Tougher Than I Remember

I don't remember Script Frenzy starting out so rough, but then again, last year I scrapped the first ten pages I wrote and started over with an entirely new script, so I guess that could be called rough.

I've spent an hour writing two pages. Just 577 words. An hour. At this rate, it's going to take me a couple hours a day to do the five pages I need for each. Which is pretty much most of my free writing time.

Five pages doesn't sound so bad, does it, when Nano demands seven each day. And honestly, Script Frenzy only demands three pages a day (100 pages in 30 days), but since I'm leaving town on the 22nd, I have only 20 days (I'll need the 21st to get us all packed and ready--or to make up the last few pages).

100 pages in 20 days.

And not just any ole 100 pages. 100 SCRIPT pages.

What I truly forgot was how different the thought process is for script-writing versus prose writing. I have to twist my head all into visuals. For example, this morning I'm thinking about my second scene, which introduces the main characters. And I've already gravitated toward a point of view character, Carly Wells. I'm thinking about what action she'll be doing (cleaning up the apartment she shares with her fiance) and I'm crafting bits of narrative as I go ("She loved Will for his scientific brilliance, not for the Texas Hold'em parties he threw every Friday night, leaving her with a mess to clean...") when I realize, Stop! You are thinking in prose!

Erase, rewind. Start again.

INT. STUDIO APARTMENT -- MORNING

CARLY WELLS, a twentysomething co-ed with a sense of orderliness, is throwing away empty pizza boxes and beer cans. And does not look happy about it.

The first day is always the roughest, but now that I'm wrapping my head around the style once more, I'll be in full swing soon. And thank goodness, because I'll be plotting building by then and I'll need all the brain cells I can spare for that part!

It's good to be script-writing again.

Thinking Onward

Finished Iceholm, sent it to the group for blood-letting at next week's meeting. Apparently, I'll be the only victim on the altar of critique, which makes me a little nervous. This is a new version of an old story and while I'm curious how it will read, I'm feeling protective of it and hope it will get as many pats on the back as it will stabs in the gut. Either way, however, it'll end up better for it.

Now I'm looking forward to my script-writing. I'm waffling between two opposite ideas. One is a horror, the other an adventure with a sprinkling of romance. Both have about as much plot idea going for them. Both are interesting. Both would help improve my writing by attempting in their own ways. But I can't write both. Guess I'll be spending the next week going back and forth between the two ideas until the day Script Frenzy begins. It's anyone's guess at this point which way I'll go. Yesterday, I swore it would be the adventure. Today I'm leaning toward the horror. Anyone's guess.

Script Frenzy!

I took the plunge and signed up for Script Frenzy again this year. 100 pages in 30 days, only I'll be in Texas the last week of April, so I'll be doing 100 pages in 21 days. Five pages a day, in script format. That I think I can handle after seven pages a day for Nanowrimo. Of course, come about April 10th, I might be eating those words.

And I've decided, to help myself out with plotting, that I'm going to adapt The Trunk to a screenplay. So when I get around to writing it, I have more of a plot put together than I do now.

I'm looking forward to it! It should be an interesting attempt, and whether the script works or not, it will be good to play around with the plot.

Anyone else up for the challenge? You'll find me as Carissa.Reid on the Script Frenzy site.

Behind Door Two

It's good to have focus again. I've gotten two scenes edited on Trinket Box and I'm well on my way to reaching 100 pages on The Trunk (which was Mummy Case). My brilliant plan is to have the first 50 pages of Trinket Box ready for the group for the first March meeting and to have all 75 pages for February written for The Trunk.

If I can do the same in March, I'll feel ahead enough on both to be able to work on Script Frenzy in April. I might even be able to keep editing Trinket Box along with writing my script, but I'm not going to hold myself to that quite yet.

After all, there is Reven to consider as well. And I still have a chapter to finish revising for it. I'm hoping to get a little work done on that today.

I can't believe I'm already thinking about Script Frenzy. Actually, I've been thinking about Nanowrimo already, and contemplated putting off The Trunk until then, but reconsidered. That's just too long to wait and I'd rather have the pages now. I'll find something else to write by then. Something new and fresh, because I think I'll need it about then.

As for Script Frenzy, I'm still toying around with the haunted house idea TC and I came up with last June (longer, really, but that was when we fleshed it out--was that a pun?). I'm keeping my option open, though, but nothing else has yet to materialize. In March, I'll add another 5 or 10 pages to my monthly goal to be closer to what I'll need to write in April (100 pages).

Honestly, though, Trinket Box is eating up most of my enthusiasm. I love working on this story. I'm amazed how much of it clings to me, even now. Scenes I was planning on ditching I'm now finding too compelling and so I'm trying to find a way to work them into the flow of the plot. And thank god for Creepy Frenchman! He's going to be my failsafe for plotting when all else fails.

Focusing on these novels is going to destroy my chances of having another short story ready for WotF, though. I need to look up the next submission deadline if I'm going to make it. I'll need all the time I can to work in another revision.

UPDATE: The deadline is April 1st. Whew. Won't have to worry about it during Script Frenzy. But that only leaves me about a month and a half! Gotta start working on something for it.

'Nuff said.

Eyeing The End

Hit 81 pages on my script today. That's 17010 words (give or take) in word count speech. Only 3000 words left to go. And in two days. Heck, I've come up from behind from much farther during NaNo, so I'm not sweating the next two days at all.

It helps that I had a rather chatty character show up in the last scene. I never thought the Queen of England would be so chatty, but she was. She really wants to stage the show. And she was so much fun to write, I was tempted to let her. But I got through the scene and even stayed on subject and ended up two more pages along than I planned. Always a bonus. I'm trying to figure out a way to have the Queen make another appearance before the end.

I'm very close to the end now, too. I'm debating about having one more pass at an attempt on my heroine's life (which would be giggles of fun). Just one more, so my dashing first mate can save her. Or rather come in to find her saving herself and clean up the mess. Hee.

And then I get to blow up many ships. Fun.

I'm still enjoying this whole scripting process. And I'm already considering ideas for the rewrite. Yup, I'm going to take a week off from the script and then turn around and start on it again. But this time I won't have to nail myself in front of the typewriter with only the script. I can pick up Mummy Case again and Warrior Storm and another idea I've been toying with (because I'll have one story off the rough draft list, so it's time to add a new one, right?). It's actually an older idea that I've had a couple of failed attempts at, but I've had some new inspirations.

The one thing Script Frenzy has absolutely proven for me is that I like my pace of three to five pages a day and the freedom to work on whatever story is on hand that strikes my fancy for that day. I keep proving to myself that I can knuckle under and work on just the one story but it isn't my favorite way to write. So . . . I've decided I won't be participating in NaNo this year. Four years is good for me (hey, that's like going through High School, right? I'm graduating). But I'll be free to serve as cheering section and sounding board for any INKers who will be doing it again!

And I'll be encouraging you to give Script Frenzy a try next year!

Excerpting

I'm 41 pages into my script. (That makes only 59 more pages to go! Egads! How did I get so behind?) I finally typed in an edited excerpt onto my Script Frenzy profile. If you are interested (or bored and looking for a cheap laugh), here is the link.

I'm pleased with how it cleaned up. Maybe I'll take it and show the original versus the first edit. Not that I changed a lot. Mainly language and character direction. But it reads better now.

Peering Through the Contruction

Slowly piecing my days back together, but it's been slow going lately. It seems to take more time to prepare and then debrief after a vacation than it does to actually take the vacation itself. Add the fact that my Mom underwent elective surgery on Friday and will need help at home for at least the next week, and my days have slowly not become my own. If they ever really are, having a toddler and a dog and a husband to keep up with three-quarters of the time. I've given myself permission to take the one quarter that is mine when I'm not doing dishes and cooking and keeping up with the places to do whatever sounds relaxing. Like reading far too many comic books or watching back to back mystery shows on TV.

Which means not a lot of script writing happening. But I'm still muddling through.

In other news, we are piecing the computer back together, now, too. It's running faster and with less errors since TC did a hard core system restore, but now we have to weed out all the newer programs that the restore corrupted (like Norton, unfortunately--I'm back to emailing them to get Live Update to run again) or deleted, like my Word program. Which isn't a big--I have the disk for the Word program. I just haven't dug it out of the basement boxes yet. And TC's graphics card. Everything is HUGE on the screen right now and slightly pixeled at times. But it's nice to be able to boot up and run programs without waiting ten times longer than what we should, and my new spysweeper program, which I got up and running again with very little difficulty, totally rocks.

I'm still jonesing for a laptop though. I eyed the cheapies on sale for Father's Day, but I think I'm going to wait out the next six months and go for a nice, low end Mac laptop at the beginning of next year. Because I just read about this cool writing program that combines notes, research and does lots of neat formatting and it is only available on a Mac. And TC's games don't run on a mac, so he won't be tempted to abscond with it. And I do miss our old Mac . . .

I guess Kami's infected me with all her talk of a new Mac. Change is good, though.

But for now, the Lady Gray is calling my name. Time to get typing so I can at least make a show of keeping up with Script Frenzy.

Typing Typing Typing

After hitting a rather rough patch in script writing, I'm back in calm waters, racing toward the end scene. I tapped out seven pages today and came up with a lot of meat for the story in those seven pages (plus blew up the entire Spanish fleet moored in San Agustin). I'm feeling my way forward, still, writing slower than my usual fiction speed, but I enjoy the thought process of picking way through the scene on description and dialogue alone. There is something very freeing about not having to worry so much on point of view and internal dialogue and thought processes.

That being said, I do miss the focus of a point of view character in description. I find myself slipping naturally into a point of view and I have to watch the language I use in the writing. It's a challenge, but one that is teaching me a great deal about word use and phrasing and the language in writing. Such a basic thing I've only paid attention to during the editing stage, and then only when it leaped off the page as poorly executed.

No matter how this script turns out, I think I'll find my fiction writing has improved vastly.

In other news, our computer is slowly dying, eaten up by a virus that nothing seems to clear. The system lags terribly, making typing these entries trying as my fingers go much faster than the cursor keeps pace with and ends up leaving out letters along the way. I might as well be on dialup for all the time it takes the pages to load. Very annoying to think about trying to key in a second draft on this thing. And I've been planning on working on the first edit of my script in July. Might be using the typewriter for that for now unless we can get this great behemoth running better.

For now, though, I have the typewriter and I'm still loving it.

I'm Loving It

I have my typewriter and it is such a huge improvement! I couldn't wait to get to it this morning. I got out almost four pages without pause (well, there was the pause for coffee, and then the one to set Kate up with a show, and then she wanted juice . . .). I love how it feels and I'm so glad I followed my gut with it.

The best part is having a stack of written pages at my elbow. It's so much more visceral (to borrow Kami's awesome word from last night) to have the pages right there. It is much easier to feel like a writer when I have a solid representation of my labors laid out before me. It makes me want to scoop up the pages and start editing!

But that must wait a while longer. I may, however, be forced to share excerpts at our get togethers, though. Which might be fun to do.

Speaking of which, it was great to see everyone again last night! I come away inspired, as always, even when my writing isn't on the group chopping block. It is good to hear other interpretations of critiques and to have them not always agree, because it gets me to thinking in a new perspective and that is always a bonus.

And while I'm eager to lay my own sacrifice upon the chopping block, I know I'm not there yet. I need to reach that point when I can do my own private evisceration first.

But the script, when I've finished it, will be fair game, because it will be such a new lifeform for us to examine. I'll happily offer it to the altar of inspiration to be pecked at by the crows of curiosity. In July, when it is done.

Only five more days before it is time to write it. I hope I'll be ready. Oh, who am I fooling? I won't be ready, but I'll write it anyway.

Full House

We've added a dog into the household mix Monday. He's a sweet, clever, friendly, loves to be cuddled boy. Part lab mix, two years old (as opposed to the original estimate of 9 months), very gentle with Kate and a little scared of the cats (a fact they use to their advantage).

The household has been a little turned on its ear this week. Not much else getting done around here, though I finally managed to do most of the dishes yesterday. Today feels like we're getting back to normal, well, a new normal since there is now lots to do with Beau that didn't exist before. Luckily, several of the things we do with him happened before he came, like going outside and taking walks and feeding the animals. But tossing a ball around for him is completely new (and very fun, he's so polite about dropping it). And the cats need lots of extra attention (demanding it, actually).

Today, though, I'm getting myself back into the daily routines. I will get my writing done. I'll finish laundry and dishes. I'll work on drafting up my script outline for Script Frenzy. I'll do finances and send in our payments. And I think I'll still manage to spend lots of time with Kate and Beau and TC. And write. Did I already mention writing?

Getting Together

Great evening last Friday! It is so nice to get together every couple of weeks to talk stories and writing and whatnot. I come away with my batteries recharged and I'm ready to write!

I'm looking forward to reading more on Enthusiast (thanks for the next two chapters, Carole) and reading the new version of Masks (thanks for the first four chapters, Kami). I'm curious about the dark fantasy short story, too, Carole, though I must admit I'm a little afraid to read it. Horror-esque and I are on shaky ground together. But I will read it!

I'm eager to start submitting stuff of my own for you two to fuss over, but I know I'm not ready for that yet. At least not until my script is done (when you'll be oh so tired of it!). I'm pleased that I'm holding myself back from rushing into a critique, as is my usual inclination. It just does me no good, and wastes your time, too, to have a piece critiqued that I know is flawed and can guess where most of those flaws are. Much better to have a piece critiqued that I think is strong and can no longer find the flaws and gaffs and rough places as easily. I'm looking forward to that day, but I can't say when it will come. Not yet. Maybe when I get closer to the end of Mummy Case or Warrior Storm.

For now, I'm enjoying being a part of your editing process and keeping my word count flowing!

Concentration

The trouble with obsessions (read more about this on my personal blog--link to the left) is that they don't let you alone long enough to concentration on the things that need doing.

I've been fighting starting a new story for a few days now, and when I finally broke down and tapped out 400 words on it, I learn that the newest incarnation of the month-long writing challenge begins in less than a month. I've been planning to participate in Script Frenzy (again, see link to the left) since I heard about it last November. Now it is almost upon us and I had nearly forgotten about it!

But not to fear, I remembered just in time to see the site go live. I'm all signed up, profile updated and everything (Poetmage is my screenname there, for any who are interested), and, what is even better, I have this nifty story idea demanding an outlet! Woo hoo! No new novel for me (because, quite frankly, I've started a new one each month since starting my daily writing goal, and if I keep that up, I'll be juggling around fifteen stories by the end of the year--and that would just be silly).

I'm very pleased to have a story idea just demanding to be told, because the last time I contemplated Script Frenzy, I had no usable ideas at all, just a few vague notions that would shrivel up in the light of day. No longer! I have a solid, feasible idea that I get to develop over the next few weeks in anticipation of writing it as a script in June.

The problem is that I have to wait until June to start writing it, because that is when Script Frenzy officially begins. Month-long writing challenge, lasting through June, with 20,000 words the target goal.

Almost a whole month I have to wait, while this idea gnaws at me from all angles. I'm hoping just working on the development will give me some relief and let my concentrate on The Mummy Case, which is now over 15,000 words.

Not today, I think. My head is stuck in script-land, no matter what sort of fight I put up. I think its the newness, having just found the site live today and signed up and all. I'm excited and eager, but maybe tomorrow I'll have some perspective and can work in my daily writing without being quite as distracted. Today, I'm just going to give in and ride the wave of anticipation. I don't want to the anticipation to go away, not completely, but I'm going to need a little breathing room if anything else is going to get done. And I mean ANYTHING else. The sinks are full of dishes, I can't remember if I ate lunch, Kate did only because she stood next to my desk chair and kept repeating "Something to eat, Mommy, something to eat." The floors are sprouting kittens worth of cat hair and I think I may have forgotten to put on deodorant.

So tomorrow I'll concentrate on things like writing on The Mummy Case and putting on deodorant and feeding Kate before she has to hit me over the head with her empty sippy cup. Today I'm riding the wave. And tossing food to Kate as I go.