Posty McPostington

I'm aiding and abetting the Net's war on attention spans by writing short little posts instead of my usual lengthy ones. I came up with a good ending to the second screenplay I'm working on (I shelved the first one because I don't think it was quite scary enough for the festival I'm sending this to), and I started another one last weekend (hence the high word count, trying to get it done in time -- it's due by next Friday). Anyway, I was on the bus, jotting notes, trying to think of an ending, and then it just clicked for me. I don't even know what inspired it, but I was really pleased with it. It's a far stronger piece than my original effort (I like the original, but it's more of a SF thriller than a horror story, whereas this new one is more psychological horror, and I think it'll work better -- although I'm sure I won't win the festival, because I know my luck).

Bizarrely, just yesterday, I saw the surname of one of the characters on the side of a charter bus! I'd only come up with the surname a couple of days before, and I was just sitting on the bus, daydreaming, and I saw the name roll by the bus windows (with a wave motif, which was even more perfect), and I was momentarily astounded by that. Like the Cosmos having a bit of fun with me.

Whew

Over 9000 words written this weekend, trying to wrap up the screenplay. I still think the story's trending more toward Action/Suspense/Thriller than out-and-out Horror, but what can I do? It'll be what it'll be. Still have a little over a week to iron it all out.

Soccerday

Yesterday was a beautiful day, weatherwise. Well, it was foggy late into the morning, but the temperatures were nice, and it became sunny and was gorgeous and mild. Very nice.

Exene stayed behind with B2 (both of them are sick -- Exene more so, with some kind of tonsillitis thing going on; B2 just has a bit of bronchitis), while I took B1 to his soccer game. His team lost (1-2), which is a rarity for his team. He was fine with it -- he doesn't care. Afterwards, there was a tailgating party hosted by one of the parents, but B1 wasn't interested in that, was more interested in walking on the rocks on the lakeshore, so we did that. It was fun to explore that with him -- I could tell he really enjoyed that. I tried to teach him how to skip stones, and we watched schools of fish. A soccer girl his age hung around in the distance, watching us. She was this quiet tomboy, hopping back and forth on the stones above and behind us, but she was fascinated by our activities on the shore, our talking and stone-skipping, judging from her reaction. I don't think B1 even saw her. Then a group of boys ran up to B1 and said "Hey, I know that guy" to B1 (he didn't know who the other boys were, but those kids all went to his school), and then the tomboy disappeared, while the boys got into adventures on the rocks. If she hadn't been wearing a soccer uniform, I'd have thought she was a ghost! I don't think the AYSO supports ghosts, however.

After that, I took B1 to McD's for a bit to eat, and then we took the bus home. I took a lot of photographs. I'm glad the city hasn't replaced all the massive stones on the lakeshore (like it did further south). The stones are wonderful, they really make the shore fun.

Going home, I watched the original "The Vanishing" -- a quietly creepy European (Dutch, I think) flick that might qualify as a horror movie, but in a very real-world kind of way, nothing supernatural.

I wrote over 4000 words yesterday, working on the screenplay for the deadline (looming, now). Today I'm going to try to get the rest of it done.

Eureka!

I figured out a solution to the screenplay problem, a way to spin the story off in a new (and very nasty) way. Muahah! It was a synthesis of two ideas I had, and the fusion of them alloys into something new and horrific! Or should I say "terrific?" Baha!

Whew. Glad my brain woke up today, as I was really stuck. But I got it. I have 15 days to get it done.

Tired

I'm worn out today. Not enough sleep, just tired. One of the pillars for me, definitely.

It's gorgeous out today -- cool and wonderfully sunny. Just very pleasant. Hopefully the summer will be nice.

Sent a query out to a literary agent on a whim -- just a name I ran across, somebody who might be interested in one of my books. We'll see. Odds are long, as ever, but one has to try!

I had such a good horror screenplay idea yesterday, the whole thing just unfolded perfectly, but the concept has already been done, and so I have to figure some way of altering the setup enough that it can't be said to be derivative of the source material. People do this all the time (just compare, say, "The Matrix" with "Monsters, Inc." and you'll see).

Yawn. Too tired today. Lordy. I wasn't even up so late (10:30, maybe?) I woke up at 5:18, so I don't know why I'm so sleepy. Better not be fighting a cold or something.

Transcribed

Alright, so I finished transcribing the screenplay. It's currently 99 pages long, and I've got over a month until the deadline, so I'm well ahead of schedule. Next up, printing it out and reading through it, and then tightening it up and revising as required, then blocking it out and judging the pacing, all of that kind of stuff. Then I'll let some folks read it, see if they like it, try to incorporate their feedback in as timely a fashion as I can, and get it submitted before the June 3 deadline.

I really, really hope I win! Need some good luck for a change!

Lunchable

I got over 1100 words of the screenplay transcribed over lunch (e.g., 30 minutes). That's good. Gives me a sense of how long it'll take to get it all transcribed. Shouldn't take too terribly long, as I type very quickly.

Finished!

I finished the first draft of the screenplay this morning! Yay! Now, I have to transcribe it (yeah, I wrote it longhand), and put the scenes in order, and read through it and revise/rewrite as necessary. And then let some folks read it, see what they think. Then revise and rewrite again, then sling it out to the competition. We'll see. I think it's got a good concept, and the plot unfolds nicely, and anybody who knows me will laugh when they read it, because they'll most definitely realize the inspiration behind it. I hope it wins at the festival, although I really can't get my hopes up, of course. Here's what I'm competing for...

All winning entries will be reviewed for consideration for production and/or distribution. In addition, we’ll announce to thousands of industry professionals that you were a winner of our festival. This will be done via an advertisement in a widely read industry publication. In some cases there will or will also be a cash prize and/or a product/software bundle.

Of course, the challenge I face is that they're judging it on "most frightening" -- and I don't know if the story I wrote is "most frightening" or not. It'll be a well-written, smart, darkly funny horror screenplay. Will it be most frightening? I don't know. But will it be good? Hell, yeah, it will. It will feature a unique monster, and will be witty and carefully plotted. But "most frightening?" I don't know. Fingers crossed? We'll see how my readers react to it. It's hard for me to judge it, since I am behind the curtain, know all the magic tricks.

What I'll likely do on revision is turn up the volume on it (not in terms of gore, but in terms of terror -- I'm not a fan of gory horror as a substitute for good writing). There's the meat and bones of the story, and then I'll bring the horror and terror into as sharp a focus as I can. I have plenty of time to get it done before the deadline. I'll see what I have when I have it all typed up and the scenes in order (the hardest part of screenwriting [for me, anyway] is writing scenes out of sequence).