outlines

And…he’s off!

Maximum Z outlines, rewrite, screenwriting
On your mark...get set...

Managed to get to page 4 today.  Each scene playing out how I want it to – so far. I’m also working on keeping things as short and to the point as possible.

Still hoping to get a draft done by the end of September.

While I was finishing up the outline and dreaming of when I’d have a draft ready to send out, I realized I still need to work on the logline.  What I had before was not as good as I thought.

-V had hockey practice yesterday morning, which usually means I zip out, grab a coffee and sit in the stands, watching for just over an hour.  But since my laptop is a slow-running dinosaur, working on pages was not an option.

So I opted to take a look at my LUCY outline and see if it still held up.  I haven’t looked at it since I finished it, which I think was in March or April.

I liked what was in the first ten pages, but a scene around page 11 or so kind of threw me.  I wasn’t sure if that particular subplot really works.  It got me wondering if that whole storyline was solid enough.  Answer – I’m not sure.  it kind of does, but I don’t know if it’s enough.  During off-time from DREAMSHIP, I’ll work on a few possible alternates and see what comes up.

Still an exciting story though.

A little swagger

Maximum Z outlines, screenwriting
an underrated icon of cool

The plunge has been been taken. The bullet has been bitten. The bull’s horns have been grabbed.

I have started on pages, and it feels quite liberating.  I’m still only on the first page, but there’s something about this draft that makes it seem bursting with potential.

In some ways, I’m completely abandoning previous drafts in an effort to make this one feel completely fresh, and so far it seems to be working.  Or at least from what I’m feeling while still on the the first page.

One thing I’ve noticed from some of the scripts I’ve read recently is that some of them have quite a distinctive voice, so that’s something else I’m working on.

There are still a few small problems to be addressed, but they have more to do with backstory, rather than what’s going on now.  I may even go so far as to write ‘WORK ON THIS’ where necessary and just keep going.

With any luck, a completed draft by the end of September. Into the abyss!

A few undotted i’s and uncrossed t’s

Maximum Z outlines, screenwriting, scriptshadow
Jeez, the end is pretty far away, ain't it?

My writing time has been severely limited the past few days, what with the school year starting, working extra hours, and reading and commenting on a few scripts.  But that changed today.

What originally started as hoping to fine-tune the 3rd Act turned into a slight overhaul of the entire story.  Scenes which had been giving me trouble before have been handled; there are still some left, but nowhere nearly many as before.  All that remains now is wrapping up several subplots at the end.

My biggest decision now: whether or not to have the antagonist make one final appearance.  Would it be appropriate, or would it drag things out?  I’d rather have it be more like the blonde terrorist at the end of DIE HARD and less like the forty-two endings of RETURN OF THE KING.  Maybe I’ll try each scenario and see which is a better fit.

-I was originally planning to catch a matinee of COWBOYS & ALIENS this week, but my schedule won’t allow for it.  Maybe next week, but it seems more and more inevitable to be caught on Netflix.  Unless you can convince me otherwise…

How did I miss THAT?

Maximum Z outlines, rewrite, screenwriting
How I felt afterward...

The editing continues. Still liking the whole tightening and fine-tuning aspects. Really seems like the whole thing is getting closer to what I want it to be.

I picked up where I left off yesterday – the midpoint. No big changes needed so far. Then I decide to do a quick scene count between the midpoint and the page 75 twist.  Okay…let’s see. Got it. 26.

Wait. What?

26? 26 scenes? Seriously? No wonder this thing seems so freakin’ huge! Something has got to go. But what? Oh yeah. That completely unnecessary sequence. Zip! Out it goes. Back to around 21.

Much better.

Some quick adjusting and rewriting of the two scenes that bookended the now-gone sequence and you’d never know anything had been taken out. That big chunk of fat is not missed whatsoever.

I also realized a small subplot that was introduced in the removed sequence would serve the story better if it occurred earlier. A quick perusal and I find it: much earlier in Act Two. Don’t know why I didn’t see this before.

Next up – figuring out how much of an overhaul may be necessary for Act Three.

My niece and nephew are in town this weekend, so I expect to be busy playing tour guide, which means no writing work until sometime early next week.

It’s been a while, but I’ll ask anyway.  Seen anything good lately?

The planets are aligning…

Maximum Z outlines, rewrite, screenwriting
Just a little more to the right, okay Saturn?

…and I’m that much closer to a stronger, completed outline.  Maybe about 5-6 more scenes to fine-tune and I’m ready to go.  Confidence definitely running at higher levels.

I have to be careful because a few of those scenes are key to both their individual storylines AND to the overall plot.  Some of them don’t need too much work. It’s more of rewriting what I already had, but in a way that sounds better and stronger.  V is out all day tomorrow, which means I should be able to take care of most, if not all of the remaining scenes-in-progress.

Before I went into 2nd-rewrite mode, I was hoping to have a draft done by Labor Day. Ain’t gonna happen.  But school starts next week and for now my upcoming schedule appears to be on the light side, which I hope translates into 3-5 pages a day.  At that rate, I could be done by mid-September, which is also acceptable.

No Movie of the Moment. Been too busy bein’ a Dad.