The joy of words

Maximum Z rewrite, screenwriting
lots and lots of words in here!

After days of reading and commenting on scripts, I was happy to jump back into working on my own stuff today.  Apparently time really does fly when you’re having fun.  Which I was.

Even though this is a rewrite, in some ways it feels like a brand new start. I’m allowing myself to let loose and write what I feel like.  Within reason, of course.   It’s quite liberating.  It boosts the self-confidence and makes the script that much more enjoyable to read.

The one thing that slowed me down was attempting to put an abstract into words.  I was able to do it last week with the polar opposite of what I was working on today, and really liked that. I was hoping to accomplish the same thing today, but it still doesn’t have that same pizzazz like last week’s.  Time to implement the ‘don’t look back and move on’ rule.

>Insert monkey pun here<

Maximum Z comic books, Wondercon

Don’t know how I could have forgotten, but earlier tonight I suddenly realized that APE is next weekend.  APE is the Alternative Press Expo; sort of a mini-Comic Con for small and/or self-published comics.  It’s very anti-mainstream, and there’s always some good stuff to be found.  Definitely cheaper to go there than to the big cons.

I’ve gone for a number of years with my pal Neil.  He’s always been more into the darker stuff, despite his sunny exterior.  And after years of not being allowed to go, since some of the stuff is very adult in nature, V got to go with us last year.  She enjoyed it, especially since there was more kid-friendly stuff than I remember.

Some of the artists I’ve had the pleasure of meeting include Keith Knight, Raina Telgemeier, Gene Ha and Ted Naifeh.  Each has produced really great material.  Check ’em all out; buy their books.

APE has always been a later-in-the-year alternative companion to Wondercon, but not so this time. Due to renovation work at the convention space, the powers that be are moving it to Anaheim for 2012, with the intent of coming back to San Francisco in 2013.  There’s some skepticism that it will return.  I really hope it does.  It would really suck if it doesn’t.

There’s definitely something about being able to leave the house, drive ten minutes and walk onto the convention floor.  Everybody should be able to do that.

Next up – Act Two

Maximum Z rewrite, screenwriting
just some of the music playing while I write

Finally finished Act One today.  It probably needs a little tweaking, but for the most part I like how it turned out.

A potential agent once said the previous draft was good, but could use some ‘punching up.’ Until recently, I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean. But reading other scripts over the past few weeks, including ones that have circulated throughout the industry, really helped me understand how it could be accomplished.

My writing used to be simple, straightforward and to the point.  No flair. No pizzazz.  But this time I’m striving to have fun while I write, as well as make it fun to read.  So far, seems that way.

 

Hence the “re-” part

Maximum Z rewrite, screenwriting, scriptshadow

Part of my problem the past few days has been a combination of agonizing over each scene, hoping it works in the grand scheme of the overall script, and reading some of the selections for the past few weeks on ScriptShadow.

Despite how that last part may sound, I really enjoyed it.
Some were okay, while others were just jaw-on-the-floor amazing. Reading them reminds me of what I should be aspiring to, especially when it comes to making not only the story interesting, but the actual reading as well.

As always, I’m putting too much pressure on myself to try and make this current draft absolutely perfect. Which is a foolish endeavor, to say the least. It’s better to punch my way through, THEN go back and fix where necessary.

I get so caught up in trying to perfect what I’ve already done that I waste time looking back when I really should be charging ahead.

I’m around page 18 now and plan to get to the end of Act One early next week. Self-imposed deadline activated!

Stupid wall

Maximum Z Green Lantern, Lucy Steele, rewrite, screenwriting, writer's block
kind of feels like this

Writing this week has been even less than the bare minimum due to all those split shifts. But I’m back to my regular schedule this coming week, and hope to get a lot done.

I did manage to finish fine-tuning the first half of the LUCY outline, but now look at the next 16-18 scenes and think “wow, this is kind of dull.” It just doesn’t have the same level of thrills or action of what came before, and that’s really annoying.

While I’d like to fix it now, I think I’ll work on making progress on DREAMSHIP. That way I can move ahead on that, AND see if I can figure out how to make the next section of LUCY better.

Yet again, progress is slow, but steady.

Oops. Just realized. I’m doing the midday shift on Monday, so that will be designated idea time. See how it goes.

Movie of the Moment – GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS, an animated anthology of sorts about the GL Corps. This was released earlier this summer in connection with the live-action feature. This was worlds better. Interesting stories, good (albeit short) character development, and an overall sense of fun and adventure. All of which the Ryan Reynolds fiasco was sorely lacking.

Warner Brothers and the rest of the studios should wake up and realize that the best people to write comic book movies are comic book writers. They know the material and how to make it work.

Now I’ll take off my fanboy hat and put on my writer hat and get back to work.