In 2022 I started writing my first feature-length script.
2 years later I finished a first draft that I felt pretty good about.
I showed it to my brother who proceeded to say it was trash.
Okay, that didn’t happen. But it was a funnier story if I pretended it did.
As we walked to his local Kansas City grocery store, in windy 30 degree weather, he talked through the script with me and gave me some tips and ideas. Dialogue ideas, character ideas, all of that jazz. It was great. He helped me see through the writing in a way I hadn’t considered before. When I got back home from visiting him I went straight to editing. But then I realized something.
I needed to start over.
The first draft was reworkable, sure.
But it didn’t feel right.
I needed to begin again.
So I opened up a fresh doc and started over. From scratch.
Same characters. Same storyline. Different structure. Different script.
Well, that’s my hope. I haven’t finished it yet.
I went into the second draft inspired. I was motivated. Maybe even more than when I wrote the first draft.
I wrote the first sequence. It sounded great. Better than the beginning of the first draft.
Man this is great. At this rate I’ll finish quicker than last time!
Then…nothing.
I couldn’t get the rest of the story to paper. It wasn’t flowing.
I literally did not know what else was supposed to happen.
Why am I writing this, again? What are my characters supposed to be doing? What even is the story?
Being stuck is a powerful feeling – rendering you unable to see past your current situation. Because of that, it often feels like the end of what you’re doing.
Beginnings often hide themselves within the end.
As I sat through a pre-screening of 2023’s documentary-drama Sing Sing, my attention was caught by this quote. Hmm. Beginnings at the end? What an interesting concept.
Maybe this wasn’t the end of my script. Maybe I just need a moment away from it. See it from a different angle. Consider a different storyline.
It’s been a few months. I opened up the 2nd draft the other day, for the first time in a while, and I won’t pretend I wasn’t intimidated. I was. The rest of the story was waiting for me. And that blinking cursor is pretty scary! But there are only two options in a situation like this…do it scared, or don’t do it at all.
Alright. Doing it scared!
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I’d love to continue taking y’all through this journey of mine as I continue screenwriting in hopes of someday filming one of my scripts. If that sounds like fun to you, join me! ◡̈
Thank you so much for reading this week’s Film Friday article 🎞️✮⋆˙
and as always,
much love,
angela ₊˚⊹ᰔ
You got this 🙏🏾❤️