The new project is an attempt at a screenplay. I expected some difficulties learning the new format, having never done a screenplay before. Another problem has caused more trouble, and I’m not completely sure why. It will require a new approach.
My delay is something in my brain. I sit to write and everything goes blank. Normally this would just be writer’s block. Previous bouts writer’s block have prevented me from figuring out what happens next in the story. This is different, though.
I know the whole story I am trying to tell. I’ve watched it in my head as though watching the movie. I know the scenes, the characters, every line of dialog. I should be able to get that written without any trouble. When I sit to do so, it all goes away. When I walk away from the keyboard, everything is back.
My guess is that there is some sort of apprehension about taking on a new medium. This is my first real screenplay. I experimented by writing a couple of short, television commercial-length items just to get a feel for the document structure. They went smoothly. I haven’t done anything else.
In addition to writing a new way, there is the business itself. I’m not really a Hollywood person. Much of the glamour of the movie industry holds no interest for me. I would rather be an anonymous person in the woods than be a public person showing up at parties. I have to ask myself, is this a world in which I want to do business?
The best approach would be to ask: why do I want to write a screenplay? Maybe better, what do I want to accomplish? Those may or may not be equivalent questions. Most writing comes out of me because my brain needs to create stories to explore complex models. I get the writing out of me and I feel better.
At the same time, time runs quickly and retirement age approaches. I would like to have something I can do for income once “retired” and writing would be a good option as long as I can turn a profit. Novelists can make reasonable money if their books sell. According to the Writers Guild of America, the bottom end of a low budget screenplay can pay almost as much as I make as a community college professor. Given my normal writing speed, this is a skill that I definitely need for my retirement.
As an experiment, I plan to write the story of my screenplay in more of a narrative form. Once completed, I will then reformat it to fit the screenplay format. As mentioned, I can see the entire movie in my head and know what needs to be there. I hope that this will trick my brain so I don’t get the blockage.
Wish me luck.