After finally finishing the outline for the rewrite last week, I immediately jumped into re-reading the western spec in preparation for the inevitable rewrite/polish.
Looking at it after a 1 1/2-month break was incredibly helpful, and it still reads great.
Then it hit me.
If I can keep up this kind of productivity, I’ll have two brand spanking-new scripts ready to go relatively soon.
Yay.
This whole “dedicating a little time each day to writing” thing continues to be paying off.
Added bonus – more material at my disposal to respond to the question “What else have you got?”
It’s not about speed; it’s how you handle the course
Finally, finally got to type in those illustrious words FADE OUT, which brings the first draft of the western spec to a satisfying close.
It’s very tempting to read it and see what needs work, but at this point, I’m opting to let it sit in hibernation while shifting the focus to the rewrite of the mystery-comedy.
While the previous draft is a more solid foundation than I thought, there are still some ideas I’m looking to incorporate.
Rather than jot a few down at a time, or hope inspiration hits every once in a while, I’m opting for a method that’s proven quite helpful in the past: the writing sprint.
Set aside 30 minutes. Just you and a blank page (paper or digital – doesn’t matter, although digital might be easier & faster to work with). Once that timer starts, write out scene ideas as fast as you can. Don’t stop to think if they’re good or not. Just crank ’em out.
It’s not a bad thing to write what you already have, but maybe you’ll come up with something you never thought of, or suddenly hit on a solution to a problem that’s been bothering you. Feel free to even take things a totally new direction. For now, there are no bad ideas.
It’s possible you could run out of gas before time runs out, but push yourself to keep going.
Once the 30 minutes is up, take a look at what you’ve got: a ton of (mostly) new material.
Pick and choose what works for you now, but make sure to hold on to the rest. Inspiration could hit from any of them, and you never know what might come in handy later.
First and foremost, thanks to everybody for the hearty congrats. Words of encouragement from one’s peers are always nice, doubly so when it’s from people you know are good writers.
I’ll also admit to sending updates of my recent accomplishments to my old writing group, more with the intent of “Hey kids, ain’t this swell?” rather than “Suck on it, losers!”
And a big mazel tov to the 24 other semifinalists, 10 finalists and the top 3 winners of the Tracking Board Launchpad contest. Best of luck to all of you on your future endeavors! Celebrate in your desired appropriate style. I find pie to always be a solid viable option.
Speaking of which (the writing stuff, not the pie), these are exciting times. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to something potentially happening with one of my scripts before – he said with fingers firmly crossed.
There isn’t a writer out there, including yours truly, who doesn’t daydream about achieving some kind of success while they hammer away at their latest project.
But things are different for me now, and a new learning curve is underway. I’m a bit nervous, but still quite psyched about it.
This is exactly what I’ve been working towards, and feel very fortunate to have even made it this far. I hope everybody can experience this kind of sensation at least once.
So all I can do now is keep writing and maintain a positive attitude while staying reasonably sane and level-headed.
I’m a huge fan of tales from the trenches, so any anecdotes of early-in-my-career experiences and such are more than welcome in the comments below.
-Movie of the Moment: MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (2013). I didn’t think there was really a demand for this; the first one seemed more than enough. Despite it’s box office success, I wouldn’t call this another home run for Pixar. A triple, maybe. And kudos to them for making the college experience as G-rated/Disney-safe as possible.
V was interested in seeing it, but she didn’t laugh that much. There were chuckles from both of us, but not as many as you would expect.
Still, glad we saw it, especially in 2-D, and at one of SF’s remaining single-screen theatres. We’re always happy to send them business.
-It’s heartbreaking on several levels to read how much THE LONE RANGER is sounding more and more like a train wreck (no pun intended). Hopefully this won’t be yet another death knell for westerns in 21st century, such as the one I’m working on. I’m discouraged, but not defeated.
When I was working on that student short a few years ago, the director was concerned the way a scene was playing out was too similar to how things worked in INCEPTION, and that people would think he was ripping it off.
I assured him it wasn’t on both fronts. It may share some similar aspects, but it was totally different.
Jump ahead to now, or at least last week. I finally got around to watching DJANGO UNCHAINED. It was great and a lot of fun. I loved it, especially the writing.
(Side note: Christoph Waltz fully deserved Best Supporting Actor, and I found King Schultz to be a much more interesting character than Django.)
So as I continue work on my western spec, I can’t help but think “But this isn’t how Tarantino did it. Would somebody hold that against me?”
I’m inclined to think “probably not”, which is actually a good thing, and may even work in my favor.
He writes in a certain way, which is totally different from mine. Nobody’s going to read my script and say “not grindhouse enough”.
Our two stories may share some similar elements, and that’s where the comparison ends. It’s a western, so there are going to be the unavoidable elements (horses, shootouts, etc.), but that comes with the territory. My challenge is to put my own spin on them.
Same rules apply to UNFORGIVEN, the vastly-underrated OPEN RANGE and the forthcoming LONE RANGER (which in theory may be the closest to my story in terms of rip-roaring, dime novel-type adventure).
This script is my opportunity to work in a genre I love, tell a story I’m excited about and create its world the way I want to. The whole time, I’m striving to be as original as I can, and present stuff that hopefully hasn’t been seen before.
There are countless ways to tell a story, and there’s no reason mine can’t be one of them.
Well, this has been an interesting week, to say the least.
-Rewrite was completed and sent it off to my manager. Hope they like it.
-Found out DREAMSHIP was one of 25 semifinalists in the Tracking Board’s Launch Pad competition. The top 10 finalists will be announced at the end of the month, followed by the winner a few days later.
Even if the script doesn’t advance, I don’t mind (although it would be nice). I’m just thrilled to have made it this far. As K said to me after I got the email from the Tracking Board people, “See? Somebody who doesn’t know you thinks you’re a good writer.”
That’s a nice reminder.
-The Nicholl deadline came and went. DREAMSHIP was sent to that back in March, which makes it one of at least 7,200 submissions. The final count should be tallied sometime soon.
(If you have the time, do a quick search to find out what past winners are up to these days. It’s a fascinatingly diverse range of material, including film and television.)
-With a lot of this contest stuff out of the way, it’s time to return to the first draft of LUCY. It’s been about a month since I last worked on it, so it’ll be interesting to take a look at what I’ve written so far. Nothing like fresh eyes on your old work!
-I can also start running again. Next race is in 6 weeks, and I really want to be ready for it.
-Movie of the Moment – SKYFALL (2012) Took me three separate viewing sessions, but I finally made it through. I enjoyed it.
Easy to see why this was so popular. It was a well-written combination of old-style Bond movies with 21st-century themes, thankfully without dipping too much into cheesy joke territory.
Maximum Z 