Skrenzy progress: PROGRESS! Yay!!

[capri0mni]

The last time I posted here, I was 21/2 days behind in my word count. As of now, I am less than 2/3 of a day behind. More important: I'm on the other side of that scene I was mired in for over a week. Hooray!

I probably could, if it were only a matter of sheer stamina, knock out those last 439 words before falling asleep (if not before midnight), and be completely caught up when I woke up in the morning.

But next up is a real gear shift: my princess arrives in the new kingdom, encaounters a whole new set of characters (she'll even be seperated from her sidekick 99.999% of the time), and facing entirely new challenges. And I'd feel better tackling that after I have a chance to sleep on it.

---

I ordered pizza for dinner to reward myself for successfully slogging through the hard parts. When I started to dial, my fingers went to their old muscle memory of calling my Dad's number, the way I always used to do when I reached a milestone in a piece I was writing, and/or whenever I needed to talk through tricky upcoming story puzzles. :::Sigh:::

---

I pretty sure one of the things that woke up my Poopy-head Inner Critic this week is the formula that's in the back of my mind: 1 page = 1 minute (more or less). And I'm on page 90, already (out of a script that should be 100 pages, give or take). But I'm only about halfway through my plot. The same thing happened in both NaNos, too: I'd reach the end of the month and the winning number of words, but only be halfway through the story, so I rushed the endeings, and clip them short.

So, I'm putting the following down in writing (Because if it's written down Mr. Poopy-Head will beleive it more):

For this, the roughest of drafts, 1 page =/= 1 minute. Here is proof, in a numbered list:

1. The first three pages are filled with lengthy descriptions of tapastries. So, for the prologue, at least, 3 pages = 1 minute (if that). I'll clean that up in the first rewrite.



2. There are at least three distinct scenes where I have simultaneous dialog (crucial to the plot). And the ScreenPlay Template I download for OpenOffice won't let me put dialog side-by-side in columns. This means that, for those scenes, at least, 2 pages = 1 minute. I'll try again to download Celtx (scriptwriting word processor) next month, and fix that in the first rewrite.



3. I have a key scene with a storyteller telling a story. I switch back and forth between showing him talking to his audience, and showing the action of the story with a voice over. So the action of the story is described twice in several places. Again, here: 2 pages = 1 minute. I'll tighten that up in the first rewrite, and shorten the story itself in the second rewrite.



4. I know my characters are all blabbermouths. I'll fix that on the second rewrite. Just repeat this to yourself twenty times, Mr. Poopy-Head: "It's easier to cut, later, than to add, later." Repeat again, twenty times, as necessary.



5. There's a nifty (staged) fight scene between my major villian and a minor accomplice. I could shorten the dialog and the prosey action descriptions. Or I could cut the scene entirely (doesn't advance the plot, much). I'll decide that on my second rewrite.

So, right there, without changing my story any, at all, I've probably cut 10 pages without even trying. So pay no mind to that [Page 92/92] in the lower lefthand corner of the computer screen. The Guage is out of allignment.

I'm falling alseep as I'm writing this. I should go get horizontal.

Comments

[jekesta]

Eeeee, you are doing GREATLY. Dude:):):):):) ::dances you::

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Eee. I know. And if I write just 753 more words before midnight I crash in bed, I will be COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP.

(Stifles a squee).

But now, I have to go find names for a whole new castle full of people (Shall we call that a "Castle Passel"?).

So I'm off to Google for Welsh / Celtic myth and legend names (maybe names from Brittany, too). Wish me luck.