Nobody Reads This Blog
I've now been a screenwriter for almost five weeks. Since the first two weeks were about loglines, beatsheets and outlines, the actual process of dialoguing has only been going on for three weeks. I have 104 pages. By my count, I was 17 pages over the mark I should've hit for the first act break and fourteen over for the second. I suspect that I have about fifteen pages to go and that I will need to cut at least ten pages of dialogue out. That puts my screenplay at 109 pages. My goal was 110. With at least three rewrites ahead of me, I figure I'll probably throw away another five pages in slimming it down and add another 7 pages in fleshing out and connecting dots to cover logical inconsistencies and plotholes.
In addition to referring to Save The Cat, Blake Snyder's book on being a slave to your logline, I've been using 101 habits of highly successful screenwriters and Syd Field's Screenplay. I'm sure I look like an idiot in referring to these books in public. Then again, I'm not having any problems coming up with ideas, connecting those ideas to each other, or making structural changes whenever I need to pull back and take a larger perspective. And I'm burning through the project. They may be shiiite, but I average 7 pages per day right now. In my book, that's a pretty good pace.
I used to date someone who, no joke, would kick out 35 pages on a good day. She just had the gift. But she also hit major snags and couldn't restructure when things got bleak because she was so tied up in the language. Honestly, I'm just going to be happy to reach the point where I can start making big cuts. Though I am editing as I go along, feeling out each step before I place all my weight on the next footfall, it's going to be a relief to get rid of a couple of those passages that Ive been carrying like a security blanket from the beginning. A quick reread today revealed that I have at least two lumps to remove.
Looking at the tracker today, I realized that no one ever reads this blog..which is quite allright with me. It's here for my benefit...a place to piss and vomit in public just to see how that feels. Perhaps one day when I' doing it for real, I won't be at all offended at the idea of making an ass of myself in public. Come to think of it, I'm not so worried about that at present. Maybe succes looms closer than one would think!
In addition to referring to Save The Cat, Blake Snyder's book on being a slave to your logline, I've been using 101 habits of highly successful screenwriters and Syd Field's Screenplay. I'm sure I look like an idiot in referring to these books in public. Then again, I'm not having any problems coming up with ideas, connecting those ideas to each other, or making structural changes whenever I need to pull back and take a larger perspective. And I'm burning through the project. They may be shiiite, but I average 7 pages per day right now. In my book, that's a pretty good pace.
I used to date someone who, no joke, would kick out 35 pages on a good day. She just had the gift. But she also hit major snags and couldn't restructure when things got bleak because she was so tied up in the language. Honestly, I'm just going to be happy to reach the point where I can start making big cuts. Though I am editing as I go along, feeling out each step before I place all my weight on the next footfall, it's going to be a relief to get rid of a couple of those passages that Ive been carrying like a security blanket from the beginning. A quick reread today revealed that I have at least two lumps to remove.
Looking at the tracker today, I realized that no one ever reads this blog..which is quite allright with me. It's here for my benefit...a place to piss and vomit in public just to see how that feels. Perhaps one day when I' doing it for real, I won't be at all offended at the idea of making an ass of myself in public. Come to think of it, I'm not so worried about that at present. Maybe succes looms closer than one would think!
posted by wally @ 1:49 AM
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