Brand X

So the other day I had a nightmare. A trucker convoy on a half-forgotten highway, trying to make their destination, but every mile drawing them further into horror. A savage monster stalking the wooded hills around them, night driving with every shadow full of menace, pale cannibal children waiting for fresh prey. Doomed, damned truckers on a road to hell, unable to turn back or slow down.

Of course, the entire thing was full of dream logic. If you're on the road to unspeakable awfulness, the first thing an audience is gonna scream is "Take an exit, dumbass!" Nightmares don't work that way, of course; there's never anything you can do to avoid your terrible fate in dreams. Them's the rules.

Thing is, when I woke up, I immediately noticed that all my characters were stock horror movie types. I had the gruff-but-lovable trucker who's probably gonna die, the tough, mean trucker who's definitely gonna die but might sacrifice himself for the other characters, the goodhearted and basically innocent female trucker who's gonna live... you know these folks. Also, there was a basic and solid story structure, which I'm pretty sure my childhood nightmares lacked.

It was an interesting example of one of two things, your choice. On the one hand, perhaps I'm drawing archetypes from some kind of Jungian collective unconscious, using the people that are in movies because they're the most relatable and powerful characters for that kind of story. On the other hand, maybe I watch too many goddamn movies. Either way, there was one bit I liked; the truckers never see the monster in the hills, but they're able to deduce its presence from, among other things, finding the corpse of a grizzly bear that's been literally ripped to shreds. That's a good image, I think. Usually one uses a prey animal for that scene, ("I never seen any earthly creature do that to a cow." "I don't think this creature is from earth, Farmer Dan.") but it seems to me that having your monster kill the local apex predator is way scarier.

Script Frenzy update: 6,045 words. Fell behind due to day-to-day problems, but catching up fast. Well into act two and worrying about how much editing this thing's gonna need.

Today's excuse-to-drink link: Superman: The Musical: The TV Movie. I've seen bad musicals, I've seen bad Superman stories... it's sobering and a bit depressing how much bad crap I've seen, but this thing remains in a category by itself. It was broadcast once, and once only, but everything's immortal on the internet.

I'm bored, and so I write a villanelle.
I think I do; I wonder if I can.
I fear I can't recall the structure well.

The task is daunting, scary, almost fell–
No Moore or Gaiman I; I'm barely Stan.
I'm bored, and so I write a villanelle.

If this is wrong, I trust that time will tell.
This line may be one that the rules ban.
I fear I can't recall the structure well.

Since boredom, never hardship, is my hell,
I press on nonetheless, like Superman.
I'm bored, and so I write a villanelle.

I think I've too few stanzas–that's just swell.
Forgotten fragments are my only plan.
I fear I can't recall the structure well.

Just four more lines, and then it's fare-thee-well.
At least I'm fairly sure that it will scan.
I'm bored, and so I write a villanelle.
I fear I can't recall the structure well.


The above is a good example of why it's a bad idea to leave writers to their own devices. Sooner or later we turn our powers to evil.

3,563 words on the Script Frenzy script so far. Still don't have a good title, which makes me jumpy.


Meaningful and useful link of the day: The incomparable Slacktivist on what verschärfte vernehmung means in German, and what it means in American politics. Contains useful points for talking to your right-wing friends.

Ever since I was a kid, I've written best at night. Daytime seems to be too real, too full of an actual world filled with things happening and real people and so on. At night, everything is dark except for the little space I fill with light, and the world goes away. Without the real world there, I can enter the fictional one better, and get some work done therein. Also I can drink and smoke and ignore everyone without feeling like some kind of misanthropic reprobate, which helps.

1,436 words so far. Inciting incident nicely incited, hero's world thrown out of balance, shit and fan approaching each other at speed. There's a number of things that I'm aware I'll have to go back and fix later, but this kind of exercise is all about speed. Better character names and tighter dialogue are second-pass work. Right now I'm just trying to get the scenes down in a passable form; I'm on a downright stupidly tight deadline.

Today's spooky link: a surprisingly effective old five-page comic from a long-dead horror anthology title, courtesy of scans_daily: The Bad Boy

Labels: script frenzy, writing

Having had such a nice time doing National Novel Writing Month last November, I've now embarked on Script Frenzy, the screenwriting equivalent. Between now and June 30, I'll be churning out an entire screenplay of no less than 20,000 words.

Rather than do what I did with NaNoWriMo and hide from my blog and from the world while I typed, I thought this time I'd keep my friends out there in internet-land up to date on every stage of my progress.

Tonight, for example, in the hours since midnight, I've done a complete outline on Scrivener's virtual corkboard, and actually written the first... 241 words of the script. Okay, that sounds like a slow start, but it doesn't count the outline.

Today's worrisomely-thought-provoking link: The Far Right's Coming Wave, from the always-thorough David Neiwert.

Labels: script frenzy, writing