How James Cameron Helped Me

I have three WIPs.

Don't tell my husband. He wants me to finish something -- anything! And having three at once will probably make the process slower. However, I am working on all three. It's just that I don't always feel like working on my fun romantic comedy. Sometimes I want to write about my life. And sometimes I want to write fantasy.

This exactly mimics my reading habits, which I think makes sense.

Last night, me and Mr. T watched Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carrell. It was a cute story, and I found myself paying close attention to how the storyline went, the rhythm of ups and downs, and how it all tied together at the end.

When it was over, I immediately looked up the screenplay online, but could not find it. I found screenplays for other movies I enjoy, though, like Legally Blonde, The Breakfast Club and Up.

I am intrigued by screenplays. To me, they are more concise novels. Everything has to count -- as it should be in a book. Every piece of dialogue must move the story forward. Every scene, too. I feel like this is more pronounced in films since there is sort of a time limit.

Since Date Night reminded me of True Lies in a way, when I saw the screenplay was available, I had to look at it. True Lies is not my favorite film, but I've always found it interesting and enjoyable. (I hadn't realized James Cameron wrote it.) Plus, Tom Arnold has some great lines in it.

I love how this screenplay was done! It's so organized. Every single mini-scene has it's own number. And it really drove home the point of dialogue telling the viewer (reader) something, but not overtly. For example, look at this:

"40 INT. BATHROOM - DAY

Harry and Helen maneuver around each other expertly. She is
doing her make-up.

HELEN
The plumber came yesterday. He
said they have to dig under the
slab or something and it's going
to be six hundred dollars to fix.

Harry is not really paying attention as he ties his tie in
front of the mirror. His mind is elsewhere. He couldn't care
less about there domestic problems.

HARRY
Uh huh. Okay.

HELEN
It's not okay. It's extortion.

HARRY
What did you tell him?

HELEN
I slept with him and he knocked
off a hundred bucks.

HARRY
Good thinking, honey.

Harry kisses her on the cheek and exits."

Isn't that wonderful? They were talking about the plumber yet I learned Harry is disconnected from his wife and that she knows it. Just one little scene. Scene #40 to be exact.

For some reason, this idea of moving the story forward through conversation just totally clicked in my brain. I knew I was supposed to be doing it, but was sort of struggling with how to do it. You know what I mean? Scene 40 from True Lies is just such a good example!

I'm also using Cameron's number system to write my novel. It's working for me. It helps me break things up into small manageable scenes. And I know it will help with editing later when I need to go back. I can just write on the page, "Insert this in Scene 40."

I'm bookmarking this script, which you can find HERE. The site I got it at is called SimplyScripts and there are a ton of films on there. If you are struggling to organize your novel and tighten the dialogue, infuse conflict or anything else you can't quite put your finger on, I would suggest checking out the site and looking up the screenplays for some films you admire.

Crossroads

In July of '09, the story of a couch-sitting, laptop-addicted, disc-herniated mom attempting to run a marathon began. I needed to move, I needed an adventure, I needed something to write about, and boy oh boy, did I get it.

And I almost completed my journey -- the inspiration for the book I've been working on. But now I won't be running a marathon on June 6. So, my story stops? Or continues?

I am not injured, but I almost am. So I have to take it easy, do some bike riding at the gym, maybe swimming. Someday, I'll get my marathon.

The plot thickens? Or, the book dies?

Organizing These Words

Hey, it's Friday!

Total Word Count as of 4/9/10:
Running Book Words: 7,730 (2,619 this week)
Children's Truck Book Time: 0 hours or words
 
I did lots of writing this week, but it's all ADD writing. At least it's on the same subject (running memoir project) and I've been keeping it in the same document. But I've been feeling like I need to get some sort of structure going on. I sort of feel lost in my 17-page Word file. Can you imagine when it gets longer?

I can and it's not a good situation.

How should I handle this? Different chapters in their own docs?

Today, was actually one of my less productive writing days. I only wrote about 450 words. But at least I did something! Like running, a little is better than none at all. Right?

I sort of feel weird that I'm actually saying, well writing, out loud that I'm working on a running memoir. It's so specific. Sort of scary.

And I'm trying to answer the "So what?" question. I feel like I need to bounce my answer(s) off of someone. Maybe it's time to find a critique group.

Time to Write

I am really busy lately. Blogging and reading blogs is difficult to fit in. I'm writing for me, looking for sources and setting up interviews for the paying gig, trying to be present with my husband (instead of peering at him over the top of our laptops all of the time), taking more time to play with my son (I'd rather he doesn't remember me as "Dell"), working my part-time copywriter job, marathon training, reading actual books and attempting to get the laundry done (I've pretty much given up on the rest of the house).

I started writing something on my lunch break on Thursday. It's memoirish. It's about playing sports and being a girl and gaining weight and running and family. This is not the first time I've written about this so I wouldn't consider this a new project. It's ongoing but nothing is in the same document. I think that's okay.

Meanwhile, I still have my children's book. I've been working on this in spurts. I'll write a bunch. Then I will take a few days and let it simmer. Then I'll write down something I thought of during that time.

I've also been thinking a lot about an article (here) I read on children's picture book writing: age groups. There's a difference between picture books for toddlers and picture books for kindergartners and up, etc. I knew this, but never really thought about it.

It's interesting how "thinking" is different for me when I'm working on these two writing projects. For the memoirish one, I just write and I sort of remember things as I go. I'm thinking and writing at the same time. For the picture book, I think then I write. Then I think some more. Wait. Write.

The picture book is definitely easier for me to fit into my lifestyle. But I am having a lot of fun with the memoir. It's just a matter of finding a chunk of time in my day that is not already filled. I am not a morning writer, so getting up earlier does not work for me (not that I sleep in). I'm really slow in the morning and I tend to take so long that I run out of time to write. And there's too much going on in the evenings. Besides, I already stay up too late for the early hours I rise during the week.

T Junior's nap time in the middle of the day is the best time. I just have to turn all the other media off. And it's only a couple times a week that I'm home for this. I guess it's better than nothing.

For a while, I was trying to schedule the writing in. But then I had an excuse to not do it when I had a moment (like during a nap). Instead, I was getting up at 4:30 a.m., but I was so slow and tired that by the time I was ready to write, I had about 20 minutes left till the baby was up. Then it felt forced. I felt pressure. Not good.

This post has already taken longer than it should, but I needed to get it out there. Blogging is a good warm up. If only I had more time!