Monday, March 31, 2008

All Ready?

Script Frenzy launches in a little less than 8 hours. Let's see how I'm situated to begin the process, shall we?

Basic plot synopsis. Check.
Outline. Not done.
All characters named. Uh, maybe I'll do that tonight?
Locations finalized. Sort of.
Sick daughter well again. I hope so. I called Christopher this afternoon, and he said Edythe's doing better than yesterday, and she doesn't seem to have the fever that's been plaguing her for the past week. So that's good.
Home remodeling projects from the great flood of December finished. Almost. There are still some pieces of wall missing in the bathroom. I need to paint the other half of the shower room tonight. Aaaaaand there's that whole plastering thing going on in the WC, with the dust and the yeah, it's going great.
Caught up on other home projects so I can focus on this. No.
Etsy shop up and running. No. Will have to wait until Script Frenzy is over, I fear. Plus, that will give me more time to obsess over my items being Not Good Enough.
Read other screenplays for sense of style and structure. I read one during lunch today, that counts, right?
Script-formatting software downloaded onto computer. No. And Christopher's in class tonight, so I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow night.
A sense of confidence that this project will be less crappy than the last one. Definitely not.
A sense that I'm going to charge ahead anyway. YES!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Work It Out

Having a sick baby is no fun. I feel like she's been sick every other week this year. But it is spring now, and surely the warm breezes will abolish those germs, right?

Tonight she had a fever of 101, for the second day in a row. I'd had her cooped up in the house all day, so I took her for a walk tonight to show her the trees blooming in the neighborhood. And while we walked, I worked out my plot for Script Frenzy. This is a pretty good tool, actually. I kept talking to her, trying to tell her the story in a way that made sense and was compelling, and that act of relating it through the spoken rather than written word seemed to make a big difference to me. Fortunately, she doesn't have the vocabulary for criticism or embarrassment yet.

After she went to bed I jotted it all down, so I don't forget what brilliant thoughts/incoherent ramblings I just had. There are still some plot points I'm trying to work out, and I may change my mind about all this tomorrow, but tonight I'm pretty excited about it.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Kvetching

Writing blog entries is like screaming into the darkness. Does anyone hear me? No one? Someone creepy? Some snarky troll? I don’t tend to get a lot of feedback on here, obviously, although a few people comment via e-mail. (Thanks, Aunt!) But for the most part, I put ideas out, and get nothing back. Which perhaps would be a good analogy for the process of trying to get published, although in that case one usually gets a rejection letter, at least.

It’s also kind of odd, writing about the writing process, because so much of it is private. It’s one thing to talk about a daily wordcount, as a way of holding myself accountable. It’s another to talk about my process in-depth.

But Script Frenzy begins in a week, so I’m guessing that soon I’ll be posting up a storm. I’m developing an idea that I’m excited about, and creating an ever-increasing and detailed plot summary. I think I’ll write a screenplay this time. And if, somewhere far down the road, someone crafts a pair of million-dollar shoes for my big feet, you can bet I’ll wear them.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Hello Again

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I really haven't felt like sitting in front of a computer lately. I do enough of that at work. I've been seeing my family, repairing my house, and designing items for my soon-to-open etsy shop. So I've been creative, just not in the writerly way that I report here.

But spring is in the air, and a young lady's thoughts turn to dark theatres and Script Frenzy. I went to sign up today, but lo and behold, I had already registered and forgotten about it. Oops.

So now I'm signed up, with a password I remember and everything. I'm trying to settle on an idea now, so I can do my research before I start. I think this process will be a little easier for me than diving into writing a novel for the first time. It just feels more familiar, from all those years in theatre, working on various aspects of script development. But we'll see what I think a month or two from now, right?