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Take care Sandra and hope you get some great ideas in the tub... I know I always do.
I wrote my MP script the other day. It sucks. I feel terrible about it and can't get into a rewrite.
Finders Keepers is on hold as one of the partners is in S. Florida working on big studio films and the other partner (older) is not physically or mentally up to shooting a feature that requires 10 days of nighttime shooting in the woods.
On the other hand I had a great meeting with my student filmmaker friends and am stoked about the shoot next week. This one should be online to share with you guys in a couple of weeks!
Thanks Pia. I guess my tub experience ended in the infamous love triangle and don't anyone think I was "playing around". Seriously, I'm not up to that right now. Wish I was, but I guess the reshimot "remembrance/memory" lingers in my subconscious and I find it a playful idea. I'm all about play.
So yeah, gonna have my couple move out of where they've been for like twenty years or something and move in with their friend since grade school.
I like the thread as well, Henrik. So, given your guidelines, allow me to air out my dirty laundry.
I've gotten really burnt out on screenwriting as of late. I've done a lot of writing on assignment this year, which requires a considerably different mindset than writing on spec. It's taken a lot of time away from working on projects I'm more excited about and once I finally have the time to work on said projects, I'm not very interested in writing at all. I've also been involved in a lot of filmmaking the past two years and learned/experienced things which have effectively killed a lot of my more romantic sentiments toward the craft. I've been thinking about taking a break from writing but haven't out of concern that my skills would suffer as a result.
My writing commitments have finally freed up some so my hope is to finish my next feature before the year's over. I feel a real intense spark writing it that doesn't come along so often.
After that, I'm giving some thought to co-writing something with a friend of mine that's more commercial. That's "likable" characters, three-act structure, hero kills the bad guy/gets the girl, all that bullshit. For once, I'd like to write something that doesn't go against the grain so much but that's still on my (and my co-writer's) terms. We'll see what happens...
As for the present, been doing a lot of rewriting lately. Will probably be rewriting Complete again soon. I always enjoy working on that one.
Anyway, that's me.
James, I feel what you're going through. The best advice I can give is "throw it all away". Just kill the shit and do what you love.
I know it's not that easy, but try and find ways to simplify. Hey, WE'RE ON SIMPLY-- we should know how!
I hope that the bullshit doesn't kill your good stuff.
Thanks for the advice. They seemed okay with the way it was so I'll let it go at that.
I did tell them I would like to see the finished product.
You should get a copy of the finished product.
Oh, and if the filmmaker didn't ask for a rewrite you could always ask if they want you to tighten it up, but they may have some ideas of their own that they are already planning to use.
Cindy
Award winning screenwriter Available screenplays TINA DARLING - 114 page Comedy ONLY OSCAR KNOWS - 99 page Horror A SONG IN MY HEART - 94 page Drama HALLOWEEN GAMES - 105 page Drama
Well, it's getting close to Halloween, and usually around Halloween I like to create some kind of monster. In past years I have created a killer eyeball in THE EYE, a fire breathing baby devil in MONSTER'S LULLABY, zombies in DAMNED YANKEE, and some fun monsters in MONSTER'S CONTEST.
This year is no different. I have created a new monster. I believe my new monster is original and I think it could make a good low-budget B Horror short.
I'm going to get started on outlining the story and hope to have it ready in time for Halloween.
Cindy
Award winning screenwriter Available screenplays TINA DARLING - 114 page Comedy ONLY OSCAR KNOWS - 99 page Horror A SONG IN MY HEART - 94 page Drama HALLOWEEN GAMES - 105 page Drama
Well, it's getting close to Halloween, and usually around Halloween I like to create some kind of monster. In past years I have created a killer eyeball in THE EYE, a fire breathing baby devil in MONSTER'S LULLABY, zombies in DAMNED YANKEE, and some fun monsters in MONSTER'S CONTEST.
This year is no different. I have created a new monster. I believe my new monster is original and I think it could make a good low-budget B Horror short.
I'm going to get started on outlining the story and hope to have it ready in time for Halloween.
Cindy
Exciting, Cindy! I have a monster around our house: It's called the dish monster! I think that might turn up in a script sometime.
Just to put this into the ether, I have uploaded the first draft today of Competitive Advantage. Would be very keen to hear any and all thoughts. No feedback is bad feedback. Just direct me to anything of yours if you'd like me to give it a butchers.
Woohoo! Wrote heaps today I'm so excited b/c it was the crucial backstory that I hadn't figured out how to work in, but I think it really works this way. And, I very nearly ended up with the dreaded talking heads, but I fixed it perfectly
Exciting, Cindy! I have a monster around our house: It's called the dish monster! I think that might turn up in a script sometime.
I'll be on watch for your new script.
Sandra
Dish monster? I'll have to see what you do with that.
When my new monster kills, only the shell of the person (or skin) is left. No more hints though.
Jeff, I'll let you know when it gets put up on the boards.
Cindy
Award winning screenwriter Available screenplays TINA DARLING - 114 page Comedy ONLY OSCAR KNOWS - 99 page Horror A SONG IN MY HEART - 94 page Drama HALLOWEEN GAMES - 105 page Drama
Today, I'm going to try my darnedest to complete this bothersome script! This one has turned out to be more taxing than I even would've guessed. And I see it in my food intake. The day before yesterday I ate a full kilogram (about 2.2 pounds for metrically impaired) of lasagne, a bag of candy and a bar of chocolate. And I was still hungry!
I'll have to take this into account when I go to the grocery store today.
The act of writing is a quest to put a hundred thousand words to a cunning order. - Douglas Adams
MP launched October competition today with a really intriguing set up that has got my mental cogs turning. I need to review a few more scripts before I can enter it, but this'll give me time to come up with something I hope.
In meantime, I have reformatted The Waiting Room as a stage piece and resubmitted it for the new Stage Plays board. It looks much more comfortable as a theatrical piece.
Holy crap this was an epic grind, but I can finally say that the first draft is completed. Took me 7 hours of solid work today to get it done. Probably the most taxing script I've ever written for all sorts of reasons.
But I hope the end result is worth it.
The act of writing is a quest to put a hundred thousand words to a cunning order. - Douglas Adams
Holy crap this was an epic grind, but I can finally say that the first draft is completed. Took me 7 hours of solid work today to get it done. Probably the most taxing script I've ever written for all sorts of reasons.
But I hope the end result is worth it.
Henrik, I want to give you a big high ten! Seven hours goes by so damn fast when you're trying to work on something and yes, (if you're like me) you start feeling cold and your fingers turn blue and you feel hungry and there's no way you should feel hungry. It's stressful, it's like pulling lint off the carpet, it's like watching paint dry and you haven't even painted anything yet, it's like "what the hell did I just write?" I'd love to hear some of Balt's additions to this...
But it's freakin' hard work. So I just want to say hey Man, a big congratulations! Way to go with that determination!!!
I started at 5:30 this morning and worked for 3 hours, but then I wanted to work on The Treatment side and my Windows Parallel for Mac wasn't working right. Dave and I wound up having coffee together because, yah, it's Saturday and he helped me get that going and we wound up screwing around with files and cleaning things up for a few hours. Well, after that...
Oh and there are things crazy things around the house called: chores.
It was nice though: We got to take my daughter's fiance (from Austria) out for supper and have a quick visit with Charlene at work, (her day was messed up too because she was called in to fill in for "the sick people" at this time of year.
Anyways, although I love my Mac, I had a fair amount of experience with PC Word and loved all the easy access ribbons etc. My husband, a genius like Michael and Kevin and many of you knew about it and installed it for me.
I really appreciate it; so:
If you don't know it's available, you might like to try it.
Anyways, I'm going to be working very hard on a treatment in tandem with my script. For me, (at least at this point) I need to go back and forth. That's what works for me now. It's mostly a method of refining and distilling I think.
I've got to page 41 of the script, but that's misleading because I don't know how I'm going to work with certain ideas that come to light. For instance, a character that I had seen as non influential, I thought, (when I wasn't at the computer) might serve as very influential! When that thought came to mind, it threw me for a loop. So yes, that would have me doing a whole lot of tinkering.
I guess it's alright. A person starts to study and learn how "they/you/I" works. And it's helpful. If not in this go round, maybe in the thousandth, but eventually...
As I said before, I'm writing "life" into my scripts. As I work for cohesiveness and clarity, I also place a high importance on the "things" that show up in my life that give me a wink, or a nod, or even a wicked push!
Yesterday, I realized that a character in my script, who I had originally seen as insignificant came into my mind as very significant. Because of that, I drew back to the beginning and started addressing that.
I love to really work hard on those aspects. I guess I'm not just all about completing so many pages in a day; rather, I'm about the meat and substance of the piece. That's what I'm looking for. As my fellow scripter: TheSecond has in his avatar: The surface is home to the mindless. Go Deep. I now have that on a board in The Magic Room. It's not an office. I'm too crazy to have an office. Offices are boring places. You should see this room. Actually very tidy most of the time, but with all that goes on... I even have a new set of children's press blocks in the top of one cupboard.
I have to do some tutoring tomorrow at ten and a meeting for global work at two, but after that, I'm going to be back at the keys. I wonder what life will gift me with tomorrow.