Last summer my daughter asked me to write some monologues she could perform or direct, which I love doing. One acts and monologues come rather easily to me. However as I sat down to write this particular day, I realized that what was flowing was so much more than a one person scene. So I continued to allow the ideas and words to pour from me and ended up with what was the beginning of an interesting high school drama that would offer a message of hope and encouragement to struggling Christian teenagers. Whew, that was a mouthful to say.
So we are embarking on new territory. And I am in the midst of cultivating a screenplay. How is this different from writing a drama I ask myself? Well, I am not completely sure yet. Of course production will look different, rehearsals, set, tech, all these things will revolve around film rather than stage.
But this initial process? For me it seems quite the same. I have a story line and I know the beginning, middle, and end. I have very interesting and even colorful characters and the dialogue is developing quite easily, I love writing dialogue, LOVE IT. That is what comes the easiest, the conversations that make up the lives and shape the characters for my audience, the witticism, the banter, the verbal sparring, these are my favorite parts of writing. For me the rest is just gravy. I jump right into the middle of the meat of the script and then fill in the rest.
When I am writing a play I can actually see the scenes on stage as I put them to paper. But this time was so different. I pictured my character in their more natural surroundings, her car, the hallways and gym at her high school, the parking lot, the emergency room. I was seeing all of this, before I even knew it was going to be a film.
As I was writing, the vision was not the same. So it became more and more clear to me that, yes, I am writing a screenplay.
Now doesn't that sound exciting! (Stay tuned for excerpts and story previews.)
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