Saturday 21 March 2009

First thing's first.

Howdy probable readers. Been a bit quiet and lazy on the blogging front recently. There's a good reason for this - I've been pretty gorram busy! Thought I'd list the things I've got going at the moment for three reasons:

1) It lets me moan. Show the sympathy people.
2) It'll help me organise and prioritise.
3) It'll become a blog post. Ha!

So here we go. Besides the normal things like uni and work, these are the writing projects I've got going:
  • LOL - the web show that Michelle and I are creating. The pilot that Michelle wrote is in my hands and I really need to get it back to her ASAP so we can plan the rest of the series.
  • SLAYERS - the TV show pilot I am writing for uni. Have to conform to the course guidelines, even though they're wrong! Annoying.
  • DEATH OF A PUPPET - Gabriel's screenplay that could get sent off to a US producer. Michelle and I are giving Gabe a hand on it. I can't work on the story much (because of all this work) but we're planning on splitting the screenwriting between the three of us. Gabe is a realist. He's a good writer and excellent storyteller but he wants to make sure he gets the film just right. Hence asking for our help. I'm amazed at how open he is to our ideas. He has a shiny ability to detach himself from his work and stay focused on the goal.
  • MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION - we're storming ahead with MR now. There are currently a few....issues that need resolving but worry not - everything is fine. Keeps me busy though with managing the fan group (keeping everyone up to date). Alex has asked me to help direct the action scenes (since I wrote them) so if I can be there for filming, I should be.
  • GHOULIES - the original web show Michelle and I created that evolved into a full-blown TV idea.
  • FRAMED - the half-hour script I'm trying to write for the Coming Up competition. Need to get it finished and sent off ASAP but not got a first draft yet. It might have to be forgotten with everything else I'm doing. We'll see.
  • CHAOS LOST - this is my epic (and gorram complicated film) that Michelle is going to help me plan and write. Taken a bit of a back seat because we're both extremely busy. But as soon as we have one of those 'light bulb' moments, we'll get moving. It's not a project I want to rush.
  • EXILE - I've put this off for long enough. This is the first screenplay I wrote nearly a year ago and it hasn't been touched since. It's a terrible first draft and needs to be tackled. Time to bite the bullet.
  • VISION - the TV show I'm writing the pilot for. It's not easy and I can see some flaws already. As much as I hate to say it, it might need a lot of work.
  • DEAD ALLIANCE - of all the semi-formed ideas and half-written scripts in my 'Writing' folder, I'm confident this is the one to concentrate on. It's unique (I hope) and the first few pages I've written are quite good. Just need to plan the full film and get on with it.
So, not a lot to work with there! As crazy as it seems, I'm loving it. It's driving me mad but I can't work slowly. I can't be happy just doing one thing. I have to be rushed off my feet (and have no time for a social life) to get things done.

If it weren't for the fellow writers out there that are in the same boat and constantly give me support and reassurance, I'd feel all alone and probably end up giving up. Here, I'm talking about Michelle, Gabe, Alex and the rest of the MR crew. I'm lucky to have met them all and grateful they're as crazy and shiny as I am.

Happy writing, people.

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