OK, so I didn't really blog at all during the month of April because I didn't want to take any precious time away from working on my script for Script Frenzy. And so, here I am, giving another recap of the rest of the month.
FRIDAY, APRIL 8
Gaah, extended shift at work. I was there for nearly twelve hours and so no time to write today. At first I had no fear that I can make the 100 pages throughout the month, but if I have more work shifts like this I'll be too tired to write! I'm still so far behind! I should have about 27 pages by today and I'm still stuck at 5! I've also started to talk to a few other Script Frenziers that live in my area. Script Frenzy has these discussion boards set up for your region for just this purpose. We're all excited about having other Frenziers so close and so we want to all get together, chat, encourage each other, and talk about our scripts. I'm both nervous about going alone to meet people I only know through the internet, and also excited about meeting them!
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
I had an opening shift. And so I had about four hours to think about what I want to do with the plot, but dealing with my sister's attention-whore dog meant I only had enough free time to rework the 5 pages I already had written - my co-writer ChibiSunnie had sent me notes. She's actually a great cheerleader! She seems to love just about anything I write and when she critiques me she always gives me an example as to why it should be reworked as well as her idea of how to fix it. THAT is a great proofreader/editor! Loves to ChibiSunnie! Thanx girl!
SUNDAY, APRIL 10
Another opening shift. I'm sooooo tired ~_~'
I worked some more on the opening scene of the script, but I don't want to send ChibiSunnie any more of the script until I at least have the scene done. I just wish I wasn't so tired all the time, I feel like passing out whenever I start writing. GAAAAH, if I don't get a move on I'll never get to 100 pages! I'm so far behind here!
Originally us local Frenziers were all going to meet up today. I'm glad the plans fell through. I'm too tired to do anything today! Plus I really need to work on my writing and probably shouldn't procrastinate any more by meeting up with people instead of scripting. I'm also a bit relieved because I'm still super nervous about meeting people I only know via the internet. XP They all seem nice enough though.
I worked some more on the opening scene of the script, but I don't want to send ChibiSunnie any more of the script until I at least have the scene done. I just wish I wasn't so tired all the time, I feel like passing out whenever I start writing. GAAAAH, if I don't get a move on I'll never get to 100 pages! I'm so far behind here!
Originally us local Frenziers were all going to meet up today. I'm glad the plans fell through. I'm too tired to do anything today! Plus I really need to work on my writing and probably shouldn't procrastinate any more by meeting up with people instead of scripting. I'm also a bit relieved because I'm still super nervous about meeting people I only know via the internet. XP They all seem nice enough though.
MONDAY, APRIL 11
Finally a day off! I got some writing done, but I also did a lot of research again to make sure I have my facts straight. I looked up some regional info for Central America and got suckered in to watching more "Hey, Arnold!" episodes in order to get the characterization down.
On top of that, more people chimed in on the Facebook discussion board ChibiSunnie and I set up for this script thing. It's cool to hear what people think of our ideas, and listen to what they envision for the movie. However, I got really thrown off by this one girl that threw in her two cents. She was upset, like, REALLY upset - almost insulted - that Chibi and I are keeping Arnold's parents alive. She strongly believes that his parents should have died in the jungle so as to not degrade the abnormal family Arnold grew up in. She felt that Arnold finding his parents alive would further promote the "Traditional Family" and therefore make kids that don't have this family structure feel bad about it. Also, she felt that it is a depressing message for orphans who really can't have their parents back, no matter how hard they want to find them. I understand where she's coming from - and I mentioned this - however it seems too depressing a message to not have Arnold's parents alive. Plus my fiancé mentioned that Arnold is such an optimistic kid who feels anything is possible and discovering his parents are dead is just too much of a shock to his world view that it would completely change his character: "it would break him; he wouldn't be the Arnold everyone loves." Anyway, I wasn't the only person who felt that his parents should be alive and every time we stated such she would come back complaining that it's sending the wrong message. To me it felt like it was inching towards a flamewar and when I warned as such everyone was like "Um, no, don't overreact". XP *sigh*
On top of that, more people chimed in on the Facebook discussion board ChibiSunnie and I set up for this script thing. It's cool to hear what people think of our ideas, and listen to what they envision for the movie. However, I got really thrown off by this one girl that threw in her two cents. She was upset, like, REALLY upset - almost insulted - that Chibi and I are keeping Arnold's parents alive. She strongly believes that his parents should have died in the jungle so as to not degrade the abnormal family Arnold grew up in. She felt that Arnold finding his parents alive would further promote the "Traditional Family" and therefore make kids that don't have this family structure feel bad about it. Also, she felt that it is a depressing message for orphans who really can't have their parents back, no matter how hard they want to find them. I understand where she's coming from - and I mentioned this - however it seems too depressing a message to not have Arnold's parents alive. Plus my fiancé mentioned that Arnold is such an optimistic kid who feels anything is possible and discovering his parents are dead is just too much of a shock to his world view that it would completely change his character: "it would break him; he wouldn't be the Arnold everyone loves." Anyway, I wasn't the only person who felt that his parents should be alive and every time we stated such she would come back complaining that it's sending the wrong message. To me it felt like it was inching towards a flamewar and when I warned as such everyone was like "Um, no, don't overreact". XP *sigh*
TUESDAY, APRIL 12
Putting off writing some more... I'm really getting bad at this! Looking some more at the Facebook discussion page in order to get inspired, someone gave a suggestion for a key point in the script's plot - Arnold confessing that he likes Helga back and kisses her. The girl's suggestion? Arnold is so grateful that they are alive that he kisses her out of gratitude and elation. She also stated that the danger they are in just before the kiss - and therefore the fuel to the fire, as it were - should be a cliff-hanging-of-doom similar to the ending of the Disney movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Of COURSE this then meant I needed to watch this scene to get a feel for it again, especially since I hadn't watched the movie in years. Next thing I knew I was watching the full movie! Gaaah!
I then was going to go straight in to the Direct-to-Video sequel, but my mom asked me if I wanted to watch one of the movies she rented. I could always use more bonding time with my mom - especially since I'm moving out of the house for the first time in October. And so I abandoned the Hunchback sequel - and script writing - in order to watch "Leap Year". At least the movie was worth it. XP
In the end I did manage to at least finish the opening scene - FINALLY.
I then was going to go straight in to the Direct-to-Video sequel, but my mom asked me if I wanted to watch one of the movies she rented. I could always use more bonding time with my mom - especially since I'm moving out of the house for the first time in October. And so I abandoned the Hunchback sequel - and script writing - in order to watch "Leap Year". At least the movie was worth it. XP
In the end I did manage to at least finish the opening scene - FINALLY.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13
I'm so beyond tired of the messed up way I need to work on the script in Microsoft Word Starter, and so I downloaded the program Celtx from the Script Frenzy website. TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! This program is my new favorite toy! I'm having so much fun working with it and writing the script now is so easy!
ChibiSunnie even came up with a nice solution to the "Arnold's Parents Should be Dead" issue brought up on the forum. She agrees that Arnold's Non-Traditional family should be celebrated and valued. She came up with a crafty way for Arnold and Grandpa to state that they are a family as is, and so even if Arnold can't find his parents he'll still have a family to come home to. Arnold then demonstrates his valuing of his current family by stating that he wouldn't change his life for anything, he just needs to know what happened to his parents.
I was also able to finally get started on the second scene! Dear lord, I'm nearly 1/2 way in to the month and I'm just starting the second scene! I'm starting to get nervous, like really nervous that I won't be able to get everything done. I'll have to write all night and just keep going until I have to go to work tomorrow at 4.
ChibiSunnie even came up with a nice solution to the "Arnold's Parents Should be Dead" issue brought up on the forum. She agrees that Arnold's Non-Traditional family should be celebrated and valued. She came up with a crafty way for Arnold and Grandpa to state that they are a family as is, and so even if Arnold can't find his parents he'll still have a family to come home to. Arnold then demonstrates his valuing of his current family by stating that he wouldn't change his life for anything, he just needs to know what happened to his parents.
I was also able to finally get started on the second scene! Dear lord, I'm nearly 1/2 way in to the month and I'm just starting the second scene! I'm starting to get nervous, like really nervous that I won't be able to get everything done. I'll have to write all night and just keep going until I have to go to work tomorrow at 4.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
I wrote pretty much all morning and FINALLY got some headway on this script - about 10 pages! I finished off the second scene and slid right in to the next scene - which was one I actually had fun writing. Only three scenes in to the movie and I'm already 24 pages in! The pacing is so far off, but right now I'm looking for page numbers. Once May starts I can go back and trim all the fat. I'm still pretty behind though. I should be at about 47 pages by today. I do have tomorrow off, so maybe I can catch up then! I doubt it, but I can try!
FRIDAY, APRIL 15
Well THAT didn't work out! Since I had the day off and my work has a "customer appreciation day" sale tomorrow that we are NOT prepared for I thought I'd be nice and volunteer to come in to work to get the place ready for the sale while those who were scheduled can continue with their normal day-to-day. Apparently my co-manager couldn't "handle people today" and decided to hit the "eject button" on her shift - which meant that I was then the acting manager and we STILL aren't ready for the sale tomorrow! It also meant that my "I'll go in for like two hours" turned in to "I'm now stuck for six hours!?" On top of that I had an appointment tonight, and so that killed about another hour or so. I did manage to squeak out about 6 more pages, but I'm not sure I'm going to finish Act 1 before Monday like I intended!!!!
SATURDAY, APRIL 16
OMG! Am I dead!? I feel like I should be. We just barely survived the sale today. I didn't have a moment to breathe before I raced to another appointment - this time with a possible wedding florist. Since I have NO CLUE what I want for my flowers the meeting went super long. I went in to work at 6:30 and didn't get back home until about 7:30.... I was too tired to write anything!
SUNDAY, APRIL 17
Oh thank GOD I have the day off! And I legitimately had the day off this time! I was able to actually crank out some writing today. I was still so tired from yesterday, and I had to again deal with my sister's attention-whore dog, but I still managed to write some pages. I'm getting closer and closer to finishing Act 1!
The other distraction today was that it was the first time in a long time that Mom and I were able to just sit down for a while, and so we did a LOT of wedding planning today! On top of that, I'm visiting my fiancé for Easter this upcoming weekend, and so I have to get as much stuff figured out before Friday so I can talk to him about stuff. Two of the main things are the wedding invitations and RSVP cards as well as our wedding favors - both are being designed by me! Since I don't have Photoshop on my netbook I have to make sure everything is PERFECT before I show him, because I can't make any changes while I'm up there and we need to at least get the invites and RSVP cards printed! We're getting married in October! Anyway, needless to say this chewed up more of my time off.
The other distraction today was that it was the first time in a long time that Mom and I were able to just sit down for a while, and so we did a LOT of wedding planning today! On top of that, I'm visiting my fiancé for Easter this upcoming weekend, and so I have to get as much stuff figured out before Friday so I can talk to him about stuff. Two of the main things are the wedding invitations and RSVP cards as well as our wedding favors - both are being designed by me! Since I don't have Photoshop on my netbook I have to make sure everything is PERFECT before I show him, because I can't make any changes while I'm up there and we need to at least get the invites and RSVP cards printed! We're getting married in October! Anyway, needless to say this chewed up more of my time off.
MONDAY, APRIL 18
I wanted to finish Act 1 before today, and the entire weekend resulted in just four pages being written! Plus I still had to quickly file my State and Local Taxes! Man, I nearly forgot about them! At least I had the Federal taxes done already! At least I got to work on my next-favorite scene: Helga being forced into yet another moral dilemma! I love doing this to the poor girl! You just get such comedic moments when she's forced to do what's right even when she can't stand it.
In a writing furry I was able to knock out about 8 more pages, and so we're now up to 42! Still not where I need to be, but I'm back to a manageable amount of daily pages to still make 100 before the end of the month! So I'm not as nervous anymore. Plus I did finally finish the damn first act! A 42 page Act 1 for a 90-min movie! That is WAAAAY too long, but again, I don't care right now. I'm looking for page numbers right now. I'll trim later!
In a writing furry I was able to knock out about 8 more pages, and so we're now up to 42! Still not where I need to be, but I'm back to a manageable amount of daily pages to still make 100 before the end of the month! So I'm not as nervous anymore. Plus I did finally finish the damn first act! A 42 page Act 1 for a 90-min movie! That is WAAAAY too long, but again, I don't care right now. I'm looking for page numbers right now. I'll trim later!
TUESDAY, APRIL 19
Well, I didn't really get any writing done today. I just don't know where to go now that Act 1 is done! That was the only part we really had figured out - which is probably one of the reasons why it ate up almost 1/2 our script! After work today I spent the evening on the Facebook discussion board to try to figure out what to do for Act 2. Today was also Donation Day on Script Frenzy. The whole program is non-profit, and so donations help run the site, and pay the people who run everything, as well as help fund writing programs in schools. I did my part... by purchasing about $95 in merchandise. At first I was just going to buy a shirt, but then I couldn't figure out which one I liked. So I bought three different designs, and then I bought the keychain, and decided to just go ahead and buy a travel mug too! I also spent some time on the Script Frenzy forum talking to the local Frenziers and attempting to set up a meeting for April 30th to celebrate our Script Frenzy attempt this year.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
Awwww, Script Frenzy didn't manage to raise the money it intended or needed! I wish I could do more - or just straight donate - but I just don't have any more play money. Anyway, I didn't get any writing done again today. I did my normal 8-hr opening shift today, only to be called back three hours later to do the 5-hr closing shift! I am sooooo tired! ~_~' On the plus side, at least I know the place is all set for me to open again tomorrow... I just wish I wasn't "Walking Death" when I go in.
THURSDAY, APRIL 21
Well, my original plan was to do all of my vacation packing after work yesterday so I could leave for my fiancé’s right after work today. Unfortunately, being pulled back in to work last night means I get to do all of my packing today - as well as all of the last minute wedding stuff to make sure I'm set for my visit. In other words - yet again I don't have any writing done! This is almost a week of me not working on the script! I went from "I'm almost caught up" back to "I don't think I'm gonna make it!" I know I pretty much won't get any free time to write while I'm visiting my fiancé for Easter, and so now I have only four days to write 58 more pages!!!!! Oh, I'm not feeling so good........
FRIDAY, APRIL 22
As predicted, there was no time to write. I spent four hours in a car, spent the next couple of hours cuddled up next to my honey - understandable since I haven't seen him since Valentine's Day. We then went to a LARP his friend was hosting, however the three of us were the only ones who showed up, and so it turned in to three 20-somethings running around a playground while being frozen by the frigged wind. I think we wasted about three hours doing that! I was not in the mood to write anything after that, but at the same time I just kept thinking that I couldn't have better spent that time working on the script! On the plus side, I did talk about the script and was able to get some feedback from the guys. It was nice to hear their encouragement and enjoyment of what I have so far. There was also a really bizarre movie reference that I wanted to include in one of the scenes, but I didn't think anyone would get it, so I kept it out. I had multiple votes to go ahead with the obscure reference, and then when I asked ChibiSunnie she also told me to throw it in. It was fun including it.
SATURDAY, APRIL 23
Today was spent catching up with my sweetheart, hanging out with some of his friends, and a lot more wedding planning. There's not really much else to tell.....
SUNDAY, APRIL 24 – EASTER
My fiancé does the price changes at his local grocery store. This means he goes in to work at about 1am every Sunday in order to update all of the signs and prices before the public comes in for the week - and he doesn't get a break just because it's Easter. And so I was up at about 12:30 with him, and just couldn't fall asleep while he was at work. So I finally found about eight hours of alone time and I cranked out some pages to make up for the week of neglect!
I still wasn't sure what I was going to do for Act 2, and so I just decided - in order to just get page numbers - I would just write scenes I have figured out and I'll link them all together later. I found out that Celtx can shift whole scenes around in the script, and so I planned on doing just that if I decided the scenes I write are actually out of order. I attacked a pretty vital scene that I was inspired to write. I also wrote the Act 2 intro scene. I finally had Arnold and the Gang in the jungle! Hazzah! I also went back and tweeked Act 1 a little. All-in-all I managed to get about 11 more pages written. I had finally crossed the 1/2 way point! Now I just needed to write about 11 more pages each of the remaining four days I knew I had writing time available. It seemed daunting, but at the same time I had been knocking out about 10 pages each sitting anyway. Still unsure if I'll actually make the 100 pages before the end of the month!
My fiancé does the price changes at his local grocery store. This means he goes in to work at about 1am every Sunday in order to update all of the signs and prices before the public comes in for the week - and he doesn't get a break just because it's Easter. And so I was up at about 12:30 with him, and just couldn't fall asleep while he was at work. So I finally found about eight hours of alone time and I cranked out some pages to make up for the week of neglect!
I still wasn't sure what I was going to do for Act 2, and so I just decided - in order to just get page numbers - I would just write scenes I have figured out and I'll link them all together later. I found out that Celtx can shift whole scenes around in the script, and so I planned on doing just that if I decided the scenes I write are actually out of order. I attacked a pretty vital scene that I was inspired to write. I also wrote the Act 2 intro scene. I finally had Arnold and the Gang in the jungle! Hazzah! I also went back and tweeked Act 1 a little. All-in-all I managed to get about 11 more pages written. I had finally crossed the 1/2 way point! Now I just needed to write about 11 more pages each of the remaining four days I knew I had writing time available. It seemed daunting, but at the same time I had been knocking out about 10 pages each sitting anyway. Still unsure if I'll actually make the 100 pages before the end of the month!
MONDAY, APRIL 25
Just like Saturday, I spent the day with my future-hubby and didn't get any writing done, although I did manage to bounce some more ideas off of him.
TUESDAY, APRIL 26
Much like on Friday, I didn't have much time to write. I spent my last few hours with my sweetheart. I drove four hours home. I unpacked. I went to work. I came home and crashed. I did manage to finally get an internet connection so I could post my page count on ScriptFrenzy.org....
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27
Hooray for work drama! I had a huge blow-up with my co-manager and she ended up storming out on her shift - which would be the second time in like two weeks! Anyway, I was not in the best of moods and so I just wanted to veg when I got home - especially since it is my Mommy's birthday and I didn't want to be a grumpy-puss. After work - which I left late from because of my oh-so-wonderful co-worker - I went on a mad dash all over town trying to find my mom her favorite ice cream, which is of COURSE Rum Raisin and is one of those flavors that's "seasonal" for whatever reason! After checking three different places, and driving the entire length of the town to get to the different stores, I finally found the ice cream. Between this, needing a shower to un-gross myself for our birthday outing, and the actual feasting and shopping..... well, there wasn't much writing time available.
THURSDAY, APRIL 28
I finished up the scene I was working on while visiting the fiancé. I also worked some more on that Act 2 opening scene that I also started on Easter. I was only able to add about three more pages though.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29
My last day off of the month. Crunch time. I had some notes from ChibiSunnie which made me completely rework the first half of that key scene from Act 2. I actually don't mind, because the scene completely works better with the rework, plus it extended the scene so I have more pages! ^_^ I also wrote more of the intro to Act 2 scene. Still only have these two scenes, and there is absolutely no way I'm going to be anywhere NEAR done with this script by tomorrow, but maybe I can at least hit 100 pages after all...
SATURDAY, APRIL 30
Well, this is it, the final day. I went to work and intended on writing afterwards, but work ran long - as usual. I then finally did what I have been nervous for all month: met with the other Frenziers. We set up a reservation at a restaurant we can all easily get to, I threw on one of my Script Frenzy shirts that I bought, and stood outside the restaurant trying to nonchalantly show off my shirt so that the others would know who I was. I also spent about 10 minutes trying to connect to a Wi-Fi so I could bring up the profiles of the others so I knew who I was looking for. Finally, I thought "maybe they're inside already" and went in to wait. No one was there yet and it kept about another 10 minutes before SOMEONE showed up - a chick named AWordOrThree. We both waited probably yet another 10 or 15 minutes before finally giving up and informing the hostess that we didn't need the large reservation table after all. We were shown to our booth and we hit it off great! We spent nearly two hours talking about ourselves and Script Frenzy, and then I went on and on about the awesomeness of "Hey, Arnold!" Finally we realized that our parking meters were about to expire and neither of us had any more quarters, and so we had to say our goodbyes.
I got home and finished up my revisions from yesterday. I posted the scenes on Script Frenzy, bringing my total up to 63 pages. I thought to myself that since I didn't have to go in to work until noon the next day I could possibly stay up until midnight and just write like crazy for the next four hours. I still may not make 100 pages, but at least I'd be closer to my goal. I fought with myself for a little while, but I just couldn't get inspired to write. After a month of non-stop writing all I wanted to do was READ. With a few nudges from my fiancé I finally picked up the third book in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series: "The Titan's Curse".
I got home and finished up my revisions from yesterday. I posted the scenes on Script Frenzy, bringing my total up to 63 pages. I thought to myself that since I didn't have to go in to work until noon the next day I could possibly stay up until midnight and just write like crazy for the next four hours. I still may not make 100 pages, but at least I'd be closer to my goal. I fought with myself for a little while, but I just couldn't get inspired to write. After a month of non-stop writing all I wanted to do was READ. With a few nudges from my fiancé I finally picked up the third book in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series: "The Titan's Curse".
And so, at 8:21pm on April 30th I threw in the towel on my quest to write a 100 page script in just one month. I made it to 63 pages - nearly 2/3 of the way. I'll still be working on the script in the upcoming months, but after a bit of a writing hiatus. Script Frenzy, I will try again next year and I WILL conquer you this time!
