All Queued Up

hanks to feedback from a screenwriting classmate, I now have 18 log lines for potential screenplays ready to go. I've also done extended preliminary work (what I call 'pipelining' for whatever reason) on five screenplays - fleshing out characters, subtexts, locations et al. These early notes get me percolating and have lead to longer notes about specific scenes and culminating moments all of which bodes well for nice, tight synopses.

Which of the 18 do you like most? Drop me a line and I'll send 'em over.

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

appy New Year! 2010 was a productive year for the Little Engine, but more than anything 2010 sewed seeds for 2011. While I hope to learn about synopsis letters this week, I've already started to work on new projects.

Namely, I've written draft log lines for about a dozen screenplays and for two of them I've already outlined main characters, sub-characters and their subtexts, what each screenplay's major (and minor) dramatic questions are and potential locations for different scenes. All broad strokes, but steps in the right direction. Tonight I'll work on a third. I've also reached out to folks in my class. Hopefully we can continue critiquing each others' work each week as that proved very helpful.

A friend asked me what my New Year's resolution was. I didn't think twice: To write my ass off. It's alright.

The Road Ahead

ur class ended well. I learned about "the business" and what my next steps are. Namely, to formally pitch ACYW and to prepare to pitch other ideas. While I've learned about the all important log lines - the line or two used to describe one's film idea most succinctly - I still need to learn how to write a synopsis (a 2-3 page overview of the movie in case readers get passed the log line). Once I get a better feel for that, I can really start moving head.

I also got a number of movies for Christmas which I look forward to watching to see how they told their stories. One is Paul Newman's Slap Shot. Within the first 5-8 minutes of the film we have a very good feel for who the main characters are. On the whole, a solid first act. The third act, too, presents a couple great twists. But in the second act the movie slows down.

Thanks to class, I watch movies differently now and have a better feel for what needs to be stronger to keep a viewer's attention. Hopefully I'll apply my new eyes to my own work as well.

The Good News Is...

ou want the good news or the bad news first? I typically go bad first. For the sake of drama, though, you get good news first.

Good news: The class had no beef with the car alarm symphony. Whew.

Bad news: I have a number of scenes and characters to work on yet. That being said, I am happy that I not only received constructive criticism, but potential solutions as well. Most of which I'll adopt directly or rework in.

If anything, folks in the class wanted more of this or that as opposed to less which, I reckon, means I'm on the right track...

Done...again!

onsider the second draft of the screenplay complete. I still await feedback from class, but I'm excited. I feel good about it probably because I brought it back to what I originally wanted it to be - a satire about two Africans starting the Peace Corps in the U.S. I even worked in a reverse "The Gods Must Be Crazy" scene, Coke bottle and all.

I get feedback from class tomorrow night which should be interesting. I'm curious if they'll buy the car alarm symphony. If enough people do, I'm good. If they throw my screenplay back at me (literally), I'll rework it.

Anyone want a sneak peek?

Finding Soul in Screenplays

while back I wrote about how there seemed to be a lack of poetry/soul/beauty in screenplays - dialogue aside. As I spend more time writing and editing my screenplay, though, I'm finding places for soul.

First, where the scene is set. It's easy to go back to the same three or four sets, but a shift in setting can color an entire scene.

Second, the description of that new setting adds even more texture to the image.

Third, if the dialogue presents the foreground activity of a scene, slugs of description between lines can color the background. What I like about this is that it doesn't take away from the main action the first time you watch a scene, but when you watch it a second time it can add to the scene.

These are the areas I've been concentrating on lately as I finish up the screenplay for class.

Perhaps the best way to describe it is that writing fiction is like painting a large mural with long brush strokes while writing a screenplay is like painting with shorter, more poignant strokes. There's art in both, but they're painted in different ways for different audiences and media.

General Update

t's certainly been a while since I posted an update. My apologies. In general, the screenwriting course has been fantastic. I'm making good progress and getting good, constructive feedback. I'm handing in my second portion of work - the first half of Act II - this coming week and am moving ahead with the rest of the screenplay for full submission the week after. Once that's all done I'll address all the feedback and work on another full draft before considering submitting to contests, agents et al. Needless to say, more work to go.