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…Some Explanation

I’ve been absent but not idle. Since the title of my blog is No Apology…Some Explanation, here’s some explanation.

I ventured way outside my writing comfort zone and took a class on screenwriting. One might think, “Playwrighting versus screenwriting, what’s the difference?”  The difference is huge.

While it was my idea and treatment of the idea for the script, it had to conform to certain parameters to fit in the commercial breaks.

In writing vernacular I’m a pantser.  I fly by the seat of my pants. I never outlined anything in my whole life. Once I had a class that required me to turn in an outline. I wrote the paper and did the outline from that.  I’m also a BIC writer. Butt In Chair.  Inspiration and perfection have nothing to do with finished product. I sit there and push through and until I get it done. 

I rewrote the first twenty pages about six times.  It needed more rewrites but I was catching on to the structure and I needed to move forward.

I was in class with experienced people and I didn’t want to be left behind!  A lousy first draft would at least give me something to talk about.  So, I was forging ahead, creating a beat sheet, which is like the outline that I never bothered to learn to do.  This was different and I wanted it. I really wanted it.

Week six, one classmate finished their script and another was close.  This was not happening.  I’m not going to be the class runt!  By this time, I had missed one blog date. Faithful readers, I confess that I felt no guilt at all. This was something that I really had to do.  When it was my turn to present work to the group, it went reasonably well. I still wasn’t happy.  I announced to my classmates, my script would be done next week.

It was a brazen thing to do.  And I wasn’t doing this for a grade. I wanted a finished script. I needed close to 100 pages and I had 37.  I had just made a 63 page commitment!

How fast does one write? I’ve pushed myself and turned out three pages in an hour. That’s about a thousand words. I had to work much faster than that, and I had less than a week. I hunkered down. Katie and Joseph, my main characters, were in my head constantly. I could see the town square and Joseph’s outspoken student, Lilly who always managed to interrupt their love story, but she really helped me move the story along. 

Meanwhile life continued around me.  Well, most of it. The bathroom needed a good cleaning and if I didn’t get some wash done, I wasn’t going to be able to leave the house. My laptop traveled with me when I picked up my grandchildren from school.  They were interested, especially if they could have a part in the movie and could get paid!

Then I got notified that my show The Biddy Contract is scheduled for Saturday, May 14 at 1:45pm at LaMaMa 47 Great Jones St. NYC.. The tickets are free but limited, reserve one now. Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/Biddy514 This show was canceled for the Lockdown and canceled a second time for Omicron. But the third time is the charm. There were new cast members, new script edits to get done before rehearsals.

So, while I haven’t been sitting around doing nothing, another venture that had been in discussion for months perked up. In May, I will start writing and recording podcasts for “Sunday to Sunday Witness” and my faithful readers will be able to hear me on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. I’ll being telling you more about that soon.

I now have a home audio studio. I made every rookie mistake known to mankind as I set it up by myself. 

But the movie script…

I did it!  I was able to type the words, ‘THE END,’ a day and a half before my class.  I had a first draft.

And better yet, my blog that was a pandemic endeavor is back on track and I have two more movie pitches warming up.