westerns

Back into the abyss!

Maximum Z outlines, parenting, productivity, rewrite, screenwriting, script, train, westerns, writing
Yoiks, and away!

Thank the movie gods for soccer practice.

While V is playing her heart out, I hunker down in the car, armed with pen, notebook and iPad, working diligently to make some kind of progress.

Seems to have paid off.

I wrapped up Act Three, including making a few small changes and some not-so-small ones.

Now the fun really begins – cranking out pages.

My schedule permitting, I’ll shoot for my usual 3-5 a day. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m guessing the back seat will be more suitable on soccer days for typing than the somewhat cramped front seat.

-I guess it’s an unwritten rule that if you do a Western, trains have to figure into it somehow.

My next script is about an engineer out for justice and revenge. This guy wrote a Western involving a train with a supernatural angle.

And of course there’s this.

And next summer, we’ll get this.

I’m not complaining. There’s just something cool and fascinating about trains. Want proof? Watch this. Granted, not a Western, but still – trains are involved.

Color me pleasantly surprised

Maximum Z action, adventure, characters, creativity, ideas, outlines, plot, screenwriting, story, subplot, westerns, writing
Totally wasn’t expecting that

Since figuring my way through the climactic portion of Act Three is still stressing out my creativeness, I did what any good writer would do in this situation: go back to the beginning and edit like a madman.  This will give my creative muscles a good workout while subconsciously working out the end.

Overall: the opening definitely needs some reworking, and there are a few places here and there that could stand a little adjustment, but for the most part – a lot more fun than I remember. Trying really hard not to sound egotistical, but I had to occasionally remind myself this was something I wrote.

Me.

Gosh.

Not working on this for so long enabled me to take a really good look at what I have so far. Interestingly, even though I knew what was coming, there was still a lot in there to make me want to keep going and see what happened next.

In all honesty, I’d also forgotten how much I wanted to utilize a lot of elements that make up the thrill-generating, pure adventurousness of the Western genre.  Those are definitely in there, with a lot of potential to be built up even more, but for now it’s all about the story. If that’s not rock-solid, then everything else is irrelevant.

The whole time I was looking this over, I found myself focusing less on ‘would it look cool on the big screen?’ factor, and more on making sure the characters were being proactive and realistically moving the story forward (especially the title character), and that each plotline was being established.  Maybe this is my brain quietly telling me my storytelling and writing skills are improving.

Something also very important to work on as this whole project moves forward – that the story grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go. But I suppose that should go without saying…

Two roads, one objective

Maximum Z adventure, outlines, query letter, screenwriting, story, westerns, writing
I have to go this way AND that way

What an odd sensation.

Part of me is focusing on beginning the post-script-is-done phase. Composing a kickass query letter. Researching which agents and/or managers would be most receptive to reading my script.  Looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish.

The other part is all about starting work on the next script. Even though most of the initial outline is finished, it still feels like the proverbial blank slate, bursting with potential. Weird as it may sound, I’m really excited about this. I mentally visualize how the story plays out via scenes and sequences, and if I can make it read as cool as it looks in my head, then this thing is going to be all kinds of awesome.

You always hear “write what you know”, but how often do you hear “write what you love”? I’m crazy for a good western and am equally gaga over a solid adventure, so why not take my favorite parts of both and put ’em together in an original, sprawling epic that clocks in at around 2 hours?

That’s the plan for this script. I haven’t been very good about meeting self-imposed deadlines, so I won’t set anything definite. But I’m a lot further along in terms of development now than I have been with previous scripts, and my writing skills feel stronger, so I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to have a solid draft relatively soon.

As is usually the case, there will be days where my mood/outlook is decidedly negative, so I’m just going to sit back for a moment, take a deep breath and enjoy this feeling of sheer euphoria while it lasts.

>Insert diabolical laughter here<

Maximum Z antagonist, conflict, creativity, ideas, Monty Python, outlines, protagonist, rewrite, screenwriting, westerns
Followed immediately by this. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

 

I vowed to get to the end of Act Two, and by gosh, I did. And then some. This really is the “all seems lost” moment for my protagonist. I had to make sure it seemed like she has no way whatsoever of reaching her goal, and that’s how it’s playing out so far.  How in the world is she going to get out of this exceptionally insurmountable situation? Which is exactly what I want you to think.

(Actually, you should be thinking that in every scenario for anybody’s script.)

While it’s fun to put the whole story together, I get a certain joy from devising what kind of obstacles to keep throwing into the mix. Taking this one step further, after I come up with the problem, I have to figure out how my hero gets out of each scrape. And since this is a Western, there’s a whole lot to choose from.

Those who know me personally would not hesitate to call me a nice person. “Still a boy scout,” even. But when it comes to developing the bad guys? Hello, dark side! From somewhere deep within the far reaches of my mind, I’m able to conjure up actions and characters most sinister.  The harder I make the conditions for my hero, the more interesting the story gets.

I want my hero to succeed, right? Then they have to go through hell in order to do that. And it’s up to me as the creator of this particular world to devise every hellish detail and solution.

If the prospect of doing this doesn’t make you giddy, then you’re in the wrong business.

Next up: keeping you on the edge of your seat while wrapping it all up in Act Three.

Grab ’em early and don’t let go

Maximum Z Indiana Jones, Lucy Steele, Men In Black, outlines, Raiders of the Lost Ark, screenwriting, story, train, westerns, writing
And this is just the beginning…

I printed out a months-old version of the LUCY outline yesterday as part of the plan to launch a massive rewrite to incorporate some recent ideas. As I was looking it over, it dawned on me – the opening sequence just ain’t strong enough.

The way it’s written now, it would last about 3 pages, which really isn’t enough. The opening sets the tone and mood of the whole story. If I can’t hold your interest here, then you’re not going to want to work your way through another 100+ pages.

Think of the opening sequence in RAIDERS. It runs about 10 minutes, and does a phenomenal job of establishing the character of Indiana Jones.  I need to do the same thing.

This is where that ‘having fun while you write’ thing comes into play. And I get to do it with trains in the Old West.

Throw in a bottle of RC Cola and some Moon Pies and it’s an ideal writing session.

-Movie of the Moment – MEN IN BLACK III. Fun, clever and a definite improvement over the previous sequel. Setups and payoffs were obvious from the get-go. Josh Brolin did a great job as a young Tommy Lee Jones.  If this opens the door to a MIB IV, they should go the FANTASTIC VOYAGE/INNERSPACE route and do microscopic or nano-technology-based aliens. You heard it here first, folks!

This also confirmed for me once again that Smith needs to stop playing it safe and really try something new. Wasn’t he Tarantino’s first choice for the lead in DJANGO UNCHAINED? But he’s got a good thing going that brings in big bucks, so I don’t see that ever happening.