Five Step Script Frenzy Preparation - Step 4

My quick and simple guide to generating and developing a script idea that you can take the distance.

CONGRATULATIONS
We’re over half way there.

Today, we’re going to go over the structure of screenplays in a little more detail so that you can review your scene list or beat sheet and rewrite it, strengthen it, or just make more sense of it.

A screenplay has three acts (or, as some would argue 4, or maybe 10, or maybe 2—we could spend all day—just go with me for now and we can discuss it later).

The first act setups up the main character, their world (the ordinary world), and something that falls out of balance. The first act is also where your theme is introduced. This could be as simple as a scene where your protagonist’s buddy mumbles, waste not, want not, (or something less cliched), and thus your screenplay exploring the depths of moderns societies’ throwaway culture is set to be probed, pinched, and tossed.

The inciting incident occurs within the first act. This point can vary from the opening scene, to the middle of the first act, to the end, near turning point one. The end of the first act is marked by turning point one, an event which thrust your protagonist into…

…the second act. This is the bulk of your story, where you’ll need to build complication after complication as your hero acts to bring balance back to their life.

One trap to avoid, is having the problem, and your hero’s attempts at resolving the problem, remain flat. The problem must get bigger. The actions your hero takes must get larger. The stakes, what’s at risk, must be raised. Rising tension is an industry word that should become your mantra as you plan and write your second act.

Turning point two is when everything is on the line. Your hero has no where to go, no one to turn to, all is lost. They must face the antagonist at this point in the climax. This is the sword fight, the showdown, the confrontation that settles the main conflict raised in act one.

The third act, or resolution, is where the loose ends are tied up. Typically, good act threes are short. You’ve tied up the main conflict in the climax. What act three often shows is the world we saw at the beginning of act one restored. The universe is back in balance.

THAT’S IT (EXCEPT FOR STEP 5, TOMORROW)
Keep working on those scene lists. Brainstorm new obstacles that you can throw at your protagonist in act two. Really make it hard on them and raise the stakes. Make sure you can carry the problem you introduce in act one all the way through the climax of your screenplay.

With a scene list in hand on April 1st, you’ll be ready to show up at the keyboard and shooting through 3-4 pages of script. This in itself isn’t alway easy, but at least you won’t have to stare at the blank page and wait for the muse to show up.

RESOURCE
Celtx (http://celtx.com/index.html) is a screenwriting and production planning suite available for PC, Mac, and Linux machines. If you don’t have a screenwriting program, Celtix is an excellent choice to help you format your script. When I last tried it, it was free, and I believe it still is, as I could not find any pricing info on their site.

Technorati Tags: screenwriting, Script Frenzy

Five Step Script Frenzy Preparation - Step 3

My quick and simple guide to generating and developing a script idea that you can take the distance.

QUANDARIES
If you’ve worked a few ideas through the story points I outlined yesterday, then it should be fairly obvious which ideas are closer to being ready for April’s foray.

If you only have a few story points for an idea, and lots of gaps, then you simply need to develop the idea more. Ask yourself questions, like:

What attracted me to this idea?
What is my hero trying to get?
Does this raise questions, such as, will the hero succeed, will he find the truth, will he stop the bad guys, will he find his father, will he realize he’s not wearing pants, etc.?
What stands in the hero’s way? Is it a significant challenge?

This is a very small list and I’m sure you can come up with more. If you’re idea is thin, and you need to develop more story, sit down and ask yourself all kinds of questions.

Hopefully, you were able to develop one or two of your ideas into full stories, or if not, you’ll be able to do so by asking yourself questions.

SCENE LIST/BEAT SHEET/(GRONE) OUTLINE
I know, outlines, who needs them? Isn’t that against the spirit of Script Frenzy? How can things be frantic if you have them planned out?

Don’t worry, we’ll leave plenty of room for distress. At the very least, pound out the major beats of your story. Take the seven points you outlined yesterday, and add in the significant events, challenges, and arcs, that brought your story to those points.

Go into however much detail you’re comfortable with, but don’t write more than 1-3 sentences for each beat.

Also, you’ll need to decide on what level of detail you’ll use for your outline. You can make a scene list, that lays out around 30-45 scenes, or you could write in story arcs, that layout 10-15 major arcs, or stages. Most arcs will be comprised of multiple scenes.

To use American Beauty as an example again, when Lester blackmails his boss and applies at the burger joint, this might be an arc called, Lester gets a new job. The scene list would read:

1. Lester blackmails his boss for a severance package.
2. Lester goes through the drive in at Smile’s; decides to
3. interviews with the manager for a position (with the least amount of responsibility possible).

Take your favorite ideas, work out the beats, and re-write your logline as necessary, as you discover new and interesting ways to shape your story.

FAR BETTER ADVICE THAN MINE
I thought I’d add a few places to gain wisdom, from writers with much greater credentials than my own. These are two of the best web resources I’ve run across:

WordPlayer.com - (http://www.wordplayer.com/) - Read the Column section for loads of advice from the screenwriting team that wrote Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin, Little Monsters, and more.

JohnAugust.com - (http://johnaugust.com/) - Screenwriter of Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and more. If you scroll to the bottom, you can use the tags feature to read all the posts on the Writing Process. Also, the download section is priceless.

Technorati Tags: screenwriting, Script Frenzy

Five Step Script Frenzy Preparation - Step 2

My quick and simple guide to generating and developing a script idea that you can take the distance.

SORTING THE IDEAS
When I asked you to create your ideas yesterday, I said a logline typically has the following:

1. a protagonist
2. with a goal/want/need/desire
3. and an antagonistic force

Thus, your hero has a desire, which is opposed by the antagonistic force, (be it a super-villan, or something less tangible) creating an central conflict. Conflict is the basis of drama. The more conflict, the better.

The stronger your protagonist’s desire/want/need is, the more difficult the goal is to achieve, and the less willing your character is in compromising, thus, the more inherent conflict present, which leads to a more interesting character to write about, more obstacles to throw at the hero, and a better story.

Now, hopefully you have about 5-10 ideas or more, that sound like the makings of a movie.

Flesh through your ideas and look for the ones where the protagonist has the strongest desire or most difficult obstacle to overcome. See if you can re-write the weaker ideas to contain more force.

DEVELOP A DRAMATIC ARC
Review your ideas again and select a few, or all of them if you have the time, and work on developing these dramatic points:

1. Point of Attack — This is where you start your story. Who is the story about, what’s going on in their life, what world are we in, and what is the genre? Start as late as possible and as close to the next point as you can.

2. Inciting Incident - This is what happens that changes your protagonist’s life. The inciting incident throws something out of balance. Something that your character will spend the better part of 100 pages trying to regain.

3. Turning Point One — This is often the first point where the protagonist acts. The inciting incident changes their life and they spend 5-10 pages avoiding conflict to get it back. The first turning point is where the hero jumps into the story, accepts his fate, and goes after what they want.

Example: In Star Wars, the inciting incident in my mind is when R2D2 runs away, and Luke meets Obi Wan. Then, Luke spends 5-10 minutes refusing to join Obi Wan to help the Rebellion. Turning point one is when Luke discovers that the Empire destroyed his family and he decides to help Obi Wan and the Rebellion.

4. Midpoint — The midpoint usually marks a decisive change in the actions of the hero. From turning point one to the midpoint, the hero is trying to reach his goal, and is being turned away by the antagonistic force. The midpoint is where the hero comes to terms with the fact that reasonable tactics aren’t going to work. He must act harder.

Example: In American Beauty, Lester spends the first half of the movie reclaiming parts of his identity. He works out, smokes pot, fantasizes about Angela. These are big, dramatic changes, but nothing compared to his second half actions.

Right around the midpoint, he blackmails his boss, blows up at the dinner table (remember when he throws the asparagus against the wall?), and thus, he applies at Smiley Burger for the least amount of responsibility possible. Midpoint. The protagonist is now all in.

5. Turning Point Two — We’re building for the climax now (the confrontation scene). This is the moment where the hero takes their greatest action in a last ditch effort to get what they want.

6. Climax — The climax is the final confrontation between good and evil. This is where the protagonist and the antagonist square off. This is the scene that resolves the central conflict of the entire script.

7. Resolution — This is where you tie up any loose ends, fulfill any promises not yet answered, restore the balance of good and evil. The resolution is typically short if done right.

PARTING THOUGHTS
Take a few ideas and put them through these points. Rewrite as necessary.

Having an idea fleshed out through these seven points won’t guarantee a great screenplay, but it at least helps you eliminate or rework weaker ideas, and find something that should at least be able to carry on for more than 20 pages.

NEXT UP - STEP 3
We’ll settle on a final idea and develop the major sequences of the story.

Technorati Tags: Screenwriting, Script Frenzy

Five Step Script Frenzy Preparation - Step 1

My quick and simple guide to generating and developing a script idea that you can take the distance.

GENERATE MULTIPLE IDEAS
What you need today are ideas. Lots of them.

Ideas to a screenwriter are like rocks to a sculptor. Not all rocks make good material for a statue, just like not all ideas are the basis for great screenplays. Sometimes, on the surface, the idea looks solid, and so the screenwriter plows ahead. Then, somewhere in the work, the idea falls flat and the writing becomes difficult.

Two weeks into a month long competition is not when you want your script idea to crash.

That is why today, your goal is to come up with several ideas, so that like the sculptor, we can pick the best rocks to make our masterpiece.

WHAT IS A LOGLINE?
A logline is a thumbnail sketch of your movie idea. In a sentence or two, a logline details your protagonist, their goal/want/problem, and an antagonistic force.

Open up a word processor or take out a piece of paper and write down as many ideas as you can come up with that follow this pattern:

It’s about a [person] who… wants [this]… and must [do this] to get it… or else, [this] happens.

Here’s an example:

It’s about a [nerdish boy] who wants [to date the hottest girl in school] and must [convince the jocks that he’s cool to win her approval] or else [she’s going to the dance with the football captain].

Pathetic example, which illustrates my point of writing several so you have better ones to choose from. Here’s one more I culled from a real movie:

It’s about a [farm boy] who wants to [join the Rebel Alliance to fight the Empire]. When his world as he knows it is destroyed, he must [help an old Jedi deliver plans for a space station] or else [the Empire will gain control of the galaxy].

Again, a loglines should have 3 major elements. 1) A protagonist; 2) a goal/want/need/problem; and 3) an opposing force or antagonist.

NEXT UP - STEP 2
Write as many as you can today. Tomorrow, we’ll pick the most promising ideas and develop them further, chipping away at the lumps of rock to see what’s beneath. Some rocks will be beautiful portraits of dashing heros, while others will be hideously deformed chunks of chipped rock.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Also, if you have large amounts of free time (who doesn’t), you could check out “The Secrets of Film Writing” by Tom Lazarus. I have field tested this book. It’s a quick read, with good writing and a great structure that builds simple concepts on top of each other. It’s the perfect book to digest right before Script Frenzy.

Script Frenzy

Script Frenzy starts in 8 days.

Spawned from NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy is a challenge to write a screenplay in a month.

They’re talking my language. I’m not 100% yet because I want to make sure I have an idea that’s reasonably fleshed out (which is kind of counter to the basic principle of Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo, although, it’s not strictly frowned upon).

I’ve written three features in my life and the script pages themselves were all written in about 7-10 days. Usually, this was precipitated by spending months, or even years writing loglines, beatsheets, revamping everything, and not making any progress on actual script pages.

So eventually, I threw in the towel and started writing. It’s a horrid way to outline (see this post on Word Player), but sometimes, especially for budding screenwriters, it’s the best option.

Thus, I’m working over a few story ideas to make sure I can carry the idea through 100 pages, or at least through 10 major beats. I figure that way, I’ll at least have 30-40 pages of quality if I scrap the rest later—something to build a revamped script off of.

Be sure to check out the Script Frenzy Writer’s Resource page for some free .pdf worksheets, apparently written for High School students. I especially like the “Hollywood Formula” Worksheet. Also, you can find some articles written by pro screenwriters here, in their Cameos section..

Okay then. It’s about a person who…

101 Greatest Screenplays

The WGA website has a list ranking the top 101 screenplays. What I think is interesting about the list, is that with few exceptions, they are all good stories--I mean really entertaining.

Well, duh, they're the top 101. What I mean is that sometimes we focus too hard on the mechanics (format, character arch, loglines), and loose sight of the goal: not to bore.

WGA 101 Greatest Screenplays

Sample Coverage

I'm writing a sample coverage for practice, and the first striking thing I've noticed about writing the coverage is how hard it is to synopsis this screenplay in a few sentences, because it's all across the board. The main character, which is debatable whether she is the main, is mostly involved plot wise in helping the second character get across the States to find a plot of land his late father bought. The leads conflict isn't the driving obstacle in the script, and the antagonist is actually against this secondary character.

What I'm learning then is another insight as to why it's so important to have a tightly defined log-line--that is in order for execs, readers, and movie people to be able to summaries the story in a simple, quick, and marketable way. It makes a lot more sense when I consider it in this light.

Writing in Scene (tip of the day)

I have a scene where the main character is caught by his boss using company resources in an ill-advised manor. I want to have an awkward pause between them, but I don't want to draw attention in the script to the writer by adding:


They stare awkwardly.

(Adjective--bad!) So what I did was this:


INT. COPY ROOM - GLOBAL MEDIA INC. - DAY

Jerry is at the fax machine. A paper is taped in a loop, sending an infinite fax.

Jerry’s boss walks by, stops. They stare at each other. No one talks. Jerry sips an iced coffee.


What do you think? I feel that the line, no one talks, gives a sense of an awkward beat, without invoking the writer too much.

In unrelated news, I received another rejection letter for a short story on February 25. Congrats to me.

One-liner & Story Synopsis Revision

Well, I was pretty far along on an outline for my story. I'd even written an 80 page exploratory draft, just to up the momentum of the process. But, as I've been using this idea in the on-line course I'm taking at UCLA, I've made some big (and needed) changes.

The major thing revolved around the stakes of the story, which were pretty non-existant. The story (was) is about a man who dies and realizes heaven is a second chance to trascend ordinary and capture the life he's always wanted. Since he was already dead, the story lacked a certain, what's going to happen if he fails.

So, through discussion with a friend, we came up with the idea that maybe he's only tentitivly in heaven, and he could still go to hell. I added, what if he cheated on his wife, and since he broke a Commandment he has to complete seven labors to stay in heaven, or he'll be smote to hell. In the process, he captures a life more fulfilling than what he had on Earth.

Here's the first revision of what I call my story-idea:

STORY IDEA for UNTIL DEATH

Ryan Smith

One-liner: A man dies, and must complete seven labors in a liberal heaven to avoid being smote to hell.

Story synopsis: Bill dies. In a liberal heaven he must complete seven labors to avoid being sent to hell. Bill takes on these increasingly complex challenges, and in the process lives a more dynamic life than he had on Earth. When he fall in love with Georgia, a woman destined to become an angel, he compromises his virtuous goals, and is smote to hell. He climbs out of the pit, wins Georgia, and is repented. He's now living the life he always dreamed of.

One-liners:

· A man dies, and while avoiding being sent to hell, learns how to live.
· Perusing a life without regret.

Previous one-liners:

· A man transcends ordinary, turns his life around, and nails all the women he wants.
· Decides heaven is a second chance to party and get laid.
· Just a typical guy, wishing his wife were Paris Hilton.

Next up: probably working on the beat sheet, generating fresh ideas, and working out the rising tension of the story.

Process

In an effort to think more critically about my projects, to stick to my deadlines, and to have a useful purpose for this blog, I'm going to post about my current process, including examples, revisions, my thoughts on writing. A working writer's blog that will hopefull be informative, and an insight to the process.

External versus Internal

I'm noticing an interesting distinction between external and internal. Conflict often has external and internal elements, as do character goals. What's interesting, is that these elements usually refer to a concrete objective for the external portion, and an emotional or thematic objective for the internal objective.

More later.

Story points

What are story points? (What I'm calling them at least.) Story points are:

• Point of attack
  
• Inciting incident
  
• Mid-point
  
• Crisis
  
• Climax

Among others. We all know about the basic ones: begining, middle, climax, resolution, but it's these extra ones that provide more detail and more orginization for our stories, and thoes are what I'm really interested in because they give us a lot of power when it comes to story design.

Log-lines

I've revisited the log-line as a tool used in script writing, and found a new appreciation for it. Now, I find that it is a powerful tool in developing stories. In general terms, a log-line is the brief summary of your script, compressing the whole work down to a few sentences at most, detailing what the script is about. Here's an example from a script I wrote:

"Jack, a psychiatrist, goes on a journey searching for his lost pen."

I've found that during the writing process, when a scene is weak or disjointed, that often indicates that it does not adhere to the log-line. Thus, losing the scene, or else refocusing it to fall on the log-line is the answer, or at least a way to re-conceive of the scene to improve the script.

This is especially helpful in the developmental stage of writing, where the story is still emerging. On my latest project, it has helped me jettison some scenes, and re-focus another sequence that was dangerously on the fringe of my story world. One more example:

"Jerry destroys his life through his obsession for retribution towards a telemarketer’s nightly phone calls. He loses sleep, his job, his girlfriend and his freedom."

Short script post

I have been reading more blogs of screenwriters, trying to build a little momentum out of a sense of community. In response to a post on red right hand I'm posting an excerpt from my script Finding the Pen. This is the aforementioned short script (see below), based on the short story by Michael Bowers.

Click to read 100%.

Here's to submission

I'm now an award winning screenwriter. The Hollywood Creative Connection* has just announced the victors in its 2005 short screenplay contest. My script won 2nd place.

From the website: ' “Finding the Pen” is an amusing and original look at the human tendency toward obsession as a seemingly normal man descends into madness over a lost pen.'

Now I get to test my theory that submitting, and receiving praise can inspire you to write more pieces, finish more pieces, and work hard to achieve your goals. Let the testing begin right after I make a sort my mp3 collection.

*<updated: 08.06.06 -- Hollywood Creative Connection has removed the list of winners, in preparation for their next contest.>

More infatuation

Speaking of obsessions, through lifehacker I discovered the company 37 Signals, makers of productivity software. They feature a great online to-do list maker, a personal organizer for notes, to-dos, files, and a collaborative space for businesses and team projects. Check them out.

December obsession

I've become obsessed with a website called life hacker. Now, it sounds like some sort of maniacal zine devoted to creating large down times for gigantic corporations, but actually, it's quite the opposite. Not only is it news for nerds, but many of the daily entries offer insight on making our lives more productive by blocking out distractions, optimizing our computers to do the task we need to do more efficiently, and providing advice to work smarter.

http://www.lifehacker.com

Christmas is coming

I'm working on a set of guides to France, specifically Pairs at this stage. Trying to decipher all of the monuments, when they were built, for what purpose, and what makes one more specially than the other. See that sculpture? That's a Soufflot. Very impressive. That monument simply has a Rousseau. Ah. Parisians.

What's the deal with Christmas music anyway? I can handle some classic stuff, like some Vince Guaraldi pianio, or some Dean Martin Blue Christmas. You know, Nordstrom music, but the campy crap they're playing everywhere. On the radio, at the malls, probably grocery stores. I have to walk around with White Zombie cranked up on my mp3 player.

First rejection letter

I received my first rejection letter for a short-short I sent out in October. I was rather surprised at how happy I was. I guess it's another step forward in the process.

My interview was rescheduled, but eventually I made it in and it went well. It seems like I'd fit within their organization. They've offered me a contractual job to test the waters and I'm looking forward to getting started.

50 pages and out

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're probably wondering what has happened to me. Well, I don't know. Maybe I didn't like the story. Maybe I lost focus. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

At any rate, I'm working on other stuff now. I had an article published by Associated Content. You can read it here. It's called "Motorcycle Track Days: Getting Started at Schools or Open Sessions".

I have an interview tomorrow with a travel writing website for a content writer position. I'm looking forward to that. And on December 15th, they're suppose to announce the winners of a screenwriting competition that I entered. Snowballs chance in hell, I know, but it will still be nice to read the roll call.

18,000 wds.

Sadly, I have to report that NaNoWriMo has really zapped my productivity in other areas of my writing. Leading up to NaNoWriMo, I was quite productive banging out articles, travel guides, and polishing some short fiction. But, since writing a novel in a month takes a lot of time, I've dropped the other projects, in order to focus on NaNoWriMo.

On a whole, I'd say my productivity is way down. I think the variety of the different projects made things more fun. Now it's dreadful, and I don't feel like much of a writer because I've dropped a lot of projects that made me a professional.

On top of that, I'm gravely behind.

15,938 wds.

Better no doubt. I still have confidence, although the harsh reality of how quickly November is ending is now fading in. According to my count, I have 13 days, and 13 hours left. I'm going to focus on milestones. 20,000 words, 25,000 words, 35,000 words (which really is the home stretch). Breaking 20k is a good start. Reaching the half way mark at 25k is insperational, and from there pushing on to 35k is cake. Once at 35k you're a weekend of writing away.

I'll probably have 3 days off plus the weekend for Thanksgiving, so hopefully that won't inspire me to be lazy, and not write, but rather give me time to crank out some 4,000 word days. Certainly, the hen party on Thursday will give me inspiration to sit in the living room and type on my laptop.

[32% done]

12,894 wds.

Yeah, I know. I suck.

But this year I have an advantage. I know the possibilities. 15,000 word in a weekend? Not impossible.

In fact, I'm basically done. I've got a few words to hash out today. Some tomorrow, but pretty soon I'll be ticking past 25,000, and then boom. One weekend away from done.

I'm ahead of schedule. Time to kick back and have another Coke.

12,024 wds.

Well, it's something.

8,558 wds.

Success, if you will: My main character is now in Chile, he's lost his shoe, been blackmailed, and is forced to sail for the "kingpin" of Arabian horse dealers. Not bad for chapter two.

[17% done]

6,823 wds.

I know, I'm a slow slug. The problem, now that I completed my last novel via three 4,000 word days, is that with twenty-five days of writing left, their isn't significant pressure. This has been such a different contest the second time around. The important things is I'm still working regularly, and when the story starts moving, when I feel some pressure, I can zap out 8,000 words in two days, and shoot the gap, so-to-speak.

[14% done]

5,740 wds.

It's a strange thing, when you're plunging forward, begrudgingly, and you stumble upon an outcome you didn't conceive via your carefully plotted outline. That is the beauty of NaNoWriMo. It teaches you to forge ahead, that you don't have to have the perfect answer. That is the point of creativity and writing: discovery. I would go so far to wager. The more you practice spontaneous writing, the more creative you'll become at discovering beautiful outcomes.

I'm a bit down on words, after a great start, but I'm looking forward to rocking this weekend. Plus, I need to find that point, where outcomes are inevitable. The story is still too open ended.

[11% done]

2,525 wds.

NaNoWriMo 2005 is out of the gate! I wrote a couple pages at midnight, and I've learned an important lesson already. It's much easier to conclude the tail end of a 35,000 word story than it is to deal with the infinite decisions available in a brand new, 0 word story.

Other than that, things are progressing slower than I'd hoped, but fortunately I have the time this week to start right, and now, it sounds cheesy, I believe in myself. I hope to topple 4,000 tonight, and brush through week one, straight on into the realm of finite possibilities, so I can cruise home with an easy victory.

[5% done]

50,034 wds.

The End. Fade Out. Finito.

There was a time when I never thought I'd see the number 50 followed by 3 digits. This last week has been a finger blister frenzy of novel-writing bliss, that proves it's all possible. That the novel does rest in you, and now I look forward to surprising myself, and intimately following a new cast of characters, as Nanowrimo 2005 departs tonight at midnight.

It was a dark and stormy night...

48,564 wds.

Drum-roll.

45,029 wds.

Unstoppable. Train. Countryside.

43,853 wds.

The pages are flowing like an unstoppable October flash flood as I gear up for this November by finishing last year's Novel. I'm like an unstoppable novel writing train, plowing through the countryside. I'm shooting to top 45K today, leaving me with only 5K to go, and two days to do it.

41,471 wds.

I've had inspiration for my November Novel (of 2005). First, like most of my short stories, it must be first person. Only so I can insert the cutting wit of a bitter narrator, which I have an easy time writing, because, well you figure it out. Second, because it will add a tone to the story, that my idea wouldn't have in a more factual third person narrative. (Of course, the factuality is probably my own fault as an author, but what can you do.)

This also means I must finish 2004's at all costs, so I can move on with 2005 before my inspiration wanders. But we already knew I must finish at all costs.

40,605 wds.

Cruising.

This will happen. I'm not giving up like last November, and I don't want to start this November on a failure. I know it's possible to write 10,000 words in a weekend. Nay, in two days. This is my chance to prove it, and set the record right, for November 2005: The November to end Novembers.

37,222 wds.

Well, the wheel of creativity has been turning slowly. Time for the 5,000 word day to save me from doom, which is okay, because I want to practice a few of these anyway, to know that they are possible, and only somewhat miserable. Oh, and I have no idea what I'm going to write this November. That's par. No worries. As I feel like my last endeavor is dragging, because I'm board with the people, and with the predictable conflicts, I'd like to find something closer to the heart, a subject I'm interested in exploring, and I'd like to find some characters that are more quirky. Maybe those faults with my current story are the faults of the author, and not the potential of the story.

This is a good point to talk about accountability. As a writer, as a self-employed writer, you have to hold yourself accountable, or else you can find that you've let a perfectly good month slip away without much productivity. Making achievable goals and recording them goes a long way into keeping on task. Nanowrimo is all about word count accountability.

In other news, I've began writing nightclub reviews for a web site. It's been a fun, and rewarding experience. In the other half of my writing life I'm building my clips, thinking about other articles and how to approach the markets, and trying to stay accountable.

35,493 wds.

I have slowed down a bit, and now I'm wondering about this upcoming contest. Is it a good exercise for me?

Well, how I feel is that yes, if one is going to be a working writer then they should be able to click out sixteen hundred words a day, and have enough time to revise some other pieces, or click out a few paragraphs of a different story. Plus I must remember, NaNoWriMo is not about quality, but quantity.

Time to push forward and drop a few more pages, crack that 40,000 mark and head into the final stretch. All with a month to spare. I'll be tuned up and ready to go.

32,386 wds.

I've got that loving feeling.

The days starts to feel awkward if I haven't put some words down, created some momentum, chipped some rock off the 50,000 word stone.

You know, I think it will be all downhill from 35k. The way I see it, once there, a couple of 5,000 word Saturdays will wrap this thing up. With the finish so easily in sight how will I be able to resist sprinting for it? Plus the wheels of creation are turning for the follow up effort.

30,046 wds.

In a desperate attempt to finish my 50,000 word November novel before this years contest, I've been writing regularly, and climbed to the 30K word mark.

The way I see it, finishing my first novel in a year is a good goal. I'll shoot for the thirty day mark the second time around, this November.

If you have know idea what I'm talking about, visit: http://www.nanowrimo.org Registration just two weeks away.

The issue of time

I'm not going to complain about not having time to write. But I simply don't have time where I feel like writing. I need to pick a moment and write everyday during that moment. I need to simplify my output and select a few pieces to finish. This is frustrating because I've said this all before. I know this, and I continue to have problems.

Maybe the time isn't there, but I think what's derailing the writing is the desire. Like I learned with the novel, massive, boring output is the answer. For both momentum and pages. Go.

Obsession

I've been working away at a new short script about a man who destroys his life through his obsession with retribution towards a telemarketer. It's following my obsession, with writing stories whose theme revolves around passion and obsession.

The web site Simply Scripts has a nice step outline from Chinatown that has helped me develop my outlines further. You can view it here, under step outline: http://www.simplyscripts.com/treatments.html

Chemical deficiencies

I think I have a chemical deficiency in my brain. I can't hold still, I can't concentrate on anything for more than twenty minutes, and I have thousands of thing I want to do, which means on any given day there are at least five very important things to do, which completely overwhelm me. I then put them all off until eight p.m. where I finally complete one thing and go out drinking.
There's an adage that says if you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it. Which is why when you have all day to do something you tend to make a large breakfast, pot of coffee, shower, organize your sock drawer, watch TV, make a list of things to do, and then maybe, get to work on that thing you have to do, but if you're me, you most likely watch more TV, drink more coffee, go run an errand, organize your MP3 collection, check e-mail, go grocery shopping and make a killer afternoon snack.
I've always thought that the ony thing that separates ordinary people from highly successful people is discipline and hard work. Although the highly successful people probably didn't see the OT game between the Lakers and the Heat.

Working to live

Quick update on the job: I'm working for the yellow page people auditing contracts and entering items of advertising into the computer system. I doesn't involve much typing or writing skills. Mostly it requires learning a lot of stupid abbreviations for items of advertising, which also have abbreviations, and learning to use the computer data base to enter these advertising contracts.
It's not exactly fun, but it's not awful either. The pay is mediocre but at least I'm storing some money away. The lack of free time gives more importance to the free time I have, allowing me to work more effectively.
Great.

A perfectly bad idea

I did some holiday shopping at the bookstore today. Picked up a book for my friend entitled, "101 Things To Do Before You Die". Of course I read it when I got home. This is my kind of book. It's ambitious, and humorous, and oddly the first item is, "write a best-seller."
So I got to thinking. I'm known for being over ambitious, scheming and dreaming of outrageous things. Sometimes I follow through. I brought a racing motorcycle, which is still sitting in the garage. I never ran it, but I bought it. That's half the battle right. Most people have never bought a racing motorcycle. (Fewer have raced them.)
My life since I've graduated college (June 2004) has been a hollow disappointment. Sure I've had some good times, some good women, but my life's really isn't shaping up to what I'd like it to be. What I need is some focus, some goals, a good deadline, reminders, consequences, over ambitious projects, that kind of thing.
I'm think of taking up "101 Things To Do Before You Die" as a personal vendetta against the mediocracy of my life. In addition, here are some things I'd add to my personal list:
1. Become a motorcycle holigan
2. Buy a sailboat and/or sail to Vietnam (see no. 4)
3. Spend Christmas at the beach
4. Go to Vietnam
5. Write a novel
6. Learn a foreign language
7. Go on a coast to coast roadtrip across the US
8. Sit in a hot spring in Japan, clothing optional

Surrender

I've done it. I've given up. The Gods are cruel. The month is lost. Whatever.
I learned something about myself. I wrote forty-five plus pages, more than I've ever wrote on one piece before, and frankly, I've got a pretty good outline for a novel, at least at this intermediate stage.
I learned that the capacity to write is in me, and that being a working writer means writing, however mediocre a first draft, but simply vomiting it onto paper. The great writers are truly re-writers, but no writer became great without belching awful prose.
What can I say but I had several forces conspiring against me and I let them get the best of me. That is what separates the men from the boys. The writers from those who want to be. They write, no matter what the circumstances, with an unrelenting passion. I'm still locating my unrelenting passion. NaNoWriMo is an excellent opportunity to find passion through frenzied consistency.

On December 1st I start a contact job doing data entry. I'm not sure what that entails, and I'm a little worried because the woman who recruited me sounded excited that I could manage 8,000 ten-key presses an hour. I wondered why they calculated it by the hour. How could one possibly do that for an hour?

14,435 wds.

This novel is like riding a horse, where I, the rider, have fallen off and my foot is stuck in the stir-up, so the horse is dragging me along. I'm too far to quite, but I can't get back up, and there are so many other projects (I'm not sure how the last one fits the analogy).
I did write 4,000 pages between Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday my total was woefully low because I have no discipline and I worked on a short film script. Today I had more discipline but I worked on the short film script most the day.
As long as I'm producing pages I don't mind so much if I'm falling behind on one thing or another.

12,100 wds.

I'm going to make this short and sweet. The determination of writing a novel--that is sitting at the computer and pounding out 1,667 words a day, or now in my case shooting for 2,667 words a day--is powerful. The high of a good days work, and I don't mean quality, I simply mean a large word count is exciting and joyful.
I've still have a long way to go and a big hill to climb. I'm just going to take it day to day and climb back into this thing.

11,111 wds.

I thought this would be a momentous occasion to take stock (11,111 words). I haven't worked on the novel much this week. There are many reasons and this journal really isn't the outlet to talk about those things, as I prefer to deal with the novel and my writing insights. In a nut shell I've had a film project that has required much of my attention and I'm having trouble finding working space.
In a way I've simply passed over week two, slept through it if you will, and avoided all the blues associated with the second week. Of course, I'm woefully behind in word count, but I pretty much have nothing going on for the rest of November, so I can catch up if I work hard.
Where am I supposed to be? Half way done: 25,000 words. I'm about 13,000 words short right now. Which, over 15 days (the number left), isn't too bad if I write and extra 1,000 words per day. No problem.
Let's see where I report in at tonight.

10,140 wds.

Time is going by quickly. I'm in the week two blues where the entire manuscript has become a mess, including my notes, the direction my plot is going, the dynamics of the main character. Everything. So I went to Barnes & Noble.
As I'm browsing, I come across the book, "No Plot, No Problem" written by Chris, who's last name shall remain secret because I don't remember it. Anyway it's his book (he's the guy who started (?) NaNoWriMo), about how to write a novel in a month.
Apparently what I'm feeling in week two is completely normal. That things are in fact shit. Week three is suppose to be much better. My word count––which I track compulsively on a spread sheet with a bar graph, averages, projected total based on daily average, words per day needed to reach 50,000---basically the works––has dwindled of late. The weekend is partially to blame but it sounds like a norm for this stage.
I'm counteracting the dwindling total by trying to write several small sessions per day, rather than sitting down for two hours and pounding out 1,666.6 words. I'll shoot for five hundred here, four hundred later, another five hundred before bed. This strategy has kept my head above water, because while I don't feel like I really wrote this weekend, just by completing seven hundred words on two occasions I'm still in it. Heck it's fourteen hundred words I won't have to worry about later.
Chris also said once you reach 35,000 it's cake.

6,884 wds.

I'm a little under my target word count for the day, but there's still hope for this evening. I did work on the outline which should make the writing easier.
My pacing has changed, which means that the story is either really boring and drawn out (probably), or I'm adjusting better to the different pace and fluidity of writing a novel.

5,234 wds.

Well, day three off and running. I hastily finished the first chapter, and thrust straight into the second, and concentrated on picking up the pace of the story, getting into some action. That went well, although I'm still worried about how I'm going to carry this story-line for 175 pages (I'm on page 19 now. Yes!). I'm not completely worried because I knew this is what I'd be dealing with. I think I'm just used to writing at a different pace, which is why this is a great challenge for me and I'll learn lots. I already see an improvement in my pacing from the novel class I had last winter. That was really hard to expand into a marathon pace. The point is it's a learned skill like a lot of writing is.
Here are some other notes I've made to myself about writing thus far:

1. Movement --- I’m beginning to learn that this is imperative. Storytelling is about movement. Sure it’s about making a point, characters, setting, but I think for first drafts especially, where your characters will be flat, undeveloped, you should strive for movement. Discover new ways to move your story forward and keep the action going.

2. Action --- Similar to movement but I think what’s important is characters should act. When things are going flat get back to the characters and how they would act. Also show the characters through action.

3. Behind the scene --- What’s really going on behind a scene? A wedding is about two happy people getting married, but often there is far more than what we assume on the surface. For example a feud between families, problems with the caterers, a jealous brother. These add richness, truth and details to your story.

4. Senses & Setting --- Don’t ignore the six senses. Describe the setting and give it a function, i.e., and action. An ocean is an ocean, and it’s beautiful, but it effects the climate of the world around it.

3,431 wds.

Today I was pretty lazy and didn't start writing until about noon. The lesson I'm learning so far is that it really doesn't matter if you've done an outline or know anything about your characters. Sure, the story sucks, and it makes you want to stop writing, but it's still possible to write a lot. And you can't really learn about writing if you're not writing.

What I'm saying is, rather than fretting about a perfect outline, or understanding your characters fully, it seems like it might be far better to write, and learn, and discover your story and its characters that way. Then, at least you're writing. You can make it better later. But this way at least you'll have something to make better.

1,951 wds.

This morning I plugged away for another 914 words. I did the math, and 50,000 words in 30 days works out to be 1,666.6 words per day. Which if you don't suffer from writer's block is only two solid hours of writing, or maybe even less.
Thus far the writing has been pretty average. I realize that my main character is a drab bore and not someone I really want to write about. With the frenzied pace I'll fix him as I go along and get back to editing him in the beginning sometime in December when I'm working on my crappy screenplay.
Then as usual I've discovered some nice surprises, an interesting character, a conflict I hadn't conceived of, a good passage. Stellar stuff.

1,010 wds.

That was something. That was an hour of output, straight through. Hardly any stopping to think. Must be pure crap. But that's how it goes I suppose. My spelling was extremely bad by the end, which isn't saying much for me but even worse than usual. The sleep deprivation I think. This definitely give me material to work with and more importantly a sense of momentum which I hope to carry on with my other writing. That sense that you're not really writing until you're outputting large amounts of text. Obviously quality is a problem but with practice, quality improves. These are some of the principals I'm operating on. Goodnight.

Check out the novel at: http://ryanjs-novel.blogspot.com/

Eve of the Storm

As Michael discovered, November is National Novel Writing Month, and a website called NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) sponsors a write a novel in a month contest, which I am participating in for various reasons. Number one, I'm crazy. Number two, I believe output is key to success and growth as a writer. Number three, nothing seems to inspire me, meaning I'm willing to try anything. The goal is to write 50,000 words, starting at 12:01AM on November 1st and culminating at mid-night on November 30th. That's roughly 200 pages, of double spaced text, or 6.6 pages per day.

As I write this it is less than 45 minutes before the novel writing contest opens. I've been excited about it because I think the push is what I need to enable my writing, in the same way that lifting weights can give you energy for the rest of your day. Plus the story idea came to me readily and went together well, maybe because of the energy swirling around me thinking about the daunting task of writing so many words. At any rate in the past I'd considered going back to working on another novel I had in the works because it's a project I'm not as personally invested in as say screenwriting, or fiction articles, in other words, it's just writing. It doesn't have to be perfect or even good, in the same way that writing a journal is easy because of the casualness and freedom. (Casualness is a word by-the-way, I just looked it up.)

But mostly I'm tired. I don't stay up until mid-night, and certainly not to think. My head has that heavy feeling, that chanting that says, go to bed, you'll love it––and indeed I would. As Michael said, it's the same feeling you get when you have a ten page paper that you haven't started due the next day––of course sleep is going to sound like a good idea.