The Wake Myself Up Post
My last post was on the brisk side, and that didn’t sit well with me. For the change around it’s time to put on some music and write a post worthy of my blog. One of my screenplays I’ve been looking at motive and premise. Motive simply is what the main character wants. Premise is based on the desire of the protagonist. So I feel strongly I have my protagonist’s motive, which is simply revenge. Now for the premise I need to make sure I know what the the premise says about revenge. Is it the sweetest thing ever? Perhaps it’s the worst thing? Does it fulfill the wants and needs here? What happens if the character doesn’t get it? All these things I have to factor back into the original story. At least I have a rough draft of a plot and some script pages I can use. More importantly I know who a lot more than I did before.
Wrote out a premise while I was in Charleston. In fact I wrote out a lot of things in Charleston I’m gonna get off my duff and review. These things need to be placed in motion so I don’t have to feel like I’m drawing a blank. Also I could use a bottle of water about now.
I Blew Today off, Sorta
I found myself being very social and busy for the past few days. Just catching up with people. I also found a great need to clean my apartment once I got home, and let me tell you it was a mess of old things that need to be thrown away. Needless to say the dust was quite ugly, and my allergies are acting as if I didn’t take medicine for them. Now I have congestion and drinking water.
This has put a damper on my otherwise, “let’s get something handled” day. For my own health I have to stop cleaning, but I do have a lot done already, so I should be proud. Writing all but went to a grinding halt. I’m changing that now. Making dinner as well, so I have been keeping it moving.
I had an idea for a short story late last night. I’m holding this idea together until I sit down and type it out proper. Also I checked my notes feature in my phone and wondered if I put one of the short stories I rambled in typing out onto a Word file yet. If not, I need to do this. I need to see that this story has made it to my file of rough thoughts.
I’m gave the beat outline the day off so I can figure out how to resolve it. Did revisit the log line I created, and rewrote it. I need to reinvest in the theme though. I feel I HAVEN’T mastered how to get my theme down straight. I was supposed to consult with my screenwriting books, but the delays were necessary for me, and I can’t read while I feel like a congested mess.
Hopefully the meds will kick back in because I have to say this feeling is downright disgusting and I kinda want to log it into my journal so that I can use it in a later story. I am glad I took the time to write this post as it makes me realize I have a lot of work to do before I can sit down and watch my two favorite Sunday shows (Game of Thrones and Breakout Kings).
Writing is Rewriting
I’ll never forget this phrase about writing. I have a lot of it to do today. Pluse this is the day to finish other errands. Fridays are busy days for me. I like the pace so I best start with a post for the day. There will be a second post I’ve planned, but if push comes to shove, I’ll post it tomorrow. It’s longer, and I took a lot of time with it. Needless to say I did a lot of rewriting.
The outline is 90% done with me having a moment where I don’t like the ending. This suggests I don’t like my theme. I need to look over what I have and determine if I need to revise my theme first, then the outline, or at least parts of it. I do think I put together a lot of promising ideas, but something’s failing me here. I don”t like that. It’s a sign I need to revise once more. I say to myself thank goodness I’m not a perfectionist. What whould happen if I was? I’d be all OCD about this thing, and I’m trying real hard to make the improvements more so than I am now. Perhaps it’s time to consult the writing books on this matter.
I should go get me something to eat. It will help me start the day off well. I’m on a time-table, which is rare for me, but I want certain things done before a certain time so I can relax at the end of this day. Even if I don’t get it all done, I put the efforts forward and made sure to act. Keep writing peeps. I’m going to make some time as well to share some of the books I’ve read on screenwriting. Look out for that post. i think I’ll make that a longer post as well, and some more film reviews.
This Week’s Writing Projects
I decided that if I list some of my projects I may be able to tackle them more aggressively. I’d like to see them completed, and moving onto the next. First I made a “bargain” with myself to complete act one of my outline. If I did this I’d be allowed to goof off. Essentally I’d get my acts done in three days. Since I put off the outline for months now, it’s my duty to write it out any way possible.
In addition to getting act one down from my notes, I got a very rough version of act two typed yesterday. I didn’t expect this. I really wanted to get down a few more sentences and push myself to do more than the one required act on file. It comes from an older outline I typed and I liked some of the ideas and beats. It still has to match up with the new outline, while providing fills for the gaps in the beats. I call it rough because editing for clarity and fluff has to be done.
ASIDE: Like a fool I didn’t back this up. Will correct this after this post. I know better. Too eager to goof off after patting myself on the back.
For those not in the know I needed to trim down the material BIG time. This meant cutting out a lot of material I thought was brilliant. However, the material has to meet the demands of the format, and that meant cutting things out, and trying to resolve a lot of things that still need work in order for the story to work.
I do have a theme, I need to did up and place at the top of the outline and the logline. This is to help me keep them in mind as I complete the outline. I must resolve all the issues before I begin the script. This means looking for the beats I missed when I wrote it the first time.
I still have some other film essays to write for this blog, and I want to work on an additional two films. I should pick them at random. I dunno. Adding research to the current essay slowed the process a bit as I’m reading a few different sources for some fascinating critique. Will keep it moving.
On Top of It
It’s been a couple of days since I posted something worthwhile, I think. This week’s been filled with creative possibilities plus me running errands to take care of my household properly. First, still have a few more errands to run, but right now is the moment to plug in the headphones, put on a playlist and type something out.
Been doing a lot of writing in the last three days. Some of it is me editing longer posts. Yesterday I found myself using the “Notes” feature of my phone to write in intervals while I cooked. I had periods where I wrote interrupted without worrying what went down on paper. This was necessary so that I see the ideas, good bad, ugly, and unformatted. Often I think of ideas and don’t put them down on paper. It’s a fantasy story and it’s an extremely rough draft. Too rough. This sucker needs some lube. Wanted to transfer it to a Word file, but found myself adding to it early this morning. This story has potential.
Also worked on another non-fiction piece that needs to get out of my system, that may never be seen in public. Why? it’s very personal and I don’t know if I can share it yet. Sometimes there things need to marinate on the mind before I put it out for the world to see. Sometimes life does this to me. At least I typed it out and got it out of my head.
Another duty I need to get on top of is my outline. This poor thing just gets pushed back further and further. For a busy writer, I am also one who needs to get on top of this outline. Like today get on top of of it.
The’Do Me’ Plot 2 Part II
I’m writing and was hoping to revise the beat outline for my screenplay. I had to revise the entire thing and attempt to resolve a lot of issues. Took out the pen and paper and began writing down it all. it meant throwing out a lot of things I found to drag the story down. Yes it means a lot of characters have some serious changes, but I feel like at last I have the correct direction for the script. I’m letting the outline cool off for a while and then will type/revise this. Now that I have this script a lot more tighter I think progress is full steam ahead.
Interestingly this story is also an erotic piece of fiction, but not a short story. Like a big goof I wrote it and never gave it much thought, but it’s nice to see story structure tighten like a kinky game of S&M.
Feels So Much Better
Breaking the thought process open today. Yesterday was about finding images to take inspiration from in order to use them as themes and starting points for stories. I got several images, and I haven’t figured what to do yet. While subjects caught my eyes yesterday I can’t say what it is that makes me feel like writing about it. I’m still looking at this.
I likely have a theme for a screenplay I’m working on. I let it gel for a few days on paper, and I feel a need to look at it, revise, if necessary, and work with this as my main premise. I need to get this done, cause I belive I can turn out the script proper in a month or so. In this respect I must get cracking on this or loose the potential resolution due to procrastination.
Research Means Rewriting
Normally I say “writing is rewriting” which is still true. What I can add to this is that research for my thesis means rewriting and revising. I’m happy for this. it means I haven’t gotten complacent with the current material. It also means that I need to get off my duff and read more. I have articles and books laid out before me that I need to crack open and get things done.
Between me opening several books, marking chapters for Thesis Friday, I really have a strong need to get this work cited for my paper. The reading is not bad. I rather enjoy the process of learning. Yes, I’m academically-minded. I’m excited as to where this leads.
Thesis Fridays
I decided that before I go any further with pages I needed to narrow my focus much more significant;y than I did before. That meant addressing all the questions I’m supposed to ask during the preliminary research phase, which I did, but never clarified. This means I need to address the proposal stage of writing the research paper.
Needless to say I went to the computer lab and forgot my notebook, which had all my current ideas written down. That is what I get for not packing the night before. I still had several notes and info with me so I worked from there, and managed to bounce some ideas off of a friend since we meet up on Fridays.
What would be a simple page of information turned into two pages of me doing some fact finding and looking up some sources. Luckily I kept my Key Concepts book with me. Mind you the notes I took form this book were still at home. They had to be redone. So now I have a more clarified paper and can narrow my thoughts and research. \We call that scope and methodology.
So the revised proposal got a cooling off period while I played Dragon Age 2, and today I will look over my notes to see if anything can add to what’s been written. I have to watch t least one of the films in the paper, and take notes on it. Maybe today. No big plans outside of enjoying this day.
