fully committed (an apt phrase if ever there was one) finish the latest draft, then edit, rewrite and polish it so many times it enters well into double digit territory, hoping our writing and storytelling skills are improving with each new attempt.

But how do we know if that’s even happening?

We ask friends and trusted colleagues for feedback. We pay for professional analysis. The script gets reworked yet again.

We hope this newest draft is light years ahead of all of its previous incarnations in terms of quality, but sometimes it’s tough to be able to recognize if that’s the case. At least for me, anyway.

Whenever I send somebody a script for critiquing, I always say “Thanks for taking a look. Hope you like it.”

I know the script isn’t perfect – maybe even far from it, which is why I ask for help. Part of me knows it’s good, but can be better. It’s being able to identify the latter that gives me trouble. I’m so deeply embedded in a story that it’s tough to step back and be objective. Maybe I can not look at it for a few weeks, but even then it’s tough to look at it with fresh eyes.

Follow-up notes will tell me what they liked and what they feel needs work. There will be a fair mix of stuff I should have already figured out and some “How could I have missed that?” surprises.

So back I go into rewrite mode, hoping for improvement for both the material and myself, still not knowing if that improvement is there until I undergo the entire process all over again.

Or at least somebody tells me.