— Emergency Cute Stuff (@EmergencyPuppy) November 21, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
You're welcome
I remain busy and writing the first draft of A Ronin No Longer continues to be a both an uphill battle and a great learning experience, but that doesn't matter, because here's a tweeted pic of a hedgehog trying to eat a toy dinosaur
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
National Month of Writing things unofficially .... month. Continues! AKA the Ten Day check in!
So ten days* into this mess and I must admit, this is both nice and well, exhausting. I started out with the secret expectations that, since I outlined (something I've never really managed to accomplish successfully before), and I was only writing a short screenplay and not a full length novel, this would be a cake walk. At the start of this month had a stupendous work ethic, and I figured that I could get done exceedingly and embarrassingly early, with a brilliant first draft that I would only make minor tweaks to when I was finished.
I was so incredibly wrong that it was actually not funny. While the outlines were very handy, I admit that had I planned better, I would have done waaay more of them, and done multiple drafts of those. Character arcs, gags, even when exactly to define the act breaks. I also discounted my lack of experience in this department, for all my dreaming and planning I've ever done, I've only written about two complete screenplays in my entire life, and both of them are TERRIBLE. And were written YEARS ago. So, getting into the swing of writing even when you don't feel like writing for an hour or so at a time is at times very painful. Anyone who's thinking of getting into writing in any form for any profession, do yourself a favor and just start writing now. Even if as soon as you write it you sit and thing "Oh, my goodness this is the worst thing ever written in the entire universe" and then a guy from an alternate universe materializes in your house reads your work and stumbles off, mumbling something about the legends being true, it doesn't matter just WRITE. You'll need the practice and also be prepared to do what I'm gonna have to do when I'm done with this draft... REWRITE.
I admit, the idea of multiple drafts always terrified me, I hate writing everything down, partially because it's tedious, and partially because as soon as the idea is down on paper. it is no longer the ethereal ideal of awesomeness I imagined it to be. I have to deal with the stories and thought and characters in practical form, they no longer are some vague idea that's secretly better than Star Wars**. They're props and tools and they have to be able to stand on their own two feet. It's not nearly as much fun as pure imagination, but it is the more worthy goal, because sharing something that even vaguely resembles what I've got in my head sounds like a blast.
So of course the idea of doing this whole mess, finishing, and then essentially starting over again seemed like lunacy to me, why on earth would anyone do this? The answer? Because first drafts are kinda terible. Very little of the screenplay is at a point where I'm happy with it. My writing style is still a tad undeveloped COUGHCOUGHunderstatementCOUGH and while some of my dialogue is turning out nice, at other times it's too rambling. I've got a lot to fix when I come back, and I do mean WHEN as I'm not gonna fix it now.
I'd like to avoid that dangerous trap set for writers that is to continually revise your story before you've finished your first draft. It's tempting, as all the while I'll finish a scene, and then have an idea for how to totally rework the scene or the one prior and make it better, even if by just a little bit, and I must, for the most part, ignore that desire.*** But if you spend all your time rewriting the first half of your novel/script then you will never actually finish, you'll just have half a novel written, and everyone has half a novel written, it's the finished ones that get read.
As for my actual progress report, I'm a bit behind on my goal, this being Day 10 and only having around 9000 words done so far, but still making headway, hopefully by the end of the month, I'll be finished with my first draft and at least ankle deep into the first revision.
I'd also thought I'd talk a little bit about my screenplay, why? because I'm bored and my other major alternative at this point is to actually write and I'm a big chicken so here we go.
The story, titled A Ronin No Longer is envisioned to be release as an internet serial**** In this modern-set story, a drifter by the name of Brendan Holser comes into contact with a slightly eccentric billionaire who offers him an unusual job. And... look, at this point if I tried to tell you anymore at this point it'd sound like one of those annoying blurbs on the back of books that try to sell you on it without actually saying much, and those get on my nerves, so until I can figure out how to tell you more about it without is sounding like an ad in the New York times. See ya around, guys.
*Okay, so I take Sundays off, and I wrote this Tuesday night, so that would be why it doesn't really match up with the date
** I think "Bigger than Star Wars" is sort of everyone's goal, isn't it? I mean come on, it's Star Wars!
*** I will however take advantage of Google Doc's handy little comment feature which allows me to highlight a section, then right click and leave a comment on it just over to the side to make notes on what to fix when I inevitably rewrite the script
**** For those unfamiliar with the concept of a serial, it was basically originally a movie divided up into so many pieces then those pieces, which were around ten minutes long each, would air in theaters for about a week before being replaced with the next installment. I always thought this was a fun way of story telling in theory (I admit to not being too familiar with it in practice), with it's constant cliff-hangers and delayed gratification. I'd love to bring it back in style in some form.
I was so incredibly wrong that it was actually not funny. While the outlines were very handy, I admit that had I planned better, I would have done waaay more of them, and done multiple drafts of those. Character arcs, gags, even when exactly to define the act breaks. I also discounted my lack of experience in this department, for all my dreaming and planning I've ever done, I've only written about two complete screenplays in my entire life, and both of them are TERRIBLE. And were written YEARS ago. So, getting into the swing of writing even when you don't feel like writing for an hour or so at a time is at times very painful. Anyone who's thinking of getting into writing in any form for any profession, do yourself a favor and just start writing now. Even if as soon as you write it you sit and thing "Oh, my goodness this is the worst thing ever written in the entire universe" and then a guy from an alternate universe materializes in your house reads your work and stumbles off, mumbling something about the legends being true, it doesn't matter just WRITE. You'll need the practice and also be prepared to do what I'm gonna have to do when I'm done with this draft... REWRITE.
I admit, the idea of multiple drafts always terrified me, I hate writing everything down, partially because it's tedious, and partially because as soon as the idea is down on paper. it is no longer the ethereal ideal of awesomeness I imagined it to be. I have to deal with the stories and thought and characters in practical form, they no longer are some vague idea that's secretly better than Star Wars**. They're props and tools and they have to be able to stand on their own two feet. It's not nearly as much fun as pure imagination, but it is the more worthy goal, because sharing something that even vaguely resembles what I've got in my head sounds like a blast.
So of course the idea of doing this whole mess, finishing, and then essentially starting over again seemed like lunacy to me, why on earth would anyone do this? The answer? Because first drafts are kinda terible. Very little of the screenplay is at a point where I'm happy with it. My writing style is still a tad undeveloped COUGHCOUGHunderstatementCOUGH and while some of my dialogue is turning out nice, at other times it's too rambling. I've got a lot to fix when I come back, and I do mean WHEN as I'm not gonna fix it now.
I'd like to avoid that dangerous trap set for writers that is to continually revise your story before you've finished your first draft. It's tempting, as all the while I'll finish a scene, and then have an idea for how to totally rework the scene or the one prior and make it better, even if by just a little bit, and I must, for the most part, ignore that desire.*** But if you spend all your time rewriting the first half of your novel/script then you will never actually finish, you'll just have half a novel written, and everyone has half a novel written, it's the finished ones that get read.
As for my actual progress report, I'm a bit behind on my goal, this being Day 10 and only having around 9000 words done so far, but still making headway, hopefully by the end of the month, I'll be finished with my first draft and at least ankle deep into the first revision.
I'd also thought I'd talk a little bit about my screenplay, why? because I'm bored and my other major alternative at this point is to actually write and I'm a big chicken so here we go.
The story, titled A Ronin No Longer is envisioned to be release as an internet serial**** In this modern-set story, a drifter by the name of Brendan Holser comes into contact with a slightly eccentric billionaire who offers him an unusual job. And... look, at this point if I tried to tell you anymore at this point it'd sound like one of those annoying blurbs on the back of books that try to sell you on it without actually saying much, and those get on my nerves, so until I can figure out how to tell you more about it without is sounding like an ad in the New York times. See ya around, guys.
*Okay, so I take Sundays off, and I wrote this Tuesday night, so that would be why it doesn't really match up with the date
** I think "Bigger than Star Wars" is sort of everyone's goal, isn't it? I mean come on, it's Star Wars!
*** I will however take advantage of Google Doc's handy little comment feature which allows me to highlight a section, then right click and leave a comment on it just over to the side to make notes on what to fix when I inevitably rewrite the script
**** For those unfamiliar with the concept of a serial, it was basically originally a movie divided up into so many pieces then those pieces, which were around ten minutes long each, would air in theaters for about a week before being replaced with the next installment. I always thought this was a fun way of story telling in theory (I admit to not being too familiar with it in practice), with it's constant cliff-hangers and delayed gratification. I'd love to bring it back in style in some form.
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