I once again have to report that I don’t have much to report for a writing progress blog post this week. However, my lack of information isn’t because I’ve been lazy or too busy (or saying that I’m too busy to mask my laziness… but when does that ever happen?). I have started the process of revising the screenplay. As a result I just really don’t have anything to say about what I’ve been doing. I made some notes in red on a printout. There—that’s about it.
Final Draft probably has a better, more ecological method than me using paper to work on but as I got the paper for free when a former employer went out of business I won’t worry too much about it. Besides, there’s one point in the third act that an entire section of writing got copied and pasted in a weird place, and for whatever reason I couldn’t figure out what the fix is. I’m hoping that by looking at it on a printed page in front of me I’ll be able to figure it out. I may even have to spread multiple pages out onto my dining-room table to see it more coherently.
That, and having a binder and red pen at a coffee shop just somehow makes me feel more scholarly. I don’t think anybody else in the room picked up on it but if it somehow feeds my ego and gives me more confidence, can it really be counted as a total loss?
I have noticed that in some cases the scene descriptions include too much exposition, so I had to do some cutting. I also think I need to spell out exactly what characters are in a scene right from the beginning of that scene. I just noticed a moment when I described a bunch of “GUESTS” gathering in the main hall of one of the character’s mansion, only to name them throughout the scene right before they have any dialogue. I have to remember that a screenplay isn’t just a work of writing but a set of instructions as well.
There’s one potential problem in the story that I have to research and possibly fix. It isn’t a major issue but it’s one that’s going to bug me if I don’t look into it. The mansion where the bulk of the story takes place is in Maine, and clearly in the northern part of the state. However, the main characters are on their way from Boston to a ski lodge for a week’s vacation when they have to stop during a blizzard. My problem is that I’ve been throughout most of this state, at least as far as the roads will go, and I think this might be wrong. The location that I have in mind takes place north of any of the mountains that I know of in Maine, and subsequently and ski lodges. Putting the story south of those mountains may not make any sense, either as I don’t think those wide stretches of road with one or two houses that I’m thinking of don’t exist (at least, not with the characters’ excuse that they can’t make it to the next town over in time). So I may have to change the destination to a log cabin or something. It’s a minor fix, but one that I need to address.
As usual with these Writing Progress blog posts, I have a couple of short stories for sale. Links can be found at the top of this page.
Ragged Good Looks 