FADE IN

Getting started is one of the most difficult tasks of writing.

It’s this huge psychological wall you have to climb over. Once you get started you can say to yourself, “well, I’m in it now…gotta keep going...”. And you’re fine, until about page 90 or so when the other psychological block hits you of…”Oh my god, I’m almost finished with this draft…then what do I do?”

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Having a great idea for a movie or play is never enough. Ask some stranger on the street if he or she has an idea for a movie and they will most undoubtedly reply, “Well, let me tell you about it…”

But they don’t sit and write it down.

And let’s face it, sitting down to write 120 pages of a movie is a big commitment. It’s not just 120 pages. It's not just an idea. It’s a story and characters. It's a world. It's usually dealing with personal issues in some kind of public way. And it’s really hard to make it good…

Last night I began my first day on the 21 day journey to write a movie. The first assignment was to write 10 pages or for 2 hours, whichever comes first.

The goal was to just get as much down as possible as quickly as possible. The idea here is not to over think it or get blocked. I cheated a little and wrote too much, which I figure is not a bad thing…I got sixteen pages (which when cut down probably will be more like 5 anyway…) I discovered a few things about the story and characters I didn’t know. There’s a ton of stuff yet that’s still a complete mystery. But then if I already knew everything about the story, what would be the point of writing it?

Tonight I’m supposed to write another 20 pages thus completing the first act (the first 30 pages) of the rough draft (which this author is calling the “random draft”).

But…

My play DOG PARK opens tonight (hence my doggy photo for today), so I may have to do two days work on Saturday to make up for my not doing any pages today. The Mamet Schmamet show isn’t until 11 pm and won’t be over till after 12:30 or so. I really don’t want to stay up till 2 am to get my work done. I’ll just do all the work on Saturday.

I’m just too darn excited about the show tonight. I’ve got some friends coming and I know its going to be good and funny… And I admit it…I like to see my work done well. It feels me with pride that my work can be done well and also that these actors and the director put so much work into it. And they did. And I’m soooooo grateful for that.

So happy opening to the cast & crew of Mamet Schmamet!

BREAK A LEG!