December went by like a snow storm.
Okay. Maybe just some flurries. Nothing to wake the kids up over.

I was surprised at the announcement of the January OWC turned 3WC, but by my watch it's rapidly approaching three days into January and... Time for January's exercise!

"Yeah." December's exercise was pretty much just me doing ON THE OTHER HOOF which resulted from an investigation into the sources of E. coli in the US food supply as a pursuit of the first DEC headline:
Food Safety Overhaul Approved by Senate
The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration new powers to order recalls, increase inspections, oversee farming and hold companies ...

E. coli O157:H7 and S.510
If interested, begin your search here for S.510:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=Record&c=111

FWIW, food poisoning doesn't kill a whole lotta Americans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate
But it does make a lot of us sick resulting in economic loss in productivity.
A snippet: "our incidence of foodborne illness is now less than 34 per 100,000 people."
Any military vet out there knows an injured soldier, ours or theirs, draws three "caretakers" off the battlefield, hence the extensive use of mines in the world (including the US, being the greatest user/producer).

I was going to do a whole short on an imaginary conversation in Senator Durbin's office debating attacking what could be fixed or addressed relatively easily versus that which kills or injures more Americans.

I got sidetracked with the meat processing facility thing and took off from there.
Based on feed back for ON THE OTHER HOOF, I completed AUTOMATED, likely to be posted in the next two weeks (posted six days later on the 8th!).
Since most comments for OTOH (not ETOH, for any medical or law enforcement folk out there) revolved around WTH I was "saying" and very few on format itself (Pia said I had improved. "Yay!") I'll consider the exercise a success.


This monthly exercise began as a result of the gross distractions of format on the OCT OWC and I encourage anyone wishing to avoid that distraction for what I thought would be the February OWC, which may have been usurped for the upcoming January 3WC.
I dunno.
People are busy.

So, with a fair bit of reluctance, here you go:

JANUARY FORMAT EXERCISE
January => Resolutions => Do something different.
Theme: Write three super-shorts (maybe... two or three pages each) in genres you've never attempted before.
             Be creative and not a hassle. Put all three, end to end, in the same PDF.
Elements: January 1, 2010 New York Times Headlines.
Films by genre
Action     
Adventure
Comedy
Crime
Disaster
Documentary
Drama
Epic
Family
Fantasy
Film-noir
GLBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related)
Horror
Musical
Mystery
Romance
Science Fiction
Sport
Thriller
War
Western

EDIT: Wanna re-invent the wheel or cheat a little?
Mama didn't birth no idiots here. I'm using my resources.
Go hunt down a genre screenplay here: left column, third subject down - Genre
See how someone else, produced, did it.

Op-Ed Columnist - Chinese New Year
Chinese mercantilism is a growing problem, and the victims of that mercantilism have little to lose from a trade confrontation.

Op-Ed Columnist - The God That Fails
It would be nice if we reacted to the inevitable failures of centralized agencies with resiliency instead of rabid denunciation and ...

Op-Ed Contributor - It's Always the End of the World as We Know It ...
From today's perspective, the Y2K fiasco seemed to be less about technology than about a morbid fascination with end-of-the-world scenarios.

Montana Ruling Bolsters Doctor-Assisted Suicide
The decision protects doctors in the state from prosecution for helping ill patients die but sidesteps the question of whether ...

Charges Against Blackwater Guards Dismissed in Iraq Killings ...
A federal judge has dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards charged in a deadly Baghdad shooting.

Scientists Report Findings on Origin of a Cancer in Tasmanian ...
New findings suggest that the facial tumor disease afflicting the species can be traced to a single cell in a single animal.

Leach Denies He Mistreated Player With Concussion
In his first interview since being fired as coach of Texas Tech, Mike Leach denied reports that he had mistreated the sophomore receiver ...

Focus on Internet Imams as Al Qaeda Recruiters
The attempted Christmas Day attack has cast a spotlight on charismatic clerics who use their online celebrity to indoctrinate and recruit ...

In Spain, a Soaring Jobless Rate for Young Workers
Many aged 16 to 24 who took jobs when the Spanish economy was healthy are now out of work as the unemployment rate for the group nears 43 ...

Terror Attempt May Hinder Plans to Close Guantanamo
Lawmakers in both parties are calling on the administration to rethink its approach to shuttering the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, ...

Think about it for a few days.

Write a short for a few days.

- Make the title match the story.
- Make the logline match the story and be enticing.
- Watch your slugs.
- Watch your action lines and dialog.
- Watch your typos, spelling and grammar! LOL!
- Try new "special things", like MONTAGEs, SERIES OF SHOTS and FLASHBACKs.
      Try something new, take your lumps or your positive reinforcement.

Look over your OCT OWC.
Whatever it was you got hit on your OWC or saw someone else get hit on - fix it.

GL.
See you in a week or so.

And remember; Pirate's Code!

I would suggest write a story that interests you. Something has to. Make sure you have people read it before posting, give it time to simmer down, and then revise the hell out of it.

Question.

Can you do the same story three times using three different genres?

OWC, 3WC, RAY'S RELUCTANT EXERCISE....

Can someone explain the SS Januarary 2011 "DON" sanctioned challange?

Shawn.....><

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Question. Can you do the same story three times using three different genres?

Right on!
I was considering doing something along those wacky lines as well.
- As you said, same story x3 and change the genre.
- They could use the same characters and keep switching genres and stories.
- It could be the same story that runs through three different genres.
   Act I, Act II, ACT III sorta thing
- Dumb stunt I might try is a INCEPTION knock-off of a dream within a dream within a dream, each genre changing.

The point is to not get hit on our format.
The story, dialog & structure is something completely different.

The other day Phil asked about what was the proper format for including a quote of Shakespeare in a screenplay.
Try wacky stuff like that.

Writers often flub up dream sequences and flashbacks.
Try a story with two or three different flashbacks into two or three different genres.

Non-standard stuff found here:
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/12721428/Professional-Screenplay-Formatting-Guide
  http://www.storysense.com/docs/SPFormat.pdf
  http://www.screenwriting.info/

Anyone can do SLUG, Setting/Action, CHARACTER/ Dialog, New SLUG, Repeat...
Try something new.
Even a new genre to you.

Quoted from Ledbetter OWC, 3WC, RAY'S RELUCTANT EXERCISE.... Can someone explain the SS Januarary 2011 "DON" sanctioned challange?

Howdy, Shawn

So far, this is all we got: January 3WC

Maybe it's my inner attorney coming out, but I'm real careful to label this an "exercise" just as Phil is real specific about his "challenges" as opposed to "contests".
No one's gonna win nothing other than less b!tchin' about format. Re the October OWC.
I acknowledge the noun parsing can be frustrating and annoying.

#1 - This is compulsory.
          Skip it, don't click on it, don't do anything if you don't want to. It's all okay.
          No one needs to do an exercise if they're already doing okay.

#2 - This exercise is for writers getting hit on format so much readers can't get to the story.
          Your format is fine. Don't worry about it. This isn't for you.
          I'm... getting there.
          Because I just got the cr@p pounded outta me (mostly. I still gotta little sh!t in me) I
            sympathize with both the new writers and regular readers, such as yourself.
          This exercise actually benefits readers like you in the long run.

#3 - Some people work best if they have a carrot in front of them or if the trail is already
          laid down.
          That's why I provide a kernel of a direction, provide a link to something arbitrary like
             the headlines from the first of the month and maybe toss out an idea or two.
          And of course, I emphasize Pirate's Code: They're all more like guidelines than strict rules.
          I'm bold and crazy. I'm insane in the membrane, Homey. I ain't right.
          Folks tell me there are these things called "lines" I shouldn't cross and I wonder
            if that means if I can't draw outside of them.
          I really don't mind initiating this exercise.
          I want to be a better writer.
          I want to help others if and when I can.
          I earn big money doing this.

# 4 - That last little statement wan't really correct and certainly not honest.
          I get paid in some grief and minor ridicule.





EDIT: Oh, and for God's sake: work on our loglines! Good gravy!

Howdy, Shawn

And just ferr fun, this project has moved onto January.  


THE MANSOUR CIRCLE INCIDENT, submitted Wednesday, will be based on the following headline and subsequent research:
Charges Against Blackwater Guards Dismissed in Iraq Killings ...
A federal judge has dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards charged in a deadly Baghdad shooting.

It will (attemt to) cover three genres I've never really tried to do before: WAR + CRIME + DOCUMENTARY.
Secondary screenwriting format skills I'm attempting include VISIONs, INSERTs, TV, FLASHBACK & QUICK FLASHES, INTERCUT for a telephone conversation and SCROLL.
All new to me.
If I need to re-work 'em I'm sure someone here will let me know.

Headzup: The logline is fairly non-standard.

Story and character development, of course, will be subordinate considerations behind format.

I think I've got V.O. down pat, as well as SERIES OF SHOTS and SUPER, although that last one I had to include several times.
Don't see much use for MONTAGE. Kinda wishy washy on what the big diff is. I dunno really. Just like the former more betterer.

Try something new.
Live a little.

Ray,

Let me chew on this a bit. Sounds like something I might want to go at.


Shawn.....><