Tag Archives: contest

The Future of the WINDFALL Screenplay

The novel, WINDFALL, was based on a screenplay I’d already written with the same title.

Now that the novel is published on Amazon, I’ve decided to “tweak” the screenplay and submit it to AMAZON STUDIOS. Who knows, maybe some day the story will be made into a feature, too.

Why am I tweaking the script? Well, when I wrote the novel, the story changed and some of those changes are definite improvements to the original story. So, I’m returning to the screenplay to incorporate those changes.

Follow the progress on this blog, my “writing journey”!

1938 book : HOW TO MAKE GOOD MOVIES

Life After WINDFALL…

I would have never thought that after I finished Windfall it would feel so unusual. It’s a feeling that’s difficult to put into words but it’s good… In a way, I’m letting go of “my  baby” and moving forward.

When I got to the last few weeks of Windfall, it seems like all I was doing was looking for errors. The creative aspect of Windfall (though still there) was minimal. But, now I’m back to being more creative.

I had time this week-end to give this blog a facelift. In fact, I am making one change that starts today. Everytime I post to this blog, I’m going to add a picture at the end. And that picture will be related to either WRITING or READING! No, I’m not going to comment on the pictures. Well, maybe I will… occasionally… just a little…

Today, I wrote my first short screenplay in over nine months. I wrote a “short” to enter in this month’s competition at MoviePoet.  If you have never visited MoviePoet, I recommend it completely. It’s not only a great place to learn how to write  the screenplay but it’s a great place to hone your skills.

I’m in the middle of reading Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa, a  Nobel Prize winner. I’ve often wondered why I have such a desire to write and the author addressed much of this in the first chapter. He believes the inclincation towards having a literary vocation comes from rebelling.  He says: “I’m convinced that those who immerse themselves in the lucubration of lives different from their own demonstrate indirectly their rejection and criticism of life as it is, of the real world, and manifest their desire to substitute for it the creations of their imagination and dreams. Why would anyone who is deeply satisifed with reality, with real life as it is lived, dedicate himself to something as insubstantial and fanciful as the creation of fictional realities?”

Anyway, I find myself intrigued with the author’s words and I’m sure I’ll address more from this book in future blogs.

Windfall sales are slow but steady. I don’t think the book will make me rich but it made me a published novelist and that is a heady feeling!  Now on to novel number two!

So, here’s the new addition to my blog. The first official picture about reading or writing.

Please enjoy this picture of Bill Robinson WRITING in concrete!

Mr. Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) was a tap dancer and and actor of stage and film, best known for tap dancing in the 1930s with Shirley Temple.  Click here to learn more about Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

Short Script for MoviePoet’s Contest & “Truth”

I haven’t written a short script since June of last year. So I’m pleased with myself  for writing one for MoviePoet.com short script “Deja Vu” challenge.  It is done!  Well, sort of. The page limit is five pages and mine is about six, so I’ve got to pare it down a bit.  No problemo. (I hope!)

“Downtown” which was the working title for “Finding Verity” has been officially RENAMED  “Truth”.  I started rewriting it from page one last week and word count is now at 5,014. I anticipate reaching 30,000 words rather quickly since I had over 100 pages written when I started this rewrite and I’ll be able to “copy and paste” from the last draft to this version.