strategy

Only we can answer

Maximum Z adventure, Austin Screenwriting Competition, conflict, dialogue, ideas, inspiration, notes, outlines, pages, problem-solving, productivity, progress, rewrite, scenes, science fiction, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, strategy, writing, writing process , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After an unexpected break, work has recommenced on fine-tuning the outline of the sci-fi adventure spec.

I don’t know how other writers organize their outlines, but mine tend to be a scene-by-scene breakdown on a Google doc. (Hats off to the users of index cards). Each scene is planned out in terms of what happens, sometimes what dialogue might be involved, and an underlying mindset of “what’s the conflict here?”

Even though I know what I need the scene to accomplish, I may not have all the information I need, so I’ll jot down a note or question in ALL CAPS as part of it (to help me not overlook it). The note or question is something that needs to be addressed, but can’t be answered just yet.

Things like:

-DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THIS? IF NOT, HOW TO DO THAT?

-WHAT CAN SHE DO HERE TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT KIND OF PERSON SHE IS?

-NEED 3 VARIATIONS ON THIS (SEE PREVIOUS DRAFT FOR LIST)

-POSSIBLE CLUE OR HINT HERE TO BUILD UP TO BIG REVEAL

You get the idea.

I find it better to write these down in the outline instead of something separate. I don’t trust myself to be that organized, and my desk/working area is quite a mess. It’s just easier to keep it all in one document.

It’s more helpful to take the extra time to deal with all of these now, rather than jump into pages and have to hit the brakes each time one of these needs to be addressed.

Dealing with these sorts of issues can also prove beneficial because while you’re handling the initial thing, it may also offer a new or at possibly an unexpected solution that can cover a few other things, or add a new detail that adds to or helps the story. It’s happened before.

For the most part, the outline is pretty solid, story-wise, so once all of these notes and questions are covered, it’ll be off to the races. I don’t think it’ll take too long, and shooting for another end-of-the-year finish in terms of completed drafts. One would be nice, two would be better.

It’ll get there, slowly but surely.

-Contest news! My animated fantasy-comedy made Second Round for comedy features with Austin. Another long-time goal achieved, so…yay.

Congrats to all the other amazing writers whose work also made it. I’ll be there to celebrate. How about you?

-As the writers strike continues, it’s taking a toll on the people involved. One of those people is friend-of-the-blog Jenny Frankfurt, who runs the Finish Line Script Competition. She could use whatever help you can provide, so please donate here if you can.

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.

Plan. Follow through. Repeat.

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champagne

Well, here it is. The last post of 2019.

How’d your year go? Of all the things you were hoping to accomplish, how many were you able to check off?

All of them? Great!

Some of them? Still good.

I won’t even entertain the notion that you achieved nothing, because there’s always something. Even the slowest runner crosses the finish line.

No matter what your results were over the past 12 months, you can use all of it as the building blocks for what you want in 2020.

Set goals for yourself, and do what you can to reach them. Be the writer with a plan who sticks to it. Try to accomplish something writing-based every day, even if it’s just jotting down an idea and filing it away, editing a page or three, or even reading a friend’s script.

Better to end a day thinking “this is what I did” rather than “why didn’t I do that?”

Remember that everybody’s path is specific to them. What happens, good or bad, for one writer is no reflection on another. The important thing to remember is to focus on you and what you’re trying to do.

But also take the time to offer words of support, encouragement congratulations and sympathy to others when necessary. Your connections to other writers are a vital resources, so treat them accordingly.

This may be your journey, but you’re definitely not alone. There are a lot of other writers out there, all with their own goals and objectives. Don’t be afraid to reach out if you need help, or offer it if they do (if you can).

There will also be things over which you have absolutely no control. Do the best you can with them and move on.

I’m not the first nor will I be the last to say that trying to make it as a screenwriter is an almost insurmountable task. But it can be done. So, if like me, this is what you really, really want, you need to do the work for as long as it takes.

Regard the start of a new year as a great opportunity to set up what you want to happen, then go about making it happen.

So good luck and I wish you all the best in making things happen in 2020.

Assorted ends & odds

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Woman Food Shopping
Nothing like a little variety – and at such reasonable prices

A lot of developments on several fronts around Maximum Z HQ this week. Don’t want to go into much detail, but among the highlights:

-outlined a horror-comedy short, and have now moved on to writing it. Seriously considering making it, so watch this space for further developments.

-working on the short, plus some inspiring and motivating comments from a few colleagues, makes me weigh the option of revising the horror-comedy spec I wrote last year. This would be done with the intent to lower the potential budget – smaller number of characters and locations. Defnitely doable.

-I’ve always been a fan of the The Flash TV show, and came up with a story idea I think would be fun to see. So, I’ve decided to attempt to write a spec episode about it. Since I’ve never written for TV before, this will be quite the learning experience.

-forgive the self-promotion, but my western took the top spot in its category for Creative Screenwriting’s Unique Voices contest. I’m quite thrilled, and even if it doesn’t take the grand prize, it’s still something I’m very proud of having accomplished.

-Here a few external items of note:

-There are lots of screenwriting retreats, but how about one at a 5-star game lodge in South Africa? Networking. Mentoring from industry professionals. A safari. All the details at scriptoafrica.com.

-Chris Gore of Film Threat has launched a crowdfunding campaign for his documentary project ATTACK OF THE DOC. If you were a fan of G4TV and/or Attack of the Show, this sounds right up your alley. Donate if you can!

-last, but not least. Yours truly is one-third of a trio of hosts of the new Creative Writing Life podcast, which offers up our thoughts on all sorts of writing and writing-related topics. Co-hosts include author/friend-of-the-blog Justin Sloan and author P.T. Hylton. As of this writing, it’s on Spotify, and we’re working on getting it onto iTunes. No matter what platform you use, feel free to give it a listen!

Hope you have a great weekend. Go write something.

A challenge on multiple fronts

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Capaldi daleks
Two possible outcomes in this scenario…

Quite the productive week around Maximum Z HQ, with the most significant being the wrap-up of the latest draft of the sci-fi adventure spec. It’s an improvement from the previous one, but could still use some more work. Rather than jump right in, I’m letting it simmer for a bit.

The original plan was to return to the horror-comedy spec, which is actually still part of the plan. Setting up the new draft’s notes page required me to dig through all of my script files, which involved seeing titles for older scripts that could also use at least one more draft. Four in total.

Thus a plan developed.

Work on all of them. A little at a time.

Jot down some ideas for one. Fine-tune a few scenes for another. Revise the outline for this one. Totally overhaul that one. Go through notes for all of them.

Or choose one to work on per day. A few steps forward, spread out over time.

Or I might strike creative gold and steamroll my way through one, temporarily foregoing the others.

Who knows how this’ll play out?

It could be a stroke of genius. It could also go horribly, horribly wrong.

But the important thing is I try. I’ve got lots of new ideas for each of these scripts, and will do what I can to make them better.

Having completed two drafts in as many months demonstrates to me that I have the ability to get the job done in a relatively timely manner. So no reason to think I couldn’t continue to make that kind of progress, or at least come mighty close to it.

Updates will be posted accordingly. Especially if the results are encouraging. Depends on my mood at the time.

Some exciting times are on the horizon and closing in fast. Sounds like it’ll be quite the thrilling journey. Hope you’ll come along for the ride.