All done. Gosh, is there anything that feels quite as glorious as finishing a first draft of a script? The relief and satisfaction are immense.
Admittedly there's a lot of work still to go. The rewrite process is going to take me into April, and I'm estimating that I'll have something in decent shape, ooh, let's be daring and say three weeks from now.
It's a layered process, my system for rewriting. Firstly I strip the script down and rebuild it in chronological order to make sure it all makes sense and follows. When I'm confident it is I'll put it back together as originally. Once that's done, I give the characters a once over, tightening up dialogue and making sure each voice sounds unique, and making sure nobody says or does anything inappropriate for any given scene. Then finally, a last lick of polish to make sure it flows well as a story.
Three tasks, three weeks. I should be able to manage it okay. Taking a few days off for now, though. I find it's always a good idea to take a step back from something before starting to change it up. It gives you a better sense of the big picture. When I'm writing I tend to get consumed by the details and the whole thing becomes a bit blurry in my head.
Oh, and then I have to come up with a new title. "Broken" just feels a bit lazy, and not really what the story is about.
But still - draft one is done! Woo, yay, etc.
Darren Ellis writes, except when he doesn't.
When he doesn't he's more than likely doing something sedentary and fun, like playing video games or reading a book. Or procrastinating over what he's supposed to be writing.
Oh yes. He does that last one quite a bit.
Monday 26 March 2012
Sunday 25 March 2012
The End of The Tunnel
Almost there, but not quite. The final scene for 'Broken' is written, but it's not quite as final as I'd expected. The fight has been won, but something more like a proper, independent denouement is required to draw together the themes and give the story the closure it needs.
I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting everything to be tied up in the final moments as written, but unfortunately it didn't work out like that. All relevant plot and character points have been covered, but where it is doesn't feel like the end of the story. It's odd how sometimes that happens and you realise you still have a little more to do.
It's no bother. As it is, it's only 47 pages long, so I've got a couple of pages spare. I've also stripped the last moments of the final confrontation of dialogue almost completely, leaving me with room to caption the ending, so all in all I've got about 4 pages to work with. I think I can do it in two.
I think it might work out well - the opening scenes are narrated via captioning, which fell by the wayside not far into the story as the dialogue ended up doing a lot of its work. It might be a nice echo to the first scenes to bring it back for another internal monologue at the end of the story.
I'll get it done tomorrow night. My brain is fried from today's efforts already, and I don't have it in me to do any more. And then it's on with the rewrite. That's going to be fun...
I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting everything to be tied up in the final moments as written, but unfortunately it didn't work out like that. All relevant plot and character points have been covered, but where it is doesn't feel like the end of the story. It's odd how sometimes that happens and you realise you still have a little more to do.
It's no bother. As it is, it's only 47 pages long, so I've got a couple of pages spare. I've also stripped the last moments of the final confrontation of dialogue almost completely, leaving me with room to caption the ending, so all in all I've got about 4 pages to work with. I think I can do it in two.
I think it might work out well - the opening scenes are narrated via captioning, which fell by the wayside not far into the story as the dialogue ended up doing a lot of its work. It might be a nice echo to the first scenes to bring it back for another internal monologue at the end of the story.
I'll get it done tomorrow night. My brain is fried from today's efforts already, and I don't have it in me to do any more. And then it's on with the rewrite. That's going to be fun...
Wednesday 21 March 2012
But for me, it was Tuesday.
Cor, today was busy. I got through a big 9 page splurge on Broken, and I've finally reached the final confrontation bit. I'm going to have to work hard to make sure I tie up as many loose ends as I have space for. There is much for my characters to discuss as they beat the tar out of each other on the edge of a cliff.
Like money and power. Friends. Traps. And teeth.
Actually I'm not sure I have space for that last one. There's a subplot about the villain's smile that I haven't had much of a chance to develop as much as I would have liked, so I'm not sure if it'll make the final cut. But meh. It's a first draft. I can cut it out or add more stuff in at the redraft stage if it doesn't work as it is.
I did a quick scan through the scenes in chronological order tonight too, just the see if they made sense. They pretty much do. There are a few things here and there that I need to tinker with, but for the most part it seems to flow well. That spreadsheet I made in the early days of all the events and how they relate to the characters really came in handy.
Sometimes having OCD is a boon.
12 pages to go. I should get it done by Sunday, fingers crossed. Go me.
Like money and power. Friends. Traps. And teeth.
Actually I'm not sure I have space for that last one. There's a subplot about the villain's smile that I haven't had much of a chance to develop as much as I would have liked, so I'm not sure if it'll make the final cut. But meh. It's a first draft. I can cut it out or add more stuff in at the redraft stage if it doesn't work as it is.
I did a quick scan through the scenes in chronological order tonight too, just the see if they made sense. They pretty much do. There are a few things here and there that I need to tinker with, but for the most part it seems to flow well. That spreadsheet I made in the early days of all the events and how they relate to the characters really came in handy.
Sometimes having OCD is a boon.
12 pages to go. I should get it done by Sunday, fingers crossed. Go me.
Monday 19 March 2012
Oops, a bit late.
I've slacked off immensely this week.
It was my birthday this weekend, so I was unable to do any writing due to being hungover for most of it. I've also developed a really weird sleeping pattern that doesn't appear to pay any attention to the day-night cycle. I should probably work on that.
So, no progress to report on Broken. I'm getting the first draft finished this week, come hell or high water, so at least next week's progress report will be a bit less sparse.
As predicted, I've been feeling very sorry for myself this weekend, brightened up a bit by seeing some of the finished pages from Bayou Arcana, which looks sensational. My contribution has been pared down to a single preview page, which is a little disappointing, but it can't be helped. I sat around sulking about that for some of this week, mostly because sometimes you just have to let yourself be miserable for a bit. I'm fine now, and I'm looking forward to the launch. Hopefully it will sell really well, rain down money on us all and turn us into superstars.
In other news, I've heard sniffs of Mike Garley's Dead Roots going digital for iOS, and the ball is rolling again on Accent UK's Victoriana book. I'm due to make appearances in both, with two very different scripts. The one for Victoriana is daft as hell, and should be a real challenge for Roland to draw.
There's still been no word from Clint about the submission myself and Jack Tempest sent to them, which I guess means there won't be one. I've had a brief chat with him about its future, and I'll be going to Bristol and Kapow armed with a copy of the submission to see if we can garner interest in it elsewhere.
So anyway, I've got writing to do, and I've got a copy of Mass Effect 3 to try not to play until the writing is done. Wish me luck.
It was my birthday this weekend, so I was unable to do any writing due to being hungover for most of it. I've also developed a really weird sleeping pattern that doesn't appear to pay any attention to the day-night cycle. I should probably work on that.
So, no progress to report on Broken. I'm getting the first draft finished this week, come hell or high water, so at least next week's progress report will be a bit less sparse.
As predicted, I've been feeling very sorry for myself this weekend, brightened up a bit by seeing some of the finished pages from Bayou Arcana, which looks sensational. My contribution has been pared down to a single preview page, which is a little disappointing, but it can't be helped. I sat around sulking about that for some of this week, mostly because sometimes you just have to let yourself be miserable for a bit. I'm fine now, and I'm looking forward to the launch. Hopefully it will sell really well, rain down money on us all and turn us into superstars.
In other news, I've heard sniffs of Mike Garley's Dead Roots going digital for iOS, and the ball is rolling again on Accent UK's Victoriana book. I'm due to make appearances in both, with two very different scripts. The one for Victoriana is daft as hell, and should be a real challenge for Roland to draw.
There's still been no word from Clint about the submission myself and Jack Tempest sent to them, which I guess means there won't be one. I've had a brief chat with him about its future, and I'll be going to Bristol and Kapow armed with a copy of the submission to see if we can garner interest in it elsewhere.
So anyway, I've got writing to do, and I've got a copy of Mass Effect 3 to try not to play until the writing is done. Wish me luck.
Sunday 11 March 2012
Quick quick hurry just type it and hit post already...
Just a quick flying visit to the internet this week, as my head is still full
of hangover after birthday frolics and I'm incapacitated beyond the
point of rational thought.
It isn't actually my birthday until next weekend, but I had my celebrations this weekend for various reasons. Strap yourself in for next week's post, as it's likely to be full of self-pity. I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself being another year older.
Progress chugs along on Broken, much as it has been chugging. I might actually get it finished by the end of the month, as I've only got another 18 or so pages to do. It's not leaving me any rewrite time, but I'll decide what I'm doing with that when this draft is done.
It's certainly been an odd one to write so far. Sometimes it's felt really easy, other times less so. I did a semi-rewriter this week, as I originally wrote it with captioned narration where the main character directly addresses the reader, but it didn't really work so I'm trying to revise it into a kind of 'ranting and raving within his own head' sort of narration that works a bit better with his character.
This week I also changed a pretty major twist in the story. It was intended to weave a few extra layers of betrayal and scheming into the story, but I realised that it's not really needed and it works better if it's a bit more straightforward. I'm getting pretty confident that the end result is going to be very good.
Now that I've written that, I mist go lie down. My brain has an owie.
It isn't actually my birthday until next weekend, but I had my celebrations this weekend for various reasons. Strap yourself in for next week's post, as it's likely to be full of self-pity. I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself being another year older.
Progress chugs along on Broken, much as it has been chugging. I might actually get it finished by the end of the month, as I've only got another 18 or so pages to do. It's not leaving me any rewrite time, but I'll decide what I'm doing with that when this draft is done.
It's certainly been an odd one to write so far. Sometimes it's felt really easy, other times less so. I did a semi-rewriter this week, as I originally wrote it with captioned narration where the main character directly addresses the reader, but it didn't really work so I'm trying to revise it into a kind of 'ranting and raving within his own head' sort of narration that works a bit better with his character.
This week I also changed a pretty major twist in the story. It was intended to weave a few extra layers of betrayal and scheming into the story, but I realised that it's not really needed and it works better if it's a bit more straightforward. I'm getting pretty confident that the end result is going to be very good.
Now that I've written that, I mist go lie down. My brain has an owie.
Sunday 4 March 2012
I'm too sexy for my shirt.
This weekend was a little embarrassing. Yesterday morning I got dressed up in a big coat and went up a variety of Welsh mountains for a photographer chum of mine to take a series of photos of me for author shots, the website-in-progress, etc. It was fun, but I don't exactly photograph well. The photographer was quick to explain to me his strategy for the shots, which was to find a background that looked nice and just keep the button on the camera held down until I stopped looking like a tool.
Charming.
Nevertheless, we got some decent shots of me looking a bit more presentable than usual. For my part I just had to suck in my gut as best I could and try not to smile. The true ethereal majesty of my dazzling smile is too much for cameras to pick up, you see, and it tends to register through the feeble lens as some sort of mad grimace. I assure you it's the camera's fault, not mine.
I shall be updating blogs and such with new pics soon enough, but in the meantime, here's a taster, and you'll be seeing more of dashing short-haired me in the weeks to come:
The wide shots look great. The close ups, not so much.
They need to be fed back to the photographer for some tinkering with the contrast and colour levels before they're ready to be seen, but I'm quite happy with how well some of them have come out. They're all a bit moody and interesting.
And for the record, I have definitely not spent the weekend being really vain and pretentious, and I resent the accusation.
In other news, I've pretty much hit the halfway point of 'Broken' and I continue bashing through it. One more scene to get through and I hit the 'angry final confrontation' part of the story, so I should be getting a bit more enthusiastic about it in the next couple of weeks.
Charming.
Nevertheless, we got some decent shots of me looking a bit more presentable than usual. For my part I just had to suck in my gut as best I could and try not to smile. The true ethereal majesty of my dazzling smile is too much for cameras to pick up, you see, and it tends to register through the feeble lens as some sort of mad grimace. I assure you it's the camera's fault, not mine.
I shall be updating blogs and such with new pics soon enough, but in the meantime, here's a taster, and you'll be seeing more of dashing short-haired me in the weeks to come:
They need to be fed back to the photographer for some tinkering with the contrast and colour levels before they're ready to be seen, but I'm quite happy with how well some of them have come out. They're all a bit moody and interesting.
And for the record, I have definitely not spent the weekend being really vain and pretentious, and I resent the accusation.
In other news, I've pretty much hit the halfway point of 'Broken' and I continue bashing through it. One more scene to get through and I hit the 'angry final confrontation' part of the story, so I should be getting a bit more enthusiastic about it in the next couple of weeks.
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