speed writing

Have I mentioned how thankful I am that I did Script Frenzy in June? One hundred twenty pages of screenplay in 30 days? Never did I think the experience would come in handy so soon.

Now that we're into the actual scriptwriting of the scriptwriting class, we've got 21 days to do it. This week is the "random draft." Ten pages on day 1, 20 pages on day 2, and then about 15 pages each for days 3 through 7. "Random draft" is a nice way of saying "just get stuff on paper, no matter how crap it is, so you have something to work with later." This reminds me a lot of NaNoWriMo too.

I find that speed writing really works for me. I'm so much better at the revision and editing, but getting an initial draft written to revise and edit is the hard part. Speed writing is the way to get around that. I feel like I've taken a huge step forward as a writer now that I've figured out this bloody obvious idea. I also find that watching Ab Fab DVDs is wonderfully conducive to the writing process. Jennifer Saunders is a far more brilliant writer than she ever gets credit for. She's also a far more brilliant actress than she ever gets credit for. Digressing, sorry.

I had a great chat with the professor on Saturday, and got some good advice for my story. It's shaping up to be a children's film, and she gave me some good tips for writing for children - write TO them, not AT them or down to them. In essence, my story is a combination of The Wind in the Willows and Bridge to Terabithia, except nobody dies. It's loosely based on something that happened to me when I was six years old - a friend and I were accidentally left behind on a field trip.

And no, I still haven't bought Final Draft. (Has anyone used it? Is it worth buying?) I do just fine in Word with the screenplay template I created, thank you. I may purchase it before the class is over, though, because I apparently can get a student discount, courtesy of the professor. Sigh. How I've missed the student discounts.

Anyone catch the Carol Burnett American Masters documentary last night? Great stuff. The Gone With the Wind sketch (alias the dress with the curtain rod in it) is still hilarious. I remember watching that show with the fam when I was a kid. Must see if DVDs of the show are available.

Picking up the new-to-me car tonight. It's a 2004 black 4WD Saturn Vue. It gets good mileage - about what the Subaru Forester gets. I would have liked to have gotten a hybrid car, but budget won't permit that this time. I think it will be christened Jules, I think that's its name, but I'll let you know once I've actually been in it.

Figured out the double and triple stitches, so now there's no stopping me. I'm working on a blanket and a couple of shawls and scarves when I need a breather from writing.

Pages to write. I'm off.