outlines

Back into the abyss!

Maximum Z outlines, parenting, productivity, rewrite, screenwriting, script, train, westerns, writing
Yoiks, and away!

Thank the movie gods for soccer practice.

While V is playing her heart out, I hunker down in the car, armed with pen, notebook and iPad, working diligently to make some kind of progress.

Seems to have paid off.

I wrapped up Act Three, including making a few small changes and some not-so-small ones.

Now the fun really begins – cranking out pages.

My schedule permitting, I’ll shoot for my usual 3-5 a day. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m guessing the back seat will be more suitable on soccer days for typing than the somewhat cramped front seat.

-I guess it’s an unwritten rule that if you do a Western, trains have to figure into it somehow.

My next script is about an engineer out for justice and revenge. This guy wrote a Western involving a train with a supernatural angle.

And of course there’s this.

And next summer, we’ll get this.

I’m not complaining. There’s just something cool and fascinating about trains. Want proof? Watch this. Granted, not a Western, but still – trains are involved.

Busy, busy, busy!

Maximum Z multitasking, outlines, reading, rewrite, running, screenwriting, writing
Sometimes it can feel like this

September is starting off with a lot going on for yours truly.

-We’re in the process of relocating (staying in our much beloved City by the Bay, but changing addresses), so most spare time is dedicated to purging all unwanted stuff, and boxing and transporting what we can to the new place until the movers come later this month.

-I offered to read somebody’s script and make comments/suggestions. Really should get started on that.

-V’s super-busy with soccer, so I wear my chauffeur hat 2 afternoons a week. Nothing like mapping out the rewrite of an outline while sitting in a parked car. Being plugged into Pandora helps.

-I’ve got a half-marathon coming up on Sept 16 (The Giant Race) and another in L.A. at the end of October. I’m averaging about 9 minutes a mile, which isn’t bad, but I’d like to break 1:55, so I train when I can.

Suffice to say, my plate’s a little on the full side for the next few weeks, so progress has been slowed. It’s too difficult to say when I expect to be done with the DREAMSHIP rewrite. Wish I could devote more time to it, but I do what I can.

Do you have a lot going on? How do you handle it? Curious to know how others divvy up their time.

-Oops. Almost forgot. V’s working on her first book report – Book One of LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. She really likes it; even quietly admitted she liked reading. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

Color me pleasantly surprised

Maximum Z action, adventure, characters, creativity, ideas, outlines, plot, screenwriting, story, subplot, westerns, writing
Totally wasn’t expecting that

Since figuring my way through the climactic portion of Act Three is still stressing out my creativeness, I did what any good writer would do in this situation: go back to the beginning and edit like a madman.  This will give my creative muscles a good workout while subconsciously working out the end.

Overall: the opening definitely needs some reworking, and there are a few places here and there that could stand a little adjustment, but for the most part – a lot more fun than I remember. Trying really hard not to sound egotistical, but I had to occasionally remind myself this was something I wrote.

Me.

Gosh.

Not working on this for so long enabled me to take a really good look at what I have so far. Interestingly, even though I knew what was coming, there was still a lot in there to make me want to keep going and see what happened next.

In all honesty, I’d also forgotten how much I wanted to utilize a lot of elements that make up the thrill-generating, pure adventurousness of the Western genre.  Those are definitely in there, with a lot of potential to be built up even more, but for now it’s all about the story. If that’s not rock-solid, then everything else is irrelevant.

The whole time I was looking this over, I found myself focusing less on ‘would it look cool on the big screen?’ factor, and more on making sure the characters were being proactive and realistically moving the story forward (especially the title character), and that each plotline was being established.  Maybe this is my brain quietly telling me my storytelling and writing skills are improving.

Something also very important to work on as this whole project moves forward – that the story grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go. But I suppose that should go without saying…

Keeping track of this, that and the other thing

Maximum Z creativity, editing, outlines, productivity, rewrite, screenwriting, story, writing
Forget something?

Working from the end of Act Two into Act Three is certainly proving to be an exercise in staying organized, story- and detail-wise.

It’s one thing to jot down the idea behind a scene in your notes, thinking “I’ll fill in the details later,” and totally another when it’s time to fill in those details.

Case in point: I write “daring escape!” to sum up a scene. Now I have to figure out not only HOW the escape is daring, but have to put it together in a way that’s exciting, original and entertaining, reinforces how it fits between the scenes before and after it, all while making sure it also works within the context of the story, characters and theme.

Quite a lot to keep in mind, isn’t it?  And this applies to EVERY scene in your story, no matter how big or small.

Not only that, but while you’re putting a scene together, it’s easy for some details to slip your mind. How can this character be involved here when I had him trapped over there? Hey, this character is just sitting there. How can I involve them?

This also re-emphasizes that most of the heavy lifting comes while putting the outline together. It’s a lot easier to fix a sentence or short paragraph rather than a few pages of script, especially when you come up with a scene or sequence you absolutely love, then discover it just doesn’t work.

It’s also a great opportunity to experiment. What if this happens? How about if the character does THIS instead of this? Let your imagination run wild. Pull out all the stops. Just make sure it all makes sense in terms of moving the story forward.

Work your way through the details during the outline phase, and you’ll find the page-writing phase will go much more smoothly.

Two roads, one objective

Maximum Z adventure, outlines, query letter, screenwriting, story, westerns, writing
I have to go this way AND that way

What an odd sensation.

Part of me is focusing on beginning the post-script-is-done phase. Composing a kickass query letter. Researching which agents and/or managers would be most receptive to reading my script.  Looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish.

The other part is all about starting work on the next script. Even though most of the initial outline is finished, it still feels like the proverbial blank slate, bursting with potential. Weird as it may sound, I’m really excited about this. I mentally visualize how the story plays out via scenes and sequences, and if I can make it read as cool as it looks in my head, then this thing is going to be all kinds of awesome.

You always hear “write what you know”, but how often do you hear “write what you love”? I’m crazy for a good western and am equally gaga over a solid adventure, so why not take my favorite parts of both and put ’em together in an original, sprawling epic that clocks in at around 2 hours?

That’s the plan for this script. I haven’t been very good about meeting self-imposed deadlines, so I won’t set anything definite. But I’m a lot further along in terms of development now than I have been with previous scripts, and my writing skills feel stronger, so I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to have a solid draft relatively soon.

As is usually the case, there will be days where my mood/outlook is decidedly negative, so I’m just going to sit back for a moment, take a deep breath and enjoy this feeling of sheer euphoria while it lasts.