About writing a script...

I spent the better part of the last month trying to complete a script. I took part in the scriptfrenzy.org challenge and I fell short of 20 pages out of the 100. But hey, it got me writing so that's a good thing, we all know how many scripts I managed to write when I started my blog (hint: the same number of times the San Jose Sharks won the Stanley Cup).

Yes I know, I'm surprisingly well on the way to completing an at least 100 page "draft". Now, I put the draft in air quotes because, it is in many ways not even close to anything resembling a script. Yes, there's dialogue, yes, there are action lines. But I don't consider it anything but an inferior product. It is what many will call a Vomit Draft. Absolutely no structure, characters are cardboard cut outs at best, motivations are hard to understand, basically everything that you would consider a writing no no is in this draft.

But surprisingly, I've found a lot of creative freedom just diving into the writing process. For one, you're not worried so much about writing a huge abortion of a script, bah forget about it sucking, just get the fucking thing done so you can rework it later. There's not much room for second chances in life (like child conceiving, or jerking off, don't you ever feel guilty that the next time you're throwing one you could be potentially killing off the next Da Vinci? How's that for second chances, but I guess it won't stop you for doing what every dude's been doing ever since they discovered the sears catalogue), writing is one of those few things in life that you can always go back to improve.

So where am I right now? trying to write the next twenty pages so I can start to re-write the fucking thing. Three pages a day really isn't that bad to do and realistically, anyone can finish writing a "script" within a months time. Now this isn't taking account of the quality of the writing, no that's certainly a more difficult thing to measure. But the thing is, you won't go anywhere without trying. Out of the near 80 pages I've writing so far, I can honestly say that there's maybe about twenty pages I can use for my next draft. Everything else is really up in the air at this point.

So here's a lesson here folks and fellow nonbelievers, start writing. Jump in.

And jump some more. In fact, Jump around

Vocabulary of the Day

Commiserate:
verb

1) To feel or express sympathy
2) Feel sorrow or compassion for.

He hung his head to commiserate the loss of his treasured Transformers action figure and the memories he had with it. The autobots shall roll out no more...

*Lights a funeral pyre.

Vocabulary of the Day

Interesting article of clothing, proves you do learn something new everyday.

Tuque:

1) A knitted Cap designed to provide warmth in the winter. Mostly warn by Canadians (Looking at you Bob and Doug)

Jay wears a tuque while Silent Bob wears his cap backwards.

Up in the air...port

Images I saw:
dreams of travelling
flying away, Holland st.?
funny radio show,
airport
being alone
Kevin Smith talking about chasing Amy?

Dreamt this up near the time I woke up, I'm quite sure (awkward sentence proves that I just woke up). So I'm at the airport (again, except no spiderman, james brown or a blowjob story from an old woman).

I don't remember the exact events in the dreams as much of it is, like george clooney's love life, split apart and kept away from each other. All I know is that here I am standing in the middle of a crowd on the city street. I go onto a subway, much like the bart system or like the Skytrain and head over to the airport from there.

I remember standing outside of the airport and standing around, not doing anything. Supposedly, I have just gotten off of a flight, (don't ask me how that happened, it's a fucking dream) and I'm standing around looking for a sign that said Holland St. or something to that affect. It was Holland something, hell it could've been Holland Oates for that matter. Then I heard something funny on the radio, which for some illogical reason happened to be broadcast live in the middle of the street and some black dude besides me starts laughing his head off saying "Oh shit that's funny!"

I couldn't help but chuckle but it was more of a rudimentary laugh like "haha I'm laughing cause something's off about this place but I can't pinpoint why" which then for some reason or another faded out and away to the development process of Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy and Silent Bob was talking to Affleck about how he should approach his acting (probably didn't help him much for his career) and Smith ended up drawing some panels for the Chasing Amy comic that appears in the film.

Man, talk about boring. Somewhere in all of this is some fucking awesome experimental film waiting to happen. And yes, I will cast Ben Affleck in it.

Just had a thought, I read the sign Holland St. I always thought that you can't read in your dreams because I remembered Batman couldn't do it in that episode - holy shit, I did something Batman couldn't do!

*goes and googles subject,

reads a little, hangs head in defeat

- comes back

Nevermind. I live for these fleeting moments of superiority over imaginary beings only to be brought down by the hard reality you could never be like/better than them.

For ONE second, I felt like I was better than Batman.

Oh well, one could...

*puts on sunglasses

...DREAM!

YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(totally David Caruso'd that moment)

Vocabulary of the Day

One of my favourite new words.

Flotilla:

1) a fleet of ships
2)an indefinite large number.

There was a flotilla of abandoned E.T. games buried in an indescript location.

I own a flotilla of Star Wars merchandise (pfff, so wished this was true).

Vocabulary of the Day

Caveat:
1) A warning ('nuff said)
2) an explanation to prevent misinterpretation.
3) cautionary detail to be considered when evaluating, interpreting or doing something.

A caveat about my blog, I lazily update with useless posts such as my vocabulary of the day.

Gretzky in College?

Dreamt that I was living in a dorm and Wayne Gretzky was an R.A. Went around stalking poor #99. And really that's all I remembered.

I'm sorry but nothing beats the Olympic gold medal game that I was in. Probably one of the best I've had, cause I assisted in scoring a goal. It's also possible I was dreaming about a hockey orientation camp but the likelihood is... unlikely (damn, I need a better thesaurus).

I should probably learn to write more about my dreams, you know "Expand and include more detail" like how my elementary teachers keep telling me when I write (I never graduated elementary though). But hey, they say brevity is the soul of wit, so technically speaking, I'm quite witty... right guys?

Guys?

*Sigh,

Man I've got an empty life.

Vocabulary of the Day

Tumultuous; adj:
1) marked by disturbance or uproar
2) raising a great clatter or commotion
3) highly agitated; distraught, turbulent

The tumultuous fans mobbed the stadium.

Don't remembered where I heard it, I just found this word waiting in my list of posts like a lost puppy in the edit tab. I figured I should bring the poor soul home.

Tumultuous also describes the year when the Oilers traded Gretzky away to the LA Kings.

Vocabulary of the Day:

Perfunctory:
1)characterized by routine or superficiality,
2) lacking in interest or enthusiasm.

It's sad to say that despite my interest in the art of language making, (yes, that's what I will call writing), I have a rather limited vocabulary. I don't read nearly enough books that help me with my skills of verbiage but I guess I could make a more conscious effort for improvement. Yes, this means I'm going back to basics, heading back to a more elementary style of learning by learning like an elementary student.

(By the way, I technically never graduated from Elementary school. I'm possibly the most successful failure that ever lived)

Learn a new word when I can (if I say everday, I'll never do it as evidence by my procrastination in writing my script).

Perfunctory.