Been a pretty ugly couple days.
The script was coming along great - and I mean really great - and then when we started the scene-by-scene outline, suddenly an end of Act 1 problem cropped up.
Acts 2 and 3 are great. The concept drove both acts home. But this end of Act 1 problem has had me frustrated for a couple days now.
I compromised on a solution that isn't perfect, which I think has me even more stressed out.
Everything else came together so nicely, that maybe I'm just expecting too much.
Or maybe it's because writing is hard.
Or maybe it's because the concept is flawed.
I don't know, and I'm trying to figure it out.
In the meantime, I'm stressed over it. And while I'm usually the most easy-going guy you'll ever meet, I've been a bit on edge the last couple days worrying about it.
I hate being stressed.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A blog of failure. Realization. And humility.
About Me
Journey Progress
12 Months
Totally fucked it up.
12 Months Redux
Threw in the towel. GG.
12 Months Redux
Writing Progress
Entourage Spec
Completed.
First Feature Screenplay
Completed, Queried, Bombed.
Second Feature Screenplay
Writing First Draft.
First Solo Project
Outlining.
First Feature Screenplay
Second Feature Screenplay
First Solo Project
Bamboo Killers
- Alligators in a Hellicopter
- Bamboo Killers
- Boring Future Generations
- Chasing Rainbows
- Christ Soth's Blog
- Delusion Design
- Development Hell
- Fun Joel's Blog
- Infinite Monkey Theorem
- John August's Blog
- Ken Levine's Blog
- My MySpace
- Mystery Man on Film
- News Sluice
- One Slack Martian
- Revealing of the Soul
- Scribomatic
- Simply Scripts
- The Artful Writer
- The Moviequill
- Titanium Spork
- Unknown Screenwriter
10 comments:
I know the feeling. I would say THIS IS HARD. REALLY HARD.
Mainly because you have to make your specs look like ones that have sold. Even if it's crappy(story-wise).
I'm learning a lot about this and would be happy to read it if you want.
The funny thing is it's because most readers will cast you out if have anything that "takes them out of the story."
Believe me I know.
Happens all the time. As hard as it seems, you have to let it go. Move on to something else, and before you know it, while you're struggling with Act II of another flick, the answer will come to you(unless the idea is really flawed and you're too close to realize it. Either way, you have to let go a while).
...but if you're going to be stressed -- ride that stressful wave to a possible writing solution.
Make the stress work for you instead of having it control you.
Goonies never say die!
IMHO . . . .
I’d suggest working this thing out in any other place besides in front of your computer. Get to a high energy place, get amped on whatever you need to (tunes and tonic), and use your mind as a canvas.
Create your way out of this problem. Sitting in front of a monitor (if that’s how you write) can be a creative killer.
Then sit down and write what you thought about.
When struggling with a story hang up I usually take a step back, get my mind on something else for just a bit, then re-attack it. The best ideas usually come to you in the middle of something completely unrelated.
Here's one thing you could do:
You've been tagged.
But I definitely feel ya. Keep your chin up.
I wish us writers weren't so introverted or overprotective sometimes!
Whenever I run into this sort of thing, I want to talk with absolutely everybody about it to see if they have a good-better idea (in the words of my three year old).
My husband used to be a help, but I think he's sick of all my hypotheticals.
I wish there were a "bank" you could go to, where you're "deposits" were absolutely secret, and you could have discussions about these things. Sometimes it's talking that gets the juices flowing.
I feel ya.
Write yourself out of it. Take a scene arround your problem area, open up a new file just for that scene and go crazy with it. What happens just before Frank enters the room? Maybe he witnessed a drive-by outside, maybe he sees a girl undressing in a window... even if it never makes the script, just work on stuff, you never know
MQ's idea is a good one. Takes the pressure off and who knows where it might go.
Watch a movie in a similar genre to see what they did, then ask what ELSE could they have done, and see if that applies to your situation.
Post a Comment