notes

Fingers + brain + keyboard

Maximum Z animation, comedy, determination, draft, editing, fantasy, feedback, goals, motivation, Nicholl Fellowship, notes, perseverance, persistence, productivity, progress, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Another shorty this week. I’ve been busy on several fronts, including the latest round of work on the animated fantasy-comedy.

Several sets of extremely helpful notes have been received. I’m quite happy with how it’s coming along. Definitely feels like a stronger script.

When it’s ready, off it goes to another batch of readers, which will most likely result in another draft after that.

I’d initially decided to skip contests this year, but am still on the fence about the Nicholl. One deciding factor is their new limit of total number of entries at 5500 (currently standing at a smidge above 650 as of this writing).

If in a few weeks I’m happy with the end result and they haven’t hit the 5500 mark, I’ll consider it. Early bird deadline is March 1st, with a still-reasonable entry fee of $50 USD, then regular deadline on April 1st for $70, and finally late deadline on May 1st for $120.

And if in the end I still decide to skip it, it’ll definitely be ready for next year.

I’d rather take the time to fine-tune it as much as possible than send in a draft considered “good enough”.

Hope you have a productive writing weekend, and for my fellow Californians – stay dry.

That worked out nicely

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Bit of a shorty today.

It took several days of almost-constant work, including a good deal of editing, tweaking, and overall wordsmithing, including a marathon 6-hour stretch at the very end, but the rewrite of the animated fantasy-comedy is complete.

Total page count now stands at 106, which is still good.

Got a squad of beta readers currently working their way through it, and the initial responses have been very, very positive – which is always encouraging – as well as a handful of suggestions for minor fixes scattered throughout.

I’m quite happy with the end result.

Up next – concept art, character designs, a pitch deck, and researching potential targets for querying.

Writing is just one piece of the puzzle.

Allowing myself a brief respite before jumping back into the rewrite of the sci-fi collaboration, which also seems reinvigorated in terms of ideas and execution. The jotting-down of new material is well underway.

Overall, a mighty fine writing week. Hope it was for you too.

-really, really enjoying BLUE EYE SAMURAI on Netflix. Incredible stuff, and definitely NOT family-friendly.

No spit, but lots of polish

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After receiving several sets of quality notes on the animated fantasy-comedy, the task of applying the most suitable and workable ones into a new draft is well underway.

I had a strong suspicion that the page count would increase, which it has, but as I approach the midpoint of the script, its not as high as I feared it would be. What began as a 97 page script is now 103, so a final tally of 110 or thereabouts seems like a fair estimate. There will most likely need to be some additional tweaks and edits when this draft is done, but for now it’s all good.

What’s also been exceptionally helpful is that each set of notes has a handful in common with the rest. Those are the ones I really took to heart. If two or more people make the same comment, then that’s something you need to really examine.

I was initially concerned that a higher page count would be a negative, but since most of what’s being added in is necessary, I’m not as worried. For a story like this, including a few more details should work in my favor.

Some of the notes were about the story logic, the main character, and the world-building. I’ll admit that some of the points being made were things I hadn’t thought about before, but now that they’d been mentioned, how could I not see it? This is one of those times when taking a step back and examining the bigger picture really pays off.

I’m always a little cautious when I start a new rewrite or polish. How much is going to change? A little? A lot? Can I do more than just a metaphoric rearranging of the furniture? I find it helps to map out what’s going to happen in the scene, along with figuring out the conflict and how the scene fits in in regard to the sequence of events. I’m doing what I can to ensure that where and when a scene takes place in the story is exactly right.

It’s also been somewhat surprising to be able to come up with new ideas for a scene, either a totally new one or a new take on one already in there. A lot of the notes ask questions that can only be answered by creating something new that not only answers the question, but helps solidify the overall story.

I’m not usually one for deadlines, but progress is pleasantly moving forward, so hoping to have this draft done in the next few weeks, followed by cleaning it up.

After that, I’ve got a few ideas for what to do with it.

Just some minor reshuffling

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Almost two weeks into the year and my priorities have already changed. Hopefully for the better.

The original intent was to finish the rewrite of the sci-fi adventure, then start on a new project.

But then I got some phenomenal notes back on the animated fantasy-comedy AND a revived connection from a former collaborator about a project that’s lain dormant for a few years.

So now I’m splitting my time between those two, while the first two have been temporarily relocated to the proverbial back burner. As is my usual fashion, I’ll most likely jot down the occasional thought for the latter two between writing sessions for the former two.

I was initially resistant to the idea of rewriting the fantasy-comedy. It’s done well in some contests and garnered some potential interest, but given the opportunity to make it better, how could I resist? The aforementioned notes really opened my eyes as to what needed work – thankfully not a lot – and it feels like implementing those changes could have quite a positive impact on the script as a whole. Work has already begun and even though I’m still in Act One, I’m thrilled with how it’s going.

Regarding the script that’s been resurrected from the graveyard of abandoned scripts, my former partner had some ideas about it and got in touch with me to discuss it. His suggested changes seem to be more in sync with the type of story we want to tell, and my suggestion was to streamline and simplify the story to make it more relatable.

Both projects seem to hold a lot of potential, and I’m enjoying splitting my time between them. Both are established in terms of their stories, so these new drafts aren’t as challenging as if we were starting with an entirely new blank slate.

How do I feel about all these sudden changes of plans? Honestly, thrilled. I’m enthusiastic about all of them, and while I’d like to work on what I originally set out to, I’ve got no problem taking care of these other two first. If things go smoothly, there might even be the possibility of returning to the initial two sooner than expected.

We’ll see, but fingers crossed.

Catch ya later. Got some writin’ to do.

Only we can answer

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After an unexpected break, work has recommenced on fine-tuning the outline of the sci-fi adventure spec.

I don’t know how other writers organize their outlines, but mine tend to be a scene-by-scene breakdown on a Google doc. (Hats off to the users of index cards). Each scene is planned out in terms of what happens, sometimes what dialogue might be involved, and an underlying mindset of “what’s the conflict here?”

Even though I know what I need the scene to accomplish, I may not have all the information I need, so I’ll jot down a note or question in ALL CAPS as part of it (to help me not overlook it). The note or question is something that needs to be addressed, but can’t be answered just yet.

Things like:

-DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THIS? IF NOT, HOW TO DO THAT?

-WHAT CAN SHE DO HERE TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT KIND OF PERSON SHE IS?

-NEED 3 VARIATIONS ON THIS (SEE PREVIOUS DRAFT FOR LIST)

-POSSIBLE CLUE OR HINT HERE TO BUILD UP TO BIG REVEAL

You get the idea.

I find it better to write these down in the outline instead of something separate. I don’t trust myself to be that organized, and my desk/working area is quite a mess. It’s just easier to keep it all in one document.

It’s more helpful to take the extra time to deal with all of these now, rather than jump into pages and have to hit the brakes each time one of these needs to be addressed.

Dealing with these sorts of issues can also prove beneficial because while you’re handling the initial thing, it may also offer a new or at possibly an unexpected solution that can cover a few other things, or add a new detail that adds to or helps the story. It’s happened before.

For the most part, the outline is pretty solid, story-wise, so once all of these notes and questions are covered, it’ll be off to the races. I don’t think it’ll take too long, and shooting for another end-of-the-year finish in terms of completed drafts. One would be nice, two would be better.

It’ll get there, slowly but surely.

-Contest news! My animated fantasy-comedy made Second Round for comedy features with Austin. Another long-time goal achieved, so…yay.

Congrats to all the other amazing writers whose work also made it. I’ll be there to celebrate. How about you?

-As the writers strike continues, it’s taking a toll on the people involved. One of those people is friend-of-the-blog Jenny Frankfurt, who runs the Finish Line Script Competition. She could use whatever help you can provide, so please donate here if you can.