pulp fiction

Working well within my wheelhouse

Maximum Z adventure, fantasy, fun, pulp fiction, science fiction, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, spec, story, storytelling, westerns, writing
Hang on. This is going to be quite a ride.
Hang on. This is going to be quite a ride.

Hard as this may be to believe, but I’m actually surprised at my progress with the outline for the pulpy adventure spec.

It’s coming along much faster than I expected, and the more I work on it, the more I see things that can be tweaked/adjusted/modified so as to improve on the overall story. I’m definitely not saying it’s easy; just easier than it used to be.

Having previous drafts to work with has been a significant plus, and once I fully embraced the notion of “anything can change”, it just took off from there.

But the biggest boon to this whole thing has simply been the pure enjoyment of working on it.

I don’t make any attempt to hide my love and appreciation of the pulp style of writing, so when I work on these kinds of stories, I make a sincere effort to really put it on the page.

The swashbuckling-ness of the fantasy. The rootin’-tootin’-ness of the western. And now the spectacle and wonder of science fiction.

I really do live for this stuff. One of my mantras since the beginning has been “Write something I would want to see,” and all of these definitely fall into that category.

Some may argue that writing material like this is counter-productive to getting a career going. “Nobody’s going to take a chance on something like this from an unknown writer!”, that sort of thing. If all I end up getting out of this is a solid writing sample, that’s fine by me.

Is it wrong to think somebody could read it and say “There’s no way I could get this made, but I really like the writing. Would you be open to working on ____?”? Hopefully not.

I’m taking my time with this, and in no rush to finish. All the work I’ve done on previous scripts is paying off in terms of knowing what to do, figuring stuff out and making the story (and the eventual script) better.

I’ve said it many times before: I am having an absolute blast writing this story, and hopefully those who read the end result will too.

Works for me

Maximum Z acting, adventure, comedy, filmmakers, networking, Preston Sturges, pulp fiction, rewriting, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, writing
Got my own way of doing things
Just doin’ my own thang

Over the past few months, I’ve made a sincere effort to expand my network of writers, filmmakers and industry folks. I can honestly say it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve had the benefit of connecting with a lot of fantastic people, both online and in person. Added bonus –  my self-confidence has shot through the roof.

Trust me. I’m phenomenal.

See?

This really comes in handy especially when I’ll read about someone else’s career taking a huge step forward (sale, option, deal, etc.). It stings at first, but then I remind myself that the only thing that person and I have in common is that we’re both writers. Their path and mine have been totally different and will continue to be so.

My turn’s coming, and I’m plenty experienced at being patient. You have to be in this business.

It doesn’t me do any good to compare myself to others. How I write, what I write, what I say to people, and so on. I’ve got my own totally unique approach to all of it. It’s taken a while to get to this point, and I like how it’s going, not to mention where it’s headed.

In the meantime, I keep writing (putting the comedy on hold to revamp the outline for the pulpy adventure, with ambitious plans for the finished product), reaching out to more people (great face-to-face meetings this week with a local actor and a writer) and continue the striving towards the ultimate goal.

That moment of clarity

Maximum Z action, confidence, description, determination, encouragement, goals, ideas, imagination, inspiration, obstacles, productivity, pulp fiction, reading, rewrite, scenes, sequence, story, storytelling, thesaurus, westerns, writer's block, writing
Don't you love when these show up?
Don’t you love when these show up?

I’ve always said that with each draft of every script I work on, my writing gets a little bit better. Definitely a “learn as you go” scenario.

If you looked at my earlier work, you’d probably say it was pretty basic. Very straightforward. Average. With the later stuff, you’d see improvement. Better, but still some room to grow.

Among the helpful comments I received regarding the previous draft of my western was “give us more flair in the prose…make the details a bit more colorful.”

This can be a trap a lot of writers fall into. You want your writing to be vivid and descriptive, but it’s easy to overdo it and before you know it, the storytelling overshadows your actual story.

Since I started the rewrite, I’ve been doing my best to maintain an equal balance of both so the story is told in an entertaining way and easy for a reader to visualize what’s happening. If they feel like they’re actually there, experiencing it along with the characters, then I’m doing a good job.

Working on an action sequence earlier this week, I was struggling to come up with the best way to describe the events as they played out. Ordinary words weren’t cutting it, and the ever-present thesaurus wasn’t offering much help either. I knew what I wanted to say, but couldn’t come up with the right way to say it.

You can describe how something happens, but is it strong enough to hold somebody’s attention? Is there a “more colorful” way to say it? How could you add “more flair”?

If I were reading this, what would make me want to keep going? What would compel me to want to know what happens next?

Since this is, at its heart, my take on a pulp story, I decided to embrace that aspect and run with it. I mean really run. Let loose and color those words in the perfect shade of purple.

To say it made a difference is putting it mildly.

Words and descriptions that refused to make themselves known before were sprouting up left and right. This was exactly how I imagined the sequence and exactly how it should be written.

A key point to remember in all of this is that this is what works for me. Your writing and your style are totally your own, and only you can find the best way to do it.

I won’t say that everything from here on in for me will be as easy or productive, but it’s definitely a change for the better, and I for one am looking forward to seeing the end result.

 

 

Three and a half scripts. No waiting.

Maximum Z adventure, blog, comedy, contest, coverage, creativeness, creativity, determination, editing, feedback, goals, jokes, multitasking, mystery, obstacles, productivity, pulp fiction, representation, rewrite, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, westerns, wine, writing, writing gigs
Keep your pants on. These things can't be rushed.
Everybody else, though, will have to wait. These things can’t be rushed.

Despite a few weeks to go, it’s safe to say that 2014 didn’t work out the way I’d hoped. I didn’t do that well on the contest front, and I no longer have a manager.

I’ve gotten over the thankfully-brief “woe is me” phase, and am now firmly planted in “How can I make this better?”

Like any smart and savvy writer, I’m thinking ahead and making plans.

-As much as I love my western, it still needs work. Beaucoup thanks to the legion of note-givers who offered up a lot of insight that really helped me out.

There’s a hill near where I went to elementary school. At the time, it felt like taking on Everest. Now, not so much. The idea of rewriting this script feels incredibly daunting right now, but as is usually the case, probably won’t be a problem.

A few ideas for changes have already popped up, with the hard part now to let go of what’s already in there, but that’s another blogpost.

-Another group of notegivers had some fantastic things to say about my mystery-comedy, and provided similarly helpful feedback. They liked the concept, pointed out what in the story needed work and had some great suggestions for potential fixes.

This one is going to be especially tricky (due to that whole mystery angle), but again, I’ll work my way through it.

Can’t explain why, but for some reason, listening to 50’s jazz and drinking a glass of quality red feel like they would be extremely conducive to working on the outline. I’ll let you know how that goes.

-As for the low-budget comedy, the story’s being kept under wraps until the first draft is finished. The big hurdle here is to just keep writing and not obsess over each joke. Darn my perfectionist nature.

-It’s been a while since it’s been mentioned, or even thought of, for that matter, but I don’t want to ignore my pulpy adventure. I managed to crank out a workable outline, but it definitely needs more fine-tuning. It’s more of a “whenever I get to it”, rather than a “I have to finish this!”.

So there you have it. My projects for the coming year. How many will actually be completed? Hard to say right now, but 3 seems like a reasonable number.

At this point, I’m not even entertaining the notion of contests. It’s really all about writing, editing, rewriting and polishing. Any money I would have spent on contest fees will go towards professional feedback.

I’ll admit I was hoping to have made some significant progress this year in terms of establishing a career, and in some ways I have, but you know what I mean.

If continuing to improve as a writer and honing my skills means a slight delay in getting representation, making a sale, and getting assignment work, then so be it.

I’m a patient guy.

Fall back. Regroup. Hit ’em again.

Maximum Z adventure, analysis, comedy, contest, editing, feedback, goals, jokes, mystery, productivity, pulp fiction, rewrite, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, spec, story, storytelling, westerns, writing, Young Frankenstein
Disappointed? Sure. Defeated? Never.
Disappointed? Sure. Disillusioned? A little. Defeated? Never.

Oh, what a week this has been.

The first round of the Nicholl Fellowship competition is complete. The quarterfinalists have been named, as well as those who placed in the top 10, 15 and 20 percent of all entries.

Regrettably, my western fell into the latter-most category. In some ways, that’s not too bad. Obviously not was I was hoping for, but at least worth noting.

It goes without saying that while there may still be hope for the script in the handful of other contests I entered this year, it’s also safe to say I should probably expect similar results.

But here’s the silver lining to all of this. I sent the script out, thinking it was ready. Since then, I’ve received lots of great feedback about how it could be improved – tighten this, work on that, etc. – and more is on the way.

This script was pretty good before. With a little more work, it could be fantastic.

I’ll be dividing my time between that and the rewrite of the mystery-comedy spec, of which I will definitely seek out professional feedback (Lesson learned here – after I think a script is good to go, I’ll spring for 1-2 sets of pro analysis. Definitely worth it.)

The silver lining to all of this: there’s no reason I couldn’t have two scripts ready to go for next year. Three if I really push myself with the pulpy adventure spec, but that might be overreaching.

Movie of the Moment – YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) One of K’s favorites, so we watched it as a family. V liked some of the jokes in the beginning, but her interest waned as it went on.

As for me, still holds up as one of the best comedies ever. Smart, funny and a cornucopia of quotable dialogue.