Greetings, one and all! Well… the temp track I
mentioned last time took longer to finish than expected, but it’s finally
together. After that, it’s back to some more writing. A professional
screenwriter once said it’s the only job he knows of that gets harder the
better you get at it. I’m certainly feeling that, at the moment. Once upon a
time I could just put a story down on the page, and then edit it, but no longer.
Now I’m aware of the ripple effects of every decision. They say there are two
schools of writing, the “plotters” and the “pantsers.” The former so called
because they meticulously plot everything out before even beginning to put
words to page. The latter are so called because the “fly by the seat of their
pants,” compared to the plotter.
The reality is that the development order is just different for each, and where
they put the priority in their narrative construction. For instance, one “plotter”
I know starts with theme and researches the philosophy and psychology
associated with that theme, whereas I, as more of a “pantser”, start with the
world and characters, and see how themes develop from their interactions. Naturally,
this looks far more chaotic, and I do sometimes envy people who can find joy in
locking things down before they start writing. But, then again, they do seem to
suffer whenever the characters don’t do what they want, so I do have that going
for me…
Anyway, on top of that, the stunties met on Sunday, and this time I had two of
the more veteran members of this generation step up their game by filling our
usual roles and directing the younger members in a choreography session.
It was a fun, exhausting, and interesting experience, and far more educational for me than
one might think. Now I must figure out what I should do to build on what we’ve learned…
Well, that’s about all for this week. Until next time!
