The daily screenwriter

Working on the doco.

2009-06-20T17:18:00.001+12:00

That's why things are quiet on the script front. Hoping to get back to the script once I'm up to speed and things ticking over with the doco. Which maybe will be a couple of weeks. Hard to say. Busy busy.

Back on it.

2009-06-15T11:45:00.002+12:00

And it's nice to be back. After the gap am reading through my notes and reassessing structurewise. Using the 'fresh eyes'. Also, getting back up to speed with what I only half remember, to tell the truth...

Clearing up.

2009-05-20T17:18:00.002+12:00

I didn't write today but I consider my writing karma good as I spent two hours sorting out the mess my writing space had become... like an archaeologist I dug through three layers of projects/notes, brushed and labelled them, so to speak.

I think a certain level of mess is inevitable with writing but things had really got out of hand. Am going to work on containing the mess rather than letting it breed, from now on.

Day three. Page thirteen.

2009-05-12T12:35:00.002+12:00

So, going quite well, quantitywise. Qualitywise - well - feeling a bit sticky today, doubts setting in... but I'm trying to look at the first draft as a glorified outline. I think that's what it is, actually, unless you've managed to actually write an outline that includes every single beat - which is something I've tried to do before but never managed. This time I'm trying to follow my nose a bit more (with very broadly sketched outline) and see what happens.

Another thing, not really sure how the length will pan out, really hoping I don't get to the end and find I'm only on page 60 or something!

Day two. Page eight.

2009-05-11T12:02:00.002+12:00

Technically, page 9 (halfway down) - but I'm giving myself that halfpage up my sleeve for slow days.

Working this way is working so far - I'm kind of outlining as I go a little bit (though I do have a rough outline and know where I'm going to end up, know what the last shot of the movie is).

So far, actually kind of fun.

It is begun. Page four.

2009-05-10T14:00:00.003+12:00

Frakkin' awesome!

I have now begun my digfeature! Entitled 'The Secret' (might as well share the title. Working title, incidentally, it will definitely change). Four and a half pages today. So technically page five. Plan is to write four pages a day, six days a week. Though documentary will have to take precedence now and then.

My goal with this is to relax and have fun and write faster than I ever have before. So far it's going okay. Though I must admit had a few 'it's not perfect' crises even today.

But really trying to focus on this as a learning/fun experience. Really focusing on leaving perfectionism behind. Wish me luck!

More outlining today.

2009-05-03T15:35:00.000+12:00

It's going fast. The key seems to be saying yes to myself (hope that doesn't sound too... whatever).

Back and back at it!

2009-05-02T16:17:00.001+12:00

Hey there...
(if there's anyone still out there)
I'm back! And back at it!

I'm actually quite excited because I've had a new idea for a digifeature that is very shootable on a shoestring budget. So I've put my other script to one side for now and I'm working on the new one. The idea is to write and shoot this script quickly. Within a year. Not to worry about perfection, just to aim for 'pretty good' instead. And failing that, to aim for 'finished'. I'll take 'finished' over 'unfinished - but - theoretically - perfect' any day.

So, I'm outlining at the moment. The plan is to start writing the first draft in a week's time. Writing at the rate of four pages a day. So let's say goal is to finish the first draft by the end of May.

Hiatus.

2009-03-11T10:20:00.002+13:00

That is, I'm off overseas for a few weeks - back mid April. With the current script it's back to the plotting drawing board, I think, for a bit. So am putting it on ice till my return. I've had a lowbudget idea I just might noodle away on while I'm gone though. Maybe. Something I think will work well to develop in tandem with this one (as they're so different). See you in a month or so (if anyone still remembers I exist by then!)

Blurgh.

2009-03-09T11:36:00.001+13:00

And a whole lot of nothing today. This could be because I've done 11 pages over the last two days - and I always seem to have problems the next day whenever I've written more than four pages - or it could be that I have plot issues to sort out. Which I do. Either way, I've called it a day early because I can see I'm not going to get anywhere today. Did make a couple of small plot decisions but... let's just say, a good day to have off.

Page 85.

2009-03-08T12:02:00.002+13:00

Which is good, pagecountwise, but it's all very clunky with exposition shovelled in. That's kind of how I think a first draft should be - just shove in the exposition and get the draft finished - but I don't like having to do that. But at least it's getting down on paper - or on bytes. I have had some thoughts based on today's writing about some conflicts that can happen between my characters, so that's good. Still, wish it was better...

Page 80.

2009-03-07T12:42:00.002+13:00

Wow! Five pages! Actually five and a half. This might actually be a daily record for me. Started off pretty gruesome, it was all dire, just focusing on getting the plot down and damn the quality. Quality, incidentally, was embarrassing. But somehow that transformed into two good scenes by the end of my pages, which were actually quite fun to write too. So phew. This half isn't all going to be unrelieved awfulness!

I have been thinking that I've been spending far too much time trying to come up with a 'good' first draft, and thus wasting a huge amount of time. Even though I know in theory that first drafts are always bad, I haven't been able to help trying too hard to overachieve with this draft. Lately I've been thinking about how much time I'd save if I really didn't care or invest in the first draft being anything much but finished. I'd actually probably get two drafts done in the same time, and ironically probably end up with a better script in that time.

Working on getting to that approach.

By the way, though I'm at page 80, that doesn't mean I'm near finished - looks like this draft is going to run very long )(which I actually see as a good thing - lots more freedom to cut).

Time to get back to the draft.

2009-03-06T13:17:00.004+13:00

I've written most days this week but for some reason didn't feel like posting... maybe that's because it's all felt a bit slow. Anyway, I've been collating an outline for the second half of the script. Today I looked over what I've got and realised it's time to get back to the draft again. I still have some holes - mainly in the third act - but I think the outline's at the point that I have to get back to draft level to work out the details. I'm not exactly pleased about that because I'm off overseas for a month in a couple of weeks - and I had it all planned out that I was going to 'finish' (ha!) my outline before I went, so as to hit the ground running (yeah, right) with the draft when I got back.

Just typo'd 'draft' as 'drat'. Freudian?

Anyway, if I don't manage to find an excuse, it's back to the draft grindstone tomorrow.

Drat.

Good day's writing.

2009-02-28T14:36:00.001+13:00

Three productive hours! Have moved things forward substantially. After a lot of procrastination this morning, actually.

I always forget, when it's going slowly, that a good day's writing can show up at any time, unexpectedly. One of those things you can't predict. Be nice if you could.

So... relief.

More plotting.

2009-02-27T12:39:00.000+13:00

Going okay with it. Actually was back at it the last couple of days though I didn't post. Second half is taking shape. Feels awfully slow though!

Back on it.

2009-02-20T18:21:00.001+13:00

Urghh... first day back always the hardest.

Nice to be back on it though. Am out and about shooting some stuff this weekend so probably won't be back on it till Monday.

A lot of nuthin' at first but finally moved forward a bit by the end of the session.

Slow. But. Moving. On.

Busy.

2009-01-25T08:26:00.000+13:00

Just not with a script. Sorry. Will be back on it in a week or two I think.

Drafting day 22. Page 74.

2009-01-18T13:33:00.000+13:00

Four pages of exposition. Which is slightly concerning, but I wanted to get down the info of my epiphany so it's safely in the script to be digested in the next draft. Still, that's an awful lot of exposition... and I think I might have to do some plotting next as I'm not sure of the dramatic shape of the next scenes (or of the script from this point, actually).

Drafting day 21. Page 70.

2009-01-17T13:19:00.001+13:00

Had an epiphany! Yay! Something that really makes sense of the motivations of one of my characters. In a way that I hadn't actually even realised was missing till I had the epiphany. The best ones are always when you go 'how could I have been so dumb as not to have realised that before?' Anyway... it's only day 2 back at it and it looks like things are kicking off! One day that wasn't so good ain't so bad really...

Today's scene that I'd resigned myself to being not that good, kind of wrote itself. Still a logic problem there but I can look at that when I've finished the draft.

And very pleased about the thing I came up with today. One of those things that you only come up with when you're in the throes of the actual draft, I think.

Drafting day 20. Page 66.

2009-01-16T13:39:00.000+13:00

Mostly rewriting the last few pages. Feeling slow and uninspired. But hey. Back into it. Moving forward. And most of what I've written to this point is not bad at all.

Back on it.

2009-01-15T21:51:00.002+13:00

Have been distracted a bit by another new (non-writing) project - but finally reread my script so far, with gritted teeth; pleasantly surprised. Lots of good ideas in there. Lots to work with. So, back on it tomorrow. Another scene to write, then it'll be back into plotting the second half.

Done it.

2009-01-08T20:24:00.001+13:00

Sent it. Fingers crossed.
Now back to the grindstone...

Still ticking along.

2009-01-07T22:34:00.001+13:00

Should be there, all mailed off, by Friday. Touch wood.

Ticking along.

2009-01-05T18:29:00.003+13:00

My spec thing is going okay. This morning I was contorted in a tense ball, all insecurity and angst, although I was slowly moving forward with the comedy... and I took a moment to ponder how ironic it was that this angst was for the cause of funny...

Anyway, after going down a few dead ends I hit on a solution. Phew.

Another angle I was working on yesterday though has bitten the dust. Would require too much research for a spec.

I'm realising I have specific rules for pitching (which is essentially what this is) - one is, it mustn't be research-heavy (as it may all be for naught anyway), and another is, it doesn't get as polished, for the same reason. That is, I'll get it in the ballpark and then send it. Rather than agonise over the finetuning.

Comedy.

2008-12-30T16:40:00.002+13:00

Am writing a short comedy thing on spec for a show I'm keen on. Went fairly well today despite my feeling rather unfunny this morning.

This is a small project that I'm going to be working on over the next week or two.

Really nice to be writing something with a totally different flavour from what I've been doing lately. Haven't written comedy for a while. Nice to be back in that headspace.

Christmas break.

2008-12-21T23:19:00.002+13:00

Have stopped for Christmas. And also am working on a short spec idea. Hope to have that done by the new year. So should be back on my thriller script by, let's say January 2nd, if not before.

Happy Christmas or secular celebration, everyone!

Drafting day 18. Page 65.

2008-12-15T13:15:00.003+13:00

Day 65 since starting this project. Page 65.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:18
Total days writing: 33
Days not writing: 32

Went better today. There are some scenes that I've decided in advance will work well - and I'm realising that I've been putting too much pressure on those scenes to work well in the first draft. That I shouldn't expect anything of them, basically, because otherwise I'll get bogged down.

Am within a few pages, I think, of the point I'll need to start outlining again (as I've just outlined up until the midpoint). I'm looking forward to switching back to outlining.

Drafting day 17. Page 61.

2008-12-14T13:30:00.001+13:00

Day 64 since starting this project. Page 61.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:17
Total days writing: 32
Days not writing: 32

Pretty uninspired today. Almost up to the midpoint (which is as far as I've outlined).

Drafting day 16. Page 58.

2008-12-13T12:39:00.005+13:00

Day 63 since starting this project. Page 58.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:16
Total days writing: 31
Days not writing: 32

Actually did a bit more than four pages today as there was more rewriting involved. Am caught up now though, pushing on into new territory.

I NEED ELVES! Paul Abbott said he wished there were elves who would write your first draft for you - WELL I NEED SOME ELVES.

Am impatient to finish (as ever) - I've calculated I should be done with this draft by January 10, if everything goes okay - that's with a reasonable number of days off built in. But I want to state a target date just to... well, convince myself this draft won't go on for ever...

It's actually going okay plotwise, for a first draft. And I'm learning that if I don't try too hard to craft each scene at this stage I'm able to be a lot more relaxed about this draft - and about the prospect of rewriting the whole thing. As I will inevitably need to.

Drafting day 15. Page 55.

2008-12-11T12:36:00.003+13:00

Day 61 since starting this project. Page 55.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:15
Total days writing: 30
Days not writing: 31

Almost five pages today. Yeah, I know it looks like the maths doesn't add up... but I was rewriting. New chase scene. It's all looking a lot better. Still pretty ropey of course, first draft ropiness, but it's lost that feeling of wrongness that it had before.

I think I will now have too much chase, but that's okay. I'll leave it to the second draft to sort that out.

I had sworn never to go back to rewrite again while doing a draft, but I only went back five pages or so and I think that's okay.

Drafting day 14. Page 54.

2008-12-10T13:03:00.004+13:00

Day 60 since starting this project. Page 54.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:14
Total days writing: 29
Days not writing: 31

Today I went back and rewrote four pages or so around the fifty-page mark. As the last couple of days' work felt flat, that something was wrong... I consulted my Oracle (hope he'll like that description) and his sage advice was that the fella on page fifty had to die. Well, actually, on consideration, couldn't agree more. I had a car chase that really felt unexciting and realised that the reason it wasn't working was that the stakes hadn't been ratcheted up lately.

Also, in the scene I wrote today - there was a lot of exposition/backstory (that I just invented) and I ended up just summarising it in the script after realising the scene was getting wordier and wordier. I've decided that's okay to do in a first draft, as I'm looking at this draft as a glorified outline, checking first and foremost that the story's working. So why waste energy writing a polished scene that will just be that much more painful to cut if I decide it's not functioning storywise? Wish I'd decided that BEFORE wrestling with the scene though.

In other news... just read a Dean Koontz novel, 'Your heart belongs to me'. I can't believe what this guy gets away with! Compelling intriguing weird events in the first half... that he just doesn't bother to explain in the second. Throws in a ghost even! Deja vu that is never explained! Three sets of identical twins, and only one set is relevant! A villain that appears towards the end who is unconnected with most of the weird events! And the ones she is connected with, she couldn't possibly have done by herself... There is just so much lazy writing here... It reads like a first draft he didn't even bother to outline. And people buy his books and come back for more!

(Okay. That includes me. I read one of his novels once before. So I've been caught out twice. Maybe I'll learn my lesson this time?)

And did I mention completely unconvincing relationships? Maybe if you just say repeatedly how gorgeous the girlfriend is and how passionate the relationship is, the readers will buy it, right?

Anyway.

'House' was great last night. Particularly good writing.

See? I can be positive.

Drafting day 13. Page 51.

2008-12-09T11:19:00.004+13:00

Day 59 since starting this project. Page 51.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:13
Total days writing: 28
Days not writing: 31

Today was not a happy day, writing-wise. I've been avoiding writing for a few days - got back to it today, didn't like today's work at all...

I'm not sure if it's because the scenes I was writing aren't so good structurally and are going to have to change, or - maybe this script doesn't feel like such a new idea any more, so I'm falling out of love with it, or - what.

But I do feel that the only possible response is to keep going anyway. Not to analyse too much, but just keep going. But I'm not even half way! Way too early to be feeling uninspired/over it/whatever!

On the plus side, I did write five pages or so.

Drafting day 12. Page 46.

2008-12-03T12:30:00.003+13:00

Day 53 since starting this project. Page 46.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:12
Total days writing: 27
Days not writing: 26

Four pages today. Realised a slight logic problem with the next scene, may have to rethink how that goes. The outline is still holding up pretty well though. And it's nice sitting down to do pages and just looking at my outline to decide what the next scene is (I've added in one or two connecting scenes so far, but that's it.) Definitely frees me up to get on with it. Though I must admit that today I was feeling a bit uninspired. Still, four pages, though.

Drafting day 11. Page 42.

2008-11-30T14:06:00.003+13:00

Day 52 since starting this project. Page 42.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:11
Total days writing: 26
Days not writing: 26

Okay, I was going to have the day off, but couldn't help doing a bit more.

And it really felt like the Curse of Four Pages kicked in. Or maybe I should say the Curse of More than Four Pages. Whenever I write more than four pages in a day I seem to pay for it the next day. Was hoping I'd gotten over that, but maybe not. Was feeling really uninspired and semi-braindead. Managed to crank out today's four pages with sheer sweat and rugged determination (think Hugh Jackman in Australia... Gaah. Maybe not.) Clint Eastwood? Not that he seems to sweat. Now there's a role model to aspire to.

Could I be screenwriting's Clint Eastwood? All effortless cool and inscrutable gaze? Well, actually, almost certainly not. But I liked asking the question. As though the answer could be yes.

Drafting day ten, page 38

2008-11-29T12:43:00.002+13:00

Day 51 since starting this project. Page 38.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:10
Total days writing: 25
Days not writing: 26

Okay, that sounds like three pages but it's more like four (from top of 35 to bottom of 38). I was going to try to make it five pages today as well, but after I'd got to the bottom of 38 I'd really run out of puff. So I decided to stop and move on when I'm fresh (Monday arvo probably, I'm having tomorrow off).

Went pretty smoothly today. Added in a scene at the end that wasn't in my outline - but I realised I needed it for logic. And it ties up a loose end as well. Part of what I'm realising drafting (as opposed to outlining) can do - you're seeing the scenes in clearer focus.

I'm starting to think of drafting, the first draft anyway, as like an oil painter's pencil sketch - you're trying out your ideas roughly and quickly rather than jumping into the oils and the detail. Working out what the structure of the finished canvas is going to be. I don't paint but I'm finding this metaphor useful. (Good for giving myself a break about the first draft not being perfect, which I am - surprisingly - becoming more comfortable with.)

I'm quite pleased with my page average so far, which is 3.8 pages a day during drafting.

Drafting day nine, page 35

2008-11-28T13:06:00.001+13:00

Day 50 since starting this project. Page 35.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:9
Total days writing: 24
Days not writing: 26

Five pages today! In just over an hour and a half. I'm on fire, baby!

Thought I'd better stop after five... to make sure I don't suffer burnout tomorrow. Felt like I could keep going though.

Reason this is a big deal (potentially) is I've never managed to do more than four a day without the productivity suffering the next day. But this first draft is better outlined than I've managed before... which could lead to upping my regular page count, maybe... we'll see. Fingers crossed!

Drafting day eight. Page 30.

2008-11-26T14:41:00.001+13:00

Day 49 since starting this project. Page 30.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting:8
Total days writing: 23
Days not writing: 26

So. Went quite well today. Feeling like my outlining is paying off. Now I'm working on making each scene moderately interesting rather than worrying about where it's all going. Though I'm not trying to polish the scenes up - at this stage I'm more just looking at what purpose each scene serves in the story as a whole. Some of the scenes I've just written, for example, serve to show where my protag's at psychologically before he embarks on his journey. And I hadn't realized that was the function of those scenes (characterwise) until I wrote them.

And I'm starting to think that maybe my first turning point isn't where I thought it was. Not that that matters.

Am out of town for the next week, so that'll screw with my day tally. Will try to get a few days' writing in though, nevertheless.

Drafting day seven. Page 26.

2008-11-25T13:34:00.007+13:00

So. Pretty good page count today.

I found that with the outline as it is I can move forward fairly quickly. The complications though were that - well, in one scene, I took out one of the twists I was going to put in there, as that was going to overcomplexify the scene. But the twist that I left in still is maybe sending the wrong message for the following scene... I put it in anyway, as I figured it'd be better to take out (or possibly move around) later than cut it and maybe forget to use it.

I am writing overlong (as usual, it seems). At this rate this script is going to be really long! Never mind, I can lay waste to it in the second draft. Just as long as it's all in there.

I'm going to start keeping a tally total of:
Days outlining
Days drafting
And days not writing.

For each project.

This is to keep me scrupulously honest (especially as far as days not writing are concerned). I think a day off every six days is about right for me, in general - but I've had rather too many days off lately (even if some of them were unavoidable).

So, for this project so far, the Thriller (no, I don't like sharing, even titles!)

Day 48 since starting this project. Page 26.

Days outlining:15
Days drafting: 7
Total days writing: 22
Days not writing:26

Ouch! Thought I was doing better than that... Okay, I had flu, and was out of town a bit, but really... Well. That's what reality checks are for. And scrupulous honesty. And why this blog is anonymous.

Day 14 and 15 on the outline. First half outlined.

2008-11-24T16:11:00.002+13:00

I've now finished outlining the movie up to the midpoint. (Had internet access problems yesterday, hence no post.) I had an unexpectedly very productive burst yesterday, late afternoon (a very unusual time of day for me to be productive) - maybe two hours of plotting, which brought me within a few scenes of the midpoint. I was hugely relieved as I'd been feeling stuck stuck stuck. I was advised by a wise friend to just think what my protag would logically do next. This helped. But still, I'm not sure what broke the drought exactly. Wish I knew... actually I think my subconscious decided I'd been stuck for long enough and it was time to move on with it.

Most of the work was done yesterday; today I just had a few scenes left to resolve. And did so. So should be back on the draft tomorrow, phew!

I think one of the recent things I've learnt is to think more in terms of acts. It seems to work for me to treat each act as almost a separate script. Beating out an act at a time, rather than trying to beat out the whole script at once, seems to work best. I think what I learnt from the last script was not to be too surprised if I need to majorly regroup and rethink at the act breaks.

Plotting today.

2008-11-21T12:23:00.002+13:00

Looking at an overview of the second act today. My brain hurts! Have a bunch of ideas but need to link them together in a coherent and logical way. Also not sure what my protagonist's next action needs to be. On the bright side, had some ideas (unexpectedly) for the third act.

Still having to watch being overclever. Hey, I want to be clever, just not overclever! I have a tendency to throw twists in before I've got the story straight in the first place.

Drafting day six. Page 21.

2008-11-20T11:33:00.002+13:00

Going okay so far. Have just got to what is my first turning point, more or less. I'd really like to have this more plotted out than it is - but I'd lost momentum with outline, thus the drafting. So far it's hanging together. Just need to push on and it will be what it will be... one thing I'm doing with this first draft is trying not to try to write 'well'. Just getting it down without polishing. Because I figure that if it was written relatively effortlessly (or rather less laboriously) then it'll be that much less painful to chuck out huge swathes that don't work or aren't quite right. That's the theory, anyway.

Drafting day five. Page 18.

2008-11-18T11:40:00.002+13:00

Well, I'm really working on the whole 'hold it loosely' approach. And things really are developing differently from how I'd thought. I'm going with it for now, though I'm not entirely happy about how divergent it is... but I'm trying to look on this first draft as actually a glorified way of beating out the plot. So, no matter where the plot is by the time I've finished, I will have a reasonably coherent scene-by-scene breakdown of the script. And thus a clear starting-off point for rethinking where the story's at. Some of the things that are new could end up working... we'll see. As my major crime tends to be overthinking and overplanning, am focusing on moving on through and getting it down, in whatever form.

Drafting day four. Page 14.

2008-11-15T13:11:00.002+13:00

Okay, only two pages today, call it a half day. (Always harder to get motivated on a Saturday!) I'm working on easing up a bit and trying to be a bit more relaxed in my approach to this first draft, rather than be in a 'clenched fist' 'must get this right' frame of mind. Did manage to ease up a bit today, I think.

Drafting day three. Page 12.

2008-11-14T12:38:00.003+13:00

Well, I did my pages today, but... today is one of those days when the distance from this draft to a decent script seems to stretch out to infinity. Didn't take long! Maybe the key is to just look on the process as an archaeological dig and to enjoy wallowing around in the mud. Or something.

Drafting day two. Page 8.

2008-11-13T13:07:00.004+13:00

Well, so far so good re page count. Still a little anxious as to how it's all going to go, as I remember hitting a wall at the midpoint last time, but I'm approaching it differently this time. This time I'm looking at the draft almost as a relay race from act to act, so I'm expecting to have to do some major plotting at the midpoint. Hopefully that will carry me through.

Drafting day one. Page 4.

2008-11-12T13:15:00.001+13:00

It's always slightly painful to start writing and what comes out is the real first draft, not the imaginary perfect draft you have in your head...

Still, page four. So it's underway.

Day 13 on the outline. Drafting imminent.

2008-11-10T12:37:00.005+13:00

Well, did some work today, couldn't keep away. But I'm still feeling a bit stuck somehow - and I think maybe that's a sign I should just start my draft. I'm going to allow myself 'plotting' days during this draft, as the outline's not as worked up as I'd like it to be, but this time I'll have a rule of never having more than one plotting day at a time. Because I don't want to lose momentum. Will take a day off tomorrow to clear my head, and start draft on Wednesday.

Where I'm at with the outline (or I should say beat sheet) is, I know what's happening in act one, though there are a couple of scenes I'm not sure should be in act one or two, I know clearly where the midpoint is but I know very little about how I'm going to get there specifically, don't know much about second half of second act, I have two competing scenes one of which is the second turning point but I'm not sure which... I know where the climactic scene takes place and the broad dynamics of what goes on.

Wow. That's pretty sketchy. That's a general overview, I do know more detail than that but that's roughly where I'm at. But as I've been spinning my wheels for a few days, launching in seems like the best option at this point. Wish me luck!

Day 12 on the outline.

2008-11-09T13:06:00.002+13:00

Okay, I did come up with a couple of things today, but in general it's quite difficult and not flowing the way it has done up to now. Not quite sure what that's about. Maybe it's just that I'm at a more difficult point in the process. That's what I think it is. Hope it is!

I think I'm maybe also overcomplexifying and not just asking myself one question at a time, which is what I've been doing up to now, being more methodical.

Or maybe I just need a day off. Maybe will take tomorrow off.

Day 11 on the outline.

2008-11-08T13:19:00.002+13:00

I was just going to work on the first half of the second act today, but then I realised I wasn't sure which half of the act some of my scenes needed to be in - so I worked on the act as a whole. Slower progress than I'd have liked. A general shape is emerging, but it all feels VERY slow! Looking at my cards on the floor it doesn't look like I've made that much progress - but my brain hurts, so that's got to be good, right? Not sure if my dissatisfaction means I'm overthinking, or what... And every so often I realise there's a whole angle I haven't considered yet, like my protagonist's relationship with the antagonist... and so on and so on. I realise that I'm going to have to start my draft with a lot of questions still unanswered, or I'll be counting down to 'Day 100 on the outline'... still, knowing where to draw the line is tricky.

Migraine.

2008-11-07T10:28:00.002+13:00

Had a crack at writing this morning despite having got a migraine first thing. Didn't fly. Brain too fried. (Migraines do actually screw with your brain after you've had one. For me it's usually the rest of the day that I'm operating on half a brain, more or less).

Day 10 on the outline.

2008-11-06T14:41:00.002+13:00

Have first act outlined now, enough to draft. Really need to move on to second act tomorrow. If I want to start my draft on Monday, that's first half of second act tomorrow, second half of second act on Saturday, third act on Sunday.

That's a lot. Not sure if I can get there by Monday, to be honest. But - momentum has been working for me, so that's what I'm aiming for. (Obviously, I have some sense of what's going on in the rest of the movie, but it's very far from locked down.)

Day 9 on the outline.

2008-11-05T19:05:00.004+13:00

Planning to start the first draft on Monday. That gives me three more days (with Sunday off...) Doesn't quite feel enough time but it's all about keeping the momentum going.

Had some good and useful progress today, still a lot to do though, especially in the second half.

And, in other news... Barack Obama won the US election!

Yeah baby!

post 101.

2008-11-04T15:16:00.005+13:00

Yes, this is my hundred and first post!

Today's writing went wellish despite a late start. Starting to piece major scenes together in order and getting more of an overview of what's going on at each stage.

I think I am going to have to start a tally of how many days I work on this idea before starting my first draft, so the outlining doesn't run out of control.

So, for the record, today is day 8 on the outlining of the thriller. It's going okay.

Reflections on the blog: Keeping a blog has been working really well for my writing - like an external conscience. It's nice logging on and having a little chat about what I've done each day. And if I don't write, I feel I'm letting my readers down. It's also giving me a really clear record of my writing process. It'll be useful in the future to look back and have an accurate overview of how I tend to work. And it's really nice hearing from other writers on the site too - makes me feel I'm not the only one slaving over a hot laptop!

The Chocolate Fish Awards haven't been taken up by as many people as I thought they would, though - I know I'm a sucker for external rewards/acknowledgement so I thought I'd have a few more takers. Not sure if people are shy to post their writing progress or just not writing. Or not interested in chocolate fish! Has been fun handing out Fishies though (congrats Sean and blofeld!)

Didn't write today.

2008-11-03T15:34:00.001+13:00

Real life intervened, dammit.

And outlining.

2008-11-01T17:03:00.002+13:00

At this stage I'm having a fairly constant flow of ideas that I'm juggling to put in place. Some of them are incompatible so have a few moments of doubt as to which way to go. Still not sure exactly when will be the right point to start the draft. The ideal point is somewhere where everything's not exactly locked down - so I have wiggle room - but without gaping holes/voids that are big enough to fall into mid-draft. It's a fine line and I'm not sure exactly how to be sure when I'm at that point. Any suggestions welcome.

Phew.

2008-10-31T13:05:00.002+13:00

I have a lot more decisions to make than I thought before I'm ready to start a draft. I'm working on a rough beat sheet. Am slightly concerned about maybe my momentum slowing at this point, but I'm also aware that I need to make concrete decisions about what happens in my third act to avoid hitting the wall the way I did with the last first draft.

Also I'm starting to realise that the third act only LOOKS like the logical culmination of what came before - in actual fact it requires just as much thought and structuring and invention as the earlier events. Looks embarrassingly obvious when I write it in black and white!

Back on it.

2008-10-30T17:06:00.004+13:00

Looking over my work today am impressed with how much I came up with in a few days (even if it was a while ago now...)- this fastforward brainstorming seems to work.

The plot is solidish till the midpoint but pretty sketchy from then with no third act at all yet. With the last script, I made the mistake of starting a draft without concrete ideas for the second half which then plodded into a brick wall as I fought through the third act.

Am working on learning from my mistakes... so tomorrow's task is to beat out the rest of the plot till the end.

My plan is to spend tomorrow on that and then to start writing the draft. (Deep breath.)

It's been a bit annoying having to put this script on hold, what with flu/travel and a few other things. Hope I can pick up where I left on and keep the momentum charging on.

Am a bit nervous about starting the draft, actually, but at least it'll be fresh and not overcooked like some of my other projects have been by the time I sat down to write them.

Flu (and travel)

2008-10-18T10:55:00.002+13:00

Still got the flu. Away for a week from Monday (hopefully without the flu, by then). So I'm declaring a hiatus till I get back. I will be back here writing again from the 28th.

Yeah. More flu.

2008-10-17T23:06:00.000+13:00

And so on.

Flu.

2008-10-14T13:28:00.000+13:00

So having the day off.

Flu.

2008-10-13T12:11:00.002+13:00

Did some work today but finished early again as flu is setting in (gently but definitely). I'm not sure how much I should push on despite flu (as I'm not sick-sick but still definitely not on form). Don't want to screw up something that's been going really well up till now. What do other people do? Do you find you can press on even when sick? Or do you find it's best to bail until you're better?

Plotting and mind map.

2008-10-11T12:01:00.002+13:00

Some more plotting today. Feel like I'm coming down with some kind of flu-y bug so had a slightly short session. Still moved things ahead though, and still enjoying it.

Have been reading about mind maps recently, so decided to have a go drawing one up for my project. It was fun, even though it kind of felt a bit like a kiddie thing to do. I'm going to try drawing one up properly over the next few days. Seems to be quite a good way to get an overview of my non-linear state of play projectwise.

Outlining.

2008-10-10T12:05:00.002+13:00

Today for some reason 'outlining' seems a better description than plotting.

To be honest I'm now planning to spend a week or so outlining this project (rather than the three days I was talking about). Still have momentum and it seems to be coming together fairly quickly. My rule is, if I feel I'm losing momentum or getting stalled, then it will be time to start the draft, even if all the pieces aren't in place.

Also, as you may have noticed, I'm no longer posting on the days I'm not writing. As I felt my working practise was getting better it's stopped feeling necessary. So for now on I'll only be posting on writing days (but if I'm going to be away from writing for more than a couple of days I'll post letting you know there'll be a gap). If my work ethic starts to slip though I'll go back to daily posting.

Plotting.

2008-10-09T16:34:00.002+13:00

Well, went really well today. Charging ahead. I'm really enjoying this project. So nice to be liberated to work on something new! And nice to have another new project in the wings to switch to if I need to. No need to do so yet though.

Two ideas.

2008-10-08T12:22:00.003+13:00

Okay, so I started on my horror movie outline, hit a bit of a wall and started working on my other idea, which is a thriller. Got excited about that. I'm thinking I'll actually work on progressing both these ideas more or less simultaneously - I really like the idea that when I'm stuck on one I can switch to the other.

Picked an idea.

2008-10-06T13:00:00.002+13:00

Had another look at my three ideas. Kept coming up with story beats for one of them (and drew a bit of a blank for new ideas), so have decided to go ahead with that one. It's a horror movie.

So, as per plan, will be brainstorming for the outline for next three days.

So far, has been going well - have just been proceeding with logical progression from premise (as Paul Lucey suggests in his excellent screenwriting book).

Brainstorming.

2008-10-03T13:42:00.001+13:00

Next few days will be brainstorming ideas for next script.

Came up with three today. Too early to say if I'll be running with any of them.

What I've learned.

2008-10-01T15:14:00.004+13:00

What I learned writing the first draft of this script:

That momentum is everything. (At least for me.)

I got bogged down several times in the writing of this script through going back to fix/change things. That cost me momentum, enthusiam, and clarity.

Next time I plan to:
Spend no more than three days outlining once I've settled on a specific idea.

And then write the script in 4-6 weeks. This allows for 4 pages a day with days off. No going back to alter things. But I will be keeping notes as I go re new ideas for the next draft.

- Oh, what I also learned:

That keeping a blog is a really useful writing tool for me. It gives a nice little fillup to the end of a writing session to be able to go online and post about my session (whether it's enthusing about a good day or complaining about a bad one). And I feel I can't spend many days away from writing or my readers will give up and stop visiting. So, thank you, blog readers, for helping to keep me honest!

Finished. (Page 100).

2008-09-30T11:57:00.002+13:00

Phew. First draft finished.

It was getting pretty ropey towards the end but I pressed on. Will put it on ice for a while (maybe a week or two, not sure) before I reread it and tackle the next draft.

Will be starting something new in the meantime, in the next few days.

Page 97

2008-09-29T15:18:00.003+13:00

Halfway through the climactic scene. Can't wait for it to be finished... right now am forcing myself to get on with it just so I can finish it and put it aside for a while. Keep thinking 'that'll have to change' about this and that of the script. Like I said, getting there though.

Page 93

2008-09-28T11:39:00.002+13:00

Did a little bit, but was out and about a lot yesterday and am quite tired today and it's gone to my brain... so am stopping now. Will resume tomorrow.

Page 92

2008-09-26T13:04:00.002+12:00

Have moved things forward quite a bit today. Rewrote the last scene I wrote yesterday, changed it completely, feels like it's going along the right track now. Decided how the climactic scene is going to play out (for now anyway). Looking forward to finishing this draft so I can look back over it and re-sort things.

Page 90

2008-09-25T12:39:00.008+12:00

Have moved forward with my new philosophy of 'just get it down'. My final scene on page 90 was pretty bad though, it's the second turning point, and I haven't figured it out much at all. Don't know if a scene that bald is still really functional or not. I haven't figured out exactly what it is that triggers my protag's decision, and I suspect I do need to. Kind of hated writing bad scenes, but still, I did have some newish ideas and am moving forward. Was somewhat comforted by reading novelist Rachael King's blogpost about the difference between the perfect script/manuscript in your head and the ugly reality of the actual draft. But only somewhat comforted. When other writers write about their bad first ideas, I always tend to take it with a grain of salt... 'but yeah, your writing doesn't ultimately suck' is my thought... I don't tend to be quite as generous with myself. Need to work on that.

Still, page 90! Getting there.

Page 87

2008-09-24T12:29:00.001+12:00

Have got through the rewritten pages and am breaking fresh ground. Operating on the 'just write bad scenes' principle. Not so happy though with how the story side of things is panning out. But I feel I just need to push on and get it done, no matter how badly...

Page 80

2008-09-23T13:18:00.002+12:00

On page 80, back on doing pages. After beating myself up a bit for my scenes sucking, have decided it's okay if they suck. As right now am working out story. Plenty of time to sort out scenes once story is locked down. Hope I can keep to that.

Hard slog.

2008-09-22T13:38:00.001+12:00

working out second half of second act (again). Think at this point I probably just need to accept it's going to be far from perfect and write it as is.

And the Fishie goes to...

2008-09-20T12:57:00.010+12:00

On 29th October 2008, two Fishies were awarded... regular poster blofeld nabbed a Fishie for his completed first draft of a feature script.

Congratulations blofeld!

And regular poster Sean was awarded his second Fishie for his second draft of a feature script.

Congratulations Sean, two-time Fishie winner!

On September the 30th 2008, The Daily Screenwriter scored a Fishie (which I awarded to myself) for a completed first draft of a feature script.

On September 1st, 2008, the Daily Screenwriter's first Chocolate Fish Award was awarded to regular poster Sean for his first draft of a feature script. (Duly delivered, and presumably consumed.)

Congratulations Sean!

There are many more Fishies in the sea that I will happily send to anyone else who completes a feature draft while posting their scriptwriting progress here. (Doesn't have to be a first draft). No details necessary, just page count.

C'mon y'all, get Fishing!

Second half of second act

2008-09-20T12:49:00.002+12:00

Today looked at the second half of the second act. I have had some feedback from a reader on my script so far, that was helpful as it made me realise my script was looking overlong because I was repeating some beats from the first half. So now second half is looking a lot leaner. I now have a general shape for the second half of the second act. Have decided the next stage is writing a scene list to get this part of the script a lot clearer. Suspect I will be reneging on the idea of doing a scene list for the whole of the rest of the script, because I'm realising that the subtleties of the scenes once written will have a major influence on how things play out in the third act.

Plotting.

2008-09-17T11:44:00.002+12:00

Have perhaps too many ideas for the second half. Am thinking I should maybe just write an overlong second half and then cut back.

Last night's Dexter (on TV) was fantastic! A lot of 'showing not telling'. Makes me think I must do a pass on my script to make sure there's a decent amount of 'showing' going on.

I'm back.

2008-09-15T12:15:00.002+12:00

It's been a bit longer than I expected as had a week off then came down with a mysterious bug. All the tiredness of being properly sick but without any flu symptoms. Odd.

Anyway... am back to plotting. Have decided that with this difficult second half what I am going to do at this point is plot out every scene (or at least beat) till the end of the script. Then I will write the damn thing. (Minor deviations from outline allowed - as long as they don't introduce new problems that will screw with writing momentum).

Giving myself 2 weeks max. to outline rest of script. Let's say till end of September. Should be done a lot sooner than that though, I'm hoping by Monday next week.

Time away from script.

2008-09-03T16:50:00.000+12:00

Taking some time away from my script. Should be back in a week or so.

Preproduction meeting

2008-09-02T13:25:00.002+12:00

Am taking a bit of time away from my script, so this morning had a preproduction meeting for documentary my producer and I have been talking about for a while. Now have our preproduction process in place. So this cloud has a silver lining, doco is now moving ahead.

I suck.

2008-09-01T10:16:00.002+12:00

Yes, it's official. Brain on strike. Tried to find way forward with script. Tried list of beats for upcoming scenes. Nuttin'.

My plan was with this draft to push ahead no matter how much suckiness was on the page - just to get to the end.

But THIS level of suckiness? Unprecedented before in the history of the world? Somewhat demoralising.

Could have something to do with my migraine yesterday. I do find my brain is scrambled for the rest of the day when I've had a migraine. This could be a hangover from that. I hope. Or I could just suck.

Self pity rules!

And a day off today.

2008-08-31T09:02:00.000+12:00

Migraine.

Day off

2008-08-29T18:39:00.001+12:00

on Saturday.

Page 89

2008-08-29T11:40:00.002+12:00

Not entirely happy about this part of the script - at this point I'm just trying to get down the beats I need to happen in some kind of rough order. Result is I'm kind of finding the script a bit boring. I'm not sure if that's just because I've been writing for so long or what. At the moment I'm kind of just running through the beats to get to the second turning point. Maybe that means I should just jump ahead and throw the second turning point in now. (Though I'm on page 89, the script is running a bit long in this draft). Dunno.

Page 85

2008-08-28T11:01:00.002+12:00

Knocked off a few plot points, not perfectly, but hey, knocked 'em off. Towards end of second act now and a cluster of scenes that won't quite fit in coming up. Will squeeze 'em in somehow. Looking forward to second draft now!

Page 81

2008-08-27T11:40:00.002+12:00

At this stage my script is feeling a lot messier than it did earlier in the draft. Maybe that's inevitable, a function of being in the second half of the second act. I've decided to write up the beats/scenes that need to happen and not worry too much about whether they're in the right order. It's hard, though, to lower the bar a bit qualitywise. But I don't think it would be productive to spend time obsessing about making this draft tightly structured.

Page 78

2008-08-26T15:47:00.001+12:00

Chugging along. Short session today so didn't get as many pages done as I maybe would have otherwise. But not too bad. A little uncertainty as to order of scenes. But, again, not too bad.

Page 75

2008-08-25T11:35:00.002+12:00

Finally through the first half rewrite and onto new territory. Rewrote the midpoint scene, it's not perfect but now is roughly the beat I need at that point. Right now am grappling with the imperfection of my first draft. Not keen on imperfection at all! Can't believe how imperfect this first draft is despite all my labours! Even though I know that's the nature of first drafts. Nice to be onto new ground though.

Day off

2008-08-23T12:11:00.001+12:00

Taking a day off on Sunday.

Almost ready to go back to draft

2008-08-23T11:31:00.002+12:00

But... still need to sort out the midpoint. I'm a bit disconcerted because I've just realised that the reason I went back to rewrite was to sort out a central relationship... but my rewriting actually ended up focusing on other things... so there are major questions I still need to sort out. At least I have decided what the midpoint needs to be generally (which is actually the opposite of what the midpoint is now). I am going to work out the midpoint (and make some decisions about how earlier scenes need to change to lead to the new midpoint) and then press on. I'm not going to go back to tweak those scenes though, because I really need to press on and get this draft done.

Plotting

2008-08-22T12:08:00.002+12:00

Going okay. Have broken 2nd half of second act down into story strands and figured out general direction each is going. Was slow work but towards the end had a couple of good ideas that should be fruitful to work with.

Hey ho, hey ho, it's off to work I go... (or, rather, went)

2008-08-21T13:11:00.004+12:00

Today was hard slog. Felt like one of Snow White's seven dwarves. (Yes. Grumpy.) Having a look at the second half of the second act. Feels like writing a whole other film now I'm past the midpoint. Or sort of past it. I've realised I'm going to have to rework that scene but am waiting till I have a handle on the rest of the second act.

Became a little easier once I realised I needed to look at the whole of the rest of the act rather than just the next sequence. I have lots of beats I want to incorporate but putting them into sequences that work and follow on from each other in the right way is the tricky thing. Am currently pasting up scenes on the whiteboard in rough order. Getting a little easier, beginning to find a very rough order. But still, this half of the act is disconcertingly empty compared to the first. It's a bit like starting from scratch again.

I think this is probably an inevitably difficult bit. Second act is notoriously the most difficult. I figure as long as I keep turning up and slogging away I will get there in the end. Trudge back with my little barrow full of coal. (Not looking for diamonds just yet.)

Sick day today

2008-08-20T10:13:00.000+12:00

See ya tomorrow, hopefully.

Plotting

2008-08-19T10:20:00.003+12:00

I should've worked this out by now - whenever I have a few days where it's really not working it turns out that I'm stuck because I need to get plotting again.

In this case I think I was distracted by the fact that I still have twelve pages of dialogue to work through - but I've now realised that my subplot changes mean I need to rethink everything from the midpoint(i.e. from where I am).

Am now looking at the second half of the second act. Stress over now I'm back looking at plot. Hopefully next time I hit a wall will recognise a bit quicker that that's what I need to do.

Page 67 of first half rewrite

2008-08-18T11:01:00.002+12:00

Just rewrote midpoint and it's sucking. Hitting the wrong note. Have to take some time out and plot the next sequence I think. Have 75 pages of script but not sure what to do with sequence up to 75. Stopped early today because it's just not working.

Page 65 of first half rewrite

2008-08-17T13:07:00.002+12:00

Okay, I'm back a day early, couldn't keep away. Not that I was feeling that inspired... but also was itching to get back to it... and in my experience waiting for inspiration is a no-win situation.

So. Hard to tell how productive today was really. I added in a new scene that didn't end up covering the point I was planning for it to. Could be a useful scene though (but still, does the next scene still work against it?)

Hmm. Not too clearheaded. Decided this will all be clear when I get first draft feedback. Am at midpoint right now. Have to make a decision about one element of how things go from here that's going to affect everything, obviously. Decided to leave that decision till tomorrow.

Nice to be back at it. Wish it was all clearer! Sometimes when I'm writing I'm really pleased with a scene, and I can't help feeling disappointed they're not all like that. Though, I'm very aware that you've gotta get that first draft down... and I can't wait till it's finished, in all its flawed glory. Y'all know what I mean, right?

On hiatus

2008-08-10T19:56:00.001+12:00

once again. Combination of foreseen and unforeseen circumstances require my presence elsewhere. Back on Monday the 18th. Happy writing.

Day off today

2008-08-10T09:10:00.002+12:00

French toast, here I come!