So, what happened?

My cat is walking around my legs, desperately trying to get some attention – while maintaining her cat-cool-aloofness, of course. She's not the only one that hasn't gotten my attention for several weeks. I am slowly returning to the world; returning calls, doing bills, buying food, and acknowledging the weather gods with a hearty THANK YOU. This July has easily been the most pleasant July I've ever experienced in Los Angeles, or anywhere else for that matter. I was very fortunate not to have to deal with insane heat beyond the insane heat generated by the Sundance Screenwriters Lab Deadline.

People reading this blog with any kind of regularity know that I was working around the clock for the last three weeks and the emails I've received, wishing me luck and rooting for me have been too kind. Thank you all! I'm deeply touched.

So what happened? Did I do it?

Short answer:
Yes, I did it! I wrote a feature length screenplay from July 3 to July 20^th. Okay, I'm no Ed Wood but hopefully, neither is the screenplay.

Longer answer:
The screenplay is merely a first (okay, v1.7) draft. It needs a lot of work yet.

To say that writing a screenplay in seventeen days is not easy would be putting it mildly. In fact, one book about screenwriting uses the shocking, "Write a screenplay in 30 days!" title in order to entice potential readers that it has a method to do something entirely mad.

Overall, I'm not impressed by quantity, so I'm not lauding these things. I think a fair amount of time to spend on a first draft of a screenplay is two to three months.
(disclaimer: I mean a screenplay that is worth anything. A formulaic slasher can be churned out in three days)

So, how did I actually do it? I'll tell you. This may be useful for anyone who finds themselves under an intense deadline, even if only self imposed. Of course, it's common knowledge already, so most writers reading this probably do this already.

Outline, Outline, outline!

That's my biggest advice. I've learned that unless I do this, I will run into trouble. I think most writers work this way, so it's not the most insightful advice there is. But good advice always bears repeating. I'm typically a big fan of cork boards. Sticking ideas on them and moving them around – getting a nice 42 inch screen to see your story, with complete drag and drop capability, crash proof, no batteries required, and lightweight – ah, that's the stuff. In this case, I didn't really have time for the cork board – and my cork board currently has another story outline pinned to it that doesn't actually belong to me. Though I don't think it'll ever be used again, I decided not to pull the pins, as it were.

Instead, I went straight to outlining in MS Word, and kept outlining until I had the entire story figured out. Even as I neared the end, I refused to give in to the temptation of starting on the script. I've fallen victim to the "I'll figure the last scene out when I'm writing the script" before, and knew this temptation was not to be followed. In fact, even though I had an ending to the story months ago, getting it right took a couple days of thinking, walking, talking to myself, writing, erasing, repeat.

There is something very nerve wracking about holding a steady course and not shifting to the next phase, when a deadline is inexorably moving toward you. Around July 11^th, I got that last scene figured out and jumped into Final Draft and wrote the two words that signal the start: FADE IN.

I also calculated that I needed to pump out about 10 pages a day in order to make the deadline.

The first day, I wrote the entire first act. Like the day, the act was too long -- about 37 pages and it contained a lot of stuff that was tripe. But it was good to get a big jumping start. I knew that output wouldn't last, so I relished seeing that page count.

I then did two days of about fifteen pages per--getting to the point that many a screenplay dies – the dreaded middle. Getting through the middle was a process of five pages here, two pages there.

With about three days to spare, I got something that actually "weighed" the right amount; that is to say, I had a 108 page screenplay (about 21,000 words). From there, I re-wrote it to be a more cohesive piece.

Then, I read it with a friend. We spent about eight hours with it and then I got back to work for the last 30 odd hours.

And there you have it.

I didn't use any illicit drugs to stay awake.
I didn't drink Red Bull or any other energy drink.

However, I did go through 3lbs and 4 ozs. of coffee beans (which I grind to an extra, super fine talcum powder consistency for ultimate brewing delight)
That's a lot of coffee.

Enough about me for the moment.

Proof that good things occasionally happen to nice AND deserving people in this town, I want to heartily congratulate my friend Chad Damiani and his writing partner J.P. Lavin on an absolutely amazing and exciting story!

The Hollywood Reporter writes:

'Capeshooters' finds home at Warners

Bryan Singer in talks to produce the superhero project
By Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit
July 22, 2008, 08:51 PM ET

With one comic superhero lighting up its boxoffice, Warner Bros. is trying to develop another potential comic franchise by acquiring the superhero project "Capeshooters," with Bryan Singer in negotiations to produce.

J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani will write the screenplay, which follows two down-on-their-luck slackers who specialize in shooting videos of superheroes. They find themselves on the run when they uncover evidence that a legendary superhero actually is evil.

Read the entire story about Chad's cool day here.

Once again, Congratulations Chad and J.P. May the project GO and may it be franchised!

Ah, much more to write… but I must get back to working on my v2 of the screenplay. I can't say why, but there is no rest for Johnny quite yet.
I now have an August 15^th deadline to contend with. Thankfully, I have clay to mold now.