This was the last day and, like every last day, you get the much helpful stress of running out of time...
I had more or less forty pages to write. And the problem with this script is that quite a few of the scenes need a lot of detail in terms of body language and what the characters are actually doing... (and I shall say no more...)
Since I still had quite a bit of plot to go through, scenes started to become naturally shorter. They had reached the summit of their happiness and things started coming down, relatively fast.
This was a curious writing day because not only new chartacters came alive but some of the scenes were quite powerful as well. At least one of the crucial scenes didn't work out as well as I wanted - the dialogue needs some fine tuning - but the more improptu ones came out quite well. Especially towards the end - which I wanted to be deep and moving. I was suprised by how well Ayoola's final words fitted the whole story. I think they added weight and momentum to the whole thing.
Despite all my difficulties this was a very visual script. Perhaps more so than The Softness Of Memory. The two main characters were very much alive and interactive. And I did feel that they were close and intimate thorughout the story. That was the main objective anyway. To convey that feel to the reader. And I think, even on a sometimes erratic first draft, I think I managed to do that.
In any case, this script is much closer to completion than The Softness Of Memory. And that's because it always moves forward in time. It's structure is much simpler than TSOM - not that TSOM's is that complicated but, you know how it goes, a few flashbacks here and there and you start getting confused on where you should go next... Perhaps that's simply because my idea for Ayoola was much clearer initially (and throughout) than the one for TSOM.
In fact that's one of the big differences between the two scripts. Ayoola is all about self expression and physicality. A clear and explicit sense of intimacy.
In TSOM everything is hidden and hinted more than revealed.
Actually, now that I think of it, it kind of makes sense to write these two scripts side by side. They do mirror one another in quite a few ways...
Perhaps my unconscious knew what it was doing all along... it only took me a month to catch up...
And now... onwards to typing away all those Morto Árvore Besta scribbled notes... (but perhaps some reading first... there's a Cory Doctorow book that I want to finish...)
peace!
Showing posts with label ayoola. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ayoola. Show all posts
Friday, 30 April 2010
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 29
To start the day I finished The Softeness Of Memory. Just a couple of scenes I'd left on the side to wrap up with a fresher head...
And now the real challenge...
As I opened my Ayoola file... well, I realised my script had stopped at page 40... oops!
The good news was that I had mapped out (though somewhat haphazardly...) the remainder of the script. I also had another handwritten page with ideas for some scenes.
Well, what else was there to do but type?!
Well, in fact, first, I read what I had written so far. I was still in the first fourth or third (at best) of the story. Ayoola and Maurice (I have to change his name somehow... it doesn't feel suitable anymore...) had met, they were romantically involved but... the real drama was to begin still.
I wrote all the way to page 62 I think. The story gained quite a bit of momentum and I advanced through the plot even though some of the dialogue was really perfunctory.
I didn't write as much as I could've because I went to a gig (a Mão Morta gig in Coliseu Dos Recreios) with my brother. And, to be honest, it was good to get out for a while.
By the time I went to sleep Maurice was about to buy Ayoola a way out, even with all the dangers that that might entail.
They were in love, oh so very hopelessly in love...
And their troubles were only beginning...
peace.
And now the real challenge...
As I opened my Ayoola file... well, I realised my script had stopped at page 40... oops!
The good news was that I had mapped out (though somewhat haphazardly...) the remainder of the script. I also had another handwritten page with ideas for some scenes.
Well, what else was there to do but type?!
Well, in fact, first, I read what I had written so far. I was still in the first fourth or third (at best) of the story. Ayoola and Maurice (I have to change his name somehow... it doesn't feel suitable anymore...) had met, they were romantically involved but... the real drama was to begin still.
I wrote all the way to page 62 I think. The story gained quite a bit of momentum and I advanced through the plot even though some of the dialogue was really perfunctory.
I didn't write as much as I could've because I went to a gig (a Mão Morta gig in Coliseu Dos Recreios) with my brother. And, to be honest, it was good to get out for a while.
By the time I went to sleep Maurice was about to buy Ayoola a way out, even with all the dangers that that might entail.
They were in love, oh so very hopelessly in love...
And their troubles were only beginning...
peace.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Comics Script - The World As We Know It
I've just realised that's been way over a week since I last posted here.
What the heck happens to time? I mean, where does it go? Does somebody keep it inside their pockets or something? Is there a place filled with so much time no one can actually get there?!
(these could actually be some ideas for a short story...)
In any case, on saturday the 25th I kept my plan and continued writing LAND OF FOG. This has actually been my major project in the intervening days.
On the sunday I kept revising and added some new scenes. Don't really recall which (perhaps I should start making a note of that as well) but I do know that I focussed a lot on the characters of Anubia, Rikar, Terry and Tchan. Some weird stories came through and I think Old Ed's role in the whole shennanigan is now stronger than ever. I've been planting seeds so to speak...
I also started writing a synopsis for another comics series idea that i had and that I think will be quite easy to get some funding to do. But i'll keep it a mystery. For now...
Also wrote a bit more on AYOOLA. Still need quite a bit more of text but at least what's coming through is already somewhat solid. This story will have momentum either I like it or not!
The 27th was about getting a bit more structure into LAND OF FOG (still don't know how I'm going to work this one out, but I may just keep it in chronological order - i think it will work this way and I'm a bit afraid that if I jumble the structure further it will become more difficult to get into without really adding any more to the story... don't know... I'll have to see it as soon as it is all revised). Also did some more panels for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
on tuesday i merely revised a bit more of LAND OF FOG. Revising is really the toughest thing for me to do. But also, towards its end, the most rewarding. Feeling that something is completed or steadily approaching its completion is really good!
On wednesday I had a couple of ideas for scripts. One is called THE DOWSER and is the story of a guy searching for the ideal place to live. It's a short story that i initially wanted to do almost completely silent. Now I think I'll have to think hard in order to keep it as silent as possible...
DEAD ZONE is actually not an idea of mine but of one of my flatmates. Still, he wants me to write it... i don't know if i have time to delve into someone else's dystopia but I suggested a few ideas in order to make it more cohesive. It kind of made sense us to be talking about it after a long chat about Brian Wood's DMZ.
The other idea was THE PIANO TEACHER which is basically a love story between two people 25 years of difference. This has been a theme that I've wanted to touch upon for many years, especially since I read Sam Keith's ZERO GIRL. Which turns out to be quite autobiographical, only in reverse. ZERO GIRL tells the story of a high school girl that falls in love with her teacher. He in turn falls for her but nothing happens apart from the weirdness and solitude she experiences in her head. But it has a happy ending. In any case, the most moving part of the whole book was actually Sam's account of how he met his wife when he was 15 and she 30. How they waited until he was 18 and started living together. Up until then, more than 10 years after. The whole book is a tribute to her, her patience, guidance and love and a genuine testimony that love knows no barriers. It's a somewhat controversial theme, i know but I, for one, am happy that someone has decided to talk about the good things about it, not just the bad ones...
Thursday i was home and so LAND OF FOG became the centre of the day. I also wrote some more on a huge story arc for the INCREDIBLE HULK that I've had in my head for years. To me this is the definitive take on the HULK. I still am to read a HULK story that completely satisfies me and this is definitely the thing that comes the closest to it. There will be plenty of destruction but the majority will be internal...
From friday the 31st to the 2nd of november i was away on a roleplaying game in essex. Due to the intensity of said CTHULHU horror fantasy mystery i did not write anything (apart from the synopsis for a short crime noir story) until sunday evening. I was still more or less in character, tired and spaced out and couldn't write as much as I wanted. Still, since NANOWRIMO is on, i started with MORTIMER LANSKY and started writing the intro and some guidelines to the book and the reader.
But because i was feeling some longing for LAND OF FOG there i went to check up on things and add a few tidbits more...
Monday I had more excuses but wrote some more on MORTIMER LANSKY and revised a bit more on LAND OF FOG.
Also on sunday and monday i revised a few graphic novels. Namely Paul Karasik's and David Mazzucchelli's adaptation of Paul Auster's CITY OF GLASS and Frank Miller's and Geof Darrow's iconic HARD BOILED. These are soon to be posted on the livejournal webpage.
I'm considering if i should start posting them here but i'm not so keen on repeating stuff... we'll see...
Today I'm eager to get home and type some of the crazy ideas i've been having so far for MORTIMER LANSKY and get some more revising done on LAND OF FOG. It would be nice if i could finish the first draft of the prior and complete the latter before this month ends. Especially because I'm going to portugal on the 27th. And to Luxembourg on the 20th...
We all want to keep ahead of the curve anyway...
Peace
What the heck happens to time? I mean, where does it go? Does somebody keep it inside their pockets or something? Is there a place filled with so much time no one can actually get there?!
(these could actually be some ideas for a short story...)
In any case, on saturday the 25th I kept my plan and continued writing LAND OF FOG. This has actually been my major project in the intervening days.
On the sunday I kept revising and added some new scenes. Don't really recall which (perhaps I should start making a note of that as well) but I do know that I focussed a lot on the characters of Anubia, Rikar, Terry and Tchan. Some weird stories came through and I think Old Ed's role in the whole shennanigan is now stronger than ever. I've been planting seeds so to speak...
I also started writing a synopsis for another comics series idea that i had and that I think will be quite easy to get some funding to do. But i'll keep it a mystery. For now...
Also wrote a bit more on AYOOLA. Still need quite a bit more of text but at least what's coming through is already somewhat solid. This story will have momentum either I like it or not!
The 27th was about getting a bit more structure into LAND OF FOG (still don't know how I'm going to work this one out, but I may just keep it in chronological order - i think it will work this way and I'm a bit afraid that if I jumble the structure further it will become more difficult to get into without really adding any more to the story... don't know... I'll have to see it as soon as it is all revised). Also did some more panels for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
on tuesday i merely revised a bit more of LAND OF FOG. Revising is really the toughest thing for me to do. But also, towards its end, the most rewarding. Feeling that something is completed or steadily approaching its completion is really good!
On wednesday I had a couple of ideas for scripts. One is called THE DOWSER and is the story of a guy searching for the ideal place to live. It's a short story that i initially wanted to do almost completely silent. Now I think I'll have to think hard in order to keep it as silent as possible...
DEAD ZONE is actually not an idea of mine but of one of my flatmates. Still, he wants me to write it... i don't know if i have time to delve into someone else's dystopia but I suggested a few ideas in order to make it more cohesive. It kind of made sense us to be talking about it after a long chat about Brian Wood's DMZ.
The other idea was THE PIANO TEACHER which is basically a love story between two people 25 years of difference. This has been a theme that I've wanted to touch upon for many years, especially since I read Sam Keith's ZERO GIRL. Which turns out to be quite autobiographical, only in reverse. ZERO GIRL tells the story of a high school girl that falls in love with her teacher. He in turn falls for her but nothing happens apart from the weirdness and solitude she experiences in her head. But it has a happy ending. In any case, the most moving part of the whole book was actually Sam's account of how he met his wife when he was 15 and she 30. How they waited until he was 18 and started living together. Up until then, more than 10 years after. The whole book is a tribute to her, her patience, guidance and love and a genuine testimony that love knows no barriers. It's a somewhat controversial theme, i know but I, for one, am happy that someone has decided to talk about the good things about it, not just the bad ones...
Thursday i was home and so LAND OF FOG became the centre of the day. I also wrote some more on a huge story arc for the INCREDIBLE HULK that I've had in my head for years. To me this is the definitive take on the HULK. I still am to read a HULK story that completely satisfies me and this is definitely the thing that comes the closest to it. There will be plenty of destruction but the majority will be internal...
From friday the 31st to the 2nd of november i was away on a roleplaying game in essex. Due to the intensity of said CTHULHU horror fantasy mystery i did not write anything (apart from the synopsis for a short crime noir story) until sunday evening. I was still more or less in character, tired and spaced out and couldn't write as much as I wanted. Still, since NANOWRIMO is on, i started with MORTIMER LANSKY and started writing the intro and some guidelines to the book and the reader.
But because i was feeling some longing for LAND OF FOG there i went to check up on things and add a few tidbits more...
Monday I had more excuses but wrote some more on MORTIMER LANSKY and revised a bit more on LAND OF FOG.
Also on sunday and monday i revised a few graphic novels. Namely Paul Karasik's and David Mazzucchelli's adaptation of Paul Auster's CITY OF GLASS and Frank Miller's and Geof Darrow's iconic HARD BOILED. These are soon to be posted on the livejournal webpage.
I'm considering if i should start posting them here but i'm not so keen on repeating stuff... we'll see...
Today I'm eager to get home and type some of the crazy ideas i've been having so far for MORTIMER LANSKY and get some more revising done on LAND OF FOG. It would be nice if i could finish the first draft of the prior and complete the latter before this month ends. Especially because I'm going to portugal on the 27th. And to Luxembourg on the 20th...
We all want to keep ahead of the curve anyway...
Peace
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Land Of Fog & Other Fuzzy Stories
A lot has happened since the 17th but it has mostly to do with words.
(hey! that's why we're here, right??)
On the 17th I didn't do much more than simply type up some of the stuff for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
The following day, saturday, again it was the story of the Monk and the King but also some more on something that I've been working for a while now but that still hasn't reached these pages. More on that later. Probably in a whole new post.
(i want you to read goddammit!)
sunday I worked so no(t much) writing for the wicked. I printed a fresh copy of THE SHIFT with the few alterations I'd done so far. And also my summary of the stuff I've been doing for the last couple of years so that i can actually let people know what's up my creek. I'll probably post it here at some point - I still haven't revised it and updated it, that's why...
I also finished up typing up all the alterations in A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN and printed the whole thing off. Since then I've been working on the other file, doing the same thing. Coming up with panels for the various sequences, then typing them up. As soon as the two files are ready - in the sense of all the dialogue having panels to go and a rough breakdown in pages/sections - I'll begin that actually quite fun task of copy pasting with scissors and tape. I'll have the three files printed (probably over 200 pages of material), hopefully a decluttered bed and plenty of time.
And I'll start matching bits of script together and create a first version of the full story in two parts. I'll probably need just a whole day to do all that tape&scissors copy pasting and then another to actually do the same thing on the computer. Structures take time. This is something I'm learning every time I do them. The other thing is don't try to do it in one go. Do as much as you can, but if you repeatedly get stuck in the same place (where the heck are these scenes going to go??) the best thing is to wait and do it another day.
On monday the 20th I revised the short comics script for Teatro Do Frio, started a new scritp called AYOOLA, added some more scenes to LAND OF FOG, wrote the synopsis for a roleplaying game character (called Sebastian Lumiere - don't you just love the name??) and worked on another of my special scripts...
(of which Ayoola is also one, by the way...)
And ended up missing the graphic novels reading group meeting having been so engrossed with the writing...
Tuesday I typed a few more pages for the WEIR-D MACHINE, more on AYOOLA, A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN and LAND OF FOG.
Wednesday was also spent with AYOOLA and LAND OF FOG.
Thursday just a bit on LAND OF FOG and some more panels on A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
And yesterday, friday, it was just LAND OF FOG the whole day.
You might ask why have i spent so much time with LAND OF FOG lately. And it is a good question. But the answer is simple. I want to finish as much as possible before nanowrimo starts. And I realised that I could actually finish LAND OF FOG but not really A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
I'm just over 30 000 words on LAND OF FOG and more or less already have all the crucial scenes. There's 2 or 3 more than I want to add but these are relatively small ones. Then the next step will be to print off the whole thing ('cause today I want to see if I can edit, proof read and correct, if not all, at least most of it) and create a structure for it.
LAND OF FOG tells the story of a traveller that arrives to a strange town and all the scenes far under two general categories. Scenes of him meeting the place and the people. And scenes where weird stories are told or eerie stuff happens to him.
Now one of the ideas I had was to have one of these strands working chronologically forwards and the other backwards. So, let's say, we would start with him leaving the town (and work backwards until we find out what happened on that first day) but using the weird stuff as the basis of the narrative, working thus forward in time since there is a crescendo of intensity in the way the scenes are chronologically placed.
The other idea is simply to have it all working forward in time but having the weird stuff happening before we know how he got there in the first place.
I'm starting to think that this is probably a better solution for it allows us to open up with a strong scene that will hopefully capture the readers attention from then onwards. Besides I think the idea of having the event and then only after seeing someone's expectations as he or she is about to enter it can work. In any case, as soon as I have all the bits and pieces ready it will be easy to come up with a chronological version of the story and then create at least one of these two. Another afternoon of copy pasting with scissors and tape. Which, I'm hoping, will be soon enough. So probably either next wednesday/thursday afternoon. Which are going to be my next days off before we hit nanowrimo head on.
Which means I'll have to have everything written down by tuesday. Which means it would probably be best if I could wrap this thing by today and tomorrow and spend some time on monday/tuesday reviewing the whole thing.
Sounds like a plan, don't it?
That's usually how plans start. They start to sound and, soon enough, they're the ones shouting at you...
Today I'm gonna revise the so called LAND OF FOG short story. If I have time I'll add the new panels to A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN and finish typing up WEIR-D MACHINE (only a couple more pages to go - though there is still plenty to tell with this one... this is one that's gonna stick around for a while I think...)
Well, that's it for now!
Peace
(hey! that's why we're here, right??)
On the 17th I didn't do much more than simply type up some of the stuff for A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
The following day, saturday, again it was the story of the Monk and the King but also some more on something that I've been working for a while now but that still hasn't reached these pages. More on that later. Probably in a whole new post.
(i want you to read goddammit!)
sunday I worked so no(t much) writing for the wicked. I printed a fresh copy of THE SHIFT with the few alterations I'd done so far. And also my summary of the stuff I've been doing for the last couple of years so that i can actually let people know what's up my creek. I'll probably post it here at some point - I still haven't revised it and updated it, that's why...
I also finished up typing up all the alterations in A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN and printed the whole thing off. Since then I've been working on the other file, doing the same thing. Coming up with panels for the various sequences, then typing them up. As soon as the two files are ready - in the sense of all the dialogue having panels to go and a rough breakdown in pages/sections - I'll begin that actually quite fun task of copy pasting with scissors and tape. I'll have the three files printed (probably over 200 pages of material), hopefully a decluttered bed and plenty of time.
And I'll start matching bits of script together and create a first version of the full story in two parts. I'll probably need just a whole day to do all that tape&scissors copy pasting and then another to actually do the same thing on the computer. Structures take time. This is something I'm learning every time I do them. The other thing is don't try to do it in one go. Do as much as you can, but if you repeatedly get stuck in the same place (where the heck are these scenes going to go??) the best thing is to wait and do it another day.
On monday the 20th I revised the short comics script for Teatro Do Frio, started a new scritp called AYOOLA, added some more scenes to LAND OF FOG, wrote the synopsis for a roleplaying game character (called Sebastian Lumiere - don't you just love the name??) and worked on another of my special scripts...
(of which Ayoola is also one, by the way...)
And ended up missing the graphic novels reading group meeting having been so engrossed with the writing...
Tuesday I typed a few more pages for the WEIR-D MACHINE, more on AYOOLA, A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN and LAND OF FOG.
Wednesday was also spent with AYOOLA and LAND OF FOG.
Thursday just a bit on LAND OF FOG and some more panels on A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
And yesterday, friday, it was just LAND OF FOG the whole day.
You might ask why have i spent so much time with LAND OF FOG lately. And it is a good question. But the answer is simple. I want to finish as much as possible before nanowrimo starts. And I realised that I could actually finish LAND OF FOG but not really A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
I'm just over 30 000 words on LAND OF FOG and more or less already have all the crucial scenes. There's 2 or 3 more than I want to add but these are relatively small ones. Then the next step will be to print off the whole thing ('cause today I want to see if I can edit, proof read and correct, if not all, at least most of it) and create a structure for it.
LAND OF FOG tells the story of a traveller that arrives to a strange town and all the scenes far under two general categories. Scenes of him meeting the place and the people. And scenes where weird stories are told or eerie stuff happens to him.
Now one of the ideas I had was to have one of these strands working chronologically forwards and the other backwards. So, let's say, we would start with him leaving the town (and work backwards until we find out what happened on that first day) but using the weird stuff as the basis of the narrative, working thus forward in time since there is a crescendo of intensity in the way the scenes are chronologically placed.
The other idea is simply to have it all working forward in time but having the weird stuff happening before we know how he got there in the first place.
I'm starting to think that this is probably a better solution for it allows us to open up with a strong scene that will hopefully capture the readers attention from then onwards. Besides I think the idea of having the event and then only after seeing someone's expectations as he or she is about to enter it can work. In any case, as soon as I have all the bits and pieces ready it will be easy to come up with a chronological version of the story and then create at least one of these two. Another afternoon of copy pasting with scissors and tape. Which, I'm hoping, will be soon enough. So probably either next wednesday/thursday afternoon. Which are going to be my next days off before we hit nanowrimo head on.
Which means I'll have to have everything written down by tuesday. Which means it would probably be best if I could wrap this thing by today and tomorrow and spend some time on monday/tuesday reviewing the whole thing.
Sounds like a plan, don't it?
That's usually how plans start. They start to sound and, soon enough, they're the ones shouting at you...
Today I'm gonna revise the so called LAND OF FOG short story. If I have time I'll add the new panels to A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN and finish typing up WEIR-D MACHINE (only a couple more pages to go - though there is still plenty to tell with this one... this is one that's gonna stick around for a while I think...)
Well, that's it for now!
Peace
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