outlines

Re-establishing a foothold

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A bit more of progress on the outline for the action-comedy spec, including coming up with some much-needed story details.

Things had been feeling very rudderless as I struggled to figure things out, and the pressure I was putting on myself wasn’t helping. So I did the most sensible thing and took a step back with a focus on the basic foundations of the story.

What needs to happen? What building blocks have to be in place? Is there enough “there” there to make this a workable story? Would everything work the way I’m hoping it does?

I wrote out the most basic outline I could think of, including combining pre-existing plot points with potential alternates (or at least additional details), and laying things out in a “A leads to B, which leads to C, etc.” sort of way.

This resulted in a bit more clarity regarding the progression of events as well as the filling-in of a few more blanks between all of them. Having a better idea of how the path should look tends to yield better results.

It’s not a lot, and there are still many gaps to be filled, but it’s a start of sorts and it definitely helps. Just overcoming this can be considered a victory in terms of writing and confidence in the ability to move things forward.

There are a lot more steps to go, but this feels like things are getting back on track and I hope to keep the mini-momentum going.

The only constant is change

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Even though a lot of the past week was family-oriented, thoughts about the current spec were omnipresent. There’s still a lot to figure out, but things are progressing, albeit slowly.

One positive result is that as these ideas develop, each causes a ripple effect in terms of how it impacts the rest of the story.

Just as an example, I needed to come up with a very important story detail, so started listing all the possible reasons how it could happen. I came up with one I felt worked best and started implementing it into the still-under-construction outline. That in turn triggered thoughts of “that could be because of ____” or “what if ____ is why?”.

A little more rejiggering of possibilities and how they’d fit into the story and voila! Some really helpful ideas and additional details that strengthen its designated storyline AND how it affects a few others.

When I started this project, I reminded myself that the end result would most likely be very different while the core story remained the same. Staying on top of all those little details is really keeping me on my toes, while also forcing me to constantly ramp up my creativity to make this script as original and entertaining as possible.

It’s a safe bet I’ll come up with more story-changing/impacting ideas over the next few weeks, but I welcome them and will deal with those as they happen.

The main focus remains just putting it all together.

Even just a few steps is still good

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It’s the onset of a holiday weekend here in the US, so file this post under “short, but relevant”.

The good news is I hit the midpoint for the outline of my current spec. The not-so-good news is that I’m still figuring out the rest of Act Two and most of Act Three. Plot points (such as they are) are in place, and the filling in between them continues.

Daunting as that may be, I’m just happy to have gotten this far. Current mindset is “just get it written and fine-tune it later.”

I know I’ll figure things out, but count on lots of ruminating in my near future.

Speaking of which…

As if by divine intervention by the writing gods, a friend posted online that the upcoming month is being labeled “Spectember” in that a writer could complete a spec script by month’s end. Pretty certain I couldn’t complete an actual spec, but the outline? That’s a definite possibility – or as mighty close as I can get.

Enjoyment levels and overall excitement for this project remain strong and steady, which always help.

Heed the words of Mamet -OR- Don’t overstay your welcome

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I’ve been on somewhat of a tear lately in regards to watching films – both at home and in theaters.

One of the things that’s really stood out is the tightness of the writing. In every film, the scenes don’t waste time. They present what’s needed at that particular moment while also advancing the story.

I’ve always had a tendency to overwrite – especially in my earlier scripts. There was just too much on the page, or some scenes just went on too long. This would result in necessary editing and trimming down in subsequent drafts.

But then I heard a piece of advice I’m fairly certain is attributed to playwright David Mamet:

GET IN LATE, GET OUT EARLY

I interpreted this as “Get to the point of the scene as soon as possible, then move on to the next one”.

You don’t want your reader/audience to be bored by slowing things down with anything unrelated to the story. They’ll become less interested in wanting to see what happens next. Once that happens, you’re pretty much screwed.

This is something I’ve seen in a lot of scripts – especially from newer writers, along with a handful of seasoned vets. Many is the time I’ve given a note along the lines of “this is good, but tightening it up would make a world of difference.” Sometimes it’s dialogue, or description, or action lines.

If something can be cut from a scene and the scene still accomplishes what it needs to, then whatever you cut didn’t need to be in there in the first place.

When I outline, I do so with a “what’s the point of this scene?” approach. What happens in this scene that advances the story? Even as the story continues to grow and develop, the focus on the main point of each scene continues. There may be a small amount of overwriting in the first few drafts, but those are quickly dealt with.

This approach has really helped contributed to establishing the flow and fast reads for my scripts, and I’m looking forward to applying it to the current spec.

No restraints! (up to a point)

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While my short film is now in the hands of the editor, that allows me more time to get back to working on the outline for the new action-comedy spec.

It’s coming along, but choices have had to be made in terms of how far to take things regarding the story and how things play out.

Do I play it safe and hold back, or do I throw caution to the wind and go all out?

Believe it or not, this was a tougher decision than expected. I don’t want to overdo it, but I also don’t want things to be boring. There’s pushing the envelope, and then there’s way over the top.

But then again, this is an ACTION-COMEDY, with an emphasis on both parts, so maybe there’s some kind of middle ground that would work.

It also helped to get the opinions of a few other writers, who all said for this kind of story, you pretty much have to ramp things up, but to also not let things get out of control, which makes it feel like you’re throwing everything at the wall, which reeks of desperation – which I do not like, or want.

What I do want is for the reader/audience to really get the impact of everything that happens because it all works within the context of the story while also reinforcing/supporting the action and comedy. Not an easy path to navigate, but I feel up to the challenge.

So that’s the plan. Most likely it’ll be initially putting it all together in a simple and straightforward way, then go back and figure out the best/most effective way to have each scene and/or sequence showcase the action and comedy when applicable. Sort of “How can this be more exciting and/or funnier while still accomplishing what it needs to?”

I also suspect that once everything is in place, that’s when the real fun begins. Even with all of this figuring things out, I’m really enjoying putting this one together and look forward to unleashing it on the world when it’s ready.