11/23/08

SAVAGES

Details here. Gonna go sleep now.

11/21/08

Pictures pictures pictures








Forgot to post these from my last trip...


11/17/08

A cheer

I finished the first draft of a pilot last week. It was an idea I loved, but in those last hours of writing I began to experience considerable story fatigue. I gave the script to a few trusted friends and put the thing away over the weekend.

This morning I re-read my draft, and I'm quite pleased. I've already made some changes to tighten and focus things and I think I can have a REAL first draft in another day or so. And what's most important? I'm excited about the script again -- and I still love the idea.

Bye-bye, story fatigue. Hello, new possibilities...

11/6/08

An overstuffed mailbox -- and DVR

I just got back in town from a long trip. There was much research, much writing, and some other work as well. Now I'm slogging through the enormous pile of mail, papers, magazines and trades that piled up in my absence.

I notice Entertainment Weekly had an article on five ways to fix HEROES. And boy does that show need fixing -- it's another thing that has been stacking up in my absence: all those unwatched episodes clogging up my DVR.

I used to love this show. I used to wait eagerly for each weekly installment. Yes, last season was bad, but the few episodes I saw this year were slightly improved. There were even moments of the old brilliance. But I'm still not watching. Why not?

I think the problem lies in those moments. They remain moments. Moments that are never developed further. Moments that give way far too quickly to other, less interesting (though perhaps more explosive) moments. A show cannot be made of moments, even exciting ones.

Take for instance the scene where Claire discovers her father is working with (gasp!) -- Sylar. That's a great moment. But then a second later we move on to daddy trying to kill Sylar, then on to Claire trying to save him (why, exactly?), then on to... something else entirely.

I wanted that first moment back. I wanted it developed. Hell, I wanted an entire episode about the relationship between Claire and her father and their former mortal enemy Sylar and how they can possibly forgive and move forward -- or not. I would watch that.

Note to Heroes: LET YOUR MOMENTS BREATHE.

I learned this myself recently. I packed a pilot outline I was working on with so much dang plot that I was giving myself a headache. Luckily, wiser heads prevailed and I removed and stored away great gobs of plot for the rest of season one, and maybe even some of season two (there was A LOT of plot). Now my characters have room to breathe. To interact. To react to and from the plot I have left. I actually have scenes and arcs now, and not just moments.

Second note to Heroes: ABANDONING THOSE GOOD MOMENTS IN FAVOR OF NON-STOP ACTION REEKS OF DESPERATION.

Nobody wants to watch a desperate show. It's embarrassing. HEROES was always a fantastical show, but it was a confident fantastical show. Now all the flipping around between stories and plots just seems nervous. Like a kid jumping up and down and shouting 'like me, like me, like me.'

I want to like you, HEROES. I really do. Just relax already, and tell the stories you've got. If I like them, I'll stick around. If not... throwing in six more stories I don't like either isn't going to help.