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!
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.
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 28
And this was the day that I almost finished The Softness Of Memory... I ploughed through the script but I found it hard to bring it to life. Still I had the road map and I only stopped when I had only a couple of scenes left to write.
It was quite hectic throughout the day for the scenes were being written out of order but I just wasn't caring anymore. I just wrote as things came in - during revision everything will be sorted out...
(at least that's what I keep telling myself...)
But it went well. I don't remember how many pages I actually wrote but I was nicely over one hundred when I finished.
peace!
It was quite hectic throughout the day for the scenes were being written out of order but I just wasn't caring anymore. I just wrote as things came in - during revision everything will be sorted out...
(at least that's what I keep telling myself...)
But it went well. I don't remember how many pages I actually wrote but I was nicely over one hundred when I finished.
peace!
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 27
Hey... today has been a looong day... I still haven't slept properly since I left the UK a few hours ago. I flew in to Lisbon and am now staying at a friend's place. Between chatting, playing some guitar, watching youtube clips and dozing a bit, I read some more of Cory Doctorow's book OVERCLOCKED and read a good chunk of the script I want to finish more or less by tomorrow... The Softeness Of Memory.
I was amazed that the first third of it is actually pretty good. Some good and engaging dialogue, the characters coming out much more strongly than I remembered. Then it becomes a lot more forced, in clear need of reworking!
But the story is there, building slowly (perhaps too slowly but that's on revision phase as well...)
I've already finished the scene that I left halfway through months and months ago... I'm feeling tired and not able to focus properly. I'll probably call it an early night and wake up halfway through the night and type.
Or just in the morning and type...
It's good to be in Portugal. It's sunny and warm, and it just feels so relaxing to be here...
I'm not going to go crazy on this script. I'm just going to type the scenes that I had in my mind so long ago and that's it. Type whatever I had planned to - and worry about the structure later.
And if something new comes... well then, let it!
Hope you are well!
peace.
I was amazed that the first third of it is actually pretty good. Some good and engaging dialogue, the characters coming out much more strongly than I remembered. Then it becomes a lot more forced, in clear need of reworking!
But the story is there, building slowly (perhaps too slowly but that's on revision phase as well...)
I've already finished the scene that I left halfway through months and months ago... I'm feeling tired and not able to focus properly. I'll probably call it an early night and wake up halfway through the night and type.
Or just in the morning and type...
It's good to be in Portugal. It's sunny and warm, and it just feels so relaxing to be here...
I'm not going to go crazy on this script. I'm just going to type the scenes that I had in my mind so long ago and that's it. Type whatever I had planned to - and worry about the structure later.
And if something new comes... well then, let it!
Hope you are well!
peace.
Monday 26 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 26
This was a crazy day.
I had to go to work and finish some stuff for the Graphic Novels Reading Group and the Cory Doctorow's event that we're running on the 8th and thus, I cut myself a good chunk of the day that I had planned to use for writing.
Plus I'd arrived home well after 2 in the morning and still chatted with a friend into the early hours of the day. It was just starting to get bright when I went to bed...
And only when I arrived home did I realise that my flight to Lisbon was one of those early ones... So, if I wanted to finish that Miriam script I needed to be fast...
And that's what I did. I focussed on getting all the plot bits on paper and forgot a bit about structure or humour (there was a bit but not much...).
But I did managed to finish it. Already after 2 in the morning and starting to feel the tiredness creep in.
I wrapped up Miriam at 112 pages. It still needs a lot of work but the main thing of these exercises is to have a great big puzzle that you can then jiggle around and fine tune. And it was during the writing of it that I realised that not only it could be a fun film but also a multi-layered one, playing the in-film "real life" with the film ideas that Perry keeps up coming up with for his script. Something that didn't make much sense in the beginning of the writing kind of became one of the supports for this story.
I thought, I'll sleep on the flight.
And I did.
I woke up a couple of times during the flight but I don't even remember the lift off... (even though I did see the crew doing their safety demonstration...)
peace
I had to go to work and finish some stuff for the Graphic Novels Reading Group and the Cory Doctorow's event that we're running on the 8th and thus, I cut myself a good chunk of the day that I had planned to use for writing.
Plus I'd arrived home well after 2 in the morning and still chatted with a friend into the early hours of the day. It was just starting to get bright when I went to bed...
And only when I arrived home did I realise that my flight to Lisbon was one of those early ones... So, if I wanted to finish that Miriam script I needed to be fast...
And that's what I did. I focussed on getting all the plot bits on paper and forgot a bit about structure or humour (there was a bit but not much...).
But I did managed to finish it. Already after 2 in the morning and starting to feel the tiredness creep in.
I wrapped up Miriam at 112 pages. It still needs a lot of work but the main thing of these exercises is to have a great big puzzle that you can then jiggle around and fine tune. And it was during the writing of it that I realised that not only it could be a fun film but also a multi-layered one, playing the in-film "real life" with the film ideas that Perry keeps up coming up with for his script. Something that didn't make much sense in the beginning of the writing kind of became one of the supports for this story.
I thought, I'll sleep on the flight.
And I did.
I woke up a couple of times during the flight but I don't even remember the lift off... (even though I did see the crew doing their safety demonstration...)
peace
AVATAR
Since there is no muse around to bear this lightness inside of me, the world then, unto which I release.
My heart is full.
Not just my eyes, my mind, my senses
My heart.
It's hard to say what this film now means to me.
So I won't say it.
I'll say only that this immense feeling of love, of gratitude and of connection came over me many times. In fact it swelled and it took me with it.
I'll say instead what it made me think of.
More than the wrongs, the rights.
It made me think how all of us, inside that room, inside that film, all of us who have shared this experience, we all tend to pick the side of life, the side of communion, the side unto which we are transformed into throughout this film.
And we can resonate deeply and movingly with these things because we recognise them. Even if we are seeing and consciously experiencing them for the first time.
They are in us and, intuitively, we have always known this.
Because we have always been this.
This is our home. This is where we dwell.
With this deep sense of communion, with this positive resonance, it is easy to let ourselves go, to lose sight of who we are and where and when we are. There is no I, there is only the experience at hand, and the utmost immersion in it.
This cannot happen with a negative resonance. With this we feel being sucked into something. We put up barriers, we try to dissociate from the experience. We become overly conscious in it, so much so that the experience itself might be obliterated simply by this feeling.
This is the best that drama can offer us. Becoming an engine to propel us further and higher and deeper and wider into our own truth. Which is shared. Which is everyone's.
That's what we're looking for.
That's what we are.
And to reclaim it, we simply need to reclaim nature.
Our nature.
Our being.
My heart is full.
Not just my eyes, my mind, my senses
My heart.
It's hard to say what this film now means to me.
So I won't say it.
I'll say only that this immense feeling of love, of gratitude and of connection came over me many times. In fact it swelled and it took me with it.
I'll say instead what it made me think of.
More than the wrongs, the rights.
It made me think how all of us, inside that room, inside that film, all of us who have shared this experience, we all tend to pick the side of life, the side of communion, the side unto which we are transformed into throughout this film.
And we can resonate deeply and movingly with these things because we recognise them. Even if we are seeing and consciously experiencing them for the first time.
They are in us and, intuitively, we have always known this.
Because we have always been this.
This is our home. This is where we dwell.
With this deep sense of communion, with this positive resonance, it is easy to let ourselves go, to lose sight of who we are and where and when we are. There is no I, there is only the experience at hand, and the utmost immersion in it.
This cannot happen with a negative resonance. With this we feel being sucked into something. We put up barriers, we try to dissociate from the experience. We become overly conscious in it, so much so that the experience itself might be obliterated simply by this feeling.
This is the best that drama can offer us. Becoming an engine to propel us further and higher and deeper and wider into our own truth. Which is shared. Which is everyone's.
That's what we're looking for.
That's what we are.
And to reclaim it, we simply need to reclaim nature.
Our nature.
Our being.
Saturday 24 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 24
This was the day of AVATAR...
I was really tired from the previous day (and night!) at work and so I woke up late and feeling like I'd been through a boxing ring during the night. I was groggy and lazy. But... I didn't have that much time to type before I had to leave home again and so I more or less managed to type some twenty odd pages on that script pushing it into the eighty something pages.
It was a bit difficult because it's always a bit conflicting to type something that you know is not as good as something you might'v done three or four days ago, when you know that you could be doing something a bit better, if only you had more time.
But these days I really need to feel that there is some sense of completion in every story. If I don't lay down all the pieces of the puzzle then I don't feel quite relaxed. And, to be quite honest, I prefer to feel relaxed knowing that that story - for better or for worse - is "all there" than one third in, at a good level but still incomplete... never knowing WHEN it will be completed.
Because then what happens to me is that these stories keep coming back, over and over again. Like some sort of ghost we've created to haunt ourselves (and I actually think it's something akin to this...)
Completion is important. It frees up a lot of mind space. Even if it falls short of your initial objective.
To be honest I've never exceeded my initial objective.
On a first draft.
Probably not even on a second.
But on a third or a fourth, when the story is really there, rounded and ticking... oooh... that's another matter.
It has happened a few times.
You know why?
Because I had something to work upon. Something to improve upon. Something that I could gain some perspective about.
I mean, stories just keep turning up. Even the ones that we've finished. Some new idea, some new nuance, a slight change of perspective for that chapter that will deepen and impact on the whole.
And you take them in. Especially if you haven't published them. You make notes. You add. You cut. You change.
The story changes. But it changes to become more and more itself.
I still have ideas I want to add to The Shift and Lost Lines. It's just the way it is. Sometimes it's just another phrase that boils down all that you were trying to say for pages and pages. Making it feel simple and effortless.
And we've got to let these things come through in their own time.
But it's just easier if there's something there already to which they can latch on and resonate.
So, I keep telling myself to be fearless of bad first drafts. Their a good step towards a reasonable second draft.
And a good third.
And hopefully a great fourth...
Peace!
I was really tired from the previous day (and night!) at work and so I woke up late and feeling like I'd been through a boxing ring during the night. I was groggy and lazy. But... I didn't have that much time to type before I had to leave home again and so I more or less managed to type some twenty odd pages on that script pushing it into the eighty something pages.
It was a bit difficult because it's always a bit conflicting to type something that you know is not as good as something you might'v done three or four days ago, when you know that you could be doing something a bit better, if only you had more time.
But these days I really need to feel that there is some sense of completion in every story. If I don't lay down all the pieces of the puzzle then I don't feel quite relaxed. And, to be quite honest, I prefer to feel relaxed knowing that that story - for better or for worse - is "all there" than one third in, at a good level but still incomplete... never knowing WHEN it will be completed.
Because then what happens to me is that these stories keep coming back, over and over again. Like some sort of ghost we've created to haunt ourselves (and I actually think it's something akin to this...)
Completion is important. It frees up a lot of mind space. Even if it falls short of your initial objective.
To be honest I've never exceeded my initial objective.
On a first draft.
Probably not even on a second.
But on a third or a fourth, when the story is really there, rounded and ticking... oooh... that's another matter.
It has happened a few times.
You know why?
Because I had something to work upon. Something to improve upon. Something that I could gain some perspective about.
I mean, stories just keep turning up. Even the ones that we've finished. Some new idea, some new nuance, a slight change of perspective for that chapter that will deepen and impact on the whole.
And you take them in. Especially if you haven't published them. You make notes. You add. You cut. You change.
The story changes. But it changes to become more and more itself.
I still have ideas I want to add to The Shift and Lost Lines. It's just the way it is. Sometimes it's just another phrase that boils down all that you were trying to say for pages and pages. Making it feel simple and effortless.
And we've got to let these things come through in their own time.
But it's just easier if there's something there already to which they can latch on and resonate.
So, I keep telling myself to be fearless of bad first drafts. Their a good step towards a reasonable second draft.
And a good third.
And hopefully a great fourth...
Peace!
Friday 23 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 23
Saturday was another day where I felt I was writing against the clock. I don't even remember much of what I did, I just now that I managed to bang out some twenty odd pages of script (some of them a bit funny - whcich helps!) and rush out to a loooong night at work.
I took my stuff but I didn't even have time to think about it, nevermind writing.
On the way back I was so tired that I found myself yawning while cycling.
But then, as a truck passed by me, way past 3 in the morning, I had a flash and an idea for a short script. I didn't stop to note it down. It's one of those ideas that just swims in the background of your mind for years until it actually comes to the surface and defines itself in a moment with some clarity and force.
It's not a pleasant idea, but I think it's one that's important to tell... so, I shared that with Alexandra (it was an idea for her 18 themed project) the day after.
I think she enjoyed it.
That one and the other one I had been tinkering about.
The problem now is that she doesn't have enough time and, we both agree on this, these stories need a bit of space to breathe...
So, we'll see where time takes us...
My plan is to type them down whenever I'm so inclined and start looking out for a place where I can post them so that animators may take those scripts and do something with them.
I'll get the Creative Commons licensing for all of them and away we go!
That's the plan!
And now... onwards to more writing!
peace~!
I took my stuff but I didn't even have time to think about it, nevermind writing.
On the way back I was so tired that I found myself yawning while cycling.
But then, as a truck passed by me, way past 3 in the morning, I had a flash and an idea for a short script. I didn't stop to note it down. It's one of those ideas that just swims in the background of your mind for years until it actually comes to the surface and defines itself in a moment with some clarity and force.
It's not a pleasant idea, but I think it's one that's important to tell... so, I shared that with Alexandra (it was an idea for her 18 themed project) the day after.
I think she enjoyed it.
That one and the other one I had been tinkering about.
The problem now is that she doesn't have enough time and, we both agree on this, these stories need a bit of space to breathe...
So, we'll see where time takes us...
My plan is to type them down whenever I'm so inclined and start looking out for a place where I can post them so that animators may take those scripts and do something with them.
I'll get the Creative Commons licensing for all of them and away we go!
That's the plan!
And now... onwards to more writing!
peace~!
Script Frenzy Day 22
Yesterday was a good day even though I didn't write as much as I'd wanted to... I'm still on page forty something and I wanted to have it finished by now!
However I crossed an important threshhold: Miriam now knows Perry exists... and she's curious!
(and so am I!)
One of the problems with this script is that it can go so many ways... so what I thought yesterday was to simply incorporate some of these spin off plots into Perry's eternal script, which could then be shown in short snippets throughout the main body of the film... and add to the humour of it all! I really want to show how the male brain can go head over heels over a woman and really go at a tangent...
Amidst all this pondering I managed to write a short animation script for my friend. It's called One Last Time and it's a story of a goodbye to a redundant previous life.
Actually, you can check some of her stuff HERE!
I'd thought initially to do a kind of combo version of the script, with dialogue and non-dialogue descriptions crammed into a single script but then I realised that the dialogue I'd written was mediocre and the whole would probably work a lot better without any words.
That's what I sent her.
I still feel that I haven't gotten to the core of what I really wanted to say but... there you go, sometimes you just get the taste instead of the whole cake...
Just before I went to sleep I started having these really vivid images about another story that I've tentatively called Fosters - simply because it's about foster parents and abandoned children. It's a pretty dark one but one that I think would be worthwhile writing about. It's about predjudice and expectations.
I jotted down the idea on a word file.
Saved it to my Films folder.
(organisation! organisation!)
And off I went to sleep!
peace!
However I crossed an important threshhold: Miriam now knows Perry exists... and she's curious!
(and so am I!)
One of the problems with this script is that it can go so many ways... so what I thought yesterday was to simply incorporate some of these spin off plots into Perry's eternal script, which could then be shown in short snippets throughout the main body of the film... and add to the humour of it all! I really want to show how the male brain can go head over heels over a woman and really go at a tangent...
Amidst all this pondering I managed to write a short animation script for my friend. It's called One Last Time and it's a story of a goodbye to a redundant previous life.
Actually, you can check some of her stuff HERE!
I'd thought initially to do a kind of combo version of the script, with dialogue and non-dialogue descriptions crammed into a single script but then I realised that the dialogue I'd written was mediocre and the whole would probably work a lot better without any words.
That's what I sent her.
I still feel that I haven't gotten to the core of what I really wanted to say but... there you go, sometimes you just get the taste instead of the whole cake...
Just before I went to sleep I started having these really vivid images about another story that I've tentatively called Fosters - simply because it's about foster parents and abandoned children. It's a pretty dark one but one that I think would be worthwhile writing about. It's about predjudice and expectations.
I jotted down the idea on a word file.
Saved it to my Films folder.
(organisation! organisation!)
And off I went to sleep!
peace!
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 21
Well, it's now 4pm and I've just finished drafting the second of the two ideas I had to help out my friend (I'm not mentioning her name here since I don't know if she'd like that or not... that's usually my policy)
We chatted for a good long while yesterday. The theme was about turning 18, the experiences, etc.
I more or less dropped the ideas we chatted initially, came up with another one, with lots of monologue, more internalized. Dropped that two and came up with two others. Both with no dialogue or voice overs.
She's at work now so I'll send her the short animation scripts as soon as she's back online.
The plan for the rest of the day is to finish typing my notes on MIRIAM, print them out and hit that script hard! I want to have it finished before the weekend starts!
Been listening to the B-52's in order to gear myself up to a more positive note. Tried to watch a film yesterday but only watched the first 15min...
I'm hoping that I'll write some 20 or 30 pages today... let's see what happens!
Even though I'm at home I've still been taking care of stuff for friends and friends of friends... that's life! And that's why it is good!
Peace!
We chatted for a good long while yesterday. The theme was about turning 18, the experiences, etc.
I more or less dropped the ideas we chatted initially, came up with another one, with lots of monologue, more internalized. Dropped that two and came up with two others. Both with no dialogue or voice overs.
She's at work now so I'll send her the short animation scripts as soon as she's back online.
The plan for the rest of the day is to finish typing my notes on MIRIAM, print them out and hit that script hard! I want to have it finished before the weekend starts!
Been listening to the B-52's in order to gear myself up to a more positive note. Tried to watch a film yesterday but only watched the first 15min...
I'm hoping that I'll write some 20 or 30 pages today... let's see what happens!
Even though I'm at home I've still been taking care of stuff for friends and friends of friends... that's life! And that's why it is good!
Peace!
Script Frenzy Day 20
Yesterday I went to work and had a mad day there. Ended up staying an extra two hours just finishing bits and pieces and then, of course, as I was about to leave, something would come up, just a few more minutes and on and on for two hours...
When I arrived home I started chatting with a friend of mine, working in Brasil for an animation company, doing an animation course there and wanting my help for one of her projects.
I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep during a long pause in our chat... I don't even remember lying down...
I just remember waking up at 8am!
So not much work on the frenzy yesterday...
peace!
When I arrived home I started chatting with a friend of mine, working in Brasil for an animation company, doing an animation course there and wanting my help for one of her projects.
I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep during a long pause in our chat... I don't even remember lying down...
I just remember waking up at 8am!
So not much work on the frenzy yesterday...
peace!
Script Frenzy Day 19
After spending a good part of the day ceiling mounting my projector I ended up going to the IMAX to watch Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland 3D - which I thoroughly enjoyed. Probably because my expectations were quite low.
It's a blockbuster so, blockbuster rules apply...
But i'ts always a treat to see Tim Burton's wild imaginings take life on the big screen. Especially one as big as the IMAX one!
When I came home I didn't do much. Just went straight to sleep!
Then the next day I started working on my other script called MIRIAM.
After a lot of pottering about I managed to plot the whole thing and write a few scenes. But I felt far away from my 40 page a day frenzies...
The good thing was that the bits I did write actually felt funny - or at least amusing.
I decided I needed a little break so I didn't push myself that much...
peace!
It's a blockbuster so, blockbuster rules apply...
But i'ts always a treat to see Tim Burton's wild imaginings take life on the big screen. Especially one as big as the IMAX one!
When I came home I didn't do much. Just went straight to sleep!
Then the next day I started working on my other script called MIRIAM.
After a lot of pottering about I managed to plot the whole thing and write a few scenes. But I felt far away from my 40 page a day frenzies...
The good thing was that the bits I did write actually felt funny - or at least amusing.
I decided I needed a little break so I didn't push myself that much...
peace!
Sunday 18 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 18
Hello and good afternoon!
Well, I've more or less finished this one!
Just ended typing up 7 new short scenes that I'm going to have to insert back into the story in a second revision phase - even though I think I still need to create 5 or 6 more for one of the secondary characters. He kind of has a strong start and I never picked it up. So I'll have to develop that a bit more and then wrap it up quickly.
I'm also wondering if I should give Jennifer a bit of a back story. After all she is the only character in the story that doesn't seem to have much to hide.
oh.
I just remembered.
I did do that...
Ages ago...
Not to worry then!
Problem solved!
(I should trust my skills more...)
As soon as I finished chapter 25, Grace, my computer collapsed. I thought power had failed. But it turns out that it didn't... Maybe I've burned one of the RAMs... I don't know. I replaced one of them for one of the old ones I've kept lying about and it's working now... I need to clean this computer... TLC TLC TLC... it's always the first thing to go out the window...
Anyway, when I rebooted the whole thing I realised that the last three pages (that I felt were actually quite good) and disappeared.
And I'm pretty sure that I'd saved them...
I was really frustrated for a while and really didn't want to go back and re-write the whole thing again. It was the most gruesome scene in the whole series and I didn't feel like revisiting it at all for the time being.
But I did and I re-wrote it even though I don't think it flows as well as first time round...
Well... there's always revision...
Chapter 26, This Blinding Light, the epilogue, was much easier to write.
I still don't know if the ending that I've written is the one that will stay. I'm quite tempted to tone down the final scenes in chapter 25. My only fear is that they're not believable enough in that way. At the same time this might contribute to what happens in chapter 26 to be more believable also...
Revision will decide!
I think now I'm gonna sort out my room a bit. Find out where all the bits of information in relation to Miriam are located and prepare a file with all my notes about it. I don't think I'll start writing that film today. But I do want to start it tomorrow.
I'm gonna watch a film in a few hours!
I think I deserve it!
I had planned to go to one of the scriptfrenzy meets in Southbank but I think it's best if I hang back and actually clean my pc...
Peace!
Well, I've more or less finished this one!
Just ended typing up 7 new short scenes that I'm going to have to insert back into the story in a second revision phase - even though I think I still need to create 5 or 6 more for one of the secondary characters. He kind of has a strong start and I never picked it up. So I'll have to develop that a bit more and then wrap it up quickly.
I'm also wondering if I should give Jennifer a bit of a back story. After all she is the only character in the story that doesn't seem to have much to hide.
oh.
I just remembered.
I did do that...
Ages ago...
Not to worry then!
Problem solved!
(I should trust my skills more...)
As soon as I finished chapter 25, Grace, my computer collapsed. I thought power had failed. But it turns out that it didn't... Maybe I've burned one of the RAMs... I don't know. I replaced one of them for one of the old ones I've kept lying about and it's working now... I need to clean this computer... TLC TLC TLC... it's always the first thing to go out the window...
Anyway, when I rebooted the whole thing I realised that the last three pages (that I felt were actually quite good) and disappeared.
And I'm pretty sure that I'd saved them...
I was really frustrated for a while and really didn't want to go back and re-write the whole thing again. It was the most gruesome scene in the whole series and I didn't feel like revisiting it at all for the time being.
But I did and I re-wrote it even though I don't think it flows as well as first time round...
Well... there's always revision...
Chapter 26, This Blinding Light, the epilogue, was much easier to write.
I still don't know if the ending that I've written is the one that will stay. I'm quite tempted to tone down the final scenes in chapter 25. My only fear is that they're not believable enough in that way. At the same time this might contribute to what happens in chapter 26 to be more believable also...
Revision will decide!
I think now I'm gonna sort out my room a bit. Find out where all the bits of information in relation to Miriam are located and prepare a file with all my notes about it. I don't think I'll start writing that film today. But I do want to start it tomorrow.
I'm gonna watch a film in a few hours!
I think I deserve it!
I had planned to go to one of the scriptfrenzy meets in Southbank but I think it's best if I hang back and actually clean my pc...
Peace!
Script Frenzy Day 17
Day 17 didn't go as smoothly as I thought it would. To start I woke up later than I had planned. I went to see a friend on the day before and we ended up chatting for hours... this is what tends to happen!
Then, when I finally woke up, around 4 or 5am, I realised I'd left my notes at work... I meditated for a bit. Then tried to write, found it difficult because I needed to see what I had done before, and decided to go back to sleep and see what would happen closer to the morning.
I decided to go to work. Which ended up being the smart choice because I'd forgotten to grab some details for a farewell party with some colleagues from work, later that day. I arrived home around noon and I type until 4.30pm, having managed to finish chapter 24, Requiem.
I went to the farewell in Clapham but truly felt alienated from it all. I was on script mode... that means I couldn't talk about anything else but this stuff... and I did try! My head just felt empty. So I watched and listened, trying to figure out in the back of my mind if all this chatting would in some way prove useful for my script writing abilities...
Anyway, cycled home and began chapter 25, Grace (at least that's what I think I did... the last couple of days are a bit of a blur in terms of what I've written, I seem to very easily forget the order in which I do things...)
Afterwards it was time to go to sleep!
peace
Then, when I finally woke up, around 4 or 5am, I realised I'd left my notes at work... I meditated for a bit. Then tried to write, found it difficult because I needed to see what I had done before, and decided to go back to sleep and see what would happen closer to the morning.
I decided to go to work. Which ended up being the smart choice because I'd forgotten to grab some details for a farewell party with some colleagues from work, later that day. I arrived home around noon and I type until 4.30pm, having managed to finish chapter 24, Requiem.
I went to the farewell in Clapham but truly felt alienated from it all. I was on script mode... that means I couldn't talk about anything else but this stuff... and I did try! My head just felt empty. So I watched and listened, trying to figure out in the back of my mind if all this chatting would in some way prove useful for my script writing abilities...
Anyway, cycled home and began chapter 25, Grace (at least that's what I think I did... the last couple of days are a bit of a blur in terms of what I've written, I seem to very easily forget the order in which I do things...)
Afterwards it was time to go to sleep!
peace
Friday 16 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 16 part two...
Hey there again!
I know, I know, I can't stop blogging... I guess I'm all hyper from all the writing. What can you do?! Might as well enjoy it while it lasts!
Right. After that little ramble a few hours ago I type away at chapter 24, Requiem. This is when Roanoke and Jennifer get themselves into some serious trouble.
I won't tell you much because I would spoil it a bit, I'll just say that what I've written so far as been great fun. So much so that I wish I could be at home right now (I almost wrote, write now...) typing away.
I've realised that my plot for chapter 24 is actually better than what I envisioned. After I finished chapter 23 I jumped into a couple of scenes that I assumed belonged to c.24 but are, in fact, chapter 25...
This is really the cliffhanger issue!
Like the last one!
But what I'm happy about is that these will have MEANING by the time the reader gets to them. It's not so much the cliffhanger per se but rather what it might bring about...
Anyway, enough chit chat, I should actually be taking notes for some ideas I had for that other script (a film script) that's been showing up every so often in my head... it's called MIRIAM, and just so you know, it's a romantic comedy.
Come on.
I need it.
After all this talk about dark stuff I want to do something light but equally fun (though a lighter kind of fun...)
Peace!
I know, I know, I can't stop blogging... I guess I'm all hyper from all the writing. What can you do?! Might as well enjoy it while it lasts!
Right. After that little ramble a few hours ago I type away at chapter 24, Requiem. This is when Roanoke and Jennifer get themselves into some serious trouble.
I won't tell you much because I would spoil it a bit, I'll just say that what I've written so far as been great fun. So much so that I wish I could be at home right now (I almost wrote, write now...) typing away.
I've realised that my plot for chapter 24 is actually better than what I envisioned. After I finished chapter 23 I jumped into a couple of scenes that I assumed belonged to c.24 but are, in fact, chapter 25...
This is really the cliffhanger issue!
Like the last one!
But what I'm happy about is that these will have MEANING by the time the reader gets to them. It's not so much the cliffhanger per se but rather what it might bring about...
Anyway, enough chit chat, I should actually be taking notes for some ideas I had for that other script (a film script) that's been showing up every so often in my head... it's called MIRIAM, and just so you know, it's a romantic comedy.
Come on.
I need it.
After all this talk about dark stuff I want to do something light but equally fun (though a lighter kind of fun...)
Peace!
Script Frenzy Day 16
I did wake up at 3 something but then stayed in bed a little while longer. Just dozing and getting myself ready, actually enjoying the relaxation - must've been that hot bath yesterday.
I woke up and for the first time since I started this thing I actually manage to start typing immediately.
Of course, after ten or fifteen minutes I started getting hungry and went to the kitchen and made breakfast.
I ate it while reading the second half of The Astonishing Wolf-Man volume 3 doing the revising en suite.
With that done I plunged back into the script and I think I haven't left this chair since... I'm really feeling a good momentum here.
It's now almost 8am. I must've written more or less non-stop for the last two and a half hours, three hours. I've finished chapter 23, Free Of All Fathers and have jotted down some ideas to add to chapter 24, Requiem.
The Murrau confrontation went well but differently than what I had expected. I had envisioned something quite epic and brutal and it ended up being something much more about subtlety and dissent. Don't know if that's the correct word for what I want to say... Murrau's character came out really solid I think. This old guy that just doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, but whose goal in life is actually seeing the dull extent of his manipulations.
I think it went quite well and I think I managed to tie up a couple of loose ends fairly well. And I mean fairly because I left in there some bits from an older version of this scene (actually a fragment, a page long) that I still don't know if I'll need to use at a later stage or not. They stay here for now and when I revise I'll know if they're needed or not. At least they're in their right place.
Trust me, there's plenty more of that scattered throughout the other chapters... just don't stop to try and tie up everything. It's best to get to the end of the story first. Then you'll see much more clearly what you need to add, what you'll need to remove, perfect, etc.
Alright! That's it for now! I still have another hour before I have to make my way to work. Better use it up wisely!
peace
I woke up and for the first time since I started this thing I actually manage to start typing immediately.
Of course, after ten or fifteen minutes I started getting hungry and went to the kitchen and made breakfast.
I ate it while reading the second half of The Astonishing Wolf-Man volume 3 doing the revising en suite.
With that done I plunged back into the script and I think I haven't left this chair since... I'm really feeling a good momentum here.
It's now almost 8am. I must've written more or less non-stop for the last two and a half hours, three hours. I've finished chapter 23, Free Of All Fathers and have jotted down some ideas to add to chapter 24, Requiem.
The Murrau confrontation went well but differently than what I had expected. I had envisioned something quite epic and brutal and it ended up being something much more about subtlety and dissent. Don't know if that's the correct word for what I want to say... Murrau's character came out really solid I think. This old guy that just doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, but whose goal in life is actually seeing the dull extent of his manipulations.
I think it went quite well and I think I managed to tie up a couple of loose ends fairly well. And I mean fairly because I left in there some bits from an older version of this scene (actually a fragment, a page long) that I still don't know if I'll need to use at a later stage or not. They stay here for now and when I revise I'll know if they're needed or not. At least they're in their right place.
Trust me, there's plenty more of that scattered throughout the other chapters... just don't stop to try and tie up everything. It's best to get to the end of the story first. Then you'll see much more clearly what you need to add, what you'll need to remove, perfect, etc.
Alright! That's it for now! I still have another hour before I have to make my way to work. Better use it up wisely!
peace
Script Frenzy Day 15 part three...
After finishing chapter 22 I made a headstart on chapter 23 taking it up all the way until the moment where Roanoke and Jennifer have to face Murrau.
Before this though I read half of The Astonishing Wolf-Man Volume 3 and revised it too. Even though I felt quite disappointed with it. But sometimes that's when you learn more. Since I've been working on my plot quite a bit so that, even on this first draft things stick together coherently (or as close to as I can manage) it was very easy to see how much Robert Kirkman didn't do... But, I guess I learned something from that so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
since I was feeling a bit tired I decided to go to bed around nine. And because my mind was feeling a lot lighter than it had in the last few days I decided to switch on the alarm clock for just after 3am since I was pretty sure I wasn't going to wake up by myself like in previous days.
Which proved to be right...
peace
Before this though I read half of The Astonishing Wolf-Man Volume 3 and revised it too. Even though I felt quite disappointed with it. But sometimes that's when you learn more. Since I've been working on my plot quite a bit so that, even on this first draft things stick together coherently (or as close to as I can manage) it was very easy to see how much Robert Kirkman didn't do... But, I guess I learned something from that so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
since I was feeling a bit tired I decided to go to bed around nine. And because my mind was feeling a lot lighter than it had in the last few days I decided to switch on the alarm clock for just after 3am since I was pretty sure I wasn't going to wake up by myself like in previous days.
Which proved to be right...
peace
Thursday 15 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 15 part two...
Chapter 22, Free Of All Fathers is now completed. This is one that is going to need quite a bit revising. Some good moments but I felt Roanoke's parents backstory wasn't convincing enough. It needs some polishing... but it's done! And, in any case a couple of nice scenes did surface and some of the plot holes I knew I had were resolved. So, all in all, not a bad day's work!
It's now almost 6pm. I still haven't slept even though I did rest for a couple of hours. Nothing like some reading, some food and a hot bath!
I think I'm gonna have a mini-break and then jump into chapter 23. This is going to be one of the big ones and, even though I've resolved a major plot hole, I still don't know how the confrontation between Murrau and Roanoke will be - this also needs to be a major one...
Guess I'll have to write it to find out, right?!
peace.
It's now almost 6pm. I still haven't slept even though I did rest for a couple of hours. Nothing like some reading, some food and a hot bath!
I think I'm gonna have a mini-break and then jump into chapter 23. This is going to be one of the big ones and, even though I've resolved a major plot hole, I still don't know how the confrontation between Murrau and Roanoke will be - this also needs to be a major one...
Guess I'll have to write it to find out, right?!
peace.
Script Frenzy Day 15 part one...
Well, yesterday was a productive day, as much as I wanted it to be I guess.
After finishing chapter 19 I had a little nap, woke up, played some guitar and wrote chapter 20, Tempus Fugit, until about 9pm. Then it was time for bed once again!
In Tempus Fugit time is really running and the pressure levels increase. It needs a bit more of character development but the bones and some of the flesh are already there. There's a really good scene between Caulder and Roanoke where the power game really comes to the surface. A fun piece of verbal swordplay that I really enjoyed writing - and that came about more or less spontaneously. I knew that that scene was important and that a few things needed to be said but what actually happened was better than what I had anticipated!
When I finished it I couldn't wait to get my hands on issue 20! But I was tired and so I thought it best to call it a night...
Which was what I did.
I woke up some 5 hours afterwards with a headache. In my case, writing some 40 odd pages of script combined with not much sleep have the effect of making my head feel a bit funny, electric and tense.
I drank tea and plenty of water and, since it wasn't going away, I spent a good half an hour meditating and catching my mind going all over the place besides observing the rising and falling in the abdomen. At least my back was straight and the headache lightened up a bit.
When I emerged I didn't really feel like writing so much. I didn't feel like doing anything much. Not even going back to sleep.
So I started writing.
Chapter 21 which goes by the name of I Remember Nothing. Taken, obviously from the Joy Division track of the same name. I haven't bothered to read the lyrics but I probably will and add one or two phrases from it in the script if they fit in. In any case, it's the resonance of the title and the more direct meaning of it that I was looking for.
Well, since I wrote this I had to go and read the lyrics, didn't I? Still don't know if I'll use one or two of the phrases but the meaning... my god, it's there alright, closer than I even realised.
I started writing a bit haphazardly at first, not being able to focus properly. But, as soon as I got to the scene between Roanoke and Kronan things really opened up. Once again there was a lot that I knew had to happen in this scene. I just didn't know how... But the glimpses I had started to gain weight and meaning and I just wrote more or less everything that came into my mind's eye. Kronan kind of changed in this scene. I knew he would - that was the point after all. But he was already different in the beginning. All because of his talk with Caulder that kind of revealed some stuff I still didn't know about him. As a consequence, all those ideas I had about him became more real and more present - more likely. I think we might still see him after issue 22 but I'm not sure... actually, I think we might just have a glimpse on the final chapter. so that we can see what has happened to him...
I really think that this issue build up for the climax of the series. I'm still a bit uneasy about being able to pull it off with as much strength as I want to. But even if I don't in this first draft (it's what I keep telling myself...) I'm pretty sure that I will on the second.
Or the third.
Most definitely on the fourth.
After all the second draft will be the reorganizing of this whole heap of scenes and chapters, the refining of some of the text, adding all the page layouts and panel descriptions, getting the characters more clearly. And it will probably take as much time as this first draft to finish.
The third draft will be more looking at a chapter by chapter revision. Making the story flow better - even when it comes to the page and panel descriptions. I won't need to worry so much about the broad view because that will be more or less sorted (even thought there will always be details to add)
The fourth draft will essentially be the re-reading of the third with a critical eye to see if all those things revised actually worked or did anything to the story. It's the double checking so to speak.
This is more or less my modus operandi these days when it comes to writing something. Even with a short story I'll tend to pick it up and drop it a few times in order to gain some perspective over it. The difference is that with a short story it's much easier to go through the four phases in one sitting. With something like this I'll really need time to get it all done...
That's it!
don't know exactly what I'm going to do just now, but maybe it's a good idea to rest for a little while.
And enjoy the sunshine that came out!
Peace
After finishing chapter 19 I had a little nap, woke up, played some guitar and wrote chapter 20, Tempus Fugit, until about 9pm. Then it was time for bed once again!
In Tempus Fugit time is really running and the pressure levels increase. It needs a bit more of character development but the bones and some of the flesh are already there. There's a really good scene between Caulder and Roanoke where the power game really comes to the surface. A fun piece of verbal swordplay that I really enjoyed writing - and that came about more or less spontaneously. I knew that that scene was important and that a few things needed to be said but what actually happened was better than what I had anticipated!
When I finished it I couldn't wait to get my hands on issue 20! But I was tired and so I thought it best to call it a night...
Which was what I did.
I woke up some 5 hours afterwards with a headache. In my case, writing some 40 odd pages of script combined with not much sleep have the effect of making my head feel a bit funny, electric and tense.
I drank tea and plenty of water and, since it wasn't going away, I spent a good half an hour meditating and catching my mind going all over the place besides observing the rising and falling in the abdomen. At least my back was straight and the headache lightened up a bit.
When I emerged I didn't really feel like writing so much. I didn't feel like doing anything much. Not even going back to sleep.
So I started writing.
Chapter 21 which goes by the name of I Remember Nothing. Taken, obviously from the Joy Division track of the same name. I haven't bothered to read the lyrics but I probably will and add one or two phrases from it in the script if they fit in. In any case, it's the resonance of the title and the more direct meaning of it that I was looking for.
Well, since I wrote this I had to go and read the lyrics, didn't I? Still don't know if I'll use one or two of the phrases but the meaning... my god, it's there alright, closer than I even realised.
I started writing a bit haphazardly at first, not being able to focus properly. But, as soon as I got to the scene between Roanoke and Kronan things really opened up. Once again there was a lot that I knew had to happen in this scene. I just didn't know how... But the glimpses I had started to gain weight and meaning and I just wrote more or less everything that came into my mind's eye. Kronan kind of changed in this scene. I knew he would - that was the point after all. But he was already different in the beginning. All because of his talk with Caulder that kind of revealed some stuff I still didn't know about him. As a consequence, all those ideas I had about him became more real and more present - more likely. I think we might still see him after issue 22 but I'm not sure... actually, I think we might just have a glimpse on the final chapter. so that we can see what has happened to him...
I really think that this issue build up for the climax of the series. I'm still a bit uneasy about being able to pull it off with as much strength as I want to. But even if I don't in this first draft (it's what I keep telling myself...) I'm pretty sure that I will on the second.
Or the third.
Most definitely on the fourth.
After all the second draft will be the reorganizing of this whole heap of scenes and chapters, the refining of some of the text, adding all the page layouts and panel descriptions, getting the characters more clearly. And it will probably take as much time as this first draft to finish.
The third draft will be more looking at a chapter by chapter revision. Making the story flow better - even when it comes to the page and panel descriptions. I won't need to worry so much about the broad view because that will be more or less sorted (even thought there will always be details to add)
The fourth draft will essentially be the re-reading of the third with a critical eye to see if all those things revised actually worked or did anything to the story. It's the double checking so to speak.
This is more or less my modus operandi these days when it comes to writing something. Even with a short story I'll tend to pick it up and drop it a few times in order to gain some perspective over it. The difference is that with a short story it's much easier to go through the four phases in one sitting. With something like this I'll really need time to get it all done...
That's it!
don't know exactly what I'm going to do just now, but maybe it's a good idea to rest for a little while.
And enjoy the sunshine that came out!
Peace
Wednesday 14 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 14
Hi!
Just finished chapter 19.
Again went to bed around 10pm and then woke just after 2am. A bit of a headache but feeling good enough to write chapter 20 before I call it a day.
Everybody's still asleep in the house. They've been keeping weird schedules as well...
It's 10am.
I wish they would wake up so that I could play some guitar. I'm gonna have a break. Have some food. Watch a couple of episodes of anime.
Or read.
Then go shop for some food.
Then write some more.
was quite happy with what happened tonight. I had this important scene that I needed to write and actually think that most of the dialogue there is pretty powerful.
And the same with the end of the story between Williams and his wife.
Also realised that I need to throw in a few more scenes (short ones, thankfully!) in previous chapters to wrap up some loose ends and make Caulder's character more rounded. Hopefully making his confrontation with Roanoke on issue 19 even more meaningful.
That's it!
Off to breakfast!
(part two... part one was at 4 am...)
peace!
Just finished chapter 19.
Again went to bed around 10pm and then woke just after 2am. A bit of a headache but feeling good enough to write chapter 20 before I call it a day.
Everybody's still asleep in the house. They've been keeping weird schedules as well...
It's 10am.
I wish they would wake up so that I could play some guitar. I'm gonna have a break. Have some food. Watch a couple of episodes of anime.
Or read.
Then go shop for some food.
Then write some more.
was quite happy with what happened tonight. I had this important scene that I needed to write and actually think that most of the dialogue there is pretty powerful.
And the same with the end of the story between Williams and his wife.
Also realised that I need to throw in a few more scenes (short ones, thankfully!) in previous chapters to wrap up some loose ends and make Caulder's character more rounded. Hopefully making his confrontation with Roanoke on issue 19 even more meaningful.
That's it!
Off to breakfast!
(part two... part one was at 4 am...)
peace!
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 13
Howdy howdy!
Don't know what you've been up to but I sure do know what I have!
After promptly getting rid of anything remotely close to a steady sleeping schedule I have managed to keep on a steady diet of a chapter a day for my comics script.
Yesterday I went to bed at 11pm and promptly woke up at 2am. After a couple of hours of fiddling about I eventually started typing script 18.
Which I finished at 10 something am...
Scripts are a funny thing. I always think that, because of the formatting I've written loads (after 6 hours quite solidly on it...) but the 19 pages that I added didn't seem to amount to the quantity I felt I'd written...
In any case the story is progressing. I think tonight I'll do the same as yesterday. Go to bed early and wake up whenever my mind and body prompt me...
Chapter 19 is called Dreams Of Destruction and starts accelerating towards the big finale, still a few issues ahead.
The big things in this issue are the confrontation between Roanoke and the Bureau top dog as well as Roanoke's insight towards the strange crimes being committed...
And, to be quite honest, I'm also curious about some of the stuff that's supposed to happen in this issue... I guess I'll find out in a few hours...
peace!
Don't know what you've been up to but I sure do know what I have!
After promptly getting rid of anything remotely close to a steady sleeping schedule I have managed to keep on a steady diet of a chapter a day for my comics script.
Yesterday I went to bed at 11pm and promptly woke up at 2am. After a couple of hours of fiddling about I eventually started typing script 18.
Which I finished at 10 something am...
Scripts are a funny thing. I always think that, because of the formatting I've written loads (after 6 hours quite solidly on it...) but the 19 pages that I added didn't seem to amount to the quantity I felt I'd written...
In any case the story is progressing. I think tonight I'll do the same as yesterday. Go to bed early and wake up whenever my mind and body prompt me...
Chapter 19 is called Dreams Of Destruction and starts accelerating towards the big finale, still a few issues ahead.
The big things in this issue are the confrontation between Roanoke and the Bureau top dog as well as Roanoke's insight towards the strange crimes being committed...
And, to be quite honest, I'm also curious about some of the stuff that's supposed to happen in this issue... I guess I'll find out in a few hours...
peace!
Friday 9 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 09
Yes, well, I know I haven't written anything about the 8 days gone but... this is better than nothing!
This year I decided to write a whole comics series some 300 to 400 pages in length. I already had some 60 pages of script when I started so I don't feel that I'm cheating that much... I'm on page 200 and something right now and it feels more or less half way there.
It's called THE BLIND (previously known as RIGOR MORTIS, which is a title that I might go back to... I'm still not entirely sure on either of them...)
It chronicles the investigation over one Aldous Roanoke, a eccentric young man that is going around Unistat (borrowed from RAW, a version of the USA) visiting imprisoned serial killers and the like.
I'm half way through Issue 14.
They're supposed to have 24 pages each (though I'm writing in a meticulous enough way to page and label everything properly. I'm just focussing on getting all the dialogue done and some brief scene descriptions with the odd panel or page idea laid out)
In a total of 24 issues.
And I think I'm more or less on track.
I think I'll probably have a few scenes that I'll have to leave out but that's not a problem because I can then insert them on the revision phase - probably by chucking out those that are redundant or that don't work well anymore. But that's a phase I'm yet to reach and it will be some time before I get there.
Even though I want to have this ready by the end of the month, I want to leave it to settle for a while before I pick it up again. Exception might be to rework the first chapter and send it to a couple of people to see what they think.
maybe...
the good thing is that the story' pace has naturally increased and the tension and the drama are building up. Yesterday (actually today, at 7am... I still hadn't gone to bed...) I had an important piece of plot fall into place and this story is feeling more and more right the closer I get to the end. I love this feeling. The feeling that your idea has taken a life of its own and that now you've stepped from the role of narrator to the role of spectator. For me it's the best part of writing, is to simply see and experience what's happening, rather than directly and tiresomely building it.
That's the beginning. When you're building the momentum and defining the rules. Either intuitively or with story-logic at work.
This is the downhill phase, so to speak. In the sense that you just need to let yourself go and the story go and watch the landscape just flash by you at an incredible but clear speed.
Guess what I'm gonna do right now?!
That's it!
See you in the funny pages!
peace
This year I decided to write a whole comics series some 300 to 400 pages in length. I already had some 60 pages of script when I started so I don't feel that I'm cheating that much... I'm on page 200 and something right now and it feels more or less half way there.
It's called THE BLIND (previously known as RIGOR MORTIS, which is a title that I might go back to... I'm still not entirely sure on either of them...)
It chronicles the investigation over one Aldous Roanoke, a eccentric young man that is going around Unistat (borrowed from RAW, a version of the USA) visiting imprisoned serial killers and the like.
I'm half way through Issue 14.
They're supposed to have 24 pages each (though I'm writing in a meticulous enough way to page and label everything properly. I'm just focussing on getting all the dialogue done and some brief scene descriptions with the odd panel or page idea laid out)
In a total of 24 issues.
And I think I'm more or less on track.
I think I'll probably have a few scenes that I'll have to leave out but that's not a problem because I can then insert them on the revision phase - probably by chucking out those that are redundant or that don't work well anymore. But that's a phase I'm yet to reach and it will be some time before I get there.
Even though I want to have this ready by the end of the month, I want to leave it to settle for a while before I pick it up again. Exception might be to rework the first chapter and send it to a couple of people to see what they think.
maybe...
the good thing is that the story' pace has naturally increased and the tension and the drama are building up. Yesterday (actually today, at 7am... I still hadn't gone to bed...) I had an important piece of plot fall into place and this story is feeling more and more right the closer I get to the end. I love this feeling. The feeling that your idea has taken a life of its own and that now you've stepped from the role of narrator to the role of spectator. For me it's the best part of writing, is to simply see and experience what's happening, rather than directly and tiresomely building it.
That's the beginning. When you're building the momentum and defining the rules. Either intuitively or with story-logic at work.
This is the downhill phase, so to speak. In the sense that you just need to let yourself go and the story go and watch the landscape just flash by you at an incredible but clear speed.
Guess what I'm gonna do right now?!
That's it!
See you in the funny pages!
peace
MORTO ÁRVORE BESTA draft04
It's been ages since I've written anything in this place...
But these last couple of months have been crazy. Not with work - I've never had so much free time in my life before! - but with writing.
It feels that the more free time I have the more writing I get done. And the more writing I do, the more lost into it I get...
Days just fly by...
In any case, since my last post I did another revision of the whole thing - while one of my flatmates was reading it actually - but I still haven't typed it up. I still have 300 A4 pages with some scribbles, quite a few deleted words, some stuff to cut and a new page to add.
I don't think I've saved that much space but I think it will make the reading flow a lot better. Plus, I realised one of the chapters wasn't properly tied and I nudged it back in the right direction...
But, since I'm writing something else for ScriptFrenzy... I don't know when I'll have the time to type everything up!
Hope you are well!
peace!
But these last couple of months have been crazy. Not with work - I've never had so much free time in my life before! - but with writing.
It feels that the more free time I have the more writing I get done. And the more writing I do, the more lost into it I get...
Days just fly by...
In any case, since my last post I did another revision of the whole thing - while one of my flatmates was reading it actually - but I still haven't typed it up. I still have 300 A4 pages with some scribbles, quite a few deleted words, some stuff to cut and a new page to add.
I don't think I've saved that much space but I think it will make the reading flow a lot better. Plus, I realised one of the chapters wasn't properly tied and I nudged it back in the right direction...
But, since I'm writing something else for ScriptFrenzy... I don't know when I'll have the time to type everything up!
Hope you are well!
peace!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
