Deadlines!!!!

I'm going to change the game plan. Hopefully it'll benefit me.

The BlueCat Screenplay Competition has and early deadline of December 1st. And if you submit by then you'll receive analysis of your script by January 5th. The Nicholl Fellowship submission time is from January 1st through May 1st of every year.

Which means... I can finish up the re-write and get my submission into BlueCat early to get some excellent feedback. (I received great feedback on a script I submitted for the last competition.) I then can use that early feedback, as needed, on yet another re-write as I wait for feedback from members of the triggerstreet community when I submit the script for peer review. And then, hopefully, I'll have another re-written script that is getting close to being a well rounded script ready for the Nicholl Fellowship.

All of this hopefully propelling me forward to getting the script completed and ready to be filmed by fall of '09 or spring of '10.

I'm feeling quite energized knowing I have some actual deadlines in front of me... taunting me... daring me not to do it.

I will succeed!

One more thing....

Before I go to read and review a script.

I was just over at The Movie Quill (a fun site about "You know you're a screenwriter when...") and #10 is about the thought we all have as screenwriters after seeing a movie: I can write a better movie that that.

And it's true... more often than not, that idea has entered my brain while watching a movie.

But what about those movies that blow you away? What movies out there left you leaving the theatre saying: I wish I could write a movie like that!

There's nothing better than leaving a movie theatre with that feeling of: Wow! That's the kind of movie I want to write.

I can probably count on one hand recent movies that have left me feeling like that:

1. Babel
2. There Will Be Blood
3. The Believer
4. Atonement
5. Penelope

I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten, but these 5 are the ones that come to mind as I sit here. Babel is definitely in it's right place as #1. Never before, and not since, have I seen a movie have I gone through the emotions I went through while watching that film. I've never FELT emotions as strong as I did in that movie. And that's something I will forever strive to achieve as I write today.

Three Down - 110 to go...

After a silly conference call for my job this morning, and a quick surf on the internet I opened up MovieMagic Screenwriter and started on some more re-writing.

I worked on about three pages. Trimming in spots, adding more to others and just trying to even out the flow of things. I can see it shaping up a bit better than it was. So I'm still heading in the right direction.

I'm going to be taking one of my three main characters on a totally different path in the story. And I think I may have figured it out somewhat and have already begun her thread anew. I'm still on the fence about changing one important element to this characters story as I've received mixed feedback about it. We'll see what happens. Perhaps my character will reveal to me the path she should take as her story unfolds?

I don't have to be at work until 2 today, so I may head over to Triggerstreet to read and review a script. I need to start collecting credits over there so that they'll be ready to place on the revised script when it's time to post it.

Over at the blog Ways With Words there's a discussion about how do writers do it alone? How do we do it alone? We all know that it's definitely easier with other fellow writers. But what do you do if you're cut off from that? How do you make it work? How do you learn and grow as a writer on your own? More importantly... how does your work improve if you write alone?

Head over to Ways With Words to post about how you do it. And if you aren't alone, or work through the internet with fellow writers... what are some useful resources that you use that could be beneficial to others out there?

The Board: Part Two...

So, maybe I shouldn't have done the board the way that I did it. You see, I took the note cards and opened up the three ring binder that contains The Script. And I placed the cards where the beats were. Or so I thought. The more I look at the board the more I realize that I didn't really hit all the beats... I just hit some scenes.

That's why The Script is a little under weight. I have murmur in the heart beat of my script.

So now I just stare at the wall with all the pretty colors trying to figure out the major beats for the script.

I may just have to start from scratch on this one. Literally. Start fresh from page one. I've changed some major plot points and character in the re-write of my mind.

Yesterday I had all day off and I didn't do a damn thing. My precious Patriots were playing at one so I couldn't miss that... even though they weren't on TV... at least I have sprint on my cell phone and I can listen to Patriot radio on that.

They won!

Let's hope on Wednesday, my next day off, I can chalk up a win for a new beginning on my script.

The Board...

I actually did cobble together a board filled with brightly colored note cards. Green to represent Act I. Yellow to rep Act II and Blue to rep Act III. The orange cards rep a couple of turning points and the ending.



The Board definitely needs fine tuning in order to serve The Script. But I'm glad I got it up there like I told myself I would. Now I just need to fill it in some more to really give the story some meet on the bones.

My Comment Cherry Has Been Popped...

That's right, day two of blogging and I received my first comment. Pretty exciting stuff. Especially since I truly believe that this blog was really just for myself to get my thoughts out on my specific journey as a writer.

The comment came from Isaac Sweeney. Which was in response to a comment I had made on his blog. But Mr. Sweeney did take a moment to write a brief blog about my blog and I shall return the favor: fellow writers - from any background or genre - must unite!

His blog: Ways With Words caught my eye with a post about concise writing and he listed examples of brief quotes that drive home the fact that brevity is key. (The actual post is here).

Mr. Sweeney brought up a question within the post that caused me to start thinking. He asks:

"So, why do we do this writing thing?"

For me it is something that is born inside of me. I don't know how to describe it. It's just in me. There are times I want to give up. But the movie projector inside of mind does not ever shut off. It's always on.

There literally is not a day that goes by that some random scene doesn't pop into my head. Lucky for me I work a mundane job that I can entertain these characters in the scene to see where it goes and to see if there is a story there.

(I just read what I typed in that paragraph up there. I sound crazy. I promise you I am not.)

I can get these scenes from something a customer says to me. A song on a radio may stir the story inside of me. I get them everywhere. From everything. What I'm working on right now, The Script, that idea came to me from a cross stuck in the ground on the highway marking the end of one's life.

So for me: I write because it's like breathing. Maybe what I write isn't great... but it's an involuntary muscle that keeps me alive.

I Put the "Pro" in Procrastination...

I actually have the day off today! So I figure I'll be able to nail down a few more pages than expected. But then I remembered I did go and buy some index cards to re-map The Script. And they're colored so I can color code the three acts on the cork board that is just behind this laptop on the wall, that way all I have to do is look up, see where I should be at, and continue on the journey.

But does that count as writing? I'm not actually putting pen to paper (or punching keys to screen). In the end it'll serve me better if I do map it out. Right now it's mapped out for a romantic comedy. That idea came from a song I heard on the radio while driving to The Job. I think it's relatively "high concept."

But, I'm going to have to put those cards into the file drawer for later. Because, you know, I have this mission I'm on to have this script re-written in time for Nicholl's. And maybe I'm making my own noose with this thing... because I know damn well that a second draft of a script does not a contest winner make.

I do have a double movie date with my sister today. We've got to start trying to get out to see possible Oscar contenders. So that our plates are not full just before the Oscars and we are running around trying to see three or four on any given weekend.

The things we can come up with as "writers" to not actually work on our craft. Actually, I think writing is the only thing out there where you can go to the movies and claim that you are actually "studying" for your craft.

The Opening...

From notes on the first draft I realize I need a more smooth introduction to my main characters. I'm still trying to strike the balance between a tight description and the excessive description. And it appears that in the first draft I've very little description.

I still want to treat this as a spec script. So while I bend the rules somewhat to my own style, I still want to have the proper structure to use as my calling card for a script to sell me as a writer. Even though I have plans to film this myself and I could put in as much, or as little description, I want to do this the right way.

I've re-written the first couple of pages and I think it's already a thousand times better. I introduce my main character through the actions he takes in his cell as he prepares for his release. So goal one is accomplished today. And I'm proud of the fact that I did, indeed, do it through actions and not through dialog.

The script, as it is now, is just barely 90 pages. My goal is to add some more substance and get within 110. I think that by adding in scenes to help flesh out the story/characters and get rid of a few loose ends that I left in the first draft.

I should let you know that I wrote all but 19 of the 90 pages during the 1st Avalanche that ran July 15, 2008 - July 21, 2008. And all that Avalanche was was a group of fellow writers from www.triggerstreet.com that took part in a project on the boards to complete as many pages in a week.

I'm off to a great start. I hope I can continue down this path and hopefully discover and learn more about what goes into getting a script ready to go to the screen.

The Plan...

Whilst at work today I came up with a weekly plan for The Script. I probably should have tried to spend my break figuring out how to boost the sales, but hey, I clocked out... it's MY time and I worked out this plan:

From October 22nd through December 23rd I'll have a goal of working on 2-3 pages a day with a weekly minimum goal of 13 pages. This does prove daunting if only because I work in retail and the holidays are fast approaching meaning: I'll be at work probably 45-50+ hours a week. I'll just have to be thrifty with my time.

Lucky for me I have the first draft of The Script finished. There's just a few things from the first round of writing that need tweaking. The usual changing, omitting, adding or switching around of scenes through out to create a, hopefully, much better second draft.

I'm pretty sure I can do it.

I don't really have a choice. I HAVE to do it.

I can't sell shoes the rest of my life.

A Quick Hello...

I just wanted to start this blog to chronicle my journey as an aspiring screenwriter who has only recently decided to go ahead a film the damn thing myself.

It's my third script. You can find it here:

http://posting.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/Submission?oid=oid%3A1765998

I'm going to blog about the re-write that I plan on completing by January first in order for me to gather a few more reviews so that I may enter it into The Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting program.

If I win that, then that's just grand. But either way, my main focus is to have a tight script ready to go by fall of 2009. I'm going to jump right on in and film this sucker myself. When I wrote it I had a tiny budget in mind. I also wrote it with my city in mind.

I'd like to believe I can have this thing ready by fall 2009. But I may end up having to do it Spring 2010.

We'll see how disciplined I am.