Kickass Reminder

henever I read some particularly good writing, I jot it down. After entering some particularly good writing from the book Rework today, I came across some old notes I'd taken on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Specifically, I came across these two bits:

1) “This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council,” the voice continued. “As you will no doubt be aware, the plans for development of the outlying regions of the Galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition. The process will take slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you.”

2) “And what’s happened to the Earth?”
“Ah. It’s been demolished.”
“Has it,” said Arthur levelly.
“Yes. It just boiled away into space.”
“Look,” said Arthur, “I’m a bit upset about that.”

This reminded me of two things. First, if you have a kickass idea (setting a book around Earth on the short end of intergalactic eminent domain), make that idea the centerpiece of your work! Second, fully express how big an idea that is through your characters and their reactions ("I'm a bit upset about that.").

I have a kickass idea (setting a book around the U.S. on the short end of the Peace Corps) that I've been shying away from. I need to address it and let it lead the story because it can.

4 A Day

ust a quick update. I've been adapting four pages of text a day and making good progress. My thinking is also changing to a more screenplay mindset. Rather than drawing something out as I would in a novel, I'm looking for quick bites that get the idea across quickly, clearly and powerfully letting the visuals fill in the blanks that I'd otherwise have to explain in prose detail.

All the king's horses & all the king's men need not apply

owdy, folks. In our last episode, we found our protagonist up against a wall looking for aplomb. Instead, he's spent the last couple of weeks piecing together adult aspects of life at the expense of his writing. But unlike Humpty Dumpty who put his trust in all the king's horses and all the king's men, all I need to do is string together an hour or two a day to get it together again. Tomorrow will be a good day to get back on track.

Clearing Hurdles with Aplomb

ot only did I flip through a few screenplays and index the range of terms that I encountered, but I've gotten a better feel for the software, Final Draft, and today I adapted more than half of the first chapter of ACYW.

I've stopped, momentarily, as I've hit a small wall - one that I saw coming and which I believe, with some thought, can be hurdled with aplomb. Throughout ACYW I go into detail about Detroit, Dearborn, Michigan, the local, state and national economies, and then later as we experience the fall of 2008, the stock market. The wall is, how do I present these important figures? Chances are, my characters are not going to have memorized obscure, but important, statistics nor will they be able to recall the level of the Dow on specific dates.

This wall gives me an opportunity to present the information in creative and indirect ways. It can come from a radio in the background. It could be grazed from the covers of newspapers read by people in the background of a scene. Those are a couple simple ways to do it, but I'll need to give this more thought.

Can you run through those cheeses again?

n the 1983 John Hughes comedy Mr. Mom, Michael Keaton loses his auto job and has to take care of the kids while his wife starts a career in advertising. With his new responsibilities come new decisions to make along with a slew of new choices to choose from. At the supermarket, he asks for cheese. The woman behind the counter quickly runs through about seven different varieties. Overwhelmed, he hems and haws before asking her to go through them again. The line of prepared moms groans behind him.

I received Final Draft, the screenwriting software, the other day. Today I sat down with ACYW and opened up the software. Before me lay a blank canvas. Problem is, despite reading a handful of screenplays, my screenwriting lingo is sparse. I don't know what cheese to order, never mind how much. Fortunately, no one's groaning but me.

I did a quick Internet search for screenwriting vocabulary, but didn't find anything comprehensive. What I'll do now is quickly flip through the five screenplays I have and jot down and index of terms. Then I'll tape them up on my wall for reference.

When it comes to formatting, I want to play by the rules. When it comes to story, I can have more fun.

How to throw a screenplay

fter finishing the screenplay to Slumdog Millionaire, I'm on to The Shawshank Redemption. I have found there is little to no poetry in screenplays, which saddens me. I'll have to find other outlets for that - probably song. The dialogue is great. It's rich and it runs. The side notes, at times, could be construed as pitches made by the screenwriter to the studio - hyperbole seems to be the norm. At other times, though, they seem like brainstorming sessions between buddies. The best example of this that I've read so far comes from Shawshank as the screenwriter, Frank Darabont, introduces Tommy, the young Presley-like inmate, that Andy Dufresne works with towards his GED:

"DOLLYING Tommy as he struts along, combing his ducktail, cigarette behind his ear. (We definitely need The Coasters or Del Vikings on the soundtrack here. Maybe Jerry Lee Lewis.)"

That thinking out loud, that's fun. I'm glad it's kosher as ACYW has its own soundtrack and I look forward to throwing out tunes to accompany the action.

Industry Standard

n my own I can accomplish so much. With the help of others, some more. And now, apparently, it seems that software (along with luck) can round out the percentages. After a catch-up lunch with old friend Philip Buiser of Two Penguins Productions, I learned that Final Draft, a screenwriting software application, can make sure that my submissions are properly formatted. While I will continue to read screenplays to get a feel for them, working with an industry approved app should smooth out the process of adapting ACYW and writing future work.