R&L Update
Chapter 23 is done and is with the editing team. I’m hard at work on chapter 24. I won’t be releasing 23 until I finish the first draft of 24 since they are closely tied to each other.
Thanks for all the positive feedback on chapter 22! And for the people I lost because of Rosalee… Sorry. I wish you would stick around to the end. Things may not be as they seem.
Thanks again!
Orb
Chapter 22 Released
Finally, chapter 22 sees the light of day! This was a tough chapter to write on many different levels. Yet, alas, it is done.
An update on chapter 23 (already): it is halfway done. As in, half the first draft is complete. As soon as I can get past one particular scene, the rest should flow fairly quickly. This chapter, for the most part, does follow the title: “Take it Easy”!
Enjoy 22. Remember, I really love feedback. Good or bad (always prefer good, but bad helps me grow).
Orb
Chapter 22 Redux and Chapter 23
Chapter 22 is still lost in the grand cycle of editing and proof reading. One of my MIAs has returned to the world, kinda. Still waiting for his invaluable input before putting it out.
Now, a HUGE concern. I don’t want to put a chapter out and have Nick put a chapter out the same day or the day after. Call me paranoid. I’d like to have a few days of clear air and Nick is gearing up for a chapter release. Deja Vu all over again. My last few chapters have run into this. Yes, he and I have conversed and we are attempting to coordinate, but both having “lost in editing” issues. So, again, I’ll put it out when it happens regardless. I’ll just keep thinking “Skip Niccio” – thanks Wine Maker for that image.
Chapter 23 is more than halfway through the first draft and I’ve run into something new. Rosalee wants to have a voice. Don’t get me wrong, I love Rosa. She’s a very special person that showed up at an interesting point in R&L’s relationship. She’s key for the week in many ways. Should I give her a voice?
No matter what I decide, she’s already written passages and scenes. Now I have to choose to include it for everyone to read. One way or another, I’ll still love Rosa and hope you will as well.
Back to chunking chapters!
Orb
Chapter 22 of R&L in Editng Cycle
Chapter 22 went off to my team today, finally! I celebrated last night, so tonight I’ve begun work on Chapter 23.
I have a series of decisions to make with 23, 24, and 25. My thinking at the moment is to combine at least two of the chapters into one, maybe all three. No matter what I choose, the working title is still “Take it Easy” by the Eagles.
Other music driving the chapter: “Castles Made of Sand” by Jimi Hendrix and “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner.
So, back to laying out the chapter and figuring out what to do with the scenes I’ve already written rough drafts of!
More later,
Orb
Script Frenzy Final
A final update on my month-long insanity – I have a rough draft of “Parker’s Perfect Pizza” done. It is still 200+ pages toooooooo long, though. I pull it out about once a week or so and trim more. In a month or ten, I might even begin to get happy with it!
I did “win” the script frenzy by submitting a 149 page partial draft 5 days before the deadline. So – WHOOO-HOOOOOO!
Orb
Rebbecca and Luis
Years ago, as I was headed to the dentist’s office to have a crown put on a tooth, I remember thinking how easy it would be to just aim my vehicle in another direction and run. A normal, human reaction – when you know something is going to be unpleasant, there is the natural tendency to run in the opposite direction!
Well, I just finished a part of chapter 22 that was very difficult to write the first time and no easier for me to do the rewrite. It is a scene that has been rattling around in my head since I started plotting the story out over 2 years ago. Wow – that alone – two years. 80,000+ words so far. This chapter is over 10,000 words long. Fortunately, I’m past the halfway point!
Back to the crown and the scene. I have finished the rewrite of that scene. Now to finish the final 1,000+ words of the chapter. Then I have to throw it in the rock tumbler and polish it. Fortunately, it is raining today, so I’ll be able to put in more hours writing today instead of cutting the grass, burning hunks of cow on the grille, or being distracted by my neighbor catching some rays (do you think she chooses an area right outside my office window on purpose?).
Back to Luis, Rebbecca, and Rosalee…
Orb
Less than a Week to Go!
The target of any screenplay is 90-120 pages. The closer to 90, the more marketable it is. I’m still dealing with one that has the potential to be over 350 pages, and that’s only using less than 1/2 the adapted story.
I have a 100 page screenplay that contains the main, critical scenes along with the opening sequence and closing sequence. Yet, there are literally 100 scenes that “want” to be included. So, I’ve started a simple process. I keep adding until I hit 120 pages. At that point, I ruthlessly purge 20 pages of script. Then go back to adding.
Overall, this last month has been a tremendous learning experience. I’m glad I chose someone elses story, otherwise I’d have been to wrapped up in my own. This has allowed me to focus on the critical aspects of storytelling and how that applies to the silver screen (or is that LCD/Plasma screen these days?). I’ve been learning focus, the power of a wink or a nod. Pacing and texture.
For those that ask about R&L, let me again reassure you that a new chapter will be out in May. Maybe two. Trust me, I want to get to Sunday night as much as you do!!! The only online story I’ve ever walked away from was the “Around Alone” series. I may pick it up again, but I have to be in a very particular mood to write that series.
I broke 120 pages today, so tonight is “cut, cut, cut, trim, trim, trim”!
Thanks for all the support and feedback!
Orb
Yet Another Script Frenzy Update
Fans? I have fans? Kewl! At the request of a few, a bit more on what I’ve been doing with Script Frenzy:
I’m 2/3 of the way to my goal – 100 pages of quality script and I’ll make the deadline of April 30. But, I won’t be finished! Not by a long shot. I will finish this script, though.
What’s happened so far? First, I reread a few stories that I considered candidates and selected two: “The Millionaire Next Door” byLazlo Zalezac and “Paddling Upstream” by J. Strickland (both my be found on www.storiesonline.net). I secured permission from both authors to do an adaptation of their stories.
I then did an analysis of each story, creating a list of characters and each scene from the books. Then, I looked at what it would take to make each into a screenplay. I ended upchoosing the hardest of the two: “The Millionaire Next Door”.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been copying each scene into my scriptwriting software (Celtx – I highly recommend it) and converting pros into action, dialog, and notes. I also realized there was no way to do the full story, so I chose another climax point and have been working towards that, eliminating scenes and characters that didn’t move the story to that point, working my notes into the story and focusing everything on “The Facts of Life” and Dan opening thepizzeria.
Now, I have a 300 page screenplay, which is just a tad too long. By about 200 pages! The next week is all about trimming the story down so it fits in under 120 pages.
I plan on polishing this screenplay, getting the authors approval, and then tackling “Paddling Upstream”. I have plans for two other screenplays this year and doing a complete rewrite of “Closing Time” – my first screenplay.
Back to trimming!
Thanks for listening,
Orb
Script Frenzy Update
I’m twenty days into the script frenzy now. Am I done?
Riiiiiiiiight!
I’m taking a 280,000 word story, “The Millionaire Nextdoor” by Lazlo Zalezac, and trying to turn it into 105-120 page script (about 50,000 words). My first cut was to carry the story just though the grand opening of the pizzaria and add a couple of later scenes in. That produced a 300 page script.
My focus for the next 10 days is to trim, eliminate, shrink, and otherwise mutilate the story until it is the size I want. Oh, while retaining the essence of the story and highlighting the three articles.
Unfortunately, I’m still at the stage where changes increase the size, not decrease it!!!
Oh well, back to Dan, Tom, Alison, Kim, and the others!
For those wondering about R&L, it is still very much an active story. The rough draft for chapter 22 is long finished. The first draft is 80% done and the first half has already made it through one rewrite. Plus, Chapter 23′s rough draft is well underway. Come May 1st, I plan on focusing on R&L until I can get at least one chapter out.
More later!
Orb
The Ides of March Approach
Nope, no “Brute” on the horizon (sorry Decimus Brutus). Chapter 22 of R&L is through rough draft. 2/3 of the way through 1st draft. The “Muse be with me” and I ain’t gonna argue.
I make no promises and only hope others are moving towards the equinox with grace and goodwill.
Orb
PS – bit of trivia. The ides of a month are the 15th only for March, May, July, and October. All the other months, it is the 13th. Thus a bit of irony for the date of this post.