The List On The Wall

Not on the list: take any days in Spring Break off.

Here's what I plan to get done in the coming 7-10 days:

Thesis:

1. Rewrite Act III.
2. Remove the subplot no longer used.
3. Add new subplot? Depends on page count and feelings about it.
4. Talk to Len.
5. Check for POVs of the main characters in every scene.
6. Check for tone--high comedy versus darkness versus seriousness/reality of each scene.
7. Complete read-through. Mark anything that feels wrong.
8. Drop copy of complete script off for Len.
9. Panic, because as of March 6th, there are only 6 weeks until the thesis script is due.

Rewrite:

1. Finish Act I.
2. Write at least to midpoint of Act II.
3. Go further, if you really feel like it. (hahahaha)

Sitcom:

1. Redo outline of spec, send to Elias for comments.
2. Begin 1st draft. Have at least half of it done by March 17th. (Complete first draft due March 24th.)

In addition, I'm also going to be doing some legwork for the Feature Night party we're planning...because if I don't do it, no one else is going to.

Today I did some of my redo of the outline for my Everybody Loves Raymond--the main comment I got on my outline was that there wasn't enough conflict, not enough going on.

Sigh. After all this time, I'm still avoiding conflict in my work. (Note to aspiring writers: in order to have good drama, you need all the stuff you try to avoid in real life--conflict, arguments, tension.) This burns me up because I thought that was one lesson I had learned and integrated, and I haven't. I guess I can't go wrong going overboard on conflict in my stuff, because my overboard is just about right for most people.

The other thing I did today was try to answer a lot of the mail I've received recently. I highlight messages to be answered in red in my In Box, and when it starts to look like stop-and-go traffic on the freeway at rush hour, it's time to start answering.

Yesterday most of the sitcom class went to a network run-through of Everybody Loves Raymond, the show we're studying in class and writing specs for. It was pretty good, and everybody was nice. (This appears to be a happy set. People get along and chat with one another as they work. Fractious sets have atmospheres you can cut with a buzzsaw.)

Andy Kindler asked who we were (since they don't usually have audiences for the network run-throughs), and when we said we were screenwriters from USC, he said, Hey, wasn't there just an article about you in the LA Times Calendar section? Smart guy--he reads and remembers. Sadly, the article was about last year's class and how life is treating them now.