Monthly Archives: February 2010

Snow Day Writing

Yesterday, after only two hours on the job,  the office closed because of snow!  I’ve never been a fan of that white powdery stuff but you know what happens when you get a “snow day?” 

Well, first I got a little bit of well-needed exercise with a shovel and then I got to write all day!  I got significant work done on”The Screenplay”.  And I finally got an idea for a “short” for MoviePoet’s contest this month.

The MoviePoet contest for February is titled “Ace, Baby, Honey, Jack, & Spike”.  What this means is we must write a short that uses one of those words in the Title, another as the Location, another as the Character, another in the Dialogue, and lastly, another in the Action.” 

Until yesterday I thought I was going to have to “pass” on this challenge.   I just didn’t like the idea of trying to “force” a story.  But, yesterday, I remembered a short I wrote ( last year or the year before), that badly needs to be rewritten.  And I’m going to be able to take that story and turn it into an entry for the MP contest.  And the surprising thing is, I think it’ll be an easy fix!

So, maybe I don’t hate snow so much, anymore.  Not when it gets me a “writing day!”

Update on “The Screenplay”

This week-end, I got a lot of good writing done on “The Screenplay”. 

“The Screenplay” is the SP I’m writing for the MoviePoet.com contest.    This month the loglines and titles are being reviewed at MP.   The top thirty loglines/titles will advance to the next step of the competition.

I can’t mention my title or the subject of “The Screenplay” because it is very important that my project remain anonymous.

Last year my title and log-line did not advance.   When I entered the contest, I was still researching and I really didn’t know enough about my story to write a good log-line or title.  This year I feel better about the log-line and title but I don’t know if it’s good enough to go to the next level of competition.  I sure hope so because I’m making great progress on the SP.

This week-end I wrote and wrote and I made a big dent in the second act.  I’m happy to report that I’m up to page 68 and I’m quickly approaching the third act.  And then, after the third act, I get to type “The End”, and then start the rewrites.

A lot of people don’t like the rewriting part.  But I do.  Because writing is rewriting.  And that’s where the screenplay really improves!

Who knows.  Perhaps this is the screenplay which will end up on the silver screen!

The Dreaded “Second Act”

I love to write the first twenty pages of screenplays.   I also love to write the endings.  But, the second act drives me insane!  

The second act starts between pages 20 and 30 and consists of about 60 pages right in the middle of the story.   If the second act falls apart or gets boring, you will lose the reader.  And, if you lose the reader, your screenplay will never get made into a movie!

I’m writing the dreaded second act of “the screenplay” right now and, although I’m not stuck, I feel like I’m mucking about in a pond of mud.

So, I decided to spend a couple of hours with Syd Field, Linda Seger, and Robert McKee.  After perusing their books, and others, this is what I’ve learned…

During the second act,  something must happen.  And whatever happens must cause something else to happen, and that should cause something else to happen, etc… 

Things need to get complicated in the second act, the “plot must thicken!”    Scenes will need to build on each other.  So make sure there is a reason for each and every scene!

Robin U. Russin and William Missouri Downs state in their book “”Screenplay, Writing the Picture” that the second act is where we find “conflicts, crises, obstacles, complications, or reversals; rising action ; and the protagonist’s ‘dark moment.’

Syd Field uses the word “confrontation” to describe act two!  Remember, as you write,  many conflicts are solved, but  there should always be another bit of trouble for the protagonist, and it should be right around the corner.

Make sure to eliminate exposition as you write the second act.  Remember the most important rule … show, don’t tell! 

Lets say that Dick and Sally need to ”argue” in your story.   Have them argue while they’re jogging around the block.  Or better yet, have them argue while they’re being chased around the block  by a couple of hoodlums!  Then make sure one of them trips while they’re running…  Maybe Sally trips and her glasses fly off  and Dick stomps on them and crushes them…  Get the picture.  Something happens, which causes something else to happen, which causes…

Movies with great second acts are the movies that you hate to see end!