mountains

Sent my Digital Shorts Proposals and Metlab submission out this week. Waiting for the results of them and Red Planet, Southwest Screen Screenwriter Development Competition (why do schemes from public bodies have such unwieldy titles?), and (most of all) BSSC.

Meanwhile I’ve decided to concentrate on feature specs for the rest of the year. No more amoeba-ing! Looking at the UKFC First Feature Film Develpment Programme (see what I mean?) reinforced that I need a good sample script, so I’m gonna spend the winter working on my low budget RomCom Buddy Movie Once Again, and Mega budget Fantasy Epic Dragons. They’re both several drafts in - I first wrote Once Again about ten years ago - Both need radical rewrites, but I‘ve got a plan, so I’m confident that I’ll nail ‘em with theses drafts.

James L Brooks in the latest Creative Screenwriting Magazine says “Does anyone do the first draft without hoping that it‘s the last draft?” and he’s been doing since the 1960’s! But isn’t that true of every draft? If a draft is a mountain you have to climb, you don’t want to think that at the top you’ll find… a dim, distant view of the next mountain. (Which I suppose is why it’s so tempting to pitch your tent and insist you reached the highest peak you can?)

I could go on (readers giving you feedback = sherpas, Outline = a map, etc) but the mountain metaphor started over at t’other faraway’s place here, and she tells a far more interesting tale.

Later