Gamers

Today’s scene? Pillow talk and an abrupt exit. For those keeping score, I’m way behind on pages. I’m pushing ahead anyway. Maybe I’ll catch up by the end of the month, maybe not, but at least I wrote 3 pages tonight!

It’s interesting. I have an outline, but I got to a fork in the road. Should I have the characters stay together, or split up and postpone their adventure another 10 pages? To figure it out, I outlined different versions of the next few scenes until I knew how the story wanted to be told.

For me, it’s more like research than invention. I’m discovering the story, but I can only do it by typing the wrong words sometimes. When I find out WHY they’re wrong, I can take the other path, go the correct route.

Wow, I’m starting to spout about the creative process. That either comes off as profound or incredibly self-centered. I’d better go to bed.

gamers090409

Okay, I’m only two lines into page 10, but that’s how I’m counting it. My plans for a big fat writing weekend fizzled, partly because I was working on cartoons, but mostly because I was watching television. Evil, evil television. On the plus side, it turns out Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse really does get better 6 episodes in!

Anyway, what’s going on in the latest pages? Drinking and flirting, two things I practice very little. But at least there’s lots of song lyrics, which I have considerably more knowledge of. Hey, here’s a question… If characters quote (but don’t sing) songs by The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, do you have to pay? Probably, but I’m leaving it in for now anyway. The luxuries of a first draft!

Oh, and the script is starting to get steamy. I’m blushing just thinking about it.

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I’m learning to ignore the fear and just do it. So far I’ve failed at waking up and writing before work, but at least I forced myself to sit down tonight.

What makes it easier is the outline. I know what has to happen in each scene. I just have to invent characters and words that come out of their mouths.

Some story secrets…

The duck story
Is based on an actual incident. A relative of mine once stopped traffic to help a baby duck who had fallen through a sewer grate.

Getting fired from a TV job
Is obviously inspired by my own experience in radio. Yes, I was fired. No, I try not to hold a grudge. I changed it to TV so it would be more visual. I’m pretty sure I could improve this section with the proper research, so I should talk to some TV behind-the-scenes people before writing the second draft. Still, I’m trying to move forward — keep writing, no matter the errors, and fix it later.

Drinking
Is what I did the day I was fired. That day was St. Patrick’s Day, by the way. It was a surreal experience to be in a bar that night, let me tell you.

Here’s the latest pages:
gamers090402-2

The first two pages represent a head start, something I wrote a year ago. You can read along on the “script in progress” page or download the PDF from the link below.

gamers090401.pdf

The grand experiment has begun, and I have a new blog. Now I sleep. I’ll write in the morning!