June's Closing In

So, this whole idea of having my scene board done by the end of May -- WHAT was I thinking? Was I thinking that I actually have free time or can stay up until 2 am every night like a twenty-something lackabout?

anyway...

I have Act 1 roughed out - though it's light. Only 7 scenes and I should have 9 or 10. I have some ideas on how to flesh that out (not flush it out, you Iron Mountain PM readers), so I'm not too worried. I need to inject the actual Disciple into Act 1 so she's not a complete surprise in the end.

My real worry here is time. The in laws arrive on Thursday so my time has been consumed by making the house look less like a neglected pre-school.


Still, I think I can get it done.


If anyone actually wants me to post the scenes as I'm laying them out, let me know via comment or email. I may wait until the board is done so I'm not distracting myself with the transcription.

American Idol and Screenwriting don't mix

OK, so my duh! moment this evening was realizing that trying to write some scenes while watching the American Idol finale show with my wife was not going to be effective.

DUH!

The plus side is that I actually GOT SOMETHING ON MY BOARD!
That makes me happy.

I got the opening scene figured out. I struggled a bit with the conflict, but realized that it was Man vs. Society as Porter is hassled by some so-called legitimate journalists in the parking lot.
I also got the scene where Porter confronts Wells on her porch, they fight, and she kills him.

Digression - One thing that I find amusing about this process is the directness of laying out scenes and beats for a screenplay compared to how you tell a story. Your story will be excruciatingly built. You'll keep your audience in suspense. There will be some question as to what just happened. In the short story I wrote that I'm using as a base for Dark Disciple, the second scene I describe above has pithy fight dialog and ends with Porter seeing a bright light and feeling himself fall into it. (The story is from his point of view.) In the beats and the scene description I boil it down to Porter confronts Wells. They fight. Wells kills Porter. No subtlety or nuance there.
Just the facts, ma'am.

Anyway - I can sleep tonight because I feel like I really started.

Oh, and I spilled the beans about this project to my team at work today. MORE PRESSURE!!! WOOT!

Scene Board

Last night I made my scene board. There's nothing on it yet, but its emptiness haunts me. Nature abhors a vacuum and so does my creative need -- or backlog of guilt and shame -- whatever.

Yesterday over my lunch I re-read the section from Save the Cat on building the scene board. When I got a free moment last night I found an old, giant clipboard that I salvaged years ago. I don't know what it's for. I think it was some sort of medical clipboard. It's like 30" x 30", has two clips on it, and a cutout carrying handle. I always thought it would be good for sketching.

But I digress...

So I found the old clipboard after the kids were sleeping and while the wife was out with the church ladies (lower case "c", we're Episcopalians) and taped off my four sections. Then labeled the rows Acts 1 through 4, and taped a post-it pad to the board for easy access. I've decided to use post-its since it's a clipboard, not a bulletin board. I may regret that decision later when the post-its start falling off, but I just wanted TO GET IT DONE!!!!

I'll get my initial scenes from the beat sheet up on it tonight, take a picture and post it tomorrow.

As always, it feels good to get the project rolling again.

Interlude 1 - When the cat's away

Been pretty quiet here and don't I know it. I started this blog as a way to guilt myself into writing by pointing my friends at it. I figured that the pressure that someone might be checking my progress would be enough to inspire me to actually keep writing.

I was only partially correct. I feel the guilt, but I'm not moving forward very well with my writing. Sure, I have all the excuses everyone else has. Well, everyone with a demanding day job, 2 small children, a house, a spouse they want to spend time with, and a modicum of a social and spiritual life. What I haven't had is a plan. As a software program manager, you might wonder how I made it this far with a writing project without one. I suppose it's because this has been a low priority. So now I need to ratchet it higher.

I won't bore anyone with details on a project plan. But here's the next milestone - my scene outline will be done by June 1. And here's the biggest milestone - my script will be done by August 9. Or at least the full first draft.

Man - I can feel the guilt pressures building already!

By the way - thanks to Kimmer and Kat for the small comments that started my avalanche of guilt.