I spent my time over the weekend (which is Weds and Thurs for me) getting some writing done. I'm actually just a couple of scenes away from where the book pretty much gets going and doesn't stop until the end.
One of the things that's been happening as I write the first draft of the script is that I'm thinking of all these scenes I want to add in later that were not in the original draft of the treatment. But rather than stop, think of how those scenes fit into the bigger work, and continue with the script; I've been writing these scene ideas down in a separate document so that when I go back for the second draft I will include them.
I remember listening to an interview with Philip Pullman about writing and him discussing how the best thing with the first draft of any story is to just GET IT OUT. In other words, just write the stupid thing. Don't stop and correct every misspell. Don't second guess the structure. Just get it on the page so that you can rewrite later. There's the old saying, writing is rewriting. I think this is true. So far I've discovered that spending some time developing a solid treatment has allowed me to move with a confidence I didn't have before. The script is coming out quickly and I think will require very little reworking as a whole.
Then again what do I know?
I just realized that I was going to post about my process. That will have to wait. Writing continues.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Writing Continues...
I want to say thank you to everyone who has given me positive feedback on the preview pages I've displayed on this blog and other sites. I'm still keeping most of it close to the chest, so I don't spoil things later!
I spent most of this week, after going back through the treatment, writing the next two scenes from the prologue. It's the first time we meet the other co-star of the story; Todd.
I don't know how many of you own the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but they have a great segment on all three of them that just focuses on the writing of the movie. Each one lasts about thirty minutes and I have found it really invaluable to hear their wisdom when constructing my scripts.
On the Fellowship of the Ring set they discuss the introduction of Mary and Pippin in the story at Bilbo's party. They explain how they basically made up the scene in which they steal a firework from Gandalf's stash and disrupt the whole party. The interesting thing about this scene is that they discuss how their goal script-wise was that they wanted to accomplish two things in one moment. Introduce the characters and say something about them. I've found that when writing, if you you can do two things at one time in a script you are creating a much more effective script.
The first two scenes after the prologue reminded me about that. I wanted really badly to set Todd up properly. We have to get him very quickly, because the story gets moving in a hurry after that and the character arcs need to be identifiable.
I've read back through the scene and I feel pretty strong about his arrival. The difficult part now is writing the dialog of Chloe and Todd together. That's my next mess to deal with.
Next post I'll spend some time talking about my actual process for creating these pages. So check back in about two days! Now its time for some chicken.
I spent most of this week, after going back through the treatment, writing the next two scenes from the prologue. It's the first time we meet the other co-star of the story; Todd.
I don't know how many of you own the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but they have a great segment on all three of them that just focuses on the writing of the movie. Each one lasts about thirty minutes and I have found it really invaluable to hear their wisdom when constructing my scripts.
On the Fellowship of the Ring set they discuss the introduction of Mary and Pippin in the story at Bilbo's party. They explain how they basically made up the scene in which they steal a firework from Gandalf's stash and disrupt the whole party. The interesting thing about this scene is that they discuss how their goal script-wise was that they wanted to accomplish two things in one moment. Introduce the characters and say something about them. I've found that when writing, if you you can do two things at one time in a script you are creating a much more effective script.
The first two scenes after the prologue reminded me about that. I wanted really badly to set Todd up properly. We have to get him very quickly, because the story gets moving in a hurry after that and the character arcs need to be identifiable.
I've read back through the scene and I feel pretty strong about his arrival. The difficult part now is writing the dialog of Chloe and Todd together. That's my next mess to deal with.
Next post I'll spend some time talking about my actual process for creating these pages. So check back in about two days! Now its time for some chicken.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Start of the Blog
Hello everyone! Welcome to the official production log for my new graphic novel series, "The Unknowns" which is currently in preproduction. I wanted to start this little log up to share with you all the progress I going through in producing this new series as well as a way to keep the memories myself! :-)
For now a brief synopsis of the series as it stands. The Unknowns is a mystery series following two kids, Todd and Chloe, as they work together to reveal a sinister secret that has been plaguing their neighborhood and town. I hope for the overall series to last about 6 books and to culminate in a rather big finale that ought to be quite intense.
Currently I am seeking representation for the book and the goal at this time is get it picked up by a publisher of young adult and children's lit. I have a completed chapter that I have been using as an example of what the book will look and read like. I think it has been my strongest work without question. I have high hopes that this book will find an audience.
Today I spent some time going back through the story treatment for book 1. So with McFlurry in hand and my cat overlooking, I got to work on the last draft. I've been working on this story now for about three years or so when I was wanting to develop a story that would work well for a tv show; just for fun. The core idea for the series has remained but the particulars of how the actual story plays out and the characters involved has changed quite a bit. I finally decided that I would like to develop this story as a young readers series of graphic novels about a two years ago. Most of last year was spent drafting up what would be the final intro and developing the look and feel of the book. The end of the year I completed the 13 pages including a cover.
So as things stand I will be diving back into the actual script this week. Should only take a month or so to bang out the rest of the first draft. I will share with all of you the trial and errors I will undoubtedly incur while putting together my new GN. I hope you enjoy. Let me know all of your thoughts. Here's a peek at the cover and a few pages from the book. Click the small picture to see the larger file.
For now a brief synopsis of the series as it stands. The Unknowns is a mystery series following two kids, Todd and Chloe, as they work together to reveal a sinister secret that has been plaguing their neighborhood and town. I hope for the overall series to last about 6 books and to culminate in a rather big finale that ought to be quite intense.
Currently I am seeking representation for the book and the goal at this time is get it picked up by a publisher of young adult and children's lit. I have a completed chapter that I have been using as an example of what the book will look and read like. I think it has been my strongest work without question. I have high hopes that this book will find an audience.
Today I spent some time going back through the story treatment for book 1. So with McFlurry in hand and my cat overlooking, I got to work on the last draft. I've been working on this story now for about three years or so when I was wanting to develop a story that would work well for a tv show; just for fun. The core idea for the series has remained but the particulars of how the actual story plays out and the characters involved has changed quite a bit. I finally decided that I would like to develop this story as a young readers series of graphic novels about a two years ago. Most of last year was spent drafting up what would be the final intro and developing the look and feel of the book. The end of the year I completed the 13 pages including a cover.
So as things stand I will be diving back into the actual script this week. Should only take a month or so to bang out the rest of the first draft. I will share with all of you the trial and errors I will undoubtedly incur while putting together my new GN. I hope you enjoy. Let me know all of your thoughts. Here's a peek at the cover and a few pages from the book. Click the small picture to see the larger file.
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