I got back to work on my detective story this week. I have been working on it for three weeks now. When I did “The Anger Trap” I had a first draft done in three weeks, but I’m not that far along on this one. I think I will get a better script this time though.
I have been working mostly on a detailed outline. I want to focus on the main plot. When I was trying to write an earlier script, “The Caregiver” I got lost when I started adding subplots before the main plot was really fully developed.
The out line now runs to 7,652 words after I wrote 4,842 words this week. When I wrote “The Anger Trap” my outline ended up at 12,679 words. If I was using the same approach I would about 60% done, but I’m doing things differently and I expect the outline to end up longer than that.
In “The Anger Trap” outline I only described what was happening and a little about what the characters were thinking. This time I am starting by writing down what each character in the scene wants before I start on detailing what happens. I have done that for most of the scenes. I should have that done in another day or so.
By doing it this way, I realized that some scenes might not have much to contribute. I deleted a couple of scenes and added a couple to replace them. There are still some weak scenes, but maybe I can develop them more as I work on them.
My characters are developing. My protagonist, Lucas Martin, is turning out to be a private person. I think he has something to hide. That makes it harder to get to know him, but it is an important factor in what he ends up doing.
Some interesting contrasts have shown up between Lucas’ personality and his partner Mike Johnson. Mike is a more open person and maybe even a little irresponsible at times. While there is a potential for conflict between the two, I see the differences as a source of strength for them as a team.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Lame Excuses
I accomplished very little on the detective story script this week. My excuse is that I got sick. I am recovering and I hope to dive back into it this coming week.
I did revise the outline some more. I deleted some scenes that I didn’t think added much and I added some that I feel are much better. I also expanded the role of the detective’s wife.
A couple of weeks ago I gave all of my characters names. I’m calling my detective Lucas Martin now.
What I see as the biggest challenge now is losing continuity. When I wrote “The Anger Trap”, I had no real interruptions while I was writing. Each day when I started, the characters and story were already clear in my mind. I fear that having taken a break of a few days, I have somehow “lost the characters” and it will take me while to find them again.
I did revise the outline some more. I deleted some scenes that I didn’t think added much and I added some that I feel are much better. I also expanded the role of the detective’s wife.
A couple of weeks ago I gave all of my characters names. I’m calling my detective Lucas Martin now.
What I see as the biggest challenge now is losing continuity. When I wrote “The Anger Trap”, I had no real interruptions while I was writing. Each day when I started, the characters and story were already clear in my mind. I fear that having taken a break of a few days, I have somehow “lost the characters” and it will take me while to find them again.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Detective Story - Week one
This week technicians installing a new furnace and contractors doing renovation estimates distracted me from my writing. Even so, I did manage to make progress on my detective story.
The title for the story is a problem. As it stands, it gives away too much of the story. I think keeping it would help me stay focussed on the story, but then I would have to call it my detective story when I talk to people about it. One title I came up with was “The Smile of Evil”. I’ll stick with “My Detective Story” for now.
In some of my past writing attempts, I found my characters developing too fast. To avoid that this time I came up with the idea that the main character has to come to 44 realizations during the course of the story. By that, I mean that the character needs to move in small steps. Some of realizations are major, while the rest prepare him for the major realizations.
I started by trying to make up a list of the realizations then use those to develop scenes. This gave me a plot outline with 50 scenes. Of those, 43 represent the character’s realizations, while the rest involve what other characters are doing. I came up with a few more scenes since I did that, so I think I’m up to 52 or 53 scenes now.
In the past, I heard that a film should plan for 3 minutes a scene, so you would need 30 scenes for a 90-minute film. However, I have found that I tend to write short scenes. My “Anger Trap” script had 69 scenes for a 97-page script. In “Line of Taxis”, my average scene was less than a minute long. That has me wondering if I have enough material for a feature film.
I am still looking at the film at a broad level, so I haven’t started to ask Mamet’s three questions about them yet.
I selected some photographs to represent the characters. I felt it would help me to visualize the characters. Originally, I wanted to avoid picking actors, but then I found it was easier to go that way. I think the characters are starting to develop personalities. That will help.
I have added a new character. The lead character in the story needed to talk to his wife, so I had to create a wife for him.
The title for the story is a problem. As it stands, it gives away too much of the story. I think keeping it would help me stay focussed on the story, but then I would have to call it my detective story when I talk to people about it. One title I came up with was “The Smile of Evil”. I’ll stick with “My Detective Story” for now.
In some of my past writing attempts, I found my characters developing too fast. To avoid that this time I came up with the idea that the main character has to come to 44 realizations during the course of the story. By that, I mean that the character needs to move in small steps. Some of realizations are major, while the rest prepare him for the major realizations.
I started by trying to make up a list of the realizations then use those to develop scenes. This gave me a plot outline with 50 scenes. Of those, 43 represent the character’s realizations, while the rest involve what other characters are doing. I came up with a few more scenes since I did that, so I think I’m up to 52 or 53 scenes now.
In the past, I heard that a film should plan for 3 minutes a scene, so you would need 30 scenes for a 90-minute film. However, I have found that I tend to write short scenes. My “Anger Trap” script had 69 scenes for a 97-page script. In “Line of Taxis”, my average scene was less than a minute long. That has me wondering if I have enough material for a feature film.
I am still looking at the film at a broad level, so I haven’t started to ask Mamet’s three questions about them yet.
I selected some photographs to represent the characters. I felt it would help me to visualize the characters. Originally, I wanted to avoid picking actors, but then I found it was easier to go that way. I think the characters are starting to develop personalities. That will help.
I have added a new character. The lead character in the story needed to talk to his wife, so I had to create a wife for him.
When World’s Collide: Gaia Meets Theia
I posted a new article on-line: When World’s Collide: Gaia Meets Theia
Philip Wylie’s and Edwin Balmer’s 1933 science fiction novel When Worlds Collide, and the 1951 movie based on it, tells the story of the Earth being hit and destroyed by another planet. Scientists have found evidence that something very much like that did happen.
Philip Wylie’s and Edwin Balmer’s 1933 science fiction novel When Worlds Collide, and the 1951 movie based on it, tells the story of the Earth being hit and destroyed by another planet. Scientists have found evidence that something very much like that did happen.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Starting a New Script
I have decided to focus on writing a single script until I have a first draft.
My goal right now is to write several scripts to hone my writing skills. I learned a lot from writing the script to The Anger Trap and I think that I will learn more from writing some new scripts. I will wait until I have done several before I decide on making one of them into a film.
I have selected as my next script an idea I had while travelling in China last year. It has nothing to do with China, as far as I know. It is the story of a detective on the trail of a psychopathic serial killer. I know that doesn’t sound very original, but the detecting isn’t the main focus of the story. When I made Line of Taxis , I used some of the emotions I was having in my life and transferred them to a different situation. I plan to do the same with this story. I am having mostly good things in my life now, but I do have flash backs to the emotions that inspired Line of Taxis.
I will be trying a slightly different approach than I used for The Anger Trap. Then I developed a detail outline before starting to write the actual script. This time I will organize my out line based on ideas I picked up while reading a book by David Mamet. In particular, his three questions.
For each scene, I will write a one-line overview of what happens in the scene. Then I will have a short description of the purpose of the scene. That is to focus on why I need the scene in the script.
Then for each character in the scene, I will answer the questions: What do they want, what happens if they don’t get it, why now and how have they changed at the end of the scene.
I will complete the outline of each scene with a list of the events within the scene. This is a sort of plot outline for the scene. For each event, I will note what each of the characters is thinking. I think that knowing what the characters are thinking will make it easier to keep the story going forward.
Having distinct characters is important to help the audience identify with them. I used character descriptions in writing The Anger Trap and found them useful when it came to writing.
In addition to a character name, I plan to select a picture to help me visualize the character. Beyond that, I want to note what purpose they serve in the story. For example, are they the protagonist, or the antagonist or comic relief? I will also develop a bit of a biography, so I know where they come from. Most importantly, I want to know how they will change throughout the story.
I expect that my approach will change as I work through this script.
My goal right now is to write several scripts to hone my writing skills. I learned a lot from writing the script to The Anger Trap and I think that I will learn more from writing some new scripts. I will wait until I have done several before I decide on making one of them into a film.
I have selected as my next script an idea I had while travelling in China last year. It has nothing to do with China, as far as I know. It is the story of a detective on the trail of a psychopathic serial killer. I know that doesn’t sound very original, but the detecting isn’t the main focus of the story. When I made Line of Taxis , I used some of the emotions I was having in my life and transferred them to a different situation. I plan to do the same with this story. I am having mostly good things in my life now, but I do have flash backs to the emotions that inspired Line of Taxis.
I will be trying a slightly different approach than I used for The Anger Trap. Then I developed a detail outline before starting to write the actual script. This time I will organize my out line based on ideas I picked up while reading a book by David Mamet. In particular, his three questions.
For each scene, I will write a one-line overview of what happens in the scene. Then I will have a short description of the purpose of the scene. That is to focus on why I need the scene in the script.
Then for each character in the scene, I will answer the questions: What do they want, what happens if they don’t get it, why now and how have they changed at the end of the scene.
I will complete the outline of each scene with a list of the events within the scene. This is a sort of plot outline for the scene. For each event, I will note what each of the characters is thinking. I think that knowing what the characters are thinking will make it easier to keep the story going forward.
Having distinct characters is important to help the audience identify with them. I used character descriptions in writing The Anger Trap and found them useful when it came to writing.
In addition to a character name, I plan to select a picture to help me visualize the character. Beyond that, I want to note what purpose they serve in the story. For example, are they the protagonist, or the antagonist or comic relief? I will also develop a bit of a biography, so I know where they come from. Most importantly, I want to know how they will change throughout the story.
I expect that my approach will change as I work through this script.
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