screenwriting

If only I could bottle this…

Maximum Z jobs, LinkedIn, Miyazaki, radio, screenwriting, writing gigs

I’m feeling pretty positive about things.  I’ve missed feeling this way.  Hopefully, it will last.  And even better, I can apply it to when I sit my lazy ass down and write.

About that…

I didn’t get a whole lot of writing done today.  Let’s be honest.  I got none done.  But I was thinking about it a lot.  And that does count for something.

I also started a new level of job search.  It was nice.  I don’t know what kind of chances I have, but it’s still exciting on a few levels.

Part of this involves becoming a part of LinkedIn, which seems like Facebook for working folks.  A lot more business-oriented material and not much personal.  Which I guess makes it more like a Bizarro Facebook.  Which would be a cool name for it, but I suppose not very professional.

There are a lot of people on it I wouldn’t have expected, such as people in the film industry.  Cool.

One of them, as discovered by K last night, is the former entertainment attorney I knew a few years ago in LA.  The last I heard from him he had left his law practice to teach (I think).  But apparently he now lists himself as a writing consultant.  Hmm.  How did that come about?

I joined a group for screenwriters and radio people.  I’m curious to see what develops out of those.

But getting back to the writing…

In theory, I’ve got time tomorrow to not only work on the job stuff, but also to finally crack down and work on a script.  Or at least pages.

As much as I’d like to finish BABY LIKES JAZZ, part of me wants to move on and start something new.  There’s the monster script, the mystery-comedy.  Both sound like they would be fun to write.  BABY almost sounds…tedious.

But it would seem almost foolish to stop, especially after having spent so much time on it.  I think my challenge is to make it fun to write.  It’s a comedy, for crying out loud!  Which leads to another challenge:  make it funny.  Which is hard.

It’s very important to me to get back into a groove of writing on a daily basis.  I feel like I’m really close to making some kind of breakthrough, and even getting a little writing done each day will help.  I suspect it will also be good for my self-confidence.

And I can use as much of that as I can get.

Movie of the Moment:  I watched HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE with V yesterday.  I’m always up to watch Miyazaki.  V, of course, was not interested at first, but within 5 minutes was completely hooked.  As I suspected.  Even better, there wasn’t much to explain to her.  That really is part of the charm of his work – each story is so universal that it doesn’t matter that it’s so influenced by Japanese culture.

We’ve talked about getting KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE and watching it in Japanese.  While I don’t know how effective that will be, it’s still fun to do.

And although she’d probably enjoy STEAMBOY, I think AKIRA is a little too much.

Make that a lot too much.

oh so frustrating

Maximum Z jobs, radio, screenwriting, writing gigs

That would be the current state of…just about everything.

Work is not going well. I was supposed to talk to my boss about how the situation can be fixed, or at least made a little better.  She left before that could happen.

It is slowly dawning on me that my career in radio may be coming to an end after almost 19 years.  While it’s been a good run, I will be sad to see that happen.  It seems almost inevitable now.

And if that weren’t enough to put it in perspective, my paycheck today was the bare minimum.  And boy was it.  What makes it even more astounding is how much I’ve given the company in terms of time and effort.  As I’ve been  saying, I may not be the hardest-working employee, but I sure have been one of the most dependable.  A lot of the time, when there’s a shift that needs to be covered, I’m there.

But it’s not enough.  I’ve been scraping by with part-time hours for way too long, and I don’t think I can do it much longer.  Sad, but true.

And it’s not helping that I’ve heard squat from any of the listings I sent to over the past few weeks.  Nothing about the comedy writer gig.  Nothing from the film student looking for a produced writer.  Nothing from the mash-up genre guy.  Amazing AND depressing.

I realize this is part of the territory, but it would be nice to hear at least SOMETHING.

I think what it comes down to is getting results.  I’m not, and that’s what’s so annoying.

It feels like something big is on the horizon.  I don’t know what, but I’m really hoping it’s good.

Because bad would really, really suck.

Feeling a bit better, thanks for asking

Maximum Z screenwriting, Uncategorized

So yesterday sucked.

First my hours at work were cut back yet another half-hour, for a grand total of 20 a week.  And that sucks.  I mean it REALLY sucks. Looks like my ongoing hope of finally becoming full-time is officially dead, despite what my well-intentioned boss says.

According to her, this was another case of her boss micromanaging.  He saw that I was working a whole extra half hour a day, and that simply could not be!  So I got screwed.  Again.

I saw this as another sign to get the hell out of there.  But when I told my boss I didn’t know how long I could last, she begged me to hold on and that SHE WOULD GET ME HOURS!  I’ve heard that before, too.  I occasionally get a fill-in shift, but it’s not enough and it’s not steady.  I need both.

And as usual, probably won’t get either.

So I’m starting to look into what’s out there.  K thinks I won’t have a problem.  I don’t know.

I wish the writing thing would work out.  I haven’t heard from anybody I sent to over the past couple of days.  And I’m having trouble finding time to write.  I don’t like it and will try to change that.

Then the day got worse when I went to pick up my bike.  It’s been in the shop for about a month, or at least it feels like a month.

After paying way too much, I started to ride home.  That’s when the pedals started to skip and the rear brake sounded like a screeching cat.

A quick ride back to the shop, a quick adjusting of the brake and a quick examination of the pedal mechanism, and I’m told it needs yet ANOTHER part, and that getting it will take another week.  Jeebus.

So for now, I look for work while doing my work and the usual work.

Busy, busy, and still busy

Maximum Z craigslist, screenwriting

Today was the first time in quite a while I got to sit down and write.  It was for the mash-up genre.  Four pages of scenes.  I wrote it and sent it out.

Naturally, a few hours later, I thought of ways to make it better.  This always happens.

But I did enjoy putting it together.  The action, the suspense, and so on and so on.  It was, dare I say, fun.  Too bad it can’t always be like that.

I think it has to do with the genre.  Writing exciting action-adventure is exciting.  Gets the blood pumping. It makes the time pass quickly.

But trying to write comedy, while alone?  Boring.

But I digress.

The guy was very nice in his response.  I don’t know what kind of a chance I have with this, but at least it’s something.

There was also a listing for somebody looking for a comedy writer.  I figure ‘ why not?’  They have to do some kind of presentation and I guess they want to make it funny.

Yeah, I know.  I may not be the ideal candidate, but I can say funny things if the situation is right.  No, really.  I can.  Again, looking at it as a potential exercise.

But again, why not?  The worst they can say is no.  I got nothing to lose.

These two listings also mention being paid, but I really don’t know what kind of rate would be involved.  While I’d like to charge my editing/proofreading fee, I worry that would be too high for an Average Joe.  Then again, I don’t want to reduce it too much that it’s not worth all the work.  Ugh.

Also never heard back from the just-graduate film student looking for a professional review of his script.  This doesn’t surprise me.  For all I know, somebody took him up on it.  Which would amaze me.

If this post seems all over the place, that’s because the Movie of the Moment is IN THE LOOP, a bitingly wicked political satire. It’s hard to concentrate with it on.

It’s been in the house for two weeks, and I hate keeping them that long.  But it’s really good.  The dialogue and plotlines are so complicated and intertwined, it’s hard to believe it was written.

Thus endeth the rambling…

Hmmm…

Maximum Z craigslist, Entourage, Pushing Daisies, screenwriting, treatment, Venture Bros, writing gigs

I think I mentioned there was this listing on Craigslist last week for somebody looking for a writer to put together a ‘mash-up’ story involving the Old West, goth horror and martial arts.

So I wrote in, expressing interest.  The guy wrote back relatively quickly and included his 20-page treatment.

It was interesting.  But I’m not sure so much backstory has to go into a treatment.  I always thought it was more or less a prose-style summary of the story being told on the page.  I’ll have to look into that.

But getting back to his treatment…

I think there’s something wrong when you don’t get to the main story until the middle of the 4th single-spaced page OF THE TREATMENT!  Way too much stuff beforehand that can easily be summed up in a scene or two.  And a whole lot of info about characters who are killed within a few pages.  Why so much?

I’m sure every writer is sick of hearing this, but there’s definitely a lot of potential in this thing.  It’s all a question of putting it all together.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a solid main storyline.  More like a lot of vignettes with a barely-there common thread.  And there are some scenes that seem to come out of nowhere.  For example: the lesbian love affair between the 2 main female characters.  How did this happen?  I hope it’s not just an excuse to have a nude scene.  There are more creative and story-based ways to do that.

So for the next day or two, I’ll be working on my scene.  I’m looking at this more like an exercise than a job application; a way to test/flex my writing muscles.

The guy asked about how much I thought it would cost, and I really had no idea.  I still don’t.  Is it by the hour?  By the page?  K suggests I ask for a co-writing credit.  If the guy is going to submit it to competitions or even take it out for representation, I think I’ll have earned at least my name in the mix.

And I wouldn’t say no to some cash either…

Almost forgot. I also wrote to that just-graduated film student looking for a ‘professional’ to proofread his script. I offered myself up for the gig.  I’ll be surprised if he responds, and even more surprised if he says yes.  I bet he won’t, but you never know.

Movie of the Moment:  We’ll probably watch the new episode of VENTURE BROS later.  I hope it’s better than last season; way disappointing.

But I can’ t recommend PUSHING DAISIES enough.  The writing and acting on it are so well done.  I think the fact it’s a smart, clever show that requires you to think is why it didn’t do well.  But we like it.

Since it’s only one season, which is about 12-13 shows, I’m trying to figure out what show to do next.  I keep going back and forth between BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and MAD MEN.  Decisions, decisions.

ENTOURAGE ended with Vince’s career in coke-fueled limbo and Ari’s marriage in trouble.  Virtually nothing about Drama. Turtle and this whole tequila thing – boring.  And E may have to sign a pre-nup.  I thought this show was about their lives in the industry.  That comment I read about this being SEX AND THE CITY for guys is becoming more true.  Now I just have to wait until next season…