outlines

Little changes = big results

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I’d been struggling with the rewrite of the fantasy-comedy spec. I identified a few things that could probably be cut and where some repositioning might come in handy, but there were still a few details that were proving difficult.

So I did what any sensible writer would do: I shifted my attention to another project. Naturally, I’d still return to this one every once in a while, trying to find a viable solution.

Since my usual approach wasn’t working, (helpful tip – don’t try to force ideas. Let ’em happen naturally) I decided to try the tried-and-true “go for the hard turn”. Same objective, much different route to get there.

“Rather than THIS, how about THAT, which still gets us to THERE?”

The spark had been lit. Definitely some potential here, but with some reservations. How much would this drastically impact the story? This was already a major rewrite/overhaul project, but I didn’t want to get away from what appealed to me about the story in the first place.

I mapped things out, looking for scenes and story details that could be changed just enough to make a difference but also not sending things too off-course. Found a few things that matched that criteria and made the appropriate changes in the outline.

I usually stick with the outline until the entire story is ready, but I wanted to give these new ideas a test run to see if they worked on the page. I cranked out a few pages – while also keeping in mind the guideline of “keep it tight!” (i.e. Don’t go for the flourish; just write what needs to be there).

End result – pretty good. It’ll need a little more polishing, but I’ll deal with that later.

There are a few more story details that need work, but I’d say this is a good start.

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Just 2 weeks left on the crowdfunding for my short film SHECKY. We were very fortunate to hit our initial goal and are now working towards a stretch goal. Every $ goes towards post-production, and whatever’s left over will help get the short into some film festivals.

There are several tier rewards, including a new one that includes a personalized video of me telling you a terrible joke (which is on theme for the short).

So if you’re a big supporter of indie filmmaking, the telling of terrible jokes, and the overall screenwriting community, I hope you chip in to help this project reach the finish line.

Not perfect. Just written.

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Some decent progress this week on two of my three big projects for this year.

The one that really resonates is the continuing work on the outline for the new action-comedy spec. Came up with a few more scenes and sequences, while the laborious task looms of fitting them all together in the most effective way.

But something became very obvious while working on one sequence:

Too much effort was going into the details of the scene, and not enough on “what’s the point of this scene?” I was creating more work for myself than necessary, trying to get everything right the first time out.

Silly writer. That’s what rewrites are for!

One of the most important parts of the first draft is just to get the damned thing written. There’ll be lots of work down the road, so why stress about something that’ll most likely be changed in one way or another?

This has really helped my frame of mind. There’s still a ways to go, but the road feels a little smoother.

On top of that, while taking a few breaks along the way by watching some personal favorite films, I noticed how so many scenes really adhere to the “get in late, make the point, move on to the next one.”

I’m going to try and apply that to how I put scenes in the outline together, and then refine it even more as I move on to actual pages.

There’s always something new to learn, and this is no exception.

-Crowdfunding for post-production of my short film SHECKY continues! We’re at 73%, with just under a month to go. Hope you can chip in – and take your pick from some sweet tier rewards!

No rush -OR- Pumpin’ the brakes!

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Between my attempts at brainstorming ideas for this new spec, I’ve been getting a real kick out of reading scripts from other writers. After completing one from a longtime associate, I asked about what inspired them to write it.

Paraphrasing their response to “This was something I’ve always to try. This is the script I mentioned a year or two ago, but took my time with the notes. Once I decided to write it, I had it written out in about two weeks.”

That may be part of my problem with mine. I’m too focused on trying to get it done that I’m ignoring the part about taking the time to make it right first.

It feels like it’s getting there, but also like a few important pieces are still missing. Once I can figure those out, I’m fairly certain more details will fall into place.

I’ve discussed this story with a few other writers, many of whom are familiar with my work. The responses have been more or less “You’ll figure it out. Just give yourself the time to do it.”

That’s the plan. Sometimes the best ideas come when I’m not thinking about them.

My self-imposed deadline of having a semi-respectable outline by the end of the month is still possible, but I’m not going to obsess about it. A majority of the story is in place; it’s the rest of it that needs figuring out. If it takes a little longer, that’s cool too.

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A few filmmaker friends have launched crowdfunding campaigns for their respective projects:

Alicia McClendon’s THE WOMAN WHO KNOWS

Kaia Alexander’s BLEED

Check ’em both out and donate if you can!

Re-establishing a foothold

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A bit more of progress on the outline for the action-comedy spec, including coming up with some much-needed story details.

Things had been feeling very rudderless as I struggled to figure things out, and the pressure I was putting on myself wasn’t helping. So I did the most sensible thing and took a step back with a focus on the basic foundations of the story.

What needs to happen? What building blocks have to be in place? Is there enough “there” there to make this a workable story? Would everything work the way I’m hoping it does?

I wrote out the most basic outline I could think of, including combining pre-existing plot points with potential alternates (or at least additional details), and laying things out in a “A leads to B, which leads to C, etc.” sort of way.

This resulted in a bit more clarity regarding the progression of events as well as the filling-in of a few more blanks between all of them. Having a better idea of how the path should look tends to yield better results.

It’s not a lot, and there are still many gaps to be filled, but it’s a start of sorts and it definitely helps. Just overcoming this can be considered a victory in terms of writing and confidence in the ability to move things forward.

There are a lot more steps to go, but this feels like things are getting back on track and I hope to keep the mini-momentum going.

The only constant is change

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Even though a lot of the past week was family-oriented, thoughts about the current spec were omnipresent. There’s still a lot to figure out, but things are progressing, albeit slowly.

One positive result is that as these ideas develop, each causes a ripple effect in terms of how it impacts the rest of the story.

Just as an example, I needed to come up with a very important story detail, so started listing all the possible reasons how it could happen. I came up with one I felt worked best and started implementing it into the still-under-construction outline. That in turn triggered thoughts of “that could be because of ____” or “what if ____ is why?”.

A little more rejiggering of possibilities and how they’d fit into the story and voila! Some really helpful ideas and additional details that strengthen its designated storyline AND how it affects a few others.

When I started this project, I reminded myself that the end result would most likely be very different while the core story remained the same. Staying on top of all those little details is really keeping me on my toes, while also forcing me to constantly ramp up my creativity to make this script as original and entertaining as possible.

It’s a safe bet I’ll come up with more story-changing/impacting ideas over the next few weeks, but I welcome them and will deal with those as they happen.

The main focus remains just putting it all together.