A Good Day

Though I'm not sure how much I really believe in fate -- I think that we make our own destinies -- part of me wonders if the complete lack of paying work I currently have is fate's way of making me pound out this new script.

So I brainstormed a lot of new second-half ideas, and thought about how to do more interesting visual things with my premise, a story idea which happily lends itself to "scenes we've never seen before", which are always very, very nice.

I continued pounding out my first act as well, and found my characters talking to me, which is also nice. Unexpectedly, I also found more dark humor creeping into the tale, which seems to serve it well. A lot of it still needs polishing and better finessing, but the tone of this script, which was elusive for a while, is starting to firm up.

By the end of the day, I had written 11 new pages, as well as reworking large chunks of the 12 previous pages. This morning I got up at 6AM, made my wife coffee and kissed her goodbye as she headed off to work, and then pounded out 2 more pages, essentially wrapping up the first act.

It still needs some work, but I'm very happy what's on the page so far, and at this point it's already a tight, intriguing 25 pages.

But I had most of the first act in my head, and now I'm heading into more uncharted territory. I know the basic plot beats of the story, but there's a lot of work to do within them, and though I have filled a lot of legal pad pages with ideas, there are a ton of choices to be still be made. In the past, I've seized on plots that seemed to work, rather than searching for the best one. This time, I'm determined to spend more time plotting, though the fact that I have a first act to build on definitely helps.

Last night, my wife asked me if I'd be disappointed if I never sold a script. She knows what a longshot it all is.

I told her that I enjoy writing, and until actual work comes in, it's either write or sit around and watch Judge Judy and The People's Court all day. She agreed that writing was better.

So now I'm headed to a coffee shop, to go through all my notes, and start organizing acts 2 and 3 on index cards, while brainstorming some more. I'm riding the wave, while it's there. I urge you all to seize the day as well, no matter what your urge is.