Moving onto draft 2

Today I'm starting draft 2 of short #1 (when they have appropriate titles, you will know :). I'm a little nervous because we're making big changes to the feel and structure of the story and this is going to feel more like a first draft. Either way, the changes that the director and I talked about look awesome and now it's all about implementing them. Woo!

After I finish this draft, I'm going to begin working on draft #2 of Pilot #2 - which is very exciting. Pilot #2 is my baby. I've been working on it for a year already and I finally got a draft where I wanted it to be. It originally began as a feature length film and kind of evolved from there. I took a class called the Feature Film Outline and I had been told by my advisor that it wouldn't be an issue to write a television pilot outline - I would just have to talk to my instructor. 

So, first day of class instructor gives me the okay to do what I want. Second day of class, he tells me that I can't do it because it's not a feature film outline. Sigh. After that I decided that I could develop the story and just reshape it however I want, but he was insistent the entire semester that I follow his rules and do what he says... without ever really critiquing my work or giving me any helpful development ideas. Very frustrating. But throughout that whole ordeal, I wound up with a decent outline that would take me through to a pretty tight pilot episode. So much has changed from the working title (now a different one) to the formulation of the characters and how they relate to each other. What the show is really about also changed, it went from being a pioneering story to one about family. Either way, I'm exceedingly pleased. 

Alright, it's time to actually get to work on the second draft. Zero down, twelve pages to go!

The Beginning of the End

The work for short #1 has really started over the past week. It's been pretty grueling working out the story and how I want it to flow. First drafts, for me, are all about getting the right feel for the story onto the page as well as producing a clear and concise storyline that I can build upon.

Right now, I'm on page seven out of twelve and I'm relatively happy with this draft so far. Sure, it needs dialogue work and some tweaking on character voices and b-plot elements, but it's coming together well. I plan on sprinting for the next hour - hopefully I can finish the twelve pages and then start tweaking before I pass the first draft onto my director.  I'm really excited to see where this story will go and how it will change - especially as it relates to Pilot #1.

Pilot #1 and Short #1 are directly related. The short is a condensed version of the pilot meant to give a producer/network an idea of how the show has been conceived. The idea is to pitch the short script, pilot script, and short film as a package in order to gather interest from as many places as possible.

Once we get closer to a final draft, I might have a special giveaway for a blog reader who donates to our Kickstarter fund (link to come when Kickstarter has been launched).

As for Pilot #2, I have a first draft done and a ton of editing, tweaking, and rewriting to do. I received some very nice notes from a reader and I can't wait until I can get back to work on it. I'm taking a much needed break between drafts, however, because I want to be able to look at my work with fresh eyes. If I focus on one project for too long, I can get a little shortsighted. Plus, this time before the semester begins is the only time that I'll be able to actually have a break, so I'm really pumped to take advantage of that.

Thanks for reading! More updates to come!