Distracted…

Posted in The Writing Life on July 29, 2010 by Faith Friese Nelson

I was able to buy a laptop last week-end.  Nothing fancy but it’ll do what I need to do… lots of writing, a little bit of web-surfing, an occasional game of Majhong.  Anyway, there’s always a transition when I get a new computer, and this time was no different.

I subscribe to Carbonite and found that transferring the files from my desktop to my laptop was a breeze.  I’m in the process of familiarizing myself with Windows 7.  All this is a distraction, taking me away from the art of writing.

For example, I wrote a short screenplay and was converting it to PDF format, something I did all the time on my old desktop.  So, I press the commands to save it to PDF and I get some stupid message that tells me the computer can’t find my printer.  What the– ?  Anyway, I emailed the SP to myself at my old computer and did what I needed to do there but… it’s a distraction.

I remember my first computer back in the early 1980s.  No hard drive.  One floppy disk (yes, floppy disk) drive.  A printer that looked like a converted typewriter. I remember sitting at the computer and crying.  Oh, we have come a long way…  I think I’m on my sixth or seventh computer, couldn’t tell you for sure.  I know it’s my second laptop.  In fact, I’m using my old laptop backpack and I had to shorten the strap that holds the computer in place.  My old laptop was much bigger than the one I have now.  The old one weighed over 20 pounds.l  This one weighs only 5-1/2 pounds.

So, this week, I haven’t gotten too much writing done but I think most of the distraction is behind me.  Just have to figure out how to convert the files to PDF without getting a printer message.  It’ll all work out in time.  It always does.  I just hate being distracted!

Bart Vader Pictures and a Laptop

Posted in The Writing Life on July 23, 2010 by Faith Friese Nelson

Filming is done on Bart Vader and now it’s time to “put it in the can”.  Margaret’s enthusiasm about this project is catching and I can’t wait to see the finished the project.  She sent me a few pictures.  If you want to see them, click here.   She promised that more pictures are forthcoming.  As soon as I get them, I’ll post them.

This week-end I am going to splurge and buy a laptop! There are just too many instances in my life where, if I had a laptop, I could get more writing done.  It’s not only an investment in my writing but it’s an investment in my sanity. I am one of those people who gets really antsy when I feel like I’m wasting my time.

I got all the one-pagers reviewed over at MoviePoet.  And I wrote and uploaded a short script for MoviePoet’s contest, “White Out”.  Our challenge was to write a short script.  The topic was open but the description and dialogue lines were limited because they could not be any longer than two lines.  Lots of white space! After I decided on the story, it wrote itself. I’m feeling pretty good about this entry…

Monday, Monday…

Posted in Contests, The Writing Life, Writing a Novel with tags , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2010 by Faith Friese Nelson

So, it’s the start of a new week.

Current word count on the “Windfall” novelization:  4,412

Right now, I’m reading the book Make a Scene, Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time by Jordan E. Rosenfeld.  It is a good book for me, at this point in my “writer’s journey”, reminding me of some of the powerful tools available when writing a novel versus writing a screenplay.

I have started to do a step outline for my newest screenplay endeavor, mostly in my head, but it is being blocked and progress is being made.  I expect to be in the middle of this project by the fall.

Two main goals for this week:   First I need to finish the reviews for the “More of Less is More” competition at Moviepoet.com.  Then I need to decide on something to write for MoviePoet’s next competition, “White Out”.  I have one idea, an adaptation of a short story, and I’m waiting to hear from the author.  If the author doesn’t give permission, then I have another idea up my sleeve!

I have paid the entry fee to enter “Windfall” in the ScriptSavvy contest, and have until July 30th to make last minute changes.  The thing I like about this contest, is I can get feedback from it, so even if I don’t win, I get something in return for my $$.

The novelization of “Windfall” is progressing.  Some parts seem to write faster than others.  Returning to this medium has been fun but I am grateful that the plot has already been worked out so I can concentrate on the actual writing.