Peering over the abyss.

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Tidied up that last section so I'm calling that officially a first draft now. Going to take a break over the weekend and then will do a full read through a few times without changing anything as I go before coming back after another break for the rewrites. Pretty happy in general with how its turned out. It's a wild screenplay that mixes horror and comedy and action. It's unconventional, and is a pretty good reflection of my style. 97 and a bit pages in total.

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https://farcaster.xyz/tokenizedhuman/0xe89e5f37

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That's the full on action climax at the end of the film now written. Just the coda and the first draft will be complete. Thought it was running long, it's actually pretty much where I want it.

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Tough writing day today. Monday's are always tough, picking up again after a couple of days break. Lots of actions segments gone in today and I always find it difficult working out the right way both to translate image inside head into words on paper but also in a way that communicates intimacy. Also, I killed off one of the main characters. That's always fun. Also wrote the logline this weekend, after about a million and one rough drafts of it. Up to 84 pages. Hoping to get first draft done this week so I can have a week off and then get into the rewrite with fresh peepers. Couple of major scenes left to go, though, plus the glue that holds them together - need to work out a couple of transitional moments for those. Can't complain.

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Finishing up week three here with 78 pages. Pretty stoked with that really. We're at the beginning of the end section now.

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Okay so this was actually the Mazin article I was looking for before that gives a much clearer explanation of the central dramatic argument - i think this is a transcript actually of a podcast. https://johnaugust.com/2019/scriptnotes-ep-403-how-to-write-a-movie-transcript Of all of the structural theory stuff I've read, I truly believe this is the most accurate, and most helpful for construction a recognisable, western movie framework. What your hero wants comes out of this, not the other way round. Typically we write from ideas and try to apply logic to them. I get an idea for a scene that sounds cool, and I ask myself where does this scene go in a bigger story, but the better way to do this, which is counter intuitive in some ways is to ask yourself what do you want to say and then find the right story to match it (or adjust your own idea to match it) which doesn't always work. Ideas are ideas and they are ten to a penny but they've not narrative, and you'll be beating yourself over the head all day until you switch it up and ask, what is something I want to prove to someone (your protagonist) is true? Now, how do I go about doing that in the most entertaining and emotionally engaging way possible? This is thesis (central dramatic argument) --pick whatever you want that to be whether it's something like unhealed human evil, when subjected to extreme isolation, will inevitably consume itself through the destruction of the family unit (the shining) or ife gains meaning through connection, community, and compassion, even in the face of profound grief (A man called Ove) or confronting the painful, complex truth—specifically regarding grief, loss, and the desire for an end to suffering—is necessary for emotional healing, even if it is agonizing. (a monster calls). These are all needlessly wordy and can be simplified down to something like: You can't treat madness on your own (shining) Life is worth living (ove) grieving is necessary to move on (monster) Mazin covers this incredibly well in the article but your job is to spend the entire film convincing your protag, who believes the complete opposite (anti-thesis) that this thesis is in fact true, and their way of seeing things is false. And you do that through action. When you decide what you want to say, you can then decide how best to say it (show it). Easy right? Actually, it's not. It's hard. But if it weren't hard, it wouldn't be fun. And once you've nailed the what and the how, you already have the structure, and the rest is just writing in the gaps. 5 and a half pages done today on my WIP. Happy with that.

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Up to 66 pages, which is 20 I think so far for the week. Through the tricky bit, into another tricky bit, which is sort of the start of act 3 structurally. This is where things start getting a bit crazy. Just getting it on the page at the moment. Reworked one key scene yesterday for hours and I think I'm finally happy with it. Still long, and overly wordy but I'll pare it down on the following run throughs. Happy enough with it considering its a first draft.

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Continued after lunch and knocked out a few more. Still not thrilled with this part , though.

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Five and change pages today. Finishing up the second week with 48 and a half in total. Only had four writing days this week so I'll take that (22 pages for the four days, which is on par for the first week). First draft coming along nicely. This was a particularly difficult part and a bit I hadn't really fully outlined before beginning. Knew what needed to happen but not how. The how bit is the day to day writing stuff. Closing the week there now, back on Monday for more.

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6 ish pages completed today, which I'm happy with considering writing conditions haven't exactly been perfect. Running long I think but I'll chop the fuck out of it on the second full run through. Got to get flesh on the monster first before I send the bastard to the gym.

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Another one to get your brain juices flowing. For which film is this the central dramatic argument? In a corporate-run world, human value is immediately subordinate to, and cannibalized by, profit and ratings. No cheating now.

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Action with a little description, not the other way round. Like a big ol' bag of salted peanuts. Not the other way round.

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No idea what happened to that post I just wrote. Anyway. Can anyone guess what film this is the central dramatic argument to according to google AI? true self-actualization requires rejecting the false, consumer-driven identity imposed by modern society, but that, if taken to an extreme, this pursuit becomes a self-destructive, fascistic delusion. On the central dramatic argument, this thread has a lot of good information: https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/1qq8z10/long_time_writer_and_structure_professional/ Character has a theme that keeps him comfortable but unhappy in life. There is an opposing anti-theme that he needs to have the courage to accept as his new theme. Structure is throwing the anti-theme at your character in the form of dramatic obstacles for 2 hours - in a satisfying shape that Craig goes into more detail about on his episode. I love Mazin's theory of the CDA, makes a lot of sense to me. It has helped enormously in terms of how to structure a screenplay with depth and direction. This is great stuff for working out what how your character needs to behave and what needs to happen to reinforce the thesis/anti-thesis. I use this approach in combination with narrative, not as a replacement for it. I use it initially to help me see if I have something worth writing, but sometimes I just write anyway because I like the idea, and use the approach to tighten particular scenes. Five more pages complete today.

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Four more pages added. A couple more scenes now before the hook into act 2. Some of these might get deleted. They'll get adjusted, shorted, or just cut eventually, but I need to get them down to get from big tentpole scene to big tentpole scene. They are also serving for me to get to know my characters better. How the talk, react, and act. Running long, I think, at the moment, but not bothered by that at all. Pacing can be adjusted, if the structure id sound, which I think it is - although won't know exactly until ifirst draft is done. Wasn't going to write today at all because I had some other stuff I needed to take care of this morning and struggle going in late, but did forced myself to do it, which really is half of the struggle anyway. I'll report back with more when I have it.

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