Gift of Time

So I’ve now been with my parents in Pennsylvania for about three weeks, with two more to go, and yes, I did have surgery. I had originally hoped to be up and running in a mere two weeks, but then the surgery wound up being a bigger deal than we expected, and so on… It’s been a very surreal feeling, to not go into work, to just have, well… time. For the first time in years.

At least, that's how it feels this week. The first two weeks went by in a blur of pain and crazy mood swings, which I’ll continue to blame on the painkillers. This week, I’m off the painkillers, my thoughts are clearing up, I’m working a bit from home, and I’m feeling more and more like myself every day.

I know it’s off subject for the No MFA Project, but I never had a major surgery before, and I feel like I’ve learned so much from the experience about both the physical and psychological process of recovery. I learned quickly that small victories – the first time I was able to turn onto my side, the first time I could get my own juice, figuring out how to get out of bed without getting hurt, etc. – were really important. I encouraged myself by thinking that each day I’d tackle a new, small victory. I also learned the importance of constantly reminding myself to be tough, something I should probably do in my every day life, pain or no pain.

What’s on subject for the No MFA Project is that this experience has given me an idea for a new screenplay, one I very loosely outlined a couple days ago. (Gotta admit, this one has a bit of a horror flair, too – do you know how scary a surgery ward is at night? Screaming, rattling chains, the works – but it’s more of a drama than the first script, which I’ve been revising).

Also on subject is the fact I wrote a new short script two days ago. It was a piece I’d wanted to write for a long time: a script that is the exact length of a cross country race, and which, in the space of the race and very little dialogue, sheds light into the lives of the runners: their mindsets, their fears, and their (for better or worse) competitive spirits. (I ran cross country for a number of years, and writing this piece took me back to all those long-ago meets.)

When I first realized I’d have to take off so much more time than originally planned, I panicked. I actually burst into tears. But now, I’m taking the situation for what it can be at its best: a great opportunity to work on my writing.

You're Now a Broom

Writers have it tough. You can slave over a script, love it with every ethereal fiber of your soul – and then, as soon as it’s optioned and you’re thinking your life just got made, the studio or production company can take your precious baby and turn it into something unrecognizable.

Imagine a person you adore sitting across from you, you blink, and in their place is a broom. It’s a little like that.

Chris Keane, my former screenwriting teacher and present-day friend at Emerson College, knows all about this. Growing up, Chris had heard the story of his father’s crossing the Atlantic after World War 2. It meant something to him. It became a story that he felt destined to write.

On his father’s incredible journey home, there was a poker tournament. A ship full of men eager to leave war behind meant a ship full of men thinking about their future, and wanting it to be bright. The pot grew to over a million dollars (still a lot today, but imagine it in 1945), and the competition turned brutal. Think violence, cheating, and lots of sabotage.

Chris finally managed to capture the real-life story in a screenplay – both a fulfillment of a lifelong dream and an homage to his father – and to get the script optioned.

And then, the unthinkable.

The studio decided that, instead of a ship, they wanted a spaceship, and instead of poker… how about the ultimate X-Games? And World War 2 - forget it. Let's set this baby in the future!

You may have wondered from time to time how some movies get made, or how someone could have sold such a terrible script. Well, maybe the script wasn’t so terrible when they first sold it.

So what happened? Under option, Chris had no choice. He had to rewrite his script to meet the dubious new criteria. Every line he cut, every detail that had to be modified from gritty war ship to rocket in outer space, was painful. Luckily, the script was never filmed (no wonder), the option ran out, and now Chris has another chance to try and get his work to the big screen the way he intended it.

Do you know of any stories like this?

Revisions, Revisions... And Some Decisions

Sorry for the lengthy silence! A bit more on my prolonged absence below, but first I’ll just let you know that, yes, I have been working on my revisions.

Revisions are the most annoying part of the process to me, and sadly, they’re also one of the most important. Wouldn’t life be great if we could just sit down, bang it out, and have that be that?

Alas, this is rarely the case. But I’m happy to report that I think my first draft script was actually in far better shape than I thought while I was writing it. Sure, there were some typos, and, hilariously, one character’s name changed from Kate to Michelle about a third of the way in… but for the most part, it wasn’t too shabby.

I’ve been able to do my first-pass revision (fixing the typos, the messed up names, etc.), but now it’s time for the second, more difficult pass. This is the pass where I have to make decisions on overall themes and, also, on whether or not to include a certain twist at the end. This pass involves going through and tweaking all the details so they support said themes, or said twist. This pass is the annoying one.

The themes/key points are pretty solid in my mind, but figuring out whether or not to keep the twist is a little trickier. On one hand, who doesn’t love a good twist? On the other, I feel like it might cheapen the story a bit. It’s a horror flick, but I really am trying to say something about my generation’s psychological experience with work, and putting a twist in feels a little cheesy – but maybe that’s the kind of too-serious thinking that actually holds a person back when they're trying to do a commerical script. Maybe the best solution is to do one draft with the twist, one without, and then gather some opinions from readers.

AS AN ASIDE

Along with these decisions, there is one more I’ve made, which will partially explain the long gap since my last post. That is that I’ve decided to go a little easier on myself this summer, as much as I want to be 100% No MFA Project. (It is summer break from school, right?) Not to worry, I’ll still be revising, looking for the right NYC pitchfest, starting another script, trying to learn more about film-making, and posting all about it, but I’m also going to be cutting myself some slack, and here’s why:

1. I’m getting married in September (then again in India in November. Same person both times, don't worry!) Ever plan even one wedding? Enough said.

2. Nothing serious, but I may need to have surgery this summer, which will require some time to recuperate. While planning the weddings…

3. I’m supposed to be getting a promotion in July! We’ll see if this actually happens, but if it does, I’ll be handling the promotion, recuperating from surgery, and planning the weddings…

I think you see my point. But life is all about learning to balance, and the one thing I really, truly know about myself is that I have to find a way to balance it all with the writing, or I’m just not the same.

DONE!

It’s done. Today was my deadline to finish the first draft of my screenplay, and I’m thrilled to say I made this deadline (a good testament to the fact that a person can both hold down a job and find time to write, even if it is difficult!) It felt a bit surreal. After typing the final words, I sat in silence for a long moment, then got up, walked up behind my fiancé as he was doing laundry, and said “Stop, turn around, and congratulate me.”

Of course, the thing about writing is that, until a book is published or a screenplay is turned into a film, it isn’t really time to celebrate. It’s good to acknowledge the milestones – finishing the first draft and all – but then you still have to keep your head in the work. This is maybe why really being serious about writing is so daunting to so many. It’s an accomplishment to finish writing a piece – but there’s still so much work to do even after the initial writing part is done. This is where most writers give up - myself included, on past projects. My computer, desk, and the attic at my parents’ house are filled with first drafts I then was never motivated enough to revise or send out.

The thing about the No MFA Project, though, is that now, with a finished full-length script, it’s time to really get started with the most interesting parts of my ‘syllabus.’ Writing is only phase one to a writing career. Phase two (the much trickier phase, the phase that I would have hoped to achieve in an MFA program) is getting the writing out there.

May is going to be all about revision and also research - where to go from here.

I love the script. The final scenes turned out better than I’d anticipated. A few of the mid-way scenes are a bit blurry, though. There are things that need to be tighter, dialog that needs to be shortened. I feel I owe it to the work and myself to get it as polished as I can and then do all I can to get it out into the world.

If, up to this point, my project has been first-year MFA, it's time to get into second-year form. :)

Long Time, No Post

I know, I know. This was bad. Almost a month! Life has been crazy these past few weeks, but I’ve been making progress, I swear…

You’re maybe wondering whether or not I met my deadline of having the second act finished by April 1. Sadly, no. But it did get finished – on April 8^th. It was a bit longer than I’d anticipated. Now, I’m almost done the third act, and in fact, might be done even before my ultimate May 1^st deadline. If I really hit my stride, I might be done this weekend.

In May comes the tricky part – the revisions. But I have such faith in the story that I’m actually looking forward to the revisions this time around. I can’t wait to get this baby into shape so that I can move on to the next step in my project – trying out a pitchfest.

I now get the Final Draft newsletter, as well (courtesy of my Final Draft scriptwriting software), which is also loaded with advice about script consultants and the like… no idea yet if I’ll choose to go that route, but if I do, you’ll be the first to know.  :)

The Writing Group

My big adventure this week was going to my first writing group get-together! I was one of six women eating cheese, drinking wine, and talking about writing.

(Which eventually segwayed, somehow, into a huge discussion on online dating?)

I thought the girls in the group were fantastic. The host, Maria, is the former roommate of one of my former roommates, which is how we connected. Sitting in her envy-inducing apartment in the village, I learned that Maria’s working on a memoir about emigration from Russia. Another girl, Ally, submitted a piece about the drinking differences between her native Australia and the US. Priya is writing about her two grandfathers, and just returned from a book research trip to India. Still another girl, Stacey, is writing about her real life mis-adventures in the world of dating, which may soon include one stormy week spent at SXSW with a semi-ex-boyfriend who works as a rock poster artist.

Are you picking up on a theme? All non-fiction.

I hadn’t realized this when I submitted a piece to workshop, which was a totally fictional, somewhat violent story I wrote four years ago and promptly put away and never looked at again – until now. I think people were horrified when they first started to read, thinking it was real.

So it’s not a group that I’ll be bringing a script to anytime soon, but it was really valuable for a few reasons:

1. It’s important to have a circle of writers to talk to and exchange ideas with. Not only can they share stories about their own creative struggles, but they know how to critique creative work.
2. As for critiquing, they’re fantastic! I submitted a short story, not a script, but we still debated over dialogue – which is the core of script-writing. What’s more, since I don’t think a writer should really fall under ‘scriptwriter’ or ‘story writer,’ but rather, be able to use whatever form is best for the story she's telling, it’s good to workshop things in different styles. Short stories can eventually be written as scripts and vice versa.
3. After being out of school for a few years, a writing group is a great way to get back into a ‘school’ mindset. In creative writing schools, the process is much the same as in a writing group. People read your work, then offer praise and criticism. You start to learn to read their work in the same way – what works, what doesn't? You develop an awareness of how to improve writing and provide intelligent feedback, which will help you, too, in the long run.

We’re meeting again on April 27^th. This time, maybe I’ll do something I’ve only done a very few times before, most recently with Memoirs of Meanness – write some non-fiction.

When Inspiration Does/Does Not Strike

A word to the wise – when you’re feeling inspired, don’t stop!

Although, inevitably, there are going to be things that make you stop. Desperate need of sleep. Plans with friends and loved ones. The afore-mentioned day job. But when you really hit your stride and just get going, it is a magical experience – and one that’s not always easy to recreate a few days later.

This is what happened to me last week. I had the most amazing night of writing. I got completely sucked into my script, and rattled off about 12 pages with little to no effort. (I find that amount of pages is a bit harder to do when in the middle of a large project than if you have one strong idea and blast out one short, focused script.) I finally forced myself to stop – it was getting late, I knew I needed sleep – but I was so wired, it was impossible to sleep, anyway, and by the time I sat down to write again, the streak was gone. It took about a half hour of sifting through my notes, re-reading what I’d written before, and getting into the right mindset before I could start.

Part of being a writer, though, is also forcing yourself to do the work even when uninspired. Being able to pick up the voice even after you’ve dropped it. With this project, I’ve been forcing myself to do this more than at any point in the past, and it’s been good for me. Writing – to the point of completing a large project that no one is paying you to work on – is as much an act of intense discipline as it is anything else. Any good writer will tell you to make time for it every day if you ever hope to improve. Stephen King says it takes at least 4-6 hours a day to be any good (and FYI, SK, that’s literally all my free time in a day).

I feel that a big part of it is just developing such a steady writing routine that your mind begins to automatically shift into the right place when, say, the clock strikes 7. Setting an easy goal – say, two pages a day – is also helpful, since usually, with a script, I find you’ll go much beyond that, then feel like a champ. (A page a day when we're talking prose is probably good.) One other helpful tip I picked up while reading about Hemingway’s tactics earlier: stop writing mid-sentence so that the next day, you have an easy way of getting started, and of slipping right back into the voice you’d been using previously.

I’m curious, from all the other writers out there – what helps you stick to a writing routine, even when uninspired?