| The single greatest threat to my writing, is video games. Then it is The Simpsons, then Scrubs, then Family Guy, Ghost in the Shell and Serial Experiment Lain. Every free moment I have I don't want to spend the time writing, I want to watch and play. Procrastination is not new to writers (understatement of the year); we'll try anything not to write, the thing we love best to do. There are many theories as to why that is, so I'll chime in with mine. I'm scared. I'm writing a drama centered around four male police officers and a gut wrenching week in their lives. Its real, and modern and gritty. No longer can I hide behind fancy concepts that drive the story along. This will be my fifth feature length screenplay and unlike any before it. My first was Every Seven Days the drama of two brother like friends dealing with religious persecution in conflict torn N. Ireland. that wrote itself, easy. The Fallacy of Racking came next, it was the tale of the future, where war is no longer fought with weapons but with pranks on other countries, huge concept, hard to fit into 120 pages. Then came One Studied Night; though I hate the name, it is probably my best one. This is written in Iambic pentameter (shakespeare) it utilizes a mixture of modern speech and newer middle english. "Forever to be human, strive we on." This was easier to write in that it was SO HARD that I spent a good deal of my life consumed by it. Next was a smattering of true accounts in The Missionary, a scary tale of the dark side of the mission field in Haiti. This, though I'm not satisfied with the ending, also wrote itself. I knew the scenes before I even started writing. But that brings us to Untitled Cop Movie. This is the first time where I have nothing to hide behind. There is no fancy language, huge political concept, or clothes walking around by themselves. It is just four men. Thier lives or perceptions of life change in this movie, there are four very real character arcs, it is all out there for everyone to see. Emotion raw and powerful. So you can see why this writer would rather play video games than bear his soul through these characters for 120 more pages. The only real comfort I get from this is that I think it may be the best thing I have written so far, but then that means that it better be the best thing I've written so far. Anyway, here's the blog quote so see if you can guess where it is from. No one has gotten these yet. There's still some sort of prize waiting for them. "I felt like destroying something beautiful". |
