Contest shorts are away!

I uploaded three short screenplays for the contest. They are in the mail with the check.

Click on the link under Projects to download them.

Wish me luck!

-Jim

Long Weekend

I trust everyone had a great Memorial Weekend!

Other than the rain mine was good. Aiden and I snuck out during a sunny break and did some bike riding. He was very bummed I couldn’t take him skateboarding.

I also taught him how to play Monopoly at which he crushed me. So that was awesome.

My writing weekend consisted of:

A rewrite of Solo. After a lot of discussion with my readers I went back and added some elements that are intended to clear up some confusion. I also changed the title from Solo, which had some readers thinking something entirely different than what the story was, to The Promise, which hopefully makes sense once you read it.

I edited the final 40 pages of I.F.O. Yes, you read that right, forty fricken pages. I then plowed through 20 pages of the page one rewrite.

Needless to say I am very happy about my writing weekend.

Heading to Seattle tonight for The Film School first Tuesday meeting.

That is all.

-Jim

What's next?

Two consecutive sci-fi adventures. I think its time to change gears a bit.

Next in the queue will be my geek comedy. Been tossing around the idea for a few years now. It’s time to get it written.

I owe IFO and Air Bears two edits and rewrites each. I will complete those first so that I have some fodder for contests.

My last candidate for The Film School’s short screenplay contest is written. It’s waiting for feedback from readers. Nothing leaves the house until my wife has read it. Unfortunately she is busy with schooling and hasn’t gotten to it. DAMN IT WOMAN!

I’ve added the shorts to the projects list. I’ve also created a MediaFire account and will be posting the complete works once they are ready for human consumption.

That is all.

-Jim

Sophomore effort…

I have been a writing fool.

Finished my latest script I.F.O. (Identified Flying Object). I learned some things while cranking out my second script.

I was so excited about starting that I didn’t check my scene cards thoroughly. Each card is typically meant to go two pages. I had several that ended up being quick, half a page scenes. Consequently the first draft came in at 85 pages.

Those scene cards weren’t necessarily incorrect, I just need to make sure I know that these are short scenes and make sure I have enough material to come in around 100 pages.

I am modifying my process to include an edit and rewrite prior to putting the script away for a week or two. So I am going to do this for I.F.O. before going back to Air Bears.

I hope to have a link up for I.F.O. in the next month.

I have three candidates for The Film School short screenplay contest.

No Such Things - The struggle of a man destined to repeat history.

Heavy Soul – A Biohazard technician takes one last job to clean up the crime scene of the century, but does he have a solution for cleaning evil?

Solo – A Hiker discovers a vicious beast between him and a promise.

I will post links to the shorts after the contest.

That is all.

-Jim

Story Ideas

New segment today call What the fuck am I talking about.

Today’s random shit… Story Ideas.

Where do my ideas for stories come from? Personal experience. A conversation overhead. Something someone said on Facebook. I’ve gotten ideas from all of these sources. A TV show here, a novel there, a slew of blogs and web sites I frequent. Ideas are everywhere. I remember asking a question a few years ago at a writing seminar. “What if you only have one good idea?” Wow, was I retarded.

What do I do with these ideas? Write them down. I carry a small leather bound notebook with a pen attached. I write everything that catches my attention. Some just stay on an “Ideas” page waiting to be read again. Others immediately evolve into a title and a story that I can see clearly.

I love those moments. It fuels me to write. I have the next seven stories lined up. All with good titles and I know how they start and how they end. If a better story idea comes along I toss that in the queue.

Why do I write? To get these stories down on paper and out of my head. For so many years I would walk around with these ideas that would show their faces every so often. Every time they would pop up I would think, “Man that would make a great story.” One day I decided to get them out of my head. I love movies so I chose screenplays as the medium.

I can’t break a story unless I have a title. To me, a good title is the corner stone of any story. It’s a warm blanket around me that keeps me warm as I snowplow through a story. Without a great title, I am lost and my writing suffers.

I have to know the opening scene and the ending of the film to consider spending time to break the story. Stories gestate over time. I let them sit there until I allow it to show me what it’s about. I am sounding like a total freak right now but after several years of trying to get a complete story down on paper, I’ve realized what works for me.

Writing isn’t just about typing or writing words. For me it’s about having fun and creating awesome shit out of thin air. To do that I need a process that works for me.

Find your process, in whatever you do. Refine it, learn from it, and enjoy yourself.

-Jim