The 70-Page Stretch
Originally Posted on another blog on October 13, 2008:
Late last year… or is that early this year?… I began writing a screenplay. This was not the first time I ever tried sitting down to write a screenplay – I have TONS of movie ideas floating around in my head all the time. Anyone who’s known me for the past 10 years can even attest to my ability to wake up from a dream with a new idea for a movie. Call it my gift.
However, what made THIS time different was that I had actually followed the 5 Steps Of Writing and had an actual working outline and plan for writing this script. Not only that, but I had done more than perfunctorily looking at a page of “sample script” to try to copy. I sat down and actually STUDIED the elements of a screenplay, “proper” formatting and correctly balancing between “artistic story telling” and “technical document for shooting a film.” More than that, I had even gone so far as to research what a screenwriter needs to know about HOW to shoot a film to make the script more easily understood to people who would actually spend money to make the movie I wrote.
Believe me, there’s quite a lot of technical knowledge a writer should know to avoid the pitfalls that I fell into during my first few forays into screenwriting.
So, as I already mentioned, I sat down in front of my computer with my newfound knowledge, a clearly defined story, and easy to use FREE screenwriting software (actually, you can use it for more than just screenwriting, but I don’t really use the other formats it offers, so I can’t tell if its any good at those or not).
Let me tell you – I typed my little heart out. It was awesome.
Then it hit… The 70 Page Burnout. John August alludes to it here, and when I first read that, I thought to myself “what the hell is he talking about ‘exhaustion at page 72?? How could exhaustion be so specifically tied to a page number?”
Let me tell you – exhaustion CAN be so specifically tied to a page number. Especially when writing a document that caps out at 90-120 pages. 70 pages represents the 2/3-3/4 done mark, and if you all don’t know me by now, I’m the kind of girl who very EASILY gets close to the end of something, but often stops just short of the finish line… yes, it’s a horrible character flaw and one that I’ve been struggling to deal with these past 33 years. You can spare me the lecture because, believe me, I KNOW.
So, ever since that glorious 2 days late last/early this year when I sped through the first 74 pages of my screenplay, it has been lying dormant on my hard drive. Other stories have popped up – good ones. Ones that I want to tell. Ones that I desperately want to get started on. But I haven’t. I won’t be beginning any other screenplays until this one is DONE (granted, I did take time to outline them a little so I wouldn’t forget, but really – I won’t do any real work on them).
And leave it to theDoc – who, for some reason tends to go through nearly identical internal writing crap as I do at nearly identical times (seriously, he’s the only reason I haven’t completely discounted astrology – we have the exact same birthday) – to post something that I needed to see exactly when I needed to see it. It’s a whole series of posts about searching for his writing voice, honing his craft (I hate that term, but it applies here, it really does), and returning back to his roots as a writer. Seriously, theDoc – I can’t thank you enough for posting that.
More than that, in my current class, one of this week’s assignments is to answer this question:
1) In the first letter, Rilke talks about going into oneself and asking the question, “must I write.” Part of the pursuit of eudemonia is the ability to spend one’s life doing what one must do. Go into yourself (and don’t expect this to happen in a few minutes), and find the one thing you must do. Explain why this is, and how you will use Rilke’s suggestions about how to go about doing it in learning how to do this one thing that is your “must do.”
To answer a few questions before they come up, the book is “Letters to a Young Poet” – and it is literally just that. A series of letters from an established poet to an aspiring poet. It’s pretty short and if you are a writer, it may be a book you want to look into – I’ve already found it to be incredibly insightful and inspiring. Also, with regards to “eudemonia” I’m going to refer you to the course description:
In this course we will be reading and thinking about humanistic works which compel you to address the prospect or possibility of leading a happy or meaningful human life in the present age of mass communication and ideology. Attention will be paid both to the depiction of dangers or pitfalls which make eudemonia (“happiness” or meaning) difficult to acquire and to the adequacy of the alternative responses suggested by various authors as a means to overcoming these pitfalls.
It’s like I got a giant kick in the pants from God, or something – I was hit with a near double-whammy from the assignment and what theDoc had written – about whether I loved the art in me or I love me in the art. I really had to think about this one. I had always quoted Vonnegut about this topic (”I write because I must”), and though I genuinely believe that, I think I sort of strayed from my love of writing. It’s especially easy in screenwriting to lose sight of the passion you have about writing because the format – the very foundation – of what you are writing FORCES you to consider the business side of your passion.
All that being said, I just wanted to post here that I got the message. I get it… I need to write. I need to love the art in me and stop getting distracted by “me in the art.” Mostly, though, I need to finish this script, which pretty much means ending this post.
Related posts:
