Saturday, September 25, 2010

Hello, My Friend, Hello...

Just after midnight at the end of the workweek here on the east coast, and it's perfectly understandable that a moderately hip guy like myself can let the lateness of the hour and the fatigue of the week affect him so much that a little unintentional Neil Diamond quote slips out.

It's been a summer of family outings, trips to the ballpark, Saturday morning tee-ball followed by afternoons at the beach.  I've enjoyed my family's company very much these last few months.  My son has just entered the first grade and is determined to be more grown-up (don't rush it, kid) and my daughter is approaching the age of three with the demeanor and attitude of a kid four times her age, plus my wife and I have just celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary, which also marked ten years to the day since we first met.  I am truly blessed beyond what I could have dreamt of for myself ten years ago.

I have been writing, albeit that form of writing that can best be described as spitballing and is often referred to by others as daydreaming.  I came up with the endings of a couple of specs I've been breaking and can now fill in the gaps moving backward, which is a departure for my usual approach of spilling out the toy chest and tearing loose with abandon.  I've (big surprise) never been a disciplined writer, this has always been my downfall, but I'm planning to use the gaps I'm able to take during my work day to wrote more efficiently.

As I was thinking along these lines, I stumbled upon a listing for this book on Amazon: The Coffee Break Screenwriter.

Okay, now let's rewind about three or four years when I started renewing my ambition to become a produced screenwriter.  I had already created an account at Zoetrope when it first hit the web, had a couple of specs under my arm, and had little idea how to proceed, but one thing I did know was I hated how many books I'd purchased about screenwriting.  I hated how other writers championed their chosen screenwriting guru like they were facepainters at an NFL game.  I even tried starting a group on Zoetrope called "Screw You, Guru" where people could vent about ridiculous adherence to hard rules, especially when those rules dictated and informed your script with the same formula that you'd seen in countless movies.  I'd vowed back then never to buy another book on screenwriting.

Why the change of heart?  Isn't the first thing they tell you about fixing a problem is that the first step is realizing you have a problem?  I have a problem using short bits of time to work on my writing.

I think I'll pick this book up.  Hell, it beats spending ten minutes doing a crossword.

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