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Enjoying that microsecond of contentedness

Maximum Z cannoli, comedy, confidence, creativeness, creativity, determination, draft, encouragement, goals, multitasking, output, pages, perseverance, persistence, productivity, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, spec, story, storytelling, writing
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 pleasantly pocket-sized status update

Maximum Z ambition, comedy, determination, draft, feedback, half-marathons, notes, pages, parenting, project, running, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, writing
Just the right size for enjoyment at your convenience
Just the right size for enjoyment at your convenience

Busy times continuing, so just a few items worth mentioning.

-Good progress as the November writing project continues. Closing in on the end of Act 2, and with a few days off next week, hoping to steamroll my way through Act 3 and wrap up the first draft. Still averaging about 2 pages a day, which isn’t necessarily because I’m not very productive, but partially due to…

-Been very busy the past couple of weeks giving notes on scripts written by writer pals kind enough to do it for me. Everybody’s patience is much appreciated.

-In the early discussion stages of helping out on 2 potential projects. Both feel like they’ll really push my creativeness to the limit. Always nice.

-Ran the Golden Gate Half this past Sunday. 1:56:36, including a lot of uphill on both sides of the bridge and a light drizzle during miles 8 through 11. Also nice.

-My daughter, the illustrious Ms V, turned 13 this week. The next few years are going to be interesting, to say the least. Wish me luck.

Have an excellent weekend, and make sure to get some kickass writing done.

Getting the sucky part out of the way

Maximum Z ambition, determination, draft, ideas, pages, rewrite, screenwriting, script, writing
Okay, script. I'm getting a little tired waiting for you to write yourself.
Getting a little tired waiting for you to write yourself.

So how’s your November writing project coming along?

Making the progress you were hoping for? Maybe you’re producing a number of pages above and beyond what you were expecting? Or are you feeling trapped in a morass of agony and frustration because the words just won’t cooperate?

No matter what your output, good on you for keeping at it. Only 20 days to go!

For the sake of this discussion, let’s say at month’s end you have a finished draft. Most likely a first draft.

How would you rate it? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle? Or, if you’re like a lot of writers, you’ll label it “okay, but needs a lot of work.”

And you know what? That’s totally cool.

That’s the point of the first draft. Don’t worry about if it’s perfect or not. It’s not. But it is helping you lay down the foundation for your story so you can spend each consecutive rewrite fixing any and all things that need to be fixed.

And there will be a lot of them.

Again, still cool.

Some writers consider just writing the first draft as the biggest obstacle. You’re literally creating something out of nothing. Compared to that, every subsequent draft gets a little easier. You might even be surprised how many new ideas you come up with it as you go along.

The first draft is indeed a necessary evil. At times it probably feels like a neverending slog, but once you actually do finish it, the hard part’s out of the way. All your initial ideas are now assembled into what may or may not resemble what you’re trying to create. It may not be anywhere near the point you want it to be, but you’re definitely better off than when you started.

Don’t just embrace the opportunity of getting through the first draft. Grab it with both hands, hold it tight, and run like hell.

Shouldn’t you already be doing this every day?

Maximum Z comedy, confidence, determination, draft, goals, Hitchcock, objective, output, pages, screenwriting, script, social media, writing
"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.

Just another project status update…

Maximum Z comedy, draft, editing, notes, pages, reading, rewrite, screenwriting, script, westerns, writing
All the news about me that's fit to digitally publish
All the news about me that’s fit to digitally publish

Having recently given some notes on a couple of comedy scripts, I decided to see what I could do with mine, which I hadn’t looked at in about 5 months (due to finishing up the western).

The outline still seemed pretty solid, but could do with some minor tweaking. I’d already started on a first draft, so I thought I’d see how that read.

I honestly didn’t remember how far I’d gotten. Maybe page 25 or thereabouts?

Nope. A whopping 49 pages. Whoa. That’s around halfway through! Talk about pleasant surprises.

I read through and already see what needs to be cut, including too many instances of over-writing (a bad habit of mine that always occurs in first drafts). From what I’ve read, it looks like a lot can be taken out without too much of an impact on scenes or story.

So now I’ll see if I can settle back into that 3-pages-a-day routine and have it finished relatively soon-ish. I was hoping to have a draft of something done by the end of the year, so looks like I may actually be on track for that.

Fingers, as always, remain firmly crossed.

And how’s your current project coming along?