An Orgy May Ensue

I'm on a roll - slipped disked, home-bound ... here's a short comedy written in the last few days. Not sure if it's any good, but I had fun writing it!

An Orgy May Ensue

A Short is Up!

It's a three-page psychological thriller called Loved You Long Time and you are welcome to have a look-see (just click on the title). :)

EXPERIMENTS

  I have pushed the self-imposed pressures aside as I realised they were not exactly realistic ... also too many (paying) jobs showed up these last few weeks for which some mental time and energy were needed ... also I've had some fun.

The point is that I still have some deadlines to give me some kind of structure, but they are more relaxed and not stressing me. And thus I am allowing myself to experiment.

I am still at a stage where I am trying different ways to approach the writing of a screenplay, looking for what works best for me. And so I am currently working on two:

- The first one I mentioned previously and has been outlined, re-outlined and re-re-outlined.

- For the second one I'm going blind. It started with an opening image. Characters have appeared who are calling the shots; I'm just following them. The interesting thing is that it is taking shape in a way I am surprisingly happy about (so far).

I am on the first rough draft for both of them and about the same stage: approaching the end of act one. (Can you believe that? With all the preparation it took for the first script and I'm already catching up with the second one?)

They have the same deadline for this draft: both to be finished by the end of this month.

I write on each of them not so much alternately as depending on my mood of the day ... the first one being a comedy, the second a psychological thriller. This little experiment could also help me see if there's indeed a genre I am more comfortable with writing or merely better at.

Let's see which one wins the race!

When you go in the right direction, good things come to you

  The last week or so has been incredible in terms of meeting people. Whereas I wasn't sure if I should start networking before I had any good-enough script ready, by talking to people, I have now someone interested in reading my (hardly started!) script. I am not so much excited by the prospect of seeing the film already that much closer to being made (I wouldn't be surprised if nothing came out of this particular project) but I am excited by the motivation it is giving me to finish the screenplay.

There is now a reader out there (who is not a friend) who will read it and possibly consider producing it.  More importantly, there is now a reader who is expecting to read my screenplay, the sooner the better, and I must not let them down. This is a chance to not only prove my reliability in coming up with the goods but also to showcase my skills as a writer.

The last few days have also seen me starting a collaboration on a short film. This too is a real motivator as we've already got a bunch of enthusiastic people involved. It has also been most interesting brainstorming ideas with someone else when I am used to working on my own (I am pleased to report that although we at times had slighty different views, I found myself very open to her ideas and we managed to weave in both our inputs nicely, me-thinks.) I knew that once a screenplay was written I would be fine letting it go. What I didn't know was whether I could create with someone else ... I can! Hurray! (I should watch it, mind you. The script is not finish, only a rough outline.)

Righty. Gotta get my sleep.

(damn that was a lot of parentheses tonight.)

  I am pleased to report that yesterday's to-do list was duly completed. Except for the 5 pages. Not that I haven't done any work on the script, but instead I have tightened up my outline. I had left it simmering for over a week, and my MC (main character)'s motivation wasn't clear enough. His background is now more polished, he's grown younger and I think it works better. Oh and there's no more hitman mistaken identity story here so I guess I need to find an alternative title for it.

  I watched Scorpion yesterday. I can't say it blew me away. The story is unoriginal and not even well written. I didn't believe in either of the love stories and the bad boys didn't strike me as particularly scary, which made for a completely unemotional journey. To understand the importance of emotions in a screenplay I recommend Karl Iglesias'  Writing For Emotional Impact; it's also got some invaluable tips on how to make the reader feel and care for the characters and story.  The film wasn't all bad though. The soundtrack is what pushed it forward, supporting the MC's strive to fight his way out of his hole and sort himself out. Although I rolled my eyes at most of the dialogues, one bit has stuck into my mind (my translation):

LÉA: Why do you ignore me?
ANGELO: I don't ignore you. I don't see you.

Finally, attention to details. The MC's nickname is Scorpion. He's a sweaty muscular fighter and he's got that ridiculous little lion's head tattooed on his arm. Not even one with a big royal mane. What I would have liked to see, if he had to have a tattoo, is a big Scorpion one, preferably the design seen at the beginning and on the poster. I'm just saying.

Smells Like Spring Spirit!

To-do List

- Laundry

- Hoovering

- Cut nails

- Contact publishers for proofreading jobs

- Write minimum 5 pages Hitman screenplay

- Watch film (Scorpion)

- Work out

Ready, Set ... Action!

  Here's the deal.

I have five years to sell a screenplay, else ... well I haven't figured it out yet, but else something.

This blog will follow my journey into making it as a paid screenwriter as well as giving me an outlet for that bursting creativity that I struggle to contain and which at times takes the form of painting (and drawing), at times that of photography and at other times, that of writing (prose, poetry etc.). It would also take the form of music but I have neighbours. And I'd like to sculpt too. Cooking can also be very creative ...

The obstacles I have to face are: too many interests, short attention span and little monies.

Will I make it?

Ta-da!