Then the Phone Rang

I set a personal record for writing a feature script this week.

Last Saturday morning before I crawled out of bed, I had an idea for a movie. I wrote some notes and left them for later. Monday I started to organize my notes into an outline. My plan was to go back to it later when I had time. Instead, I had some ideas for the actual script, so I started to write it. I worked on it every day and had the first draft done by Friday evening. It came in at 66.5 pages, which is a little short for a feature, but I think I can develop it further.

After I finished the script, I came up with this description for the story: “He had money, prestige, a beautiful wife, and a bright future in politics. Then the phone rang.” My working title is Then the Phone Rang.

The whole film takes place in one room and only four characters appear on screen. Two others appear only as voices.

I was surprised at how fast it all went. It took me three weeks to do the first draft of The Anger Trap, after a period of preparation. It took me eleven weeks to get the first draft of My Detective Story done, and that was after planning on it for four months before that.

I am going to leave the script for a week or so and do other things. Then I will do a revision before I ask other people to read it. I had the same plan with My Detective Story, and it has been five months since I finished the first draft and I haven’t gone back to it.

When I decided what I wanted to accomplish this year, I planned to finish three feature scripts. I had kind of given up on that, but now I think I might get one more done.

Right now thought, I feel very good about this project. I think it is a very doable project and yet I believe I can make it into a film that people will want to watch.