Today, I hit the midpoint of my new spec script and mapped out the last half of Act II, about two weeks behind schedule.  It's funny - even though I'm working in a very different genre, this script bears so much in common with Digit.  It strikes me as an obvious story to tell, and like Digit, I'm delving into social commentary here, this time with an axe to grind.  These characters are broad, as they must be in satire, and one of the benefits is that they always do what we as an audience want them to.  Archetype becomes something to cherish in films like this, instead of something to fight tooth and nail.  It's refreshing.  As a director, working with actors on a piece like this feels like the easy way out.  I prefer to have my characters taking left turns when we want them going right.  It's more work for the actors, and it digs so much deeper.  At the same time, as a writer, something like this is like a vacation.  It frees me up to play with visuals, big themes, and fun.  It lets me play, which is something I have an easier time doing as a writer than as a director.

Looking back, I could say the same thing about the script for Restorer, but in that case the archetypes are all mine.  With Digit and this new gig, which I'm calling The Education, my archetypes are recognizable and familiar.  They have to be, or the satire wouldn't work.  Besides, that's what makes these scripts accessible.  That's why they're good spec scripts.  The stories are easy to "get," while at the same time giving us important, passionate stories, set in vivid worlds we didn't think to imagine.

When I finish the script and register it, I'll post a logline.  In the meantime, I think I'd like just to comment a bit on the experience.

As I work through this story, I'm getting great notes and thoughts on Receiver, and while I'm writing them all down, that script is on hold until my rough draft on this spec is finished. 

Likewise, SkyChasers is on the back burner.  right in between my afterthoughts on the rules and my beginning the character creation process, this new script temporarily stole the thunder.  When I put SkyChasers down, I was thinking about the system of rank they use.  I want it to resemble the rank system in the Marine Corps, for sure.  Words like Gunnery Sergeant and Master Sergeant strike me as SkyChaseresque.  I'll get back to it.  Sitting beside me is my little tobacco tin from the '40's, full of SkyChaser dice.  It's quietly reminding me of how much I love that world. 

When I wrote Digit, I was moving between homes.  I was behind on that script as well, even though scenes seemed to flow pretty easily.  There's another similarity.  Right now, I think I need to relax and trust myself.  I'm disciplined enough to finish this in a timely fashion.  I need to remember to enjoy it.

So many writers declare that they hate writing, but love having written.  Not so for me.  When I'm writing, I'm on set, watching my actors perform.  Already I'm in the story, and the first draft is as full of twists and turns as any revision or outline.  I get surprised all the time by the choices my characters make, and I love it. 

In a story like this, it's the little things that catch me off guard.  This story comes in broad strokes.  We know how it ends.  In the meantime, my characters draw on knowledge, passion, and sophistication that's not always necessary to a story like this, but which makes it so much more honest.  I love them for it.  I can take the time to savor it.  So many of my stories put characters through the wringer, forcing them to redefine themselves.  Even though this story is full of human suffering, it's suffering the characters expect, and so do we.  That makes it easier to take, and much more of a plot element than a source of trauma.  It makes it more fun, and less like work.

I guess my director brain just loves work, is all.

In the meantime, I don't have to rush my play.

With the real trouble of Act II plotted out and pretty much just the details of the resolution lurking over the horizon, I feel like I'm over a hump.  This script should be written pretty soon, and I'll be back to draft 5 of Receiver and my other ongoing projects, while I revise it.

Beyond The Education, spec-wise, there's a historical adventure I've been researching, and potentially an adaptation of a fun, whimsical children's novel I may be able to aquire the rights for.  We'll see about all that.  Until I'm getting paid for writing regularly enough to discontinue my finance work, I think I should have at least a few specs in the works at all times.  These are all good stories with broad, unique appeal.  That balance is exactly what studio execs and producers look for.  I know.  I am one.

Everyone likes to play on set.  Giving them the scripts that enable that kind of atmosphere can only engender good will.  I wonder why I'm so intense with my own work.  Why is it only the stories like Receiver and Eclipse that make me lust for actors?  I love watching Joss Whedon and Hudson Hawk and John Lasseter.  I'm not saying those films aren't work - I know they are.  At the same time, they inspire such a sense of play in their actors.  I've been thinking about this a lot.  I saw Green Card, and realized Peter Weir and I suffer from a similar affliction.  I only hope I'm as good as he is in getting to the bones of my intensity.  I'll start there, and work outwards.

I'll learn to play around.  I'll shoot Two Bits at the Grand with my dear friends close by.  For more on Two Bits, see www.8sidedfilms.com, under the "Development" section.  That's the film I'm saving to educate myself in the art of play.  It's far enough away from my conventional storytelling sensibilities that it liberates me.

In the mean time, I'll open up playtime for others, and be glad for the money and the goodwill.  Digit, The Stormcrow, possibly Cheap Noir, and soon The Education will give directors, designers, and actors the chance to relax, flex, and twist their sense of archetype - to ham it up just enough to have a great time and make a great movie.

It's a good life.  I love this life.

So yes, I'm taking my time with The Education.  If anybody reading this has the good sense to get on board and pay me, I'll gladly work on your timetable.  Till then it's my party, spanky!