outline

Drips & drabs, but no drudgery

Maximum Z determination, development, enthusiasm, excitement, ideas, outlines, perseverance, persistence, problem-solving, productivity, progress, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some kind of bug/virus took me out of commission earlier this week, which slammed the brakes on everything – including the slow-but-steady progress developing the new spec. Apart from a persistent runny nose, I’ve for the most part recovered, and am slowly getting back into it. Slow definitely being the operative word.

I may be working at a snail’s pace, which is a bit frustrating, but it’s a snail that’s seeing results, which is good. Even with this like-molasses-in-January output, things continue to move forward. Getting a few scenes done today means a few more than I had yesterday. It might not seem it at the time, but all the little steps forward will gradually result in the completion of a long journey.

The most important thing is to GET IT WRITTEN. Outlines and first drafts ain’t pretty, but at least they’re a starting point.

It’s not just about putting all the puzzle pieces together, but figuring out what the puzzle is and all the potential components. Pages and pages of the project’s notebook are jam-packed with ideas and possibilities. There is absolutely no doubt this will continue to be one big mess, but oh what a beautiful mess it is (and will continue to be as it takes shape).

But despite all the frustration about timing and slow progress, I’m still having an absolute blast doing it. Having a solid polished script is great, but it’s the figuring things out and organizing all the ideas that has always given me an extra thrill. I do what I can to spin an entertaining yarn, and this time is no exception.

I’ve said it many times and it still rings true – you can see the writer’s love and enjoyment of the material in the material itself. That’s what I’m shooting for here – apart from just having a fun script. I want the reader to get just as caught up in the story and NEED to see what happens next. I try to have my scripts fall under the category of “I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it”.

Onward, runny nose and all.

A little re-educating never hurts

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I’d already been working on the new spec for a bit when a friend offered up the chance to be a beta tester for his new screenwriting course.

It offers a lesson a day to help you get your first draft done. He admits the course is geared more towards newer writers still learning the ropes, but thought I might enjoy it – as well as provide feedback about my experience with it as needed.

I figured “Why not?” and signed up.

Just a few days in and I like how it’s going.

I’m following the lesson plan, which so far has involved the very basics – What’s your idea? Which genre is it? Tell us about your protagonist. Do you have a few ideas for the title? What’s the logline?

It would be really easy to blow all this off and just jump ahead, but I said I’d adhere to the guidelines, so that’s what I’m doing.

In some ways it’s helping take some of the pressure off and avoiding the trap of the whole “just write it!” mindset. Taking it nice and slow, and being slightly more reflective than usual is reaping some benefits. Getting the more manageable tasks out of the way has also resulted in a few more bursts of creativity – which is especially helpful as I continue to work on coming up with story ideas.

It’s almost zen-like in the approach.

I also like the accountability factor. It’s great for me to work on this, but I want to help my friend make the course as effective as I can, which is why I’m being diligent about completing each day’s lesson. I’d call that a win-win.

This is a 60-day course, and I’m still in the single digits and about to get into the outlining phase. Like I said, I’d already been working on this, so I have a lot of the first act in place – it’s the second act that’s proving to be the challenge.

But I’m not stressing about it. One lesson/task a day equals slow but continuously steady progress.

If things work out the way the course intends, then I should have a pretty solid first draft in just under two months, which is fine by me.

Then the rewrites begin, which will probably a totally different course.

Mind the gap(s)

Maximum Z adventure, development, ideas, outlines, pages, problem-solving, rewrite, science fiction, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feeling really good about how the latest rewrite of the sci-fi adventure outline is going.

A lot of the story is in place, but there are still a few blanks or gaps that need filling in – questions that need to be answered or an issue that needs to be addressed. Something relevant has to happen at those points, but I don’t know what yet, so I’ll put in a generic placeholder like “HOW??” or “WORK ON THIS!”

I’ll do this as I work my way through the rest of the story, and when I move on to the next draft, I’ll be able to focus on filling in those gaps. Sometimes that’s enough, but there have also been instance where a new detail can inspire a new direction or a spur-of-the-moment minor changes.

It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, but putting in that missing piece creates a new, slightly different version of what the puzzle was originally supposed to look like, but you don’t mind because it still works – maybe even more than you thought it would.

This approach also proves helpful because more than a few times I realized something was happening with no setup whatsoever, so I’d go back and see where that could happen. I try to make it organic, rather than feel forced because the story requires it. Sometimes the answer comes quickly, or it might take a few tries. It’s also not uncommon to suddenly come up with something that’s the total opposite of what I originally intended, but it works even better, so in it goes.

I’m making a real point of taking my time with this. That seems to be helping in terms of determining where the fixes (and follow-up fixes, if necessary) need to be made, so the proper adjustments can be made as I go along. Bulldozing my way through seems more of a short-term solution, resulting in more potential rewrites down the line. Better to take it slow and deal with all the problems now than to spread it out and spend more time on them later.

I just wrapped up Act One, and am fairly hopeful Act Two won’t take too long. A lot of Act Three had already been set up in One and Two, so probably won’t need as much work.

I’m eager to get started on pages, but have no problem taking the time to fill in those gaps to make sure everything flows nice and smoothly.

-Coming to Austin? I’ll be there. Feel free to say hi.

Just a little escapist fun

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Despite the recent frustration of figuring out how a sequence should play out, I’ve been having a good time with the rewrite of the sci-fi adventure spec outline.

I’ve been working on this off and on for a while – this is probably the sixth or seventh draft of it. While some of the details have changed, a lot of it remains the same. The core concept of it all was what appealed to me from the start.

I get a certain charge out of coming up with these crazy scenarios and high-octane action sequences, not to mention coordinating and laying out all the pieces of the puzzle that is the plot. I always tell writers to “write something you would want to watch”, and this one definitely falls into that category.

Although my stories tend to lean more towards the fantastical, I try to make sure the characters and situations feel real and relatable – or at least as much as they can within the world of the story. Despite the extraordinary goings-on, it’s still about how somebody reacts to what’s going on around them.

I’m currently at the midpoint, so there’s still a ways to go, but like I said, I’ve got a lot of previous drafts from which I can cherry-pick material. There’ll probably be a few more rounds of rewriting, revising, and reorganizing, but I’m still enjoying it.

It’s quite easy to get burned out from working on a story by working longer than you expected to, but I’m fortunate not to have hit that point yet. If anything, I’m more jazzed about it probably because it really feels like it’s finally all coming together.

Not setting up a definitive deadline for having a completed draft, but if I can maintain this pace and output, there’s a strong possibility it could be by the end of the calendar year. Hoping so.

In the meantime, still having a grand old time with it.

Hope your writing this weekend is chock-full of the same sensation.

A slightly different approach

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Consider this a bit of an experiment.

My usual M.O. is to work on the outline of a script multiple times until it’s where it needs to be, and then start on pages. Such was the case for when I started the rewrite of the sci-fi adventure.

Part of that rewriting includes expanding scenes from a one- to two-sentence description to something a little longer, sometimes including dialogue, etc.

With a few previous drafts at my disposal, I already had a good idea of how things were supposed to go.

But after completing the latest outline, I opted to do a quick polish, then just jump right in. Partly because I was eager to get started, and also to see how it would turn out.

So that’s what been going on.

I only have a handful of pages written, and keep wavering between “just crank ’em out and don’t look back” and “write, go back the next time and edit, then move on to the next scene”.

It’s been a good experience. One day I might get a few pages written, others might only see half a page, but it all adds up.

Not giving myself a deadline for this one; more like a vague timeframe.

Also making sure not to rush through it. If more time than expected is spent figuring out the right word or sentence, then so be it. This will also help reduce how much time is spent on the draft after this one.

Since this is totally new territory for me, I’ll be proceeding with equal parts caution, excitement, and wild abandon.

Fingers crossed as I work my way forward.