NaNoWriMo is over. Now what?

Time to set my post NaNoWriMo goals.

First: Finish the novel. I'm at the 76K maker and just coming to the end of Act 2. But I hit a little snag. My story was originally planned out as a potential TV series with 5 years and cliffhangers spread out over the life of the series. It has since been changed to a trilogy and during NaNoWriMo 2014 I have started Book 1.

But the first book shouldn't have a cliffhanger. I am writing it to be a self-contained book; however, since it has a thick mythology (like LOST) everything won't be explained. In fact, Book 1 will sprinkle in the mysteries of the town and each book will delve deeper. So there will be some things left untold, but the main issue will be resolved.

In order to resolve it, I want all my main characters to come together. But one character was a little harder to play with. So I had to pause and start to plan a bit and change up what would work in a season finale but not for a Book 1 ending. And the light is starting to shine!

Second: Edit, Edit, Edit! Did I mention I need to edit? Thank goodness for Scrivener and all the little keywords and labels I have set up.

• Make sure there are no plot holes
• No subplots left hanging (so I will probably need to add a couple of scenes).
• I wrote so plainly to get everything down fast. Better known as vomiting out words. So I need better sentences. Dissect every sentence and make them better.
• Make sure I don't head-hop. 5 MCs and I am using 3rd person multiple. Make sure each scene has one POV. If it really needs 2 then I will be doing a hand-off. Start with POV 1, go to POV 2 and not return to POV 1
• Dialogue. I need to go through every person's dialogue, character by character and make sure they have a distinctive voice. Really hard when I have 5 MCs. 

Third: Peer reviews. I will be going to Scribophile to get some critiques

A lot of work to do... #AmWriting

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Completed!

Last year I squeaked by, starting off slow and making a great comeback. This year I reached 50K on November 14 then proceeded to march to the 75K mark

The first draft is not finished, but I'm 75K closer to completion than I was a month ago.

Ciao!

NaNoWriMo - 2014

That time of the year is fast approaching where everything else gets put on the shelf. I completed NaNoWriMo last year and will strive to do the same this year... 50K words in a month!

Ciao!

NaNoWriMo 2013 - COMPLETED!

It is DAY 29 and I reached the 50K mark. This is my daily word count for the month of November. I started off slowly, but had a strong finish.

I still a ways to go to actually complete my novel. My goal is around 90K. But this is a great start.

Ciao!

My 2013 NaNoWriMo Updates

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a great site created for writers to get together as they strive to finish 50K words in the month of November. And here's the website:
http://nanowrimo.org

DAY 9:

The site contains stats to show your progress. And well.... I should be at least 15000 words in by the end of tonight. But so far I am under 8000. So I have a lot of catching up to do. 

Prior to starting, I had it pretty much laid out. This was an idea I had tossed around in my head for over a year as I struggled between whether or not to make it a screenplay or a novel. And since I never finished a novel, it took me this long and the threat of November looming to make the final decision. 

Although I had the plot laid out, there was a spot that I felt could use fleshing out. I figured I wouldn't worry about it until it came up... after all I have 50K words to crank out and there's no time to think! But as I was writing I imagined a conflict character that could really make things interesting for the love interest and ideas just starting flowing, and I wrote a future scene to set up his story for much later. 

Adding a shady character can really spruce up a story. So even though I'm so far behind, I feel like it's been a good writing week,

Anyway... time to continue writing!

Ciao!

The start of a new year: 2013

I nearly died in 2011, I found myself again in 2012 and will forge ahead in 2013...

It's been a while since I've posted here. Actually it's been a while for a lot of things.

In 2011, bad health hit me hard. I had brain surgery. Physically, I'm fine. But I was unable to write until midway through 2012. It's strange, prior to the surgery I had plenty of movie screenplay ideas. I was writing outlines, stories and even started a couple of novels.

Then nothing...

Then my brain started to chug out ideas as I recovered from surgery, plowing through writer's block. But the ideas are mainly TV shows. Something I didn't have before. And I'm not complaining!! I love TV and I love to write. I feel blessed that it's come back.

Since mid 2012, I've written 2 new pilots (sitcoms), 1 spec script for ARCHER and a 5 year bible for a horror series (and I started the pilot for this as well). I've also outlined ideas for an existing sitcom and drama  show.

So what does 2013 have in store for me? I'm going to keep writing and I look to submit my TV scripts to some contests and see how it goes.

Ciao!

Rebecca

Score 10/10

Rebecca is a wonderful psychological thriller seen through the eyes of a mousy, unsure woman, played by Joan Fontaine. When we’re first introduced to her, she’s a companion for a rich, overbearing woman. She meets Maxim, played by Laurence Olivier, a rich widower whose beautiful deceased wife – Rebecca – drowned in a boating accident.

She falls in love and marries Maxim. And the story unfolds when Maxim brings her to Manderley, where she finds herself overwhelmed by the magnificence of the place, as well as the memories of Rebecca. She meets Mrs. Danvers, who manages the estate and has an undying devotion to Rebecca.

Her low self-worth becomes magnified. “How can she compete with Rebecca?” becomes the main angst in her life. The memories of Rebecca are everywhere. Maxim refuses to talk about Rebecca, making her even more paranoid, and Mrs. Danvers takes every opportunity to throw the perfection of Rebecca in her face.

Two scenes which demonstrate how uncomfortable she feels are as follows:

~ She answers the phone and proceeds to tell the caller that Mrs. de Winter has been dead for over a year. She hangs up the phone and quickly catches herself because she is the new Mrs. de Winter

~ She accidentally breaks a figurine and hides it in the back of the drawer for fear of getting caught.

With each scene, we are drawn into her world and her inferiority complex, until Rebecca’s body washes up on shore. At this point it feels as though things would get worse. The ghost that haunted their marriage returns as the body washed across the beach.

But instead, the shocking truth of Rebecca and Maxim unfolds…

At this point, her world turns right side up. She then transforms from a weak fearful woman into a pillar of strength.

Twists develop leading to a crashing end when Mrs. Danvers obsession with Rebecca destroys herself and any memories of Rebecca along with it.

Mrs. Danvers is a very interesting character. We’re never told about why she feels so strongly toward Rebecca. Is a motherly emotion? Attraction? Regardless, she’s a haunting figure.

BEAT SHEET

Rebecca Movie Beat Sheet

1. Opening Image
	Manderley: barred gate to the drive
2. Theme Stated
	Mrs. de Winter stops Maxim from jumping off a cliff. He's angry, acts like suicide wasn't attempted. She's a clumsy, unsure woman, who works for a rich woman.
3. Set-Up
	Maxim is taken with her, but she services as a companion and tries to keep her place. During their conversations, he closes off with the subject of drowning. She learns later that his wife (the beautiful Rebecca) was drowned & he's broken up over her death. They continue to date while her employer is sick & she pretends to be taking tennis lessons.
4. Catalyst - Inciting Incident
	The employer wants to leave town
5. Debate
	She desperately attempts to call Maxim before she leaves. He asks her to marry him. She says yes.
6. Break into Two
	She quits her job. The snobbish employer tells her that she could not handle being the mistress of Manderley. She and Maxim get married.
7. B Story
	The married couple arrive at Manderley - an enormous estate.
8. Fun and Games
	She meets Mrs. Danvers - an ominous head house keeper, who intimidates her. Mrs. Danvers makes constant mention of Rebecca, whose room is locked. She finds a cottage by the dock, which belongs to Rebecca. Maxim is angry about her finding the cottage, forbids her to go back there. She continues to be intimidated by Manderley. Jacks (Rebecca's cousin) pays a visit & doesn't want her to tell Maxim that he was there. She gets the courage to see Rebecca's amazing bedroom. Mrs. Danvers shows it to her, speaks of Rebecca with an obsessive reverence.
9. Tentpole - Midpoint - Reversal
	She finally gets the nerve. Tells Mrs. Danvers that she's Mrs. De Winters now.
10. Bad Guys Close In
	She plans a masquerade party. Mrs. Danvers suggests paintings for her to plan her dress around. Mentioning one specific painting. She plans her dress exactly like the painting. Maxim is angry & tells her to change. It's the dress Rebecca wore. Mrs. Danvers set her up.
11. All Is Lost
	The sail boat that was Rebecca's was found, and so was a body.
12. Dark Night of the Soul
	She confronts Maxim in the cottage. Maxim confesses: the body washed up yrs ago wasn't Rebecca. Her body is in the boat where he put her. And here comes the whammy: he hated Rebecca. That his marriage with Rebecca was a fraud & that Rebecca was sleeping with Jack. Rebecca said she was pregnant that night, taunting him. He hit her, she accidentally fell and died.
13. Break into Three
	Police get involved.
14. Finale - Confrontation
	There's an inquiry. An expert says the boat was scuttled. Murder, suicide? Jack believes Maxim killed Rebecca due to a letter Rebecca sent him the day she died. The letter says she has something important to tell him. Police speak to the doctor & learn that Rebecca was dying from cancer (not pregnant). Maxim realizes that Rebecca planned to have Maxim kill her by lying about being pregnant from another man. Since she was going to die anyway.
15. Aftermath
	Mrs. Danvers burns Manderley down & herself along with it.
16. Final Image
	Rebecca's bed engulfed in fire.

Alfred Hitchcock Marathon

The master of Suspense!

Every year I re-watch my Alfred Hitchcock collection. So what better way to kick off the Fall than with one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. I’ll watch several of his movies and write an analysis.

I will begin this week with Rebecca, my favorite of the bunch.

Black Swan Movie Beat Sheet

1. Opening Image
	Ballerina (Nina) on stage under a single light.
2. Theme Stated
	Nina is dancing a dark piece where she's being pursued.
3. Set-Up
	Nina sits in front of her mirror, mentions it was a dream to her mother. While on the train she sees someone who looks like her. She goes to work as a ballerina, where she trains.
4. Catalyst - Inciting Incident
	During practice, Thomas shows up. All the girls are on their best. He wants a new lead to star in swan lake as a black & white swan.
5. Debate
	Nina has a chance at the lead, will compete later. Nina catches the aging ex-lead (Beth) leave in a rage. She tries out for Thomas but fails at creating the passion of the black swan. On the way home she again sees a woman who looks like her. She breaks her toe nail while at home. She talks to Thomas to get the job, he says she's not the black swan, tries to kiss her, she bites him. Thomas gives Nina the lead role.
6. Break into Two
	"whore" is written on the glass for her to see.
7. B Story
	View of Nina & her mom's relationship: Mother is overbearing, treats Nina like a child. She bakes a cake & Nina eats it to keep her mother from being upset.
8. Fun and Games
	Celebratory event hosted by Thomas. She hallucinates that the skin on her finger is peeling. Beth calls Nina a whore. Thomas suggests Nina masturbate. Mother finds more marks on Nina & is concerned that she hasn't outgrown scratching herself. She masturbates and stops when she sees her mother sleeping in her room. Beth is in the hospital, she walked in front of a bus. Nina visits a sleeping Beth, her leg is broken. Nina is shaken up. Nina finds a metal pipe for the purpose of keeping her bedroom door closed and keeping her mother out (transitioning from her mother). Thomas still working with Nina to get the black swan, makes a pass at her, seduces her and he tells her that she needs to seduce him, not the other way around. She's not getting it done. Nina hallucinates seeing herself, nails bleed, more scratches on her back.
9. Tentpole - Midpoint - Reversal
	Against her mother's wishes, Nina goes out with Lily
10. Bad Guys Close In
	Nina & Lily hang. She drinks, meets guys, takes ecstasy. Lily seduces Nina. She takes Lily home, mother is angry, they make love in the house.
11. All Is Lost
	She wakes up late.
12. Dark Night of the Soul
	Lily tells Nina that she didn't sleep with her. Nina had hallucinated it. She continues her practice when suddenly she sees her double in the reflection. She's unhappy that Lily is her replacement. Feels threatened.
13. Break into Three
	Alone, night before the performance, she practices & she's sees her double in the mirror.
14. Finale - Confrontation
	More hallucinations: Thomas & Lily having sex, with Thomas turning into a dark creature from her dream at the beginning. Another of her visiting Beth, who stabs herself with a nail file. Her rash looks like black feathers growing out, her toes webbed - physical transformation into a black swan as per her mind. She performs on stage, opening night. She kills Lily, thinking it's a hallucination of herself, or does she? Then performances the black swan brilliantly as she transforms into a swan on stage in her own mind
15. Aftermath
	Nina goes back to her room to put on her white swan makeup, realizes that Lily isn't dead, she stabbed herself in the stomach, basically killing the white swan part of her. She performs, finishes the last act as the white swan and dies from the self- inflicted wound.
16. Final Image
	Her euphoric face as she lay dying after her perfect performance.