My Process

First scene

The opening scene of this movie is a woman running from two men who are following her. As a viewer you don't yet know why she's running away or anything about her or the two men following her.. I knew I wanted her to almost get cornered, build the tension, then escape long enough to bump into the hero who helps slow down the two men following her long enough for her to get away and the hero to become unwittingly involved in the story. That was the idea.

Every time that I'm stuck in my writing it's usually because I don't like what I've written and feel I can't go on without fixing it or I don't know what comes next and have to stop until I do figure out what comes next. I knew I wanted the woman cornered by the two men in an alleyway with seemingly no escape but then something happens and she does escape and the men have to continue the chase. But I didn't know how. Then I read about a writing technique from John Vorhaus, whose book Creativity Rules, is full of such creative exercises, that seemed to help. The theory of the technique is that when your stuck it's because you don't have enough information about your story to figure out what comes next. So it recommends that you brainstorm a detailed list about the details in your story. Setting, characters, action beats. Anything to get your mind immersed in the moment of the story so you can hear, taste even touch that story moment in your minds eye.

So I did that. I brainstormed a list about what the woman was wearing and about the two men. What they were doing and then I wrote a short scene about how the two men met in a diner earlier that day. And then a list about the alleyway she was in and that's when I realized there were doors in the alleyway leading into the backs of stores on the main street. But they were locked. She probably tried a few while the men closed in on her. They knew she was trapped in that alleyway. They relaxed, maybe even grinned, happy the chase was over when suddenly one of the doors flew open. Someone was taking out the garbage. She did a beeline for the door and escaped into a laundry..."cont"

Dec 18, 2007 6:14 AM | Link | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Report Content

All my ducks in a row...

The one thing I do want to do is get my ducks in a row so to speak but making sure I have the essentials of a story/logline in place before I begin. Here are the things that are important to me to have a handle on before I write.

Protagonist: The ex-G.I.
Protagonist's goal: To find out the truth about what's going on with the girl and the spy ring and to be with the girl
Protagonist's story dilemma: To choose between his country and his love for the girl.
Protagonist's flaw/inner desire: Bitterness about his time in the army and attitude towards his country and it's leaders. Only wants to look out for himself and exact some measure of revenge.
Protagonist's angst/backstory/Ghost: Bad experience in Korean war and V.A. hospital upon return.
Protagoinist's character arc: Goes from bitterness to patriot.
Protagonist's ally: Goverment agents trying to get him to help them shut down the spy ring.
Opponent: The spy ring and maybe the girl.
Jeopardy: His life/ his love for the girl/ and maybe a threat to his nation if the secret informtion gets into the wrong hands and he doesn't do the right thing.

Okay, now I think I can start.

Dec 9, 2007 10:56 AM | Link | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Report Content

To outline or not to outline that is the question...

I've decided not to outline. I do have an advantage already having fleshed the story out previously but it's going in such a new direction I don't know how much that will help. In the past after I've outlined there was always a loss of enthusiasm and a feeling of being locked in. I know I set myself up for a ton of re-writing by not outlining but I want to concentrate on getting a bunch of story material first and then shaping it later. Besides I figure my Left brian won't let me get to far off track (it's very demamding) and I want to experience that spark of creativity as I write by not knowing where I'm heading. It's like taking a cross country trip. I know where I want to end up and in which direction to start but not totally how to get there.

Dec 8, 2007 2:42 AM | Link | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Report Content

The idea

At the height of the cold war, a disillusioned ex-G.I., falls for a beautiful Russian immigrant who may be involved in a Soviet spy ring and finds he must make a hard choice between country, love and conscience.

That's my log line. I just did it, off the cuff, so to speak. But the idea goes way back to a time when I was enrolled in a writing course at the Writers Boot Camp. I needed an idea for the class and this is the one I settled on. I ended up writing about 70 pages of it at the time and sent it to them for feedback. I always liked the idea and knew I hadn't done it justice. Now, many years later it has changed quite a bit. At the time I saw it one way. Now I see it can go many ways.

Dec 7, 2007 3:12 AM | Link | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Report Content

An explanation of sorts...

I'm an up and coming screenwriter looking for my first sale. What I wanted to do on this blog was, start a new screenplay and document my writing process, step by step, so I would have a road map of my creative process. I wouldn't presume to tell anyone this is the way to write but I would have a document that could show me how and why I arrrived where I did. From that first spark of an idea to completed first draft. That's the idea at least...

Dec 6, 2007 9:44 AM | Link | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Report Content