I need a bigger plate

So, I was chatting with a friend last night, discussing an idea I've had for a while about a TV series.

I'm not going into details about the idea here, except to say it's sort of in the same vein as Supernatural--sort of a weekly horror show. Anyways, while I was discussing it with my friend something inside me (talk about a horror show!) woke up and said, "Why the hell not?"

So, I'm going to be hammering on the pilot script for this thing--I don't even have a name for it yet--over the next little while. This, in addition to The Harvester of Faces novel and the screenplay I'm going to collaborate on. Needless to say, that plus my regular day job pretty much take up all my free time. Fortunately, for most of these projects I don't have a deadline, so there's no hurry.

I've never really thought about doing a TV show before. I've got ideas that I think would make good shows that people would watch, but I've never actually tried to develop one before. So, this is new territory for me.

I picture this one as lasting about five years. There is an overriding story arch that will come to an end as the series climax. In the meantime there will be some episodes that advance the story arch and some that are pretty much stand-alone.

I like that format, instead of one where a show can go on indefinitely, for a lot of reasons. Mainly it's just satisfying, from a story-telling perspective, to tell a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and an ending, over the course of around a hundred individual episodes. It's like writing a really long novel.

You also have the marketing angle--people will stick with it after they get hooked if they know for a fact that there is an ending coming up where their questions will be answered and the story will come to an end. I got fed up with X-Files and other shows like this because the revelations regarding the back story came at a glacial pace and didn't seem to be completely thought out. That won't be the case here.

Also, at least for this story, it'll be a lot of fun to write. There are just not enough horror-based TV shows right now.

Anyways, I have no idea what I'm doing, or even if I'll get a chance to pitch this thing to anybody who could potentially make it, but I'm diving into it anyway. Maybe, one day, I'll be able to bring it to the small screen for your viewing pleasure.

This is how it works. For me, that is.

Here is a microcosm of how my life works:

Thursday I go to lunch. I really have a taste for a double quarter pounder with cheese (yeah, I know) so I head over to McDs. As I'm going in a woman who comes out tells me they aren't taking orders--their system is down.

I really wanted that burger. Dammit. So, I decide on fried chicken and head over to KFC.

The person working the register is apparently brand new. The person training him rings me up, and goes to fill my order, leaving the new guy to take my card to pay for it.

Guess what? No tape in the register.

Once they determine that is the reason the register isn't working, the hunt is on for register tape. Apparently there isn't any in the usual spot, so they have to go to the very back of the store and dig around in their closet to find some.

Finally, they are able to give me my receipt. I take my chicken (still wishing it was a double quarter pounder) and go over to the buffet table to get some salt and pepper. There's plenty of pepper. No salt. I bring this to their attention--the lady training the new guy turns to her co-workers and asks, "Where's the salt?" Everybody shrugs their shoulders. She heads back to that closet at the back of the store to rummage around again, this time looking for salt.

Meanwhile, since I only have a limited amount of time for my lunch break, I just decide to do without salt, which is probably healthier for me anyway.

Multiply that by about twenty and you have my life right now. No tragedy or anything, just some really annoying circumstance that gets in the way of every tiny little thing I want to accomplish.

Sorry. I'm just venting. And feeling a little sorry for myself. I'll get over it. Enjoy your weekend!

And so it begins . . .

I've finally started the first draft--again--for The Harvester of Faces.

I just finished the first chapter, and I have to say that all of the plotting and planning I've put into it is paying off already. I can see the road ahead--for a good long ways, anyway--and it makes it much less of a struggle getting the words onto the page.

Yes, I finally decided to write it as a novel instead of a screenplay. There are a couple of reasons for it. For one, because of the back-story I think it would work better. For another--I'm about to start working on another screenplay. I don't want to be working on two screenplays at once.

Having two projects going at the same time is a good thing, for me, I think. It gives my mind a place to flee to if I hit a wall--I get stuck on one, I'll go work on the other a while. Working on one thing usually gives me ideas and inspiration for something else. I hope that makes sense. Having more than two projects going, though, is not such a good idea. For me, that is.

Anyways, I think it's coming along now, and I can feel pieces fitting together as I work, so that's a good thing. I still have a very long way to go but hopefully by next summer I'll have it ready to send off to a publisher.

I've been seeing trailers for the Ender's Game film and I plan to see it. Yes, I'm aware of the boycott--because of statements the novel's author, Orson Scott Card, made about marriage equality--but I think it's kind of silly for a couple of reasons:

• While I disagree strongly with Card he is entitled to his opinion--as idiotic as it is.
• Card has already been paid. Boycotting the film only hurts the film. I don't know if Card is supposed to get any of the box office but he's already got his money for the film rights.

So, I'm planning to see this thing in the theaters, though I doubt I'll be in there on opening day for it. I'll probably wait a couple of days, and go catch an early morning matinee. Less of a crowd that way.

Anyways, I'll be slogging away at The Harvester of Faces for now, hoping to get the first draft done then get the rewriting done so that it'll be out there, changing the world for the better within a year or so. I hope.

Creating a skeletal plotline and randomocity

I think I finally have The Harvester of Faces plotted out. Finally.

When I say "plotted out" I mean I've created the bare bones of the story. I have no idea how I'm going to do some of it. But I know where the road is going now so the rest of it will come.

It's amazing how hard this is for me. At this point all I want is very broad strokes. High-level stuff, like "So-and-so is murdered," Or, "Whosis is identified as s suspect," without worrying about details. The temptation, though, is to start worrying about the details now, which defeats the purpose.

So, here's what I did. I broke it down into three acts and tried to have at least three plot points for each act. There may be more (but no more than five) but never less. If you have less than three then you really should combine that act with another one as it's not enough to stand on its own. If you have more than five, maybe you need a new act--four or even five. Each point should be just one sentence. The whole thing should be at most a half page long.

Next step is to finally start worrying about those details. A little. I'll start slogging through a treatment (again), using this as the map. Again, it should not be more than a page long. If it's longer then it's too complicated, which conflicts with my basic philosophy of life--Keep It Simple, Stupid.

My next decision--should I write this as a screenplay or a novel?

I'm torn. Me and prose fiction are sort of on the outs at the moment. We could reconcile, I guess, and this thing would make a pretty good novel.

But I'm enjoying writing screenplays, too, and I'm starting to have some success in that area, too. This would make a crackerjack movie.

I guess I'll make a final decision when I've got the treatment done. Hopefully, now that I have this outline, it'll be a bit easier.

Football-wise, this season has been a disappointment. The Falcons have, against all expectations, sucked. Dammit. They've had some injuries but they should not be that bad--don't ask me what's wrong. I'm thinking it might be time for a coaching change. Just sayin'.

And I go back to work tomorrow after being off all week for dad's funeral. My poor inbox is probably straining at all the email waiting for a response.

Don't get me started on politics right now. It is with great delight that I watch the Republican party self-detonate--but it is with the fear that they'll manage to take the rest of the country with them.

A death in the family and randomocity

I'm sorry I haven't been around much, for the one or two of you who actually read this thing. My dad died last week and we had the funeral last Saturday.

It wasn't unexpected. He's been declining for a while and over the past few months had really taken a downward spiral. So, I was prepared when the call came. Anyway, we've had the funeral now (and thank you to everyone who attended and participated--dad would have been very happy with the service) and I'm taking some time off from work to catch up on some things that had to go on the back burner for a while.

You know what would be good? And somebody may actually be doing this, in which case, good for you! Schools should teach a class called "Life Situations" where they go over what you should do in the circumstances most of us face through our lives and which we are seldom prepared for. Like, what to do when a near relative, like a parent, dies. Maybe give people checklists of documents they'll need, and questions they'll need to be able to answer.

And, let me go on record here--when I die, I want to be cremated. Take my ashes and mingle them with Atari's and find a nice, scenic spot in the mountains somewhere, dig a hole, pour us in, and fill in the hole. Let us both return to the world and become part of the natural cycle, even if it is only our ashes. Since I can't go the Zoroastrian route and have my body eaten by sacred vultures, that is. Don't spend a nickel more on my memorial than is absolutely necessary. I won't care, trust me. Don't even have a memorial--unless you want to and know of a way to do it for free, in which case, go ahead, if it makes you feel better.

Dad's health was one thing that had been concerning me for a while. A situation with a dear friend that seemed to be unresolvable (and which I won't go into here) was another. Those are two balls that I can now allow to drop, with dad's death, and my friend's situation--at least for now--somewhat improved.

Of course, something like that seems to prompt the universe to put something else on my plate to worry about. There just has to be something, doesn't there? And I actually have an idea what the next personal crisis will be though I won't say anything here. I don't want to provide inspiration.

So, it's back to writing and maybe painting a little, too.