THAT is the sound of me hitting the writer’s block or, more accurately, the writer’s mire that has seen me spinning my brain in an attempt to gain creative traction. To be honest, I’m surprised I progressed as far as I have, relatively frustration-free, through the script’s tease and first two acts, 30 pages in before running into my first obstacle, a fairly tricky scene to kick off Act The Third. Of course, as a trained professional, I know just how to handle situations like these. I start off by re-reading the outline, then go back to the beginning of the script and revise everything I’ve written to date in the hope that, in so doing, I’ll be pulling off the artistic equivalent of a running start. THEN I dive right into the scene that has bedeviled me, hoping that sheer momentum will carry me through. Of course, that never works so, instead, I check my various social media accounts, surf the web, do some research on recommended reads, take the dogs out, have lunch, run errands, pick up a double-chocolate mocha, and, finally, plunk myself back down in front of my laptop. Unbeknownst to you all, however, I’ll have actually been pulling double duty, running dialogue in my head while doing the aforementioned so that, by the time I get back, I’ll have at least the first two or three dialogue exchanges ready.
The rest of the two page scene will take me most of the afternoon.
Thankfully, things go a little smoother after that and, by the time I run out of steam, I’ve hit the 36 page mark. So, all in all, not bad. And, when all is said and done, I’ll have actually shaved a half day off my pace, putting me a full four days ahead of schedule. And that translates to more time for me to re-read and agonize over what I’ve written!
Meanwhile, my pitch call scheduled for today has been rescheduled to Thursday, sandwiched between a Wednesday ramen lunch with Alex Mallari Jr. (Dark Matter’s FOUR/Ryo Ishida) and a Friday french cuisine lunch with director Bruce McDonald and former Dark Matter Co-Executive Producer Robbie David. Remind me to take pictures!
P.S.: Just so we’re clear…
Leave a Reply