A Sweeter World (than this)

You're wondering, How's that big ol Butcherhouse adaptation going, Malice?

It's... coming along. I was officially "commenced" last week, which means I'm technically into my second week of the first-draft writing phase. So, what am I doing to procrastinate besides watching television, playing videogames and blogging...?

I'm revisiting screenplays I've already finished...

There's purpose here. It's getting in touch with how I managed to do this before. In addition, I'm getting contacted by managers/agents who love the play and would like to read more of my work. (I still have no idea how these people got a copy of my play to read, but I'll be sure to blog about that once the mystery's cracked.)

So anyway, there are two completed screenplays I'd be willing to show people, but I wouldn't dare send them out before rereading them and doing a bit of clean-up.

One of these is a script that was originally called "The Sugar Fix", which I've decided to rename "A Sweeter World" because it sounds like something more likely to be produced. It's a children's fantasy movie, unabashedly in the vein of The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Never-Ending Story. I wrote it many years ago, primarily to test how quickly I could crank out a full-length screenplay. Main reason I chose fantasy was I figured I wouldn't have to do any time-consuming research -- I'd just make shit up.

Hadn't read it in a while, but I'm shockingly charmed by it so far. I charm myself! It's a strange thing, reading something you've got so much distance from. I wrote it but it's as if somebody else wrote it. (Somebody else DID write it, coz I died a few years ago.) It's encouraging to me to know that I managed to write something that reads so cleanly, in such a short space of time. I know I'll reach some sections I'm going to have to fix, but I know this one's in good shape. And hopefully it'll give me some ideas for how to charm up my Butcherhouse script.

The other script that I'm going to be revisiting is called "Dystopia". My first full-length screenplay. My first horror screenplay. That one is due for a MAJOR overhaul. I wrote it in college and it received some very strong notices back then -- and back then, for a time, I thought it'd be my ticket into the major leagues -- but now I recognize all the problems with it. So many problems, I'm surprised that it received ANY positive notices, in hindsight. But I am better equipped to fix it now. And I've got a stronger motivation to fix it. So, that's what I'll do.

But yes, you're right. BUTCHERHOUSE is my primary focus. It's what I'm getting paid to do right now. I'm still finding my groove with it, but I think I've just overcome an initial hurdle with it. I've just got to shove on. For me, progress occurs in unwieldy spurts. I've got three months for this phase and I'd like to be able to crank out a rough-rough draft in about a month. That should give me ample time to rework and obsess over it before I need to submit it as my first official draft. I've got to make a good impression with it.

No pressure...