patience

A little re-educating never hurts

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I’d already been working on the new spec for a bit when a friend offered up the chance to be a beta tester for his new screenwriting course.

It offers a lesson a day to help you get your first draft done. He admits the course is geared more towards newer writers still learning the ropes, but thought I might enjoy it – as well as provide feedback about my experience with it as needed.

I figured “Why not?” and signed up.

Just a few days in and I like how it’s going.

I’m following the lesson plan, which so far has involved the very basics – What’s your idea? Which genre is it? Tell us about your protagonist. Do you have a few ideas for the title? What’s the logline?

It would be really easy to blow all this off and just jump ahead, but I said I’d adhere to the guidelines, so that’s what I’m doing.

In some ways it’s helping take some of the pressure off and avoiding the trap of the whole “just write it!” mindset. Taking it nice and slow, and being slightly more reflective than usual is reaping some benefits. Getting the more manageable tasks out of the way has also resulted in a few more bursts of creativity – which is especially helpful as I continue to work on coming up with story ideas.

It’s almost zen-like in the approach.

I also like the accountability factor. It’s great for me to work on this, but I want to help my friend make the course as effective as I can, which is why I’m being diligent about completing each day’s lesson. I’d call that a win-win.

This is a 60-day course, and I’m still in the single digits and about to get into the outlining phase. Like I said, I’d already been working on this, so I have a lot of the first act in place – it’s the second act that’s proving to be the challenge.

But I’m not stressing about it. One lesson/task a day equals slow but continuously steady progress.

If things work out the way the course intends, then I should have a pretty solid first draft in just under two months, which is fine by me.

Then the rewrites begin, which will probably a totally different course.

From the archives: A support staff of one

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At least you’re a shoo-in for Employee of the Month

Been busier than expected the past few weeks with a lot of things related to my scripts: learning how to put a pitch deck together, commissioning concept art, and getting the ball rolling on the crowdfunding campaign for the short film.

Although exhausting (and admittedly eating into my time to actually write), it’s all necessary to help move things along. It also reminded me of the sentiment expressed in this post from May 2016.

Enjoy.

When it all comes down to it, you know who’s going to do the most to help you and your career?

That’s right. You. Nobody else.

Sure, there will be others who might be able to give you a helping hand now and then, but the responsibility of getting stuff done falls squarely on your shoulders.

This goes beyond just writing and honing your craft. You need to build up your network. Establish connections. Get to know people. Chances are a majority of these will be online and via social media.

Seeking representation or someone who might be receptive to your script? Do your research. Find out who’s looking for what. (And for crying out loud, DO NOT take the “Does somebody have a list I could use?” route.)

“But I’ve got no time to do all that!” you might protest.

Of course you do.

The key element here is time management. You already set aside time to write, don’t you? Well, you have to do the same for everything else. If you can devote part of your day to work on your script, then there’s no reason you can’t dedicate a few minutes to focus on your career.

A surefire way to give yourself more time – stay away from casual websurfing, or at least ration it. So much online material is nothing but a big time-sucking rabbit hole. “Just five more minutes” can easily turn into “Where’d that hour go?” Funny videos are all well and good, but probably won’t do much to help you get your career going.

On Twitter? Connect with 5 people a day. Interact with them. Ask about their projects. Make it about them, not you. If they ask about you and yours, keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm them with details.

Part of some online community forums? Take part. Ask questions. Start discussions. Get to know the other members. A lot of these folks will probably have more experience than you, so learn as much as you can. Very important – don’t be a troll.

Is there a professional writer out there whose work you admire? Send them a note saying just that. DO NOT ask for any favors right out of the gate. Establish a relationship. You’ll eventually know if they’re open to helping you. Sometimes they might even offer it without you asking. It happens.

All of these are going to take time to not only accomplish, but also to develop. Be patient. It will take time. You wouldn’t rush through getting your script done, so apply that same logic to developing and advancing your career.

It’s all on you, so make the most of it.

A verbal solution for a writing problem

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Even despite a temporary lapse, output on the sci-fi adventure rewrite was progressing at a decent pace.

I already knew there’d be more work to do once it was done, but something still felt off. A piece of the puzzle was missing, and it felt weird to keep pushing forward. Like building a house with incomplete blueprints.

Although my original intent was to finish the rewrite, I wanted to take care of the missing puzzle piece. This in itself was quite challenging.

Once again, my network of savvy writing colleagues comes to the rescue.

I’ve been doing more one-on-one Zoom calls with writers I’ve only known through social media. It’s a great opportunity to get to know them as people, as well as talk a lot of shop about screenwriting.

Such was the case earlier this week. Another writer and myself were discussing some of our current projects, and the sci-fi adventure came up. Despite my stumbling through the “pitch”, my friend got really into the concept, prompting them to ask a lot of thought-provoking questions about the story and the characters. Some I had an answer for, some I didn’t.

(side note – I used to be embarassed about not having all the answers when it came to my stories, but have since embraced it and am now willing to say “I don’t know” or “no idea” because this usually leads to a discussion where everybody involved helps me come up with an answer.)

This led me to realize that some aspects of the story weren’t as defined as I thought. That, in turn, had a ripple effect on the rest of the story. The same story of which I had just passed the halfway mark with rewriting.

It was like taking a piece out near the bottom of the tower in a game of Jenga. Not that everything came crashing down; more like things got a whole lot more wobbly.

We talked things through some more, and did some impromptu brainstorming, all of which which helped point me in the right direction.

Long story short: the rewrite’s on hold and the reset button’s been pushed. But like I mentioned during the discussion, once those fixes are worked out and implemented, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get back on track.

While I originally hoped to be done with the rewrite around now, or at least mighty close to it, I don’t mind making another trip to the drawing board to take care of this. I’m already looking forward to taking this on and seeing how it goes.

Bonus – the chance to make any other fixes in the 50+ pages I’ve already written.

Yet another reason to be active and interactive within your personal writing community.

–The final chapter in the Indiana Jones series opens today. The characters and storytelling have been a huge influence for me and my writing, and I can only hope that my scripts can someday be compared to them.

I also hope the movie’s good.

Taking my time

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As challenging as it is to write a screenplay, let alone a good one, one of the biggest obstacles to get past is coming up with a solid story. Have a relatively firm idea of what’s supposed to happen from beginning to end and you’re already ahead of the game.

Which is just about where I am with my latest project. Some of it feels rock-solid, while other parts are a bit on the wobbly side. A few scenes and sequences have been rewritten numerous times, and there are still some blanks requiring some temporary filling-in.

In the grand scheme of things, I’m pretty satisfied with how it’s coming along. I may not have it done as soon or as fast as I’d originally hoped, but that’s fine. I’d rather spend the time doing what I am now rather than ramming my way forward, and then going back and fixing all the things, which usually results in more changes and further complications.

As much as I would love to be able to just plow through, it’s just not how I operate. Developing my story’s outline is the part of the process where a majority of the heavy lifting gets done. It’s a lot easier to figure things out here than after it’s been written.

Admittedly, there are times where I’ll second-guess myself. Is this the right way to tell this part? Would this work better here, here, or here? What if I switched this around, or took it out altogether? Taking the time to explore all options might seem like a lot of work for now, but in the end, all of it will come together, giving me the results I need.

And that’s when I’ll feel ready to start on pages.

-Next week’s post will be all about promoting a nice selection of creative projects, so there are just a few days left to submit the pertinent info.

Got a film, short film, book, comic, webcomic, webseries, or any other creative venture you’d like to share with the world?

Just click here for all the details.

From out of the archives

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speedreading

The latest draft of the horror-comedy is complete – clocking in at a respectable 102 pages. It’s out to my savvy readers, so now the focus shifts to some semi-overdue reads for a couple of colleagues.

So while I dive into those, here are a few classic posts from days gone by…

Enjoy.

May I be of some assistance?

More work now, better results later

I know the rules, and do not hesitate to break them

Same destination, different route

Send it. Forget it.