My short script, To the Outlaw of Blindates will be filmed on Friday, June 29th at the William Paterson campus in New Jersey. A crew has been selected and auditions have been held for the two leads.
I uploaded an entry to MoviePoet.com this morning. The challenge this month is to write a one-page script. Since I prefer long projects, novels and feature-length scripts, it was not easy for me.
I continue to make progress with Finding Verity. Since I am project-oriented I have to challenge myself to slow down and enjoy the process, to not rush the ending so I can say I’m done. Current word count is 87,278 words. I expect it to come in between 90,0000-100,000 words.
This past week I decided to use Beta readers for Finding Verity. I did not use Beta readers for Windfall and I think the story would have been improved if I had. I plan on getting Finding Verity to Beta readers by the end of the summer.
If you are interested in becoming a Beta reader for Finding Verity, please let me know. A Beta reader reads a draft of the novel, answers a questionnaire about the story and provides comments. It is not a quest for compliments but a way to find out where the novel needs improvement. There will be no money involved but, if you participate, your name will be included in the “Acknowledgments.”
Here is what Finding Verity is about…
FINDING VERITY is a coming-of-age story about a boy named Puck Scarsi.
In 1992 thirteen year old Puck lives in a slum apartment in New York City. When abandoned by his mother, he befriends Finn, a homeless man who lives in the dark subway tunnels. Finn takes Puck to social services and they place Puck in a foster home.
But Puck is abused in the foster home so he runs away. After being beaten by a gang in Central Park, he ends up in a hospital. After being released from the hospital, he is adopted by a family in rural New Jersey.
Fast forward to 2003. Puck is 23 and a published novelist and, although successful, he lives like a pauper in the same building he lived in when he was 13.
One day Puck rescues Emma, an 80-something widow and a retired psychologist, from an attack in Central Park. Emma’s major regret in life is that she never had children.
The story centers on Puck’s friendship with Emma. With the exception of Emma, Puck has no friends, and he is jealous of Emma’s friends. When Emma encourages Puck to move out of his slum apartment, he purchases a flat two floors above Emma. Emma suggests he invites his adopted family to see his new home but he refuses.
Though Puck’s first novel was a success, no one knows what he wrote because Puck writes under a pen name. Puck guards his privacy with a vengeance and refuses to tell Emma his pen name, but she vows to figure it out.
Puck’s publisher wants to publish Puck’s second novel but threatens to drop him as an author because Puck refuses to autograph books in bookstores.
As Puck come to grips with his past, he must learn to trust, but also learn there is little he can control.
Puck’s story will give the reader an insight into why some people become homeless. They might begin to understand why some people prefer darkness to light.
Tags: Beta reader, contest, Faith Friese Nelson, Finding Verity, MoviePoet.com, Novelist, screenplay, screenwriter, script, short screenplay, Windfall, writer's life, writing
