Day 2 – 7am, 6/23/11

Technically it’s day three. I’m still counting it as two as I haven’t gone to sleep in the mean time. Hopefully that still works in the grand scheme of things.

I’ve taken to reading Douglas Adam’s “Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul” whenever I have a break, or stop to eat rather than watch a video as is my usual routine. I’m reminded of Stephen King’s often quoted line, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.” I suppose that’s the logic of reading a book while writing a screenplay in a week. There is something to be said of Adam’s word play as well. I’ve always adored his work as it has always been, if nothing else, clever.

If I hated myself yesterday, I’m repulsed by myself today. I meant to wake up at 8am. Instead I wake up at 4:30pm. There’s no excuse for it. I’ll have to be better from now on. No more slip ups.

Bach’s minuet in G major has become my way into writing today. I try to stay away from classical when writing as it has a habit of putting it to sleep and I have a habit of scolding it for doing so, however, this particular song is different. It stirs inspiration within me for whatever reason and helps me to begin the day. I’m sure tomorrow will be different, but for today, it is Bach.

Today I finished up the first act and started working towards getting well into the second. Unlike yesterday where I simply kept a log, I have decided to actually write about writing a little bit more while I venture on this fantastic enterprise, so here goes. When crafting my first act, I like to set it up thusly: Establish tone and setting in first paragraph. Finish setting up world by page five. Have the first inciting incident (Plot point, reversal, what have you), by page eight to ten. By page fifteen have your point of no return (Campbell’s “Writer’s Journey” talks about the point of no return as the point at which your protagonist must venture on this adventure (read: story) or else). I like to end my act one with another reversal by page twenty-two to twenty-five, then the second act soon follows. Tomorrow I’ll get into a little more of how I handle my ‘second act slump’, as that’s what I’ll be dealing with. I realize not a lot of people actually use the three act structure, or any structure at all when writing. I find for first drafts at least, three act structure provides an easy road map. Roads, much like everything else in existence, are easier to destroy once they exist. For now, the first draft is my concern.

I’ve just managed to reach my page goal today and no further. I may have to finally give in and start drinking coffee. I’m averaging around 300mg of caffeine. More will be needed since I’ve built up a tolerance long ago. I’m having trouble focusing. The pace is killing me. I used to be much faster than this. The problem is I’ve gone too long without really sitting down and writing every day like I used to. Never again, say I!

DAILY TALLY:

Pages: 26 (Goal: 25) – 29% complete

Scenes: 29

Words: 4347

TOTAL CAFFEINE CONSUMED:

Mountain Dew (12oz): 5

AMP Energy(16oz): 4

Red Bull (8.4oz): 1

PAGES FROM DAY 2. Full of spelling/grammar errors. I will correct these after I finish the draft. Until then, my apologies.