Monday, February 28, 2011
the King
I'm halfway through On Writing by Stephen King, and I'm loving it. I was already a huge fan of his books; the man can tell a damn good story. Hearing about how he approaches the craft is borderline too-good-to-be-true.
In the spirit of really trying to buckle down and knock out some pages, I retreated from my normal writing spot (the living room, shades drawn, TV on low in the background) to my bedroom. I shut the door, made myself a bootleg desk out of a book, and went all hermit-style.
It worked, too. I found it much easier to focus, and I completed my rewrite of our treatment in record time.
Imagine how productive I'd be if I actually had a desk!
Friday, February 25, 2011
And Again
Who wants to do some rewriting? This girl!
That's the mission this weekend: get the treatment that TWP and I have been working on into shape so we can get the go ahead to knock out the script.
I find that I've been working doubly hard on screenwriting because I'm excited to get to work on the novel and I can't work on the novel until I finish working on the script! *Deep breath*
I'm looking forward to rewriting. I don't think there's anything harder than staring down at blank white space, so the fact that we already have seven pages of goodness to maneuver and manipulate makes everything a little less stressful.
So, let's write.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Gadgets & Gizmos Aplenty
It's only a slight exaggeration to say that I've seen The Little Mermaid 500 times. Aaaaand now I'm going to have that song in my head for the rest of the day.
The gadget I'm referring to is Scrivener. After a bit of blog-surfing, it seemed like that was the go-to program for authors trying to wrangle their book ideas into some sort of coherent document. You can also use it for scripts! I checked it out, and needless to say I'm a bit obsessed with it.
I get overwhelmed easily and my brain likes to shut down as opposed to sorting through various ideas, so I'm pretty sure this gadget might save my life, hyperbolically speaking. Unfortunately, I have a PC thing going on right now and Scrivener is first and foremost a Mac program. It's still in the beta testing phase for Windows. I downloaded the beta, though, bugs and all, because I'm a big fan of instant gratification.
Maybe this is the excuse I need to splurge on a Mac? Don't tempt me, people.
The gadget I'm referring to is Scrivener. After a bit of blog-surfing, it seemed like that was the go-to program for authors trying to wrangle their book ideas into some sort of coherent document. You can also use it for scripts! I checked it out, and needless to say I'm a bit obsessed with it.
I get overwhelmed easily and my brain likes to shut down as opposed to sorting through various ideas, so I'm pretty sure this gadget might save my life, hyperbolically speaking. Unfortunately, I have a PC thing going on right now and Scrivener is first and foremost a Mac program. It's still in the beta testing phase for Windows. I downloaded the beta, though, bugs and all, because I'm a big fan of instant gratification.
Maybe this is the excuse I need to splurge on a Mac? Don't tempt me, people.
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Friday, February 18, 2011
Srsly Guise
It's the weekend, and it's time to get down to some serious business, aka writing.
Here's the thing. The writing partner (henceforth to be known as TWP) and I had been bouncing some ideas for the book around, but I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around a very important piece of the story: the thing that made my main character who she was. TWP kept telling me that I'd see it eventually, how she'd fit in this world we were creating for her, but it was like peering through thick fog. She was blurry to me.
Until today, anyway. Today my whole story (or at least a good chunk and a nice starting point) flashed before me, and one idea lead to another boom boom boom down like dominoes. I changed the world around my main character, and everything came into sharp focus. I jotted it all in an email to TWP and am waiting for a reaction.
I say reaction because 1) TWP is usually our idea guy, I simply refine them, and 2) TWP's not a big fan of change. Even less so of sweeping change.
This should be fun.
Here's the thing. The writing partner (henceforth to be known as TWP) and I had been bouncing some ideas for the book around, but I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around a very important piece of the story: the thing that made my main character who she was. TWP kept telling me that I'd see it eventually, how she'd fit in this world we were creating for her, but it was like peering through thick fog. She was blurry to me.
Until today, anyway. Today my whole story (or at least a good chunk and a nice starting point) flashed before me, and one idea lead to another boom boom boom down like dominoes. I changed the world around my main character, and everything came into sharp focus. I jotted it all in an email to TWP and am waiting for a reaction.
I say reaction because 1) TWP is usually our idea guy, I simply refine them, and 2) TWP's not a big fan of change. Even less so of sweeping change.
This should be fun.
Happy Friday, y'all. Here's a little something that made me laugh so hard I got strange looks at the office:
(via filmdrunk)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Follow Through
I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. All I managed to figure out after high school and college was that I wasn't cut out for a 9-to-5 job. I'm not good with cubicles. I fell into writing by chance, and happened to find the thing that I love to do. Don't think I don't know how lucky I am.
Wanna be a screenwriter? You've gotta move to LA. So I did. Was it terrifying? Maybe. I may or may not have cried in the cab on the way to my new apartment the night I landed at LAX. You get over it.
My writing partner and I worked our little fingers to the bone. Perseverance paid off: with a little help and a little luck , we landed ourselves a fantastic manager who also happens to be a fantastic guy.
So we're on the path. Writing, rewriting, and rewriting again. Hoping to catch someone's attention and nail down that elusive "yes."
In between my day job and my night-time / weekend screenwriting, I'm going to write a YA novel. I've had this character in my head, and I'm not sure her story can be told in 120 pages. At least not yet.
So, follow through. It's not just a fantastic Gavin DeGraw song, you know.
Wanna be a screenwriter? You've gotta move to LA. So I did. Was it terrifying? Maybe. I may or may not have cried in the cab on the way to my new apartment the night I landed at LAX. You get over it.
My writing partner and I worked our little fingers to the bone. Perseverance paid off: with a little help and a little luck , we landed ourselves a fantastic manager who also happens to be a fantastic guy.
So we're on the path. Writing, rewriting, and rewriting again. Hoping to catch someone's attention and nail down that elusive "yes."
In between my day job and my night-time / weekend screenwriting, I'm going to write a YA novel. I've had this character in my head, and I'm not sure her story can be told in 120 pages. At least not yet.
So, follow through. It's not just a fantastic Gavin DeGraw song, you know.
