The If's of Writing

If the catalyst for the story never speaks one word, will you know him as deeply as I do –left only to the actor’s prowess on the screen?

Is it really something HE would say?

It’s such a strange reaction, how would it be perceived?

Are HER attempts at proving her flesh and blood state coming through?

If I switch the order, would the effect be the same or more dramatic?

Can I cut that scene out entirely without losing the gem?

If SHE says nothing, how would the other person react – forced to fill in the gap or respect it?

These are a sampling of questions I ask myself as I work my way through Draft 2 of the screenplay for next year’s production. The story was simple and came as if from nowhere, inspired by actual events (some and not others – you can decide that when you see it), plopped on the page in a fury of writing over only a few weeks.

It’s been a year since the story began! I can’t believe how far we’ve all come since then.

I now no longer see the original characters that made up the novel. I am not sad. After adapting it to screenplay, I see the wonderful local actors I want to have in the production – I hear their voices, I see their faces, I see them as the characters. They move the way I know the characters do, the little nuances that make a person who they are, habits and fears, grins and concerns, incorporating amazing surprises I will not have thought of as they flesh out their characters. I hope not to intimidate anyone with this statement – but it was a simple transition of the talent available to us.

I can’t wait for the read-through’s. I’m anxious to hear familiar voices speak words I expect them to say and can’t wait to hear feedback on that which doesn’t ring true. It’s like a sour note, a key gone flat on the piano, when something just isn’t right. Sometimes I notice it. Sometimes I don’t and someone else will.

I love the collaboration of pulling out fully formed characters from my imagination, ironing them flat to fit on the page with hopefully just enough embellishment to be pulled off the page once again, like a sticker, and puffed up with the actor’s breath into a real, living, moving, breathing, speaking person!

See you soon!