Tutorial, Arenawatch Wrap-up

Tutorial went really well yesterday. I have very clear notes on what to do for the next draft. Something between major overhaul and minor tweakage required. I need to show, through action, something that I'd only alluded to in the voice over: a new sequence to be blended in. I need to fix a few lines which were too pat, knowing, on-the-nose. One or two cuts. A couple typos as well.

Today, I need to do the final installment of my observational research, and also write up yesterday's notes. Still don't have a story, which is mildly concerning, since I need to have the initial outline in by Wednesday, noon.

The final script is supposed to be substantially related to what the outline says it's about. That's a tricky one, an aspect of my writing that needs serious work: being able to stick to an outline. The more I write, the more I realize I'm a dive-in-and-write-it sort of person. The story only really emerges in the second draft. That's no good in the real world of TV writing, where you sometimes have to write an episode already roughly blocked out by story-liners, and you also have to deliver what you pitched at the meeting.

I've got some serious work to do between now and Tuesday night, when I'll have to email the outline. At the least, I think I should write a full treatment, and preferably a rough script. I can actually write a thirty page script in a couple of days, at a push.

Okay, here's the plan. Spend a couple of hours down on Gale's Hill, hopefully getting whacked upside the head by a great story idea. Come home, write it.

Ready, break!