rewrite

Ain’t no stoppin’ me

Maximum Z Dreamship, rewrite, screenwriting, seminar

Today was quite the milestone. While I didn’t actually advance past the page 75 twist, I did type up everything from the midpoint to there, and I really like how it’s coming along.

It seems a lot more…streamlined than the previous draft. Things happen much quicker, there’s less lagtime, and I like to think it’s showing my hero in a more active role.

All that remains is getting to the end of Act Two and the whole of Act Three.  The former may be somewhat similar to earlier incarnations, but the latter may have to be totally redone.  At first, that sounds a bit intimidating, but that’s how I felt about this whole project since the beginning.  Happy to say my expectations have been a bit overestimated.

We’re supposed to go away for a few days near the end of June. I’m really hoping to have some kind of rough draft for K to read on the plane.  She enjoys doing that, and I appreciate her feedback.

-If you’re a screenwriter in the Bay Area and are free next weekend (May 21 & 22), click here for what sounds like a great opportunity.  I can’t do it because I’ve got prior commitments.  I don’t know if it’s still available, but it couldn’t hurt to check it out.

-No Movie of the Moment today, but THE KING’S SPEECH, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER and TRON: LEGACY are due up next. Always welcome to comments on any of them.

Feedback, Inc.

Maximum Z outlines, rewrite, screenwriting, writing gigs

I’m really proud of how the end of the first half of Act Two developed today. I managed to make my hero more proactive, which was somewhat of a problem in the previous draft.  I like how things are progressing.  Tomorrow – moving beyond the midpoint! Whoo!

-Despite wanting to put it off, I bit the bullet and told my rewrite client what I thought of her script.  And to be honest, it was what needed to be said.  But I wasn’t mean about it.  That benefits nobody.

I focused on the elements I had problems with, most of which are easy to fix with a more solid outline, a better comprehension of what a script should look like, and a general familiarity and knowledge about screenwriting basics.  Armed with those, and the time and effort put into consecutive drafts, this script could show a lot more potential.

A lot of writers trying to break in think they can crank out a draft, maybe one or two rewrites, and it’s perfect. Not so. Even worse, when you try and point what needs to be fixed, some can get very defensive.  How dare I even suggest such a thing?  Then they’ll wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t recognize their genius.

Hopefully this writer won’t curse my existence too much.  Now I’m wondering what the response will be to my comments.

-No Movie of the Moment today. Doing the midday shift cuts into my movie-watching time.  That and it is totally exhausting.

Eureka! (You don’t smell so good yourself)

Maximum Z anime, Dreamship, inspiration, Movie of the Moment, rewrite, screenwriting

Sorry.  Couldn’t resist.  Old 3 Stooges joke.

The reason behind that exclamation of wonder is because of what I was able to accomplish on yesterday’s DREAMSHIP rewrite effort.

Reading other scripts, especially those from the Black List, has really helped open my eyes in terms of how a good script looks, not only in terms of story, plot and character, but also regarding how it flows from scene to scene, and its actual appearance on the page.

As much as I’d like to name the fantastic actioner I read last week, I promised the person who sent it to me I wouldn’t, so I’m not.  But reading it made me realize I could take the same approach to my script. Great set pieces. Showing character through action. You get the idea.

Part of my problem with rewrites is that I always tend to not veer too far from the original material, so things don’t change that much. So far, that does not seem to be the case.  It’s kind of a thrill to take what I had, see if there’s a way to turn it around, or at least do something completely unexpected with it.  Even better, the new result is stronger, and also strengthens the story in ways I had never thought of or anticipated.  I like when that happens.

-Movie of the Moment: another two-fer. First, TALES FROM THE SCRIPT. A documentary consisting of interviews with screenwriters about their craft. Informative, fascinating, funny, and necessary viewing for writers trying to break in.

Second, AIKA R16: VIRGIN MISSION, anime from Japan. A prequel of sorts for a female adventurer, explaining how she got her start. Apparently this was released ten years after the original series, which I’ve yet to see. A clever concept and fun to watch, but way too many gratuitous panty shots. Just not my thing; in fact, it got a bit monotonous after a while.

Anybody got an anime series or film they’d recommend?  I lean more towards the sci-fi/comedy mix. I’ve seen just about all the Miyazaki oeuvre and most of the more well-known ones (AKIRA, STEAMBOY, COWBOY BEBOP, PROJECT A-KO), but gladly welcome something new.

*Last-minute item. This was supposed to post yesterday, but I wasn’t paying attention and inadvertently erased it.

While I was writing the above content, I got an email from my rewrite client from last week. They thanked me for my work and wanted to know what I thought about the script.

If you’ve been diligently following along, you’ll recall I did not have the highest of opinions.  Therefore, I’m working on a response I can only hope that will be politely and tactfully helpful.

We can rebuild him

Maximum Z Dreamship, Nicholl Fellowship, rewrite, screenwriting

Some good progress on the rewrite today. I’m getting closer to the page 45 twist, and may have also come up with a few ideas on how to fix a few glaring plot holes.  Always nice when that happens.

While I do the work, I usually have a piece of paper in case of sudden inspiration, the word document containing the current outline, and the original script open in a separate window.  All three slowly working together, hopefully to result in something good.

Looking over my previous draft, I can’t help but notice how slow parts of it are. Here’s hoping this rewrite will avoid that.  When other writers start a page one rewrite, how much do they refer back to the previous draft?  Do you start completely from scratch, or take what you have and see if a little tweaking would do the trick?  Just askin’.

-My Nicholl-deadline-reaching may yet again be in jeopardy, but not because of the rewrite.  I’m waiting to hear back about a project involving punching up somebody’s script, at least in terms of the action lines.  One of the instructions was basically “do NOT touch the dialogue”.  It’ll be interesting to see what the writer says regarding making changes (read: fixing), if necessary, to the story.