Tuesday 1 July 2008

Not quite finished...

So technically my two drafts in four weeks writing marathon should have been finished by now but it's not quite. I managed to do a rewrite on the first script so that's been finalised for now, and I did finish the first draft of the second script so I'm not completely off target.

Still not entirely happy with the second script - read through it last night and lost interest halfway through which can't be a good sign. There is a lot of action in it which may be a good thing when it's a film, but right now it's a really dense script full of scene descriptions which is generally frowned upon. Also there are a couple of fundamental problems with it that could be solved by using the obvious solutions, but I decided to do the opposite, not simply to be different but because it suits the character. That's kind of the problem - it's an action film that's primarily character driven rather than plot/action driven. Also, she's a rather mean and unsympathetic protagonist on a self-destructive downward story arc which doesn't help matters. Anyway, I await feedback but have a feeling I might be sent back to the original brief, from which I have deviated quite drastically.

Anyway, on top of that I've been working on a third script from the same slate which my brother is writing - he's done most of the work which is good but now it's my turn to take a pass at the draft. And I really need to finish Hit the Big Time this coming weekend, but it's looking more and more unlikely. We're moving flats in a couple of weeks so I've set this weekend as my final deadline on everything so I can concentrate on tidying and packing etc. We'll see how that goes. But while it has been difficult, I have learnt that it is technically possible to write an okay first draft in two weeks whilst also having a day-job, which isn't bad!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one working with a family member!

Good luck with the feedback. Character-driven isn't always a bad thing, its better than just always reacting to the plot.