rewrite

Enjoying the ride

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The past few weeks have had their share of ups and downs.

Made a little progress on developing the new spec, but still a long ways to go. Have to keep reminding myself it’s an ongoing work in progress, and these things never come together immediately, so feeling frustrated about less-than-productive times is perfectly okay. Each day yields a small result, which is great.

The animated script didn’t make the top 10 in an animation contest, which was disappointing, but I did get some eye-opening notes about it, with more on the way, so looks like there’s at least one more rewrite in my future.

Still having a ball doing The Creative Writing Life podcast (on Spotify and YouTube), with more great guests lined up for August. Also mulling a couple of ideas for topic-based shows.

Been a bit lax on getting things moving for the short film, so hoping to correct course on that one.

It would be easy to let the negatives overpower the positives, but I’m in this for the long haul. It might take longer to reach that finish line, but I know I can get there.

The most important takeaway from all of this is that I like doing it. Even on the not-great days. Brainstorming, writing, interacting with other creatives. It’s all good stuff.

Otherwise, it would seem too much like work. And that’s no fun.

One chapter ends, another begins

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Seeing as how 2024 just passed the halfway mark, and taking into account how many drafts I’ve done on the animated fantasy-comedy, it’s safe to say that for now, this script is as solid as it’s going to be.

Naturally, that could change, but I’m quite thrilled with how it’s turned out and don’t want to mess with it any further. It’s a strong writing sample/calling card script and I’m already prepping to enter it in a few contests next year.

So what now?

My initial intent was to go back and revise the sci-fi adventure, but earlier this year I came up with an idea I am absolutely crazy about, and since they say you should work on that which excites you, this one definitely fits that bill.

Far as I can tell, there hasn’t been a story like this before.

I’ve mapped out the plot points and started jotting down the ever-increasing number of ideas for scenes and sequences. The more I work on it, the more ramped up I get about working on it. I’m sure things will change as things develop, but as has often been the case, the core of the story should remain the same.

Ideally, I’ll have a first draft done by December 31st, but also want to take my time in plotting it out. Once that’s set, it’s diving headfirst into pages.

Excitement levels are pretty strong, and doing what I can to keep that going.

Wish me luck.

Can’t talk. Busy.

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Mega-shorty post today.

Got some incredibly helpful notes for the animated fantasy-comedy, so some major revising is in progress.

Bonus – one set of notes was from a longtime associate who’s always been a big fan pushing me to do better. They thought this script did exactly that, and that it really shows how far I’ve come since my earlier work and what I was capable of. You love to hear that – especially from somebody whose opinion you hold in very high regard.

There’s a contest deadline coming up in a few weeks, so I want to make this thing as rock-solid as I can before sending it in.

Confidence levels feeling strong and steady.

Hope you have an excellent weekend that also involves feeling good about your writing, and maybe some pie because it makes things that much better.

Al…most…there!

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A few weeks ago I completed a hearty rewrite of the animated fantasy-comedy. Notes from readers continue to trickle in.

Responses have been generous with their excitement and enthusiasm about it, along with some extremely insightful notes.

I’ll admit to hoping the script was strong enough as is, but there’s no denying the effectiveness of those notes, which means at least one more draft in my future.

Not crazy about that, but if it needs some more work, then so be it.

I’m not as prolific – and definitely not as fast – as other writers, but this approach works for me. I’d rather take the time to really fine-tune something than rush through it and have it not be as solid as can be.

The silver lining here is that each draft is better than its predecessor, as you would expect. Each round of notes helps contribute to making the script and my overall writing better.

It might seem just out of reach now, but I’m confident that both I and this script will eventually get there.

Mind the gap(s)

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Feeling really good about how the latest rewrite of the sci-fi adventure outline is going.

A lot of the story is in place, but there are still a few blanks or gaps that need filling in – questions that need to be answered or an issue that needs to be addressed. Something relevant has to happen at those points, but I don’t know what yet, so I’ll put in a generic placeholder like “HOW??” or “WORK ON THIS!”

I’ll do this as I work my way through the rest of the story, and when I move on to the next draft, I’ll be able to focus on filling in those gaps. Sometimes that’s enough, but there have also been instance where a new detail can inspire a new direction or a spur-of-the-moment minor changes.

It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, but putting in that missing piece creates a new, slightly different version of what the puzzle was originally supposed to look like, but you don’t mind because it still works – maybe even more than you thought it would.

This approach also proves helpful because more than a few times I realized something was happening with no setup whatsoever, so I’d go back and see where that could happen. I try to make it organic, rather than feel forced because the story requires it. Sometimes the answer comes quickly, or it might take a few tries. It’s also not uncommon to suddenly come up with something that’s the total opposite of what I originally intended, but it works even better, so in it goes.

I’m making a real point of taking my time with this. That seems to be helping in terms of determining where the fixes (and follow-up fixes, if necessary) need to be made, so the proper adjustments can be made as I go along. Bulldozing my way through seems more of a short-term solution, resulting in more potential rewrites down the line. Better to take it slow and deal with all the problems now than to spread it out and spend more time on them later.

I just wrapped up Act One, and am fairly hopeful Act Two won’t take too long. A lot of Act Three had already been set up in One and Two, so probably won’t need as much work.

I’m eager to get started on pages, but have no problem taking the time to fill in those gaps to make sure everything flows nice and smoothly.

-Coming to Austin? I’ll be there. Feel free to say hi.