TNMC

Yes, once again it's time for me to post up a quick note to assure all three regular readers (Hi Mom!) that I am not in fact dead or stunningly lazy.

You didn't notice the delay but I just popped off for a moment to read the last few posts, so I could remember what I've previously said.  These posts are infrequent enough, I don't need to add the insult of repeating myself.  Primarily right now I am in the process of rewriting my original script Natural Tendencies.  This has always been a story that's biggest problem is too much stuff.  The first draft was a butt-numbing 168 pages.  The second draft was 129 pages, but I cheated and moved the margins and reduced the font size.  In truth it was more like 151 pages. 

For this draft I removed the cheats and started aggressively cutting.  Now when I completed the second draft, I really felt like I'd cut the story to the bone, which was worrisome because the damn thing was still much too long.  Ah how naive I can be.  Since that draft I've learned much about the craft of screenwriting.  It's not novel writing.  I can't take the time to describe every little detail, thought or emotion.  What I do describe needs to be something visible on screen and something that will fill out nicely when actors and designers get a hold of it.  With that thought in mind I took another run at the script and brought it down to 128 pages, with no cheating.  And best of all, I hadn't been forced to radically alter the story.

It's still too long though.  And so I'm now in the midst of another pass.  This one needs to cut things down but it also needs to alter the story trajectory a bit.  My thoughts on the themes of the story have changed a tad since I first wrote it so some changes are necessary.  That could sound like waffling but I believe these changes will make the script a lot more powerful and emotional.

Prior to that I did another quick draft of Joe Bob the Messiah.  A few ideas hit me since finishing the previous draft that I wanted to include.  Not major changes, just small additions that improved the characters and closed some plot holes.  So now that script and She Hates the Idea are in the hands of my early readers.

Last week I also wrote a script for a short film.  It's something meant both to entertain and teach me more about filmmaking.  It will run about 4-5 minutes, will hopefully be funny and should give me an opportunity to try out the special effects techniques I've been learning lately.  And if it comes out anywhere above the level of pure crap, I'll show it to you.  Don't hold your breath though.  At the end of this week is the FilmColumbia film fest so my schedule is pretty well booked for the short run.  Hopefully there will be time to shoot it next week.

Finally, if you actually want day by day descriptions of what I'm up to, check out my twitter feed.  I'll also be using that to send out quick thoughts on the movies I'll be seeing next week (no, not during the movies). I feel silly saying twitter but I enjoy the challenge of being coherent in under 140 characters.  It's not a bad skill for a screenwriter.