Writer Type People

noreply@blogger.com (Jeffrey) — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:18:00 +0000

So... this blog is kind of clunky to use. We might have migrated to Tumblr, and we hope you might migrate to following us there too. :)

http://writertypepeople.tumblr.com/

Billy Ocean wants you to pop his glovebox

noreply@blogger.com (Jeffrey) — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:51:00 +0000

I follow the Disney Parks blog, because we have occasion to visit Disneyland (so WHAT if I like pin trading SHUT UP), and there was recently a post about some bands that will be performing at Epcot Resort over the summer.

Why I clicked on the link I don't know (probably to bolster my ever-increasing skill at wasting time on things I don't mean to), but the list of performers included some amazing bands like BLUES TRAVELER, SURVIVOR and 38 SPECIAL.

And I don't mean "amazing" in the sense of "this music moves me spiritually and speaks to me as a member of the human race" but in the sense of "Those bands still exist? That's AMAZING."

Why WOULDN'T the lead singer of Blues Traveler have a gun?

Especially after reading this post.

And as I look through the list I spy another blast from the past, one Mr. Billy Ocean.

Now I'm a fan of Billy Ocean, and I think it's safe to say I liked ALL THREE of his songs as much as anyone could.

I was entirely dismayed to see that somehow my iTunes was Billy Ocean-deficient, so I injected some hot Ocean into it stat.

And Susan and I then danced around to those three hilarious hits (ONLY. THREE.) and she made a disturbing realization. I know the '80s were different times and all, but I'm starting to worry there's something the salty Mr. Ocean hasn't told us.

Mr. Salty-full-of-secrets.

And also leisure suits.

Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into my Car

Hey! (hey) You! (you),
Get into my car!
Who me?
Yes you! Get into my car!
Ooooooooooooooh. Ah! Hey!

Billy is demanding someone (who isn't even aware she's being spoken to) get into his car, and cheering about it. That's an odd choice, but perhaps he just needs help getting the glove compartment open. After all, it was the 80s and he didn't have a GPS and all his maps were in there. In his haste, he simply forgot his manners. Could happen to anyone. I'm on your side, Billy.

Who's that lady
Coming down the road
Who's that lady
Who's that woman
Walking through my door
What's the score
I'll be the sun
Shining on you
Hey Cinderella
Step in your shoe
I'll be your non-stop lover
Get it while you can
Your non-stop miracle
I'm your man

He clearly has no idea who this woman is, but already he has taken a liking to her shoes and wants to ravish her without end. You might be coming on a little strong there, Salty. I know she popped the glove box open for you, but-

Get outta my dreams
Get into my car
Get outta my dreams
Get in the back seat baby
Get into my car

Now hold on. You already ordered her into your car! Why would you need to do it again unless... she'd LEFT. She opened your glove box like a good citizen and was going about the rest of her day and you ordered her back in! To the back seat! Now see here-

Beep beep, yeah
Get outta my mind
Get into my life
Oooooooooh
Oh I said hey (Hey!) you (You!)
Get into my carOh oh oh baby

She's beeping the horn so someone will notice she is now being held against her will in the car of a demanding strange man! Won't someone help her?

Lady driver
Let me take the wheel
Smooth operator
Touch my bumper
(unintelligible women mumbling)
C'mon let's make a deal
Make it real

Wait, why is he asking for the wheel? In her panic she floored it, and they're fighting over control of the car as it speeds down a busy highway intersection full of children and fluffy puppies! And she's mumbling because her mouth is full of Ocean-flesh as she bites at his hands to keep him off the steering wheel!

Not only that, he wants his BUMPER TOUCHED and is willing to negotiate for it? When did "popping your glovebox" become a euphemism for a pay-for-sex act, Salty? She was just trying to help!

Ooh baby.

Oh baby, let's go
I said open the door (Get in the back)
Foot on the floor (Get on the track)
Yeah (Yeah) Yeah (Yeah)
Yeah (Yeah) Yeah (Yeah)
Let's go
~wild sax solo~

Now they're going somewhere? This is an abduction in progress!

Oh oh oh I need you
Get in the back seat
I need you

Present technology is fuzzy on their activities at this point, but authorities who have examined the evidence agree it's tremendously creepy.

You might think the saga is over, that Salty Ocean drove off into the sunset with his good samaritan/streetwalker abductee, but not so. Join us next time as we find out what the tough do when the going gets likewise.

Meanwhile, my wife is home and I've got a glovebox that needs popping.

I forgive you, Mark Pender

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:01:00 +0000

My husband and I are BIG fans of Conan O'Brien, way back since his Late Night days. We have been so busy that we haven't watched his show in a while, and that's sad, because we love us some CoCo. We have even been in the audience before! Twice! And it was great!

But! I have a story that I must tell you all. And I have never told ANYONE this story.

OK, I told my husband but he was there when it all happened. And I might have told other people at some point but I've forgotten so it's pretty much like I never told anyone.

See, my husband has been a Conan fan since before I was a fan of Conan. At first I did not understand Conan's style of humor. I thought it was stupid.

Eventually I realized that was exactly the point. Then I kind of fell in love with Conan. But anyway, what I'm trying to say is that waay back like 10 years ago, I did not make it a priority to catch Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

My husband always watched, however, and years ago, I went through a period of time while pregnant when I found it necessary to go to bed early. So my husband watched in bed next to me while I slept.

Now, I seem to have an uncanny ability to sleep in just about any circumstance. People are jealous of how I can sleep on buses, trains, and cars, and also through all sorts of noises.

But there was ONE NOISE that always woke me up.

I wish I could say that brass instruments in general were able to wake me, but that would not be true. No. It was really just one trumpet that would, without fail, rouse me from a sound sleep.

One trumpet ... played during the opening of Late Night with Conan O'Brien ... by one Mr. Mark Pender.

And he woke me up every weeknight for the entire second half of my pregnancy.

For many, many years, I think I HATED PENDER. He was the bane of my existence because every fucking night he would wake me up, I would curse his name, and then I would fall back asleep.

Time passed and I began to heal from my emotional scars. I loved Conan. I even tolerated Mark Pender! When his screaming trumpet played I made faces every night like this but I didn't turn the channel. --> -_-

My husband and I continued on in our now TOTALLY SHARED Conan fan-dom, right up to the present day. In fact we were in the VERY FIRST test screening audience of the NEW Conan show. Yeah. You're aaaaaaall jealous that I got to be in the studio audience of a show that didn't even air! BOO-YAH. TRUE FANS YO.

Fast forward to...oh, I think it was last year. It was December, the Christmas tree was up, holiday music was playing, and I was struck by an uncharacteristic bout of charitable thinking, which included thoughts of forgiveness.

And I realized that I had, in fact, FINALLY COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY FORGIVEN Mark Pender!

That made me a little sad, because obviously there was no way for Mark Pender to know that I had forgiven him. I thought about writing him a letter but I assume he must get blanketed with fan mail from band students or something so I thought it would probably get lost.

And THEN I realized that was really no excuse at all, and perhaps in the future I would make a blog post about it, and then maybe somebody would tell Mark Pender to come see this post through Twitter.

I then promptly forgot about all of this until today.

So here we are.

Mark Pender? I TOTALLY forgive you. And I apologize for any bad karma that may have been flung your way from my hating you. In fact I will send a $5 gift card from Starbucks to the e-mail address of your choice if you contact me.*

It's the least I can do. :D

*I should probably send you $10 because I really did totally hate you. A lot.

Bug-free mints

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:07:00 +0000

So I was happily munching on my newest obsession, Disneyland's Mickey and Gang sugar free cinnamon mints, and I was disappointed to learn that there are absolutely no bugs in them.

Since they are pink I was hopeful.

oh noooooo

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:33:00 +0000

So TODAY I went to visit my friend Jamie Johnson...and she handed me my very own fresh bag of Trader Joe's Marcona almonds with rosemary.

I cursed her name.

I also explained to Jamie Johnson that today's pants were telling me how awesome and special I was, and they give me tiny hugs all day and tell me that i shouldn't lose any weight at all because then they wouldn't fit properly and that would make them sad.

SHUT UP PANTS

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:04:00 +0000

I'm wrecked for work for the rest of the day. My brain hurts from writing.

My friend Jamie Johnson here at work gave me some Trader Joe's Marcona almonds with rosemary. They are covered in rosemary, salt and olive oil and OH MY GOD I think they are the most delicious things I have ever eaten. People say, "THESE THINGS ARE LIKE CRACK," but usually they don't mean it. I, however, DO. I would definitely lay in a dilapidated house, filthy and unshowered, giving homeless men blowjobs for MORE OF THESE ALMONDS.

So I ate five of these almonds, and I knew I was a goner, so I declined the offer of more from my pusher friend (DAMN YOU JAMIE JOHNSON). And this was when my pants decided to speak up.

See, I gained about ten pounds after injuring my foot nearly a year ago. But I am stubborn as well as somewhat strapped for cash, so I have gone on wearing these same pants.

The pants in question do not actually fit me. I deny this to be true, and instead wear floaty empire-waist tops and ponchos to hide this fact.

The pants THEMSELVES, however, are quite merciless about how they fit me.

And they're vocal about it.

So while I am eating the almonds my pants are saying things like LOL FATTY CAN'T WAIT UNTIL YOU SIT DOWN AGAIN. And I know as soon as I DO the top edge of my pants will bite cruelly into my soft cushy fat roll, which I have earned by sitting and eating. Often.

I'm at a bit of an impasse, because I don't want to eat less and I don't want to move more.

Obviously the only solution at this point is to buy different pants.

So I silently converse with them. I tell them things like, I HAVE AN OLD NAVY COUPON, PANTS. I AM NOT AFRAID TO USE IT.

I say, I CAN FIND PANTS THAT WILL SIGH IN PLEASURE AT THE AMOUNT OF PRESSURE I WILL EXERT ON THEIR SEAMS.

I say, I DON'T NEED YOU, PANTS.

My pants sense these are idle threats. They know I don't have the funds to buy fancy, non-thrift-store pants right now.

As soon as I get home, I am putting on my cushy exercise pants that I have no intent of ever exercising in. They make my butt look good! My cushy butt!

And THEN I'm going to eat delicious chevre and strawberries, and I won't think about these pants again...until the next time I put them on.

OR MAYBE THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME PANTS DID YOU THINK OF THAT?

Yeah. Why don't you chew on that for a while, pants.

Why don't you.

Hi.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:59:00 +0000

My clever notebook idea for writing is pretty much over, and I think that's mostly because I discovered the wonder that is Wunderlist, which has made my life so very much better in so many ways that I even put up with its mild quirkiness.

We were in the midst of writing a comedy spec for Up All Night when Bitter helpfully pointed out to me that said spec would be in violation of the rules of some of the fellowships. Most unfortunately, it was in violation of the rules of the Warner Bros Writers Workshop, which requires that you only spec shows that are at least in season two. Up All Night is only in season one, and thus the problem.

We paused to reflect on this turn of events, and during that pause we came across this particular competition. I knew we definitely needed to have a comedy pilot in our portfolio, and this seemed like a fun way to get there, so we decided to go for it.

Somewhere in there, we submitted Headshots, our zombie action comedy, to Nicholl. We also sent our period sci-fi action comedy script (Dixie Stenberg and Brassy Battalion) off to our amazing editor friend for a thorough edit before submitting that to Nicholl as well.

At this point, the comedy pilot is about 31 pages in. I'm probably going to finish the first draft by the end of this week. The contest is open through the end of the month and, well, we might NOT actually get it entered in time. It kind of depends on how many revisions we feel it needs. But that's OK, I think it's a great writing sample regardless.

We also got edits back on Dixie, and the feedback we got was, once again, stellar. It enabled us to quickly cut about ten pages out of the draft, and it gave us a bit of breathing room for a bit of character work. Lovely. So now we need to finish that edit before the Nicholl deadline. I think we can do it.

We're also almost ready to get our comic proposal sent out for proof printing. It's very exciting!

And we've got a TV spec to edit and clean up to enter in the WB fellowship. I really wanted to start fresh and write something new for both WB and NBC, but the misstep with the Up All Night spec cost us that opportunity. I'd rather revise and enter, instead of just not entering. However, NBC Writers' Workshop would actually allow the Up All Night spec so I'm still toying with the idea that we might be able to finish it while the submission period is still open.

But I'm not holding my breath. I figure at some point we'll just collapse from exhaustion and then all my carefully made plans will go out the window. Right now, though, I feel good. I feel assertive about my life. I even have proof of this. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night after having had a dream. I can't remember the dream itself but I remember thinking to myself very clearly that I didn't like it. And so I thought to myself, "I REJECT THIS DREAM." I simply decided I wasn't going to dream about THAT, whatever it was.

I had another dream after that which I also cannot remember, but I also don't remember any particular objection I had to it. So.

Mission accomplished.

WonderCon!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:19:00 +0000

We had a great time at WonderCon! I got to meet the president of Dark Horse Comics, Mike Richardson, who was very gracious and proved adept at both getting panels back on track AND dealing with crazy people. No, seriously, I witnessed him dealing with a crazy person. It was disturbing and he handled it very well. I shared a little bit with him about Pendant and Dixie, and he was very encouraging and nice.

I was also able to meet Sam Humphries, who is the writer of Fanboys vs. Zombies, with interiors by our own Jerry Gaylord! You know, Jerry? Who's drawing awesome art for our fully funded Dixie Stenberg comic project right now?

Yeehaw.

Sam was very nice, and recognized me as a former Midwesterner, because HE is also a former Midwesterner and that's how Midwesterners roll. I was of course entirely flustered and thought my adopted Valley Girl speech patterns were flawless, but he saw right through it. He must have a good ear for music, that boy.

Other than that, we met fans of Pendant Audio at our table, and I also caught up with Vince Hernandez from Aspen Comics so that I could get Charismagic 3 along with a signature. I also picked up Haunted City 2, and I can't wait to read it. I was too tired yesterday to string sentences together in a coherent order, plus I have a lot of work to do today, so it will have to wait until tomorrow at least.

AND Jeffrey, Anna and I were interviewed by our good friends at Fanboy Comics! I'll post the link to our interview once it's up on their site.

This week, Jeffrey and I are working on a TV pilot and a spec so that we can enter some of the fellowships. If I could figure out how to write in my sleep, I'd be all set.

WonderCon!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:57:00 +0000

Just so you know, we will have a table at WonderCon! We'll be promoting our normal Pendant Audio shows.

Do come up and say hello, won't you? :)

Notes!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:28:00 +0000

We finally got screenplay notes back from our friend.

And they were FANTASTIC.

I have never gotten notes so wonderfully helpful EVER in my ENTIRE LIFE.

I think I fell to my knees and wept in appreciation for how beautiful the universe was in that one perfect moment.

Yesterday we went through every note and tweaked the script thoroughly. Today we're going to do a little bit of character work and hopefully complete the final run-through and then it's REALLY REALLY done.

And it will be off to Nicholl. Yay!

This contest popped up on our radar, and we're planning to enter it. We've been kicking around sitcom pilot ideas for a while, and we NEED one in our portfolio, and there's nothing like a deadline to get you moving.

So this weekend we plan to have TV SITCOM PILOT DEATH MATCH and see what idea will win out. Woo.

I'm also working on an Up All Night spec. It's a pretty new show so my time might be wasted. Oh well. Everything's practice for something.

And now for something completely different...

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:02:00 +0000

I recently realized that this blog is pretty boring. It's basically just keeping track of what we're doing writing-wise, and while that's kind of helpful to ME, to hold up a yardstick and say YES, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE, it is not all that interesting to YOU, the reader.

So then I thought I should make funny posts now and then, but those might be a lot of work, since I tend to want to be illustrative with images and such.

And THEN I thought, well see, I could pre-choose images and upload them for quick and ready use into my Picasa account, and then it was like they were already there, so there was no pressure to write a blog post.

This might work.

So, for your enjoyment, let's talk about Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I was a RIDICULOUS fan of this show. I got my ENTIRE FAMILY hooked on this show.

I even had a crush on one of the characters.

I know, I know. YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHO.

You'd be wrong.

No, my crush was on an older man.

I pined over Patrick Stewart. I was like... 12? 13? But I mean... just look at him!

HOT.

Anyway, thinking about this sordid little secret of mine, I began to wonder if NOW Wil Wheaton was in fact old enough for me to have a crush on. I hear he's about 40 these days.

and I thought... hmm... no... well, how about this one:

Now see, in that photo, I think Wil is younger than in the last photo. But he is wearing a sweater vest, which makes him look more like an old man. I thought that would help. But ... I guess he's still not doin' it for me. Yet.

Maybe in ten more years?

More writing!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:01:00 +0000

I look back on the past two months, and I honestly CANNOT BELIEVE what we have accomplished. I mean, this has been one of the most stressful periods of our lives and somehow we managed to turn out a kickass action comedy.

And it's FUNNY. And it's fun. It's exactly the kind of movie I would need to see right now, if there were a movie out right now that were exactly like this, which there isn't.

I am dazed and exhausted most of the time. Today I realized I hadn't made plans to write on my lunch break, which made me feel guilty, especially because I had not thought about it AT ALL. And I should have. I actually brought my laptop to work to take notes in a meeting. I didn't bring the power cable though, and I had enough power for exactly one meeting or exactly one writing session. Not both.

So I took minutes longhand WHICH I HATE. And then did the cold open on a TV spec over my lunch break. And I laughed.

I love comedy. That is how much I love it. I will do anything to get to keep doing this. Even taking minutes longhand.

That's love, people.

Story development

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:35:00 +0000

I did have plans this week for breaking down some outlines for our Dixie comic projects, but instead I tried relaxing and vegging a little bit.

Today though I had some time, so I opened up a file and started working on some story development ideas.

I didn't think I was getting anywhere but after about 30 minutes I think I had 2/3 of an idea that I wasn't interested and 1/2 of an idea that I AM interested in.

Perhaps that's OK. :)

Anyway, I definitely need to do this more often. I don't really try to come up with concepts all that often, and I should change that.

Third draft done

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:53:00 +0000

Finished the third draft over Sunday and Monday.

So dead now.

Of course I went to my full time day job today. And instead of taking an actual lunch break, I wrote a synopsis and logline. Just because.

First draft (again, well, kinda)

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:47:00 +0000

So my writing partner hubby took the draft, put all the scenes where they belong, fixed my crazy slug lines and messy action, and added in the stuff I forgot to add. We chatted over IM and came up with about a zillion more cool things to add, and now the draft is on page 97.

After THREE DAYS of work.

That man is a machine.

And I love him. <3

So! We're on for our weekend polish. Woo!

First draft done!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:42:00 +0000

So our first draft is complete! Well, kind of.

I finished the draft on Tuesday, and then my husband is taking over from here and doing a massive cleanup of the draft.

I should say that this script is a little different for us. Generally, we write up a full outline and draft from that. But this particular action comedy script had such a clear end-goal we decided not to outline this one first.

Writing a first draft in this manner is quite possibly the most terrifying thing I've ever done. But I'm pretty happy with how it turned out in the end, despite how stressed out the whole process made me feel.

The only issue that came up at the end was that I figured out I would have to add a few scenes about the protagonist earlier in the draft, to explain something that happens in the second act. So I drafted those scenes out of order. And now my writing partner is fitting them in where they should be, and cleaning up my messiness. I tend to write ridiculous slug lines while I'm doing a first draft, like EXT. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL which is no good in real life, but fine for a draft. I'll also gloss over action sometimes so that I can get the dialogue out of my head quicker.

Hopefully he'll finish up by the end of the week, and then we'll spend the weekend going over the whole thing together. He'll sit at his computer and put the script up on our big TV and I sit on the couch and we discuss.

After that, we'll have a pretty clean first draft and we'll send it out to a few close writing acquaintances for edits.

Why I don't go to the movies

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:25:00 +0000

There was an interesting post about irritating patrons at movie theaters on the Go Into The Story blog here.

And you know what, I hadn't really thought about this before but Hollywood bemoans the fact that people just won't go to see movies like they used to. People talk about how expensive it is, or that films aren't attracting young people like they used to.

But it seems to me that no one has even bothered to address the most basic issue that I personally have.

The vast majority of theaters are plain disgusting.

If I DO decide to plunk down $20+ to see a movie with my husband, I am just about guaranteed to have to stand in line while a disinterested employee takes my ticket and directs me to the correct theater. I can be guaranteed that I will pick my way through a dirty aisle with grungy seats, the floor strewn with popcorn and the soles of my shoes sticking to ancient long-dried soda puddles.

And then, if I am so lucky, I'll get to sit by someone who has an annoying laugh, or who has decided to mix all of her perfumes together for this oh-so-special occasion, or I can enjoy having my seat kicked by the person behind me.

Even if someone is obnoxiously and obviously causing a commotion, I am guaranteed that not a single employee will come in or be anywhere around to do a damned thing about it.

So let's say I confront an obnoxious person who won't shut up. What are my options? What are the options of say a middle class couple who have paid for a babysitter for the night? Will one of them get up to summon help from the lobby? If they're lucky to find someone who will confront the offending person, they're guaranteed to miss a good chunk of the movie. Even if they were to be somehow compensated for their trouble with a "free" ticket, they're going to have to pay for the babysitter again, even if they WANTED to return to the theater. And their evening is ruined.

A delightful proposition to be sure.

Customer service means something to me. And it doesn't seem to mean ANYTHING to the vast majority of people who run theaters or work at theaters.

Screenplay stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:14:00 +0000

Today I got to page 76 on our draft. And something interesting happened at two different points.

The last time I worked on this particular action sequence (yesterday), I really liked where I left off ... so much so that I felt like the rest of the scene might be a let down.

So... I just stopped it there, and picked back up in what I think was a pretty humorous way to let the audience know that our heroes make it through.

The second one was at the start of an interview-type thing. Instead of actually having the character go through the interview and talk about things that had already happened, I cut back and forth with some other short scenes and used visual cues to make it clear that everyone was hanging on her every word, without actually writing any lines.

If you think a scene or sequence going to be dull or a chore to write, then it'll probably end up just as dull to the viewer. So make it interesting... or just skip it. :)

Which lie did I tell?

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:58:00 +0000

I recently finished another William Goldman book, Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Lots of great stories (I especially loved the stuff about Clint Eastwood), and I didn't think there was much repeated from his first book at all.

My favorite part was the end of the book, where he tossed in a first draft screenplay/outline, and then sent that out to a bunch of other screenwriters he knew and asked them to script doctor it.

I wasn't sure I'd read it, but I got caught up in his writing (surprise) and before I knew it, I was through the section and on to the comments.

And I gotta tell you, I was fucking jealous of the great feedback he got.

NOBODY said it was great. I want to make that clear. And pretty much everyone had some idea that would most definitely make the script better.

It just made me realize the deficiencies in my own reader circle.

Jeffrey and I have been writing a long time. And as we get better and better, it gets harder and harder to find people capable of providing the appropriate level of feedback. But I don't only want feedback, I want suggestions! Suggestions to improve the script! And I almost never get them.

Seriously, it is SO frustrating to never get good, concrete suggestions. When I read other scripts, I always ALWAYS give suggestions that I think will improve the script. Do I think I'm always right? No. But I treat it kind of like, what if we were a room and just kind of spitballing about the script? The suggestions I make aren't necessarily to be taken literally, but I find that just getting suggestions like that will help me to 1. identify the problem more clearly (if there is a problem) and 2. come up with my own solution.

And I don't think people are afraid of offending us. I think they honestly don't have suggestions because they don't really know what they would suggest.

At any rate, it's a great book and well worth the read.

Somehow, I turned out nine pages last week on the screenplay. I have no idea how I did it. In addition to more stuff going on in my life that won't be outlined here, my cat DID have to go to the vet again. Gaaaaaah.

Stress

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:08:00 +0000

The last two weeks have been challenging for a bunch of reasons. Both my husband and I caught the same wicked cold, crazy crap happened that needed to be dealt with right away, my cat got sick AGAIN (but thank the gods he got better without needing a $300+ vet visit), my kid has been frustrating, we had a weird flea scare with our new cat, and all of this left me feeling completely emotionally exhausted.

SOMEHOW, my husband made it to the 60 page mark on our draft last week.

And somehow, I had to write at least five pages today.

My five pages had been massively stressing me out. I am worried about where the script is going. I'm not sure what we have is good enough or strong enough, and I keep telling myself that it is a draft, and I need to just write the damned draft, and then I can change whatever the hell I want later.

Yesterday afternoon, I felt like life was crumbling down around me. It was just too many things, stacked on top of each other. I was tired. I was tired of feeling like there would be no end to all of the miserable things. I was tired of feeling like there would never be any end to weird expenses and bills.

I was tired of feeling like I would NEVER EVER GET TO WHERE I WANTED TO BE.

Which is EXACTLY WHERE MY PROTAGONIST WAS, emotionally speaking.

So I sat down and I wrote, and my protagonist LOST HER SHIT. And I loved it.

And that's how I got my five pages in today.

Dixie (and other cool stuff)

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:39:00 +0000

The donations continue to come in for our Dixie Stenberg mini comic, and we're pretty thrilled that we're very nearly 3/4 of the way there! Woo!

We'd also like to congratulate our artist, Jerry Gaylord, on being hired by BOOM! to do some cool zombie comic set at SDCC!

Jerry's doing the interiors and didn't do the cover, so don't be confused by that. :)

Also! Jerry turned in the first few rough layouts for Dixie. Here's a sneak peak. Try not to squee! Oh, who am I kidding. Squee away!

More books

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:59:00 +0000

I recently finished Writing from the Inside Out and I know a lot of writers love this book, but it really didn't have a whole lot in it for me personally.

See, the basic message is that however writers feel about writing, they're not alone in feeling this way, and it's normal to doubt yourself and blah blah blah. OK. I get that. I have a writing partner, so I actually have another person right there. I don't have to have crazy conversations by myself (not that I don't occasionally have those too, but you get what I'm saying).

But the OTHER message of the book is to be happy about the work that you do. And if you're actually working as a Hollywood writer, that's really really hard. Even William Goldman said it's really hard to be creatively fulfilled if all you do is write assignment-type work, because everybody is always changing stuff and so writers have to bend and mold themselves to something they may not personally believe in just so they can cash a check. Goldman thinks this is why people go on to be writer-directors, or writer-producers, or add the hyphenate of your choice, because for many writers, if you don't do something else, you won't be creatively fulfilled.

The cool thing is, I have that something else already! I have Pendant!

My husband and I have always remarked that even if a story we love doesn't get picked up in some form by someone in some medium, we can still create it through Pendant.

I think also that writing for Pendant has helped us learn more about what we really want to write, what actually creatively fulfills us and makes us happy. I think if we had truly broken into Hollywood before now, it might have been detrimental to our development as writers in general.

Because of Pendant, not only have we written on deadline (for years) but we've been editors and producers. We've developed stories alone, as a team, and with larger groups. We've had such a wide range of amazing experiences because of Pendant, I just... I am so grateful for what I've gotten to do so far.

And no matter what eventually happens for us professionally, that's never going to change. Pendant will always be there, giving us the freedom to do what we want to do.

I think that's pretty freakin' great.

The Dixie Stenberg mini-comic!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:26:00 +0000

The Dixie Stenberg mini-comic Kickstarter is now live!

Check it out here, won't you?

Derailed, conclusion

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:50:00 +0000

On my lunch break, I added another three pages to the draft, which brings my total to 8.5 pages for the week. We're now on page 29 and I'm done for the week. Woo!

Writer Type People

Billy Ocean wants you to pop his glovebox

I forgive you, Mark Pender

Bug-free mints

oh noooooo

SHUT UP PANTS

Hi.

WonderCon!

WonderCon!

Notes!

And now for something completely different...

More writing!

Story development

Third draft done

First draft (again, well, kinda)

First draft done!

Why I don't go to the movies

Screenplay stuff

Which lie did I tell?

Stress

Dixie (and other cool stuff)

More books

The Dixie Stenberg mini-comic!

More reading

Derailed, conclusion