Screenwriting : November Write Club Week 2 Progress by Elle Bolan

Elle Bolan

November Write Club Week 2 Progress

Hey again and Happy NWC!

This week has been a bit lighter in the actual written work so far. I did get Act 1 of INSPIRATION INC. drafted. TETHERED is polished up. I also got some images together for the Tethered pitch deck.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday? I'm getting the rest of my skeleton draft DONE.

Where are y'all at on progress so far this week?

Mike Schreurs

I just left my flow chart and writing the first act soon as I get over this really tough story I need to crack.

Banafsheh Esmailzadeh

Great job! So far I've hit 52 pages for BoFS, definitely thinking it might not even need 120 pages to wrap up. I also figured out how a certain plot detail is actually foreshadowing for part 6's plot so I'm even more excited to build up to it~

Elle Bolan

@Banafsheh great work! That halfway mark feels great, doesn't it? You're doing stellar. I love finding those little surprises I leave for myself. I keep a list of them called my "subconscious wins". It's funny how our creative mind can win like that for us without us even realizing it!

Elle Bolan

@Mike well, hopefully that tough nut cracks open for you soon. Do you need to bounce ideas around or anything? Either way, I'm cheering you! Hopefully you can get to writing that act 1 soon.

Banafsheh Esmailzadeh

Elle Bolan thank you, yes, it really does! I love it, too, especially considering I went so hard on the world-building from the start, it's practically writing itself at this point (with some minor speed bumps since I'm only human after all lol). When planning the sequels I noticed just how many instances of foreshadowing I did for certain events, most commonly as early as Finding Elpis proper, but a crucial element of SiR was foreshadowed in ALL the prequels. It's very fitting that the core element of the series is achievements in ignorance and the same is true in a meta sense XD

Maurice Vaughan

Congratulations, Elle Bolan! I'm rooting for you to finish the rest of your skeleton draft!

I finished a rewrite draft yesterday. My goal this week is finish another rewrite.

Elle Bolan

I'll be cheering for you, Maurice! You always seem to hit your goals. Deadlines got nothing on ya.

How many passes do you normally do?

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks, Elle Bolan. I don't have a set number of passes I do. I break the rewrite up into categories:

– A Story

– B Story

– Subplot(s)

– Character Arc(s)

– Dialogue

– Track (I go through the script, tracking important things like character behavior, relationships, and items)

– Visualize (I go through the script, visualizing the action and dialogue -- it helps me think of ideas, scenes, etc. and catch story issues)

– Sometimes other things (I usually end up doing these drafts)

– I do one final rewrite where I go through the script, making sure I didn't miss anything

Elle Bolan

That's similar to how I approach drafts. I haven't done a script rewrite yet, but I have a similar set of passes I use for drafting.

Debbie Seagle

Maurice Vaughan character behavior & relationships between characters is something many of us (OK, I) forget to pay close attention to when rewriting a script. Thanks for the reminder!

Debbie Seagle

Elle Bolan Progress? Uh, I'm so bad. I've been reworking my production budget - I'd rather poke myself in the eyeball... I wanna write with y'all!

Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Debbie Seagle.

Elle Bolan

Hey, that's work too. The less fun part, maybe. But it's still work!

Hopefully you get some creative writing time in soon!

Cynna Ael

Congrats! That's great news! Sometimes we just need to get it done so we can go back in and just dig in better once we have that skeleton in place.

Meriem Bouziani

Congratulations to you!

I hope you continue on your creative journey and achieve all your goals.

And congratulations as well for being the Community Member Spotlight of the month!

I just read the email in my Gmail, and I wanted to celebrate that with you — keep going, you’ve got this!

Elle Bolan

@Meriem... Wait. I am? Lmao I didn't know. Now I need to go look!

Meriem Bouziani

Yes — check your Gmail for the latest email from Ashley Renee Smith. Congratulations to you Elle

Elle Bolan

Anyway, @Meriem, thank you. I appreciate you!

How is your writing going today?

Meriem Bouziani

Thank you a lot — it felt great finally turning those ideas into words on paper. what about you?

Sydney S

Hey Elle! Happy NWC to you too!

Love seeing your progress — Act 1 drafted, TETHERED polished, and a pitch deck in the works? That’s amazing! Can’t wait to see the rest of your skeleton draft come together this week. Keep going, you’re crushing it!

Where everyone else at? Let’s cheer each other on!

Sydney S

If you ever need anything — recommendations, guidance, or support — just email edu@stage32.com

... I’m happy to help! Rooting for you!

Elle Bolan

@Sydney, thanks! I haven't made a feature deck before, so I'm excited to see how much it differs from a TV series deck.

Meriem Bouziani, Wednesdays are one of the few days I don't write. It's one of the days I spend with my grandkids. But the creative brain is always at work. So, I did the "in between my ears" kind of writing today.

Sandra Correia

I am so happy for you, Elle Bolan , and your progress with Act 1. But what I love most is that you have several projects in hand and you are tackling all of them. You've got this, Elle. Let's goooo

Elle Bolan

Thank you! I'm honestly just making my ADHD work for me by juggling multiple projects. I make sure each project is at a different stage so I can "switch brains" without exhausting one into slumber.

Leonardo Ramirez

That's great progress Elle Bolan - congratulations! Working on both script and PD at the same time is quite a load but I can't help to wonder if working on the PD serves as a break from the script. I love designing stuff so it would be for me. You're doing fantastic!

Sandra Correia

ahahah that's an healthy ADHD Elle Bolan :)) I do the same lol

Elle Bolan

@Leonardo Ramirez, it really does! I work on images, color palette etc. when I need time between my ears instead of looking at the text on the page. Sometimes the words staring at me keep me from being able to think because I'm trying to force it. Working on deck materials helps me reset. Sometimes I'll stop and play guitar a bit in between. Usually a song I associate with what I'm writing.

Leonardo Ramirez

That's awesome Elle Bolan! I stop, turn and play my piano that sits right next to me. Very cool! I play guitar as well but I'm rusty there.

Elle Bolan

@Leonardo I pick some at the piano myself. But like you with the guitar - I'm rusty and was never very good anyway. But the guitar now... I've played since I was 12.

Do you feel that musicality is an asset to your writing? I feel mine is.

Leonardo Ramirez

Oh 1,000,000X yes Elle Bolan! I've written entire scripts from one piece of music that's driven the whole thing. And when I'm stuck, the music I play renews my soul and floods my mind with new ideas. I couldn't function without it.

Elle Bolan

Oh absolutely the same. Music is in my soul.

Leonardo Ramirez I just love that. I love how different creative outlets feed each other and the artist behind them. It's beautiful.

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