Writing Warm-Ups are Actually Helpful, so I've Heard...

So this week we had to start working on the first 8-10 pages of Act I. Now remember, a script should be 120 pages, that is 120 minutes, but now, most are less than 120, and the few that are over 120 are exceptions i.e Lord of the Rings. Remember this when you write your script...

Hey, that's just how Hollywood rolls.

I will admit, I was a bit hesitant, nervous, and of course, I plainly stared at the screen for the first few days. You know, the usual.

But the one thing that I would constantly do was think: How am I going to start this? Do I want a flashback? Do I want to start with v.o? How do I want to start my story?! [insert pulling hair here.]


A complete headache!

Then I remembered...

A few months back I read Plot and Structure by Scott Bell, and he said that one should always start the day with a 10-minute writing warm-up, you know, to get things going.   Now his warm-up seems generic(to me), so what I did was changed it a bit to fit around my 8-10 pages with something like:

Today I want to start with....

and the following day:

Today I want to describe this scene with_____________ because _________

And the day after with:

Today for this particular scene I want to express __________ and want Emma to be seen as _______


Believe me, this warm-up helped me when an hour or two later, I had to sit down and start typing my script.


It's like I knew what I wanted and all I had to do was fill the pages with words.

So far I think this was a good start. Now, I just hope it gets better.

Oh, and try morning, afternoon, or evening writing warm-ups before writing your story, or continuing where you left off. Who knows what might it help you with... and remember tweak it a bit to fit your needs.

Till next time.

To Become Authority One Must Do Research

First of all, I want to say I'm sorry for not posting anything the entire week. A FULL WEEK! It's just that I was busy with quite a few things that were out of my reach. You know how that is, right? But now, I'm back. :)

So this entire week, all we have been focusing on is research and of course finding an interviewee. Seriously, I thought, finding someone to interview wasn't going to be difficult, but as always... I was wrong!

So I've been trying to get a hold of a few YouTube Gurus (a very important part of my story is base on it), but :sighs: for some reason, I still haven't heard from at least one. I'm not asking for a two-hour interview, just thirty minutes tops.

Now this assignment is due tomorrow. Not the interview, just the confirmation of actually having someone to interview. So yeah, I was stressing. Believe me, I tried emailing and even used Twitter :laughs: Now, I understand that they might be busy, or maybe they just don't check their emails frequently. I don't want to assume that they were just ignoring my email because I don't know them in a personal level.


So what did I do?

I emailed my instructor and asked her if I could switch my subject for the interviewing phase. She is very understanding, and I was able to do that. So yay!

I'm interviewing a fellow classmate who has worked as a waitress <-----all this is for my story!

I finished typing my research paper that's due in a few hours and all I need is to revise it. Believe me... it needs it!

I'm going to cut this short for tonight, but I will blog tomorrow about something I did this past week. I find it pretty cool :).

Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend.

Till next time,

Eva


P.S.
Just because I wasn't able to reach one of them for an interview doesn't mean I will give up though :smirks:

Change of Plans?!

:Sighs: Okay...so my story has just gone from a comic script to a might be movie script.

Flashback


After writing that great logline I was proud of, I started to become doubtful of my thesis.

Was this the right idea?


Does it make sense?


Is my story interesting enough?


Are my characters interesting at all?


These were the types of thoughts going through my mind.

There was something about my idea I didn't like. I have to admit, this particular idea was one I had written as a light-novel a few years ago. This is the one idea that made me want to make a comic. I guess, this is why I've been stubborn about it.

But I just didn't know what to do.

I soon started to create proper bios for my characters, and after I finished writing them, I just stared at the computer---dissatisfied.

All I thought about at night was my characters and the story. It was bugging me!

Then today my instructor emailed me and she asked if this was a feature film idea. I'm like huh? what!?

:pulls hair out: Was I suppose to think of a future film? Did I misread something!

UGH!

So I sat down again, stared at the screen again, went over some ideas again... till I finally called my instructor.





Present Time


I have decided to focus on this one script that can become a a movie for television. This is an idea I pulled out from another script I created in another class.

My protagonist is the same but different at the same time. Does it make sense?


Anyways,  I think I'm finally ready to start the research. :)



Now you might be wondering... Hey Eva, what about the comic idea?


Well in the similar words but not so similar words of one of my favorite manga characters, I shall answer, "I will write and read scripts for a living, but writing comics, is nothing but a hobby I enjoy and hope to make money out of it too."

Do you know where I got this from?


If you do please enlighten me in the most discreet way lol!




So I guess in other words....


:smiles: I will write a comic and my research will start in a few weeks... and believe me I AM determine about this, so please support me when that time comes to spread the word.


Well, that's all I have for tonight.


Have a good one everyone!


Till next time,

Eva