Yesterday was the first round of the President's Cup - the match play championship at our golf club. I can report a victory in the first round, but this is a writing blog - and so let me share how sometimes doing something completely outside of writing can keep you focused.
I was pretty nervous during the match and so I tried to focus on my breathing. That never works. I could Eat, Pray and Love myself around the world and there's no way my brain would ever focus on the breath. I needed bigger guns. I needed to focus on something I could obsess about. My script.
As I was nearing the end of the first act that little voice in the pit of my stomach had been trying to get a message through. I didn't want to hear it. I had a schedule to maintain. But, on the golf course, I finally heard it loud and clear. I had been writing my script like a romantic comedy.
This was a problem because the script isn't a romantic comedy. I'm supposed to be working on something closer to a drama, something that will tug on the heartstrings. So far, all my scenes felt very surface and funny, but where was the emotion? Or, where was the set up for emotion to be had later?
If I need to go deeper, then I need to go deeper into character. Between shots, I started to let my mind ponder what I loved about my main character? What made me like her and stay interested and root for her?
Well, I missed a tap in six incher after the little voice in the pit of my stomach answered, "Not so much." There wasn't anything about my main character that I liked? And I'm the one writing it?! Danger Will Robinson.
Okay - I'm six holes in to a tight match that's all even. I'm going to be safely away from my computer for at least three more hours. This gave me space to actually stop the denial and let this unpleasant idea settle in. I don't like my main character. There were moments, things she said, that of course I related to - but where was the compelling stuff?
Being on the golf course helped me noodle on it without being too close to the actual script. When I get in front of my well crafted scenes, I can trick myself into not seeing the flaws. But, standing on the tee of number twelve gave me the distance I needed.
I could just invite my character in to the scenes I had written and try out different ways the scene could play out. What was her attitude? What if she wasn't pissed in the scene with her sister, but so used to her crap she just ignored it? What did that say about her and their past. Stuff like that.
I closed my opponent out on 16 and couldn't wait to get off the course and back to my computer. I went back and added a few things I had brainstormed about. Today, I charged ahead and low and behold my first act ended on page 25.
So, onward. Act Two begins tomorrow. And just a warning: This is the hard part.
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