I’ve been focusing a lot more lately on getting some headway made with my screenwriting. I’m making it a point to set aside 30 minutes each day just to write. I want to get better as a writer—to continue to “sharpen the saw.” I figured it was about time to give you all a little update on how it’s going. I’ve currently got 3 scripts running in progress. Each of them are at different stages and their respective characters flow through my mind at some point almost every day. I see things in everyday life and jot down thoughts in my Evernote, and then I get to transfer it over into the writing. Some things stay, some don’t. That’s what writing is all about. I used to be kind of paranoid about sharing my writing, but today is a day to move forward. I figured I would use today’s post to share two excerpts from two different scripts I’m working on. They are always works in progress because every time I look at them, I edit them. I change things up, discover an easier way to manipulate the characters, etc.
The first is from THE ACADEMY. It’s a story about a dance instructor who finds love in the arms of a conflicted actor who returns home to face his demons and try to redeem what he can of his sordid past. This scene is basically just 30 minutes worth of mind vomit, editing, jotting more thoughts down, editing, reading over and imagining it, and more editing (and don’t you know there will be even more work done on it when I open it back up):
(click images to enlarge them)
The second is from BRAVERY. It focuses on the daughter of a world-renown CEO for a textiles company who runs his corporate offices in Cambodia. He hasn’t seen his daughter in years and she is finally home for a summer off from boarding school before she heads off to college. Her childhood best friend, Micah, is interning with the company and is staying with the family at their estate in Cambodia.
There is definitely a sense of relief getting this out here, if only to know that I can always look back and watch how the lines change, how the script evolves, and how the characters develop. From reading these two snippets, you might think I’m a Debbie Downer and all I know how to write is Lifetime Movies, but it’s not true. I mean, if you’ve spent any time reading my blog, or spending time with me personally, you would know that’s just not true. I always joke with my friends that I write a lot of drama and that they can contain a fair amount of tragedy, not because of personal experience, but because sometimes it takes the tragedies to make the happy ending that much more worthwhile. I guess it would make sense that one of my favorite movie quotes is:
My characters shall have, after a little trouble, all that they desire.
– Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen in Becoming Jane
amo.says 