horror

Boldly swinging into new territory

Maximum Z adventure, animation, comedy, horror, notes, perseverance, persistence, productivity, rewrite, science fiction, screenwriting, script, script doctor eric, writing , , , , , , , , ,

george jungle

As the shelter-in-place continues, I hope you and yours are staying safe and healthy.

I also hope you’re managing to be at least somewhat productive during these trying times. When all of this started, my initial thoughts were “Woo-hoo! I’m going to get SO MUCH writing done!”

Yeah, no.

I’m fortunate enough to be able to work from home, but there’s also all that standard around-the-house-type stuff that needs doing, so while Writing Time is a thing, it’s just not as abundant as originally hoped.

Not that I haven’t been making progress.

-Working on the rewrite of the horror-comedy has been a real eye-opener, especially on the comedy side. Looking back at some older scripts, my idea of comedy was mostly slapstick situations and characters making clever comments. With this one, I’m forcing myself to use those less and focus more on developing funny scenarios that work within the context of the story.

-After something like two, two and a half years of jotting down ideas for it, I finally decided to start mapping out the story for an animated concept. It’s still in the early stages, but I managed to nail down the plot points – including an out-of-the-blue idea for one of the main storylines that feels perfect AND really ramps up the conflict.

-Blew the proverbial dust off some notes for an older sci-fi project in need of a rewrite. Some of the comments made quite an impression, so I’ve been squeezing in some work on applying them to the story – along with some significant changes to give it a thorough overhaul. Still some work to go, but it’s a good starting point.

-Honestly, not much attention has been given to the sci-fi adventure, but it’s still on the latest version of the WIP list.

All in all, hoping to have at least two, maybe three of these as ready-to-go drafts by the end of the year.

Another bonus of working on all these newer projects is re-experiencing the joy and excitement of writing. It’s one thing to go back and do the umpteenth draft of the script you’ve been working for a long time, and definitely another to create new pages for an idea that for the most part is just seeing the light of day.

I tolerate the necessity of the former, but fully embrace the thrill and exhilaration of the latter.

Even better – when they’re ready to go, I can contact my stable of savvy readers and be able to start off with “New script. Whattya say?”

Exciting times, chums.

Hope your writing output-during-quarantine is also coming along nicely.

FROM THE MAXIMUM Z COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

The fine folks at Roadmap Writers are offering up some of their master webinar series FOR FREE during the month of May. They include interviews and Q&A’s from TV writers/creators, Hollywood screenwriters, development executives, producers, literary managers, and more.

Click here for all the details.

I tried. I really did.

Maximum Z comedy, determination, editing, frustration, goals, horror, outlines, perseverance, persistence, radio, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

bulldog flop

To say the past few weeks have been interesting is putting it mildly. Like pretty much everybody else on the planet, many parts of my life are a lot different now. Adjustments are being made. I sincerely hope you’re doing everything you can to stay safe and healthy.

One of my constants during this time has been to write. Unfortunately, with everything going on, I haven’t been able to be as productive as I’d hoped.

Remember way back to around the beginning of this month when I said I was going to really push myself to have a completed new draft of the horror-comedy by the end of the month?

Side note – that was just a few weeks ago. Feels MUCH longer than that. Oy.

Full disclosure: ain’t gonna happen. Not even close.

A LOT of time was spent revising the outline. Copious amounts of cutting, editing, and idea-developing took place. Since a big part of this was to reduce the potential budget to make it more financially appealing to anybody interested in actually producing it, large swaths of scenes and sequences were ceremoniously shown the door.

The number of characters and locations were drastically reduced to as few as the story would allow. Emphasis on drastically.

Keep in mind that all of this was going on as the tendrils of COVID-19 continued to spread across the globe at a rapid pace. My sweetie’s office shut down until further notice. Ms. V’s school closed, first for two weeks, then another two. (Fortunately, all of her classes are continuing online.)

I’d even been sent home from work for a non-corona condition, and was then told to stay home for the next week and a half. I was back in the office this week, but management opted to keep everybody safe and set us all up to work from home. You’d think this would be a golden opportunity to see some major productivity, writing-wise.

Wrong again.

Still had to work the day job, but just from home. The rest of the day involved dealing with a lot of the everyday routine, albeit very, very modified. Writing time had become very limited, sometimes practically non-existent.

But I did what I could. Even just writing a little is better than not writing at all.

As the days went on, my output had seen a significant decrease. I had to face the sad truth: this script was not going to be ready when I hoped it would.

Disappointing, but you gotta admit we’re all operating under some totally new circumstances. I don’t think anybody had “productivity down due to self-isolating during a global pandemic” on their list.

Even with a few minor details in the outline still in need of figuring out, I wanted to feel like I was moving things forward.

So I started on pages, knowing I’d be going back and rewriting them anyway – which has already happened with some minor edits and tweaks within the first 10.

I admit I would have absolutely loved to announce on March 31st that I had a completed draft, but that won’t be happening. Instead, I’ll say there’s no need to rush and that this thing will be done when it’s done.

In the coming weeks, as I settle into my new routine, I’ll do what I can to ramp up my output. This thing WILL get written.

It’ll just take a little longer than I’d hoped. Normally I’d say “last day of April”, but it’s probably better to not stress myself out over the idea of NOT hitting another deadline.

Before I forget – an added bonus of all this – once again reveling in the sheer joy of writing something new.

Well, almost new. But you get the point.

Can’t stress this enough. Stay safe and healthy, chums.

Now go wash your hands.

Me vs. the clock

Maximum Z budget, characters, comedy, horror, motivation, outlines, output, pages, productivity, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , , ,

keaton clock

After a rough couple of days, I’ve opted to put the revision of the sci-fi adventure outline  on hold and redirect my focus to a new draft of the horror-comedy.

Lots of changes in store for this one, most of all making it as cheap to produce as possible. Several characters cut, locations drastically slashed, overall production costs severely reduced.

What was once a low-budget story taking place throughout a small town has now been shrunken down to an ultra-low- (possibly even micro-) budget story with a majority of the action on a forest road, and in and around an isolated house.

In some ways a challenge, but also somewhat liberating. Also a major plus – so much usable material from the previous draft – including a line or two of description that’s been expanded into a plot-propelling sequence.

I’m slowly working my way through the outline, with the intention of getting to pages within the next week or so. One option is to type up pages for what I’ve already got in the outline, edit those, then work more on the outline, then pages, and so on and so on. I’ve done it before, with tiring but pleasing results.

No matter how I approach this, the ultimate goal is to have a completed draft (or as darn close to it I can get) by 31 March.

The ticking of the clock rings like thunder in my ears.

Wish me luck.

Assorted ends & odds

Maximum Z comedy, contest, crowdfunding, genre, horror, podcasts, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, short films, spec, story, strategy, television, The Flash, westerns, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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.

Let the simmering commence!

Maximum Z comedy, cooking, development, draft, horror, output, pages, rewrite, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, strategy, writing , , , , , , , ,
kitchen
Not the current focus of my attention, but always lurking about somewhere in my noggin

Well, here’s the good news: the first draft of the horror-comedy spec is done. Clocking in at a somewhat respectable 89 pages. Not too shabby, but I honestly expected it would be closer to 95.

Which, combined with the notion that there really isn’t any bad news in this scenario, which is nice, leads me to the whole point of today’s post.

Time for a little post-game analysis and strategizing.

Am I thrilled that I got this draft done in something like 4-5 weeks? Most definitely. I wanted to be able to say I typed FADE OUT by the end of the calendar year, and I did exactly that.

Am I happy with how it turned out? Mostly, but more on that in a minute.

Even after my “thorough” plotting and planning of the outline, the script simply isn’t where I want it to be. For now. After all, this WAS a first draft, which will usually be vastly different from each and every one that follows.

I imagine that mindset also applies here.

Even as the pages were being churned out, I kept realizing there were story elements and developments I’d wanted to include, but they’d inadvertently fallen by the wayside. My “thoroughness” had only gone so far.

But there’s hope for me yet. I devised a handy-dandy set of guidelines and questions to use for each scene, so all the things I’d missed this time around won’t suffer the same fate in draft number two.

My younger self would do a fast 180 and dive right back into the rewrite. Current self? Not so much.

Instead, I’m opting to put this draft into the proverbial desk drawer and just let it sit there for a few weeks. The next time I give it a good look-see will probably be in early January.

Full disclosure – some new ideas and fixes for this script came to be while it was being written, but trying to incorporate them would have complicated things more than I wanted, so I simply created a list and kept adding to it when applicable. No doubt it will be extremely helpful when the rewrite begins.

There’s also a strong suspicion that all those changes will result in the next draft being closer to the more-desired 95-100-page range.

In the meantime, I’ve got quite a bit of a backlog of material to work through, ranging from working on some of my other scripts to reading and giving notes. The hope is to shrink that backlog to the point of non-existence, or at least mighty darned close to it, by the time 2019 rolls around, thereby enabling me to jump right into this rewrite.

Exciting times are just ahead, chums. And coming up fast.