Plugging along

Well, my screenplay is developing nicely. I don't think my story is going to be a great romance, but I do think it will be interesting enough to get me through the next round.

It is really hard not to write clichés in romance, more so than any other thing I have tried to write. I am constantly rejecting my first idea and my second. Then I have to really think about my characters and find something else to do.

I wrote my ending on the bus to work today, and I think it works. I don't expect people to fall in love in 12 pages, but a "let's see if we could develop a relationship" is a great start. I really need more conflict, but you have to build to something so fast that the rocks being through at them really get in the way. I really need to get my first draft done tonight because I want to get my second draft done tomorrow night.

I want to have a read through on Thursday night. After that, I should be good to revise. I think I will have a great little screenplay by Saturday.

Off and running

After stewing about characters and theme, I started writing my opening scene. Our good doctor is at a fancy party where her patient is announcing whether her operation was successful or not in front of two hundred of his friends. She quietly hopes that she had failed, but we all know that she doesn't fail. She makes friends with a lesbian couple who will hire her to perform her magic on an artist prodigy they have chosen to father their children.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the doctor and the artist to fall in love. Romance is not my strong point. Wish me luck.

Slept on it

After a less than stellar night's sleep, I am enamored with the character of the woman Vasovasostomolgist. Why would a woman choose that as a profession? I think she must have had a pregnancy that she either aborted or put up for adoption at a young age. She may not like it much, but since she is good at her job, and has up to this point, only had successes, she is perceived as a miracle worker. Maybe she hates it now, but is offered so much money, she can't turn it down.

Does she still find it awkward to talk about connecting the vas to the vas with her patients? Or does that not faze her at all. Are there any women micro-surgeon with proven vasoepididymostomy expertise or urologists that anyone has heard of?

These are fun words. I'm not writing a romantic comedy, but I think some comedic elements are great. Hmm, I think I need to still think of some other ideas before throwing everything I got into this one.

An Idea

I'm still in the brainstorming mode, but here is my first real idea:

A decade after getting a vasectomy, a man decides to have the procedure reversed to provide his seed to a friend. He goes to a doctor renowned for working miracles in Vasovasostomy. The doctor turns out to be a woman--the girl he loved from a decade ago. Their breakup was fueled by a pregnancy and led to his vasectomy and to her somewhat odd career choice. As they prepare for the operation, their relationship is rekindled.

I like the idea of the Repairman as a woman who reverses vasectomies. Still a rough concept. What do you think? Is it worth pursuing, or should I keep brainstorming?

I ask that question with zero followers. How's that for optimism?

First task!

Now that I've committed to the task of finishing, I'm starting something new to finish. I entered the 8th Annual Screenwriter's Challenge 2011. Here's a link that shows my name as proof. So, the contest goes like this: you get put into heats (16 people) and are given an assignment for the 1st round. You write a 12 page screenplay in 8 days matching your assignment. 125 people move on to round 2. 25 to the last round.

My 1st round assignment

Genre: Romance

Subject: Gifted

Character: A repairman

Yikes. I was hoping for Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comedy, or even drama. I was hoping to avoid romance and mystery. I got romance. I'm still trying to decide what Gifted is as a subject. A repairman is simple enough. I have 8 days and 12 pages to tell the best story I can. Time to get started.

It's time!

Neil Gaiman offered eight writing tips. I stopped reading after the third.

1 Write.
2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3 Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

I decided that I would first accomplish and internalize these three simple steps before moving on to the other five.

This blog will be a record of my attempt to finish something--anything, and get it out somewhere. I have seven ideas floating around in my head. These writing projects could be great. I've dabbled in them. I've started them. I've started many stories. I've even finished a few.

Several years ago, I was a semifinalist in the Writer's of the Future Contest and last year I was an honorable mention. I won a university poetry contest. I honestly and arrogantly believe that I have what it takes to succeed.

So its time to stop starting and start finishing.