And Now For Something Completely Different (part one)

Hello my peeps.  Hope all is well with you and yours.

Last week I finished my tenth screenplay, Red Frenzy, and, in record time.  The first draft was completed in six weekends (actually, 13 days) writing from 7am to 11am on saturdays and sundays (approx: 52 hours).  Now, I don’t mention this to brag, only to demonstrate that you can hold down a full-time job, take care of family, cruise through life, and still write a script.  Of course, it also helped that I wrote this as a short story many, many moons ago and the kernel for this screenplay had been rattling around inside my head for quite some time. 

Not so my current screenplay.

This one will take much, much longer because I am trying a new approach.  I’m letting Pilar Allesandra lead the way.  Do you  know of her?  For those of you who do, great.  For those of you who have been living on Mars for the past few years, go here to learn more: http://onthepagepodcast.com/

Sign up for her podcasts — she is one of smartest people you will come across when it comes to Story.  You won’t be disappointed. 

Now, where was I?  Oh, yeah.  The new approach. 

Pilar has written a new book called: The Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes at a Time. Go here to order: http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Break-Screenwriter-Writing-Minutes/dp/1932907807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281795215&sr=1-1

I promise you I don’t get any kickbacks by recommending this book. 

Any hooo, it is my intention to write this new script using her techniques.  This will require much more time on my part, but speed is not my goal — writing the best script I possibly can, is.

And, it is my intention to share this journey with you all.  I hope to post each week on my progress.  What I have learned from the book and how it has improved my writing.  I hope you will join me on this little expedition — could be fun.

Although I have not yet completed the first chapter — I’m on page 14 — I have completed the synopsis based on discovering Character Flaw, Concept, Secondary Character Loglines, and Complications.  Here is my synopsis for the screenplay, Cocos Island:

Four friends awake in an underwater cavern, on an isolated island, unable to remember anything about their lives, how they got there, or why.  Problems occur when they come to the realization: they’ve located a Spanish treasure worth millions and one of them will kill to keep it.  Fortunately, they manage to overpower the killer, rediscover the treasure, and escape with their lives.

Hey!  It’s a start. 

What I learned: secondary characters have their own logline.  For Cocos Island it goes something like this: (please note: because the characters DO NOT remember who they are, I refer to them, not by name, but by some trait).

Pixie (female lead): falls in love with the main character, Tattoo, only to discover he is her ex-husband.

Crew Cut: an ex-Mossad agent feels instinctively he has been hired to kill someone, but can’t remember who.

Handsome: Pixie’s current boyfriend.  He has to decide between greed or survival.

That’s it for now — stay tuned for more as I,

Keep Writing!