October Update

I love nutmeg, so maybe this bodes well for me.

So I set a goal for the month of September to finish a first draft of a feature screenplay. And I basically did it, minus a few (albeit, major) scenes. I ran out of steam for those last few scenes and have taken the last two weeks to write the final fifteen pages. Today I finished.

This week, I need to reread the script and address some minor notes that I've been making during the writing of the first draft, mostly continuity/clarity stuff. I think the draft is good. I hope it's good. I'm almost ready for people to read it, so I'm in that nervous-excited phase. It's the phase right before the oh-god-I'm-overwhelmed rewriting/second draft phase. Can't wait!

September Spirit!

Yea. I feel like cheerleader.

I've set a lofty goal for myself: finish the first draft of a screenplay by October 1st.

This is what my heart feels like when I finish a first draft.

It's been awhile since I've written a feature. Lately, I've been focusing on building up my TV portfolio, and I think it's time to throw another movie into the mix. I've had this script idea for awhile, certain scenes have always been vivid. Months ago, I wrote ten pages and then started working on another TV script.

Over Labor Day weekend I outlined. I'm working off of a 3 page document that contains brief descriptions of all the scenes I think the movie needs. Of course, a lot of those scenes will evolve as I go along and my characters and plot surprise me, but it's comforting to have an outline if you really need to crank out pages in a short amount of time. There's no pondering in front of the computer where the story is going or where it will end up. And if I come up with a better idea for a character or plot point that has a ripple effect on the rest of the story, it's not as big of a deal because I can look at my outline and see exactly how it will affect my other scenes and adjust accordingly.

On Monday I started writing. I have a long way to go, but I'm looking forward to the end of the month.

Captain America: The Mediocre Beginning of Another Hopefully Uncrappy Franchise

I haven't seen any comic book movies this summer. Not even X-Men, which was well-reviewed, and I loved the first X-Men movie, so I've been upset at myself for missing it. Since all the critics seemed to enjoy CA, I thought it would be a last ditch effort to see a good summer popcorn movie.

Okay, it's been a long summer season, and I think the critics' brains have been fried. My expectations were raised due to all the good buzz, and boy was this disappointing. I don't think I've ever seen Chris Evans in a movie, and I know all the young hot guys in Hollywood competed for this part, so I expected his charisma to just leap off the screen at me. Nope. Not that he was bad, but I didn't feel like this guy was a star. (Oh, I just remembered, he was in Scott Pilgrim, not that it matters.) And Hugo Weaving doing his best Werner Herzog! All I could think of was Werner Herzog reading Go the Fuck to Sleep (the best celebrity reading so far). It was so hard not to get the giggles every time he was onscreen.

The movie starts out slowly, ahem, boring. Just as it gets interesting, it becomes a montage. Captain America is never, not even for half a second, ever in danger. There is no tension at all. No big obstacles for him to work around and outsmart. No suspense. Isn't that what action movies are all about? Halfway through the movie I turned to Hubs and said, "I set my expectations way too high." He thought the movie was even worse than I did.

I will keep Captain America in mind when writing action in the future. Your protagonist needs to be in peril. Preferably more than once. The audience shouldn't be able to figure out how he/she is going to escape. There must be tension. The opening scene should be awesome in some way that's unexpected. The last scene should be solid and feel like a real ending. The best part of the movie shouldn't be a trailer for another movie.

Battling Writer's Block

I have not been nearly as productive the last few months as I should have been. I've had the luxury of taking some time off of work and in the last half of 2010, I wrote like a madwoman. I completed first drafts of two screenplays, did a major rewrite of a third, and wrote a drama pilot. Not too shabby. Even better, I think all those projects are solid pieces to enhance my portfolio...after I do one or two more rounds of revisions.

2011 came around and I was still on fire. At the beginning of the year, I wrote a comedy spec, which also turned out well. And then I was done, spent. I missed bringing home a paycheck, and I missed the socialization I got at work. Who would've ever thought I liked people so much? But, worst of all, my enthusiasm for all my half-ideas dried up. Yes, I had writer's block. And it sucked. All spring, I wrote nothing. I'm sure I could've done a better job of pushing through it, but I felt uninspired and helpless. This was the first time I've had such a creative block. It was my worst fear, and wallowing in it felt like I was confronting it, I guess. I don't know. I don't have any great advice on how to get through writer's block. But it's over, and hopefully it won't return, ever. But that's a lofty goal. Part of me is glad I've gone through it. I survived. I didn't even need to go on anti-depressants.

I just landed a new job that starts in a couple weeks. It's going to be hard. It's going to be a lot of hours. The commute is not going to be fun. But I'm happy to be collecting a paycheck again. I'm relieved to have a set schedule. And I'm really unafraid of writer's block now. Whenever I'm working and don't have the time I'd like to have for writing, that's when all the ideas come. Oh, cruel, cruel creativity. So I'm looking forward to having little time to write and making the most of it. Creativity, bring it on.

Deadlines Passed

I'm taking a break from my vacation posts for a writing update.

June 1 was the deadline for the Warner Bros. Writers' Workshop and the Austin Film Festival. I was trying to write a second comedy spec for WB so I would have a choice of what to submit. Didn't happen. So I sent in my "It's Always Sunny" spec. I submitted different drama specs to WB twice before without any success, so I'm going to see if I can get anywhere on the comedy route.

For Austin, I was originally planning on submitting the same three screenplays I sent to Nicholl. But I still want to do some revising and get more notes on two of those three scripts, so I decided to save the money and didn't enter any of them. But I did whip my hour-long pilot, "Feedback," into shape, and I'm kind of loving it. I haven't entered that anywhere yet, so Austin gets it first. Hope they like it.

The year is almost halfway over, can't believe it. I absolutely need to write a second comedy spec this month. Then the second half of the year I want to devote to writing new screenplays.

Nicholl Fellowship - part two

Okay, I didn't revise as extensively as I probably should have, but I did revise. I decided to stick to my plan and enter because you never know, right? I entered another romantic comedy and a dramedy. I'm hoping lots of comedies break through this year. Fingers crossed three times now.

Nicholl Fellowship - part one

So, I have three scripts that I want to enter into the Nicholl Fellowship this year. The last time I entered the Nicholls I think was in 2005, so it's been awhile. That year, I didn't make it to the Quarterfinals, and I'm hoping one of my scripts can sneak through this year. I say "sneak through" because out of 6,000 entries, it takes a little luck along with a good script to get past the first round.

My first entry, The Rebound Guy, is one of my rom coms. I know the Nicholls aren't known for selecting comedies, but Greg Beal, the guy who organizes the contest, keeps emphasizing that they don't discriminate against comedies. Plus, I think it's a darn good script, so we'll see. Fingers crossed.

Time to whip the other two scripts into shape before the final deadline.

Blargety, Blargety, Blargety

That's the backwards sound that plays on the guys' production company logo during one of the seasons, and for awhile it was infectiously stuck in my head.

Nickelodeon Fellowship application has been mailed. Fingers crossed.

Time to start working on a new comedy spec and pilot.

Sunny

It's taken much longer than anticipated to figure out the spec I'm going to write for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" for the Nickolodeon Fellowship.  Initially, I thought it wouldn't be so hard. The show doesn't have many limitations. The episodes are all stand-alones, so there aren't any arcs that I need to figure in story-wise. It's pretty straight forward. Degenerates being politically incorrect degenerates.

I decided to write the spec after watching the 6th season which recently aired on FX, which I thought was hilarious. I went back and watched the previous five seasons to immerse myself in the show and learn more about how these characters came to be. I had all of these great ideas for my episode storylines and I'd jot them down. As I watched the five seasons, one by one, my ideas had already been done. Wah-wah. Slowly, I regrouped. I had ideas for my A and B storylines, got them to work together, but was lost for a C story. Then I got the C story and it didn't fit into A and B in their current form. So today, everything was made to work together. Sort of. I now have an outline I feel confident enough in that I can start writing. Tomorrow, dammit.

2011 Resolutions

I love New Year's Resolutions.  It's a chance to put myself out there to the world to be held accountable.  And if I don't reach my goals...maybe next year, right?  I don't beat myself up too badly.  Plus, I'm a list maker, and this is THE ultimate list, no?

This is the list right now.  I'm sure it will continue to grow throughout the year.

Things To Accomplish in 2011 in No Particular Order:

* Run a 5K (hoping to knock this one out early in the year)
* Write a Comedy Spec for the Nickolodeon Fellowship
* Write another Comedy Spec in case I make the first cut of the Nickelodeon Fellowship
* Revise "Ten Seconds" and get it to its fighting weight
* Enter "Ten Seconds" in the Nicholl Fellowship and make quarter-finals :)
* Revise "The Right Reasons" and get it to its fighting weight
* Polish Pilot for Fox Developement Program - Arg, Fox is restructuring its Diversity department and isn't doing the Development Program this year
* Write a Drama Spec (maybe In Plain Sight?)
* Write another Drama Spec (no clue as of yet)
* Enter Warner Brothers Writer's Workshop
* Enter NBC Writers on the Verge
* Blog at least 3 times per week
* Write hard R action/thriller Screenplay
* Take a trip to somewhere far, far away with Hubs
* Get a Manager
* Quit biting my nails.  I've been a biter my whole life.  I can't seem to shake it.
* Read twelve books (at least)
* Eat at ten new acclaimed restaurants
* Write nun Screenplay
* Never put "Lose X amount of pounds" on a New Year's Resolution List ever again

Looking forward to another busy year.

2010 In Review



Ah, Reflections - A rare double rainbow in L.A.


2010 was a great year for me. 

I started out the year by getting married in L.A. and honeymooning in Belize.  Swimming in warm water, snorkeling amongst the second largest barrier reef in the world, and climbing Mayan ruins was the best ever start to a year.

In July, we spent a few days in Maine with Hubs' family.  We played a lot of board games and relaxed next to the ocean.  It was lovely.

I started a blog and then ignored it.

In August, Hubs and I visited Glacier National Park, a place that holds many great childhood memories for me.  We saw 4 bears and 11 bighorn sheep.  It rained a lot, snowing at times, but we went on a magical hike that I'll never forget.

I decided I wanted to devote more of my life to writing.  Actually, I decided I want to try and make a career of it.  I didn't write too much at the beginning of the year, but I made up for it in the second half of the year.  I wrote and wrote and wrote, and ended up with the follwing scripts: 

* A "Chuck" spec.
 
* I did fairly major revisions on "The Rebound Guy," a rom com I finished in 2009.  Now I think it's in great shape.

* The first draft of a pilot, a supernatural drama that takes place in high school.  I will be revising it in 2011.

* The first draft of another rom-com either called "The Right Reasons" or "Key to My Heart," still debating.  I'm currently writing the second draft.

* The first draft of a drama, "Ten Seconds."  I will be revising it early in 2011.  It's the most contest-friendly script I've written and I plan on entering it into many competitions in 2011.

Five scripts in seven months.  Not too shabby.  I'm going to try to keep riding the momentum into the new year.