The first draft for Master of Inventions is done and printed. What a relief. 76 pages. Longest thing I’ve ever written.

I will wait for this weekend to go through it. I need a day or two to clear my head. I’m so excited to read it straight through. Nervous too.

I’m a few scenes away from finishing the first draft. I’m surprised I got it done so quickly. There are some major glaring errors in this thing. That’s fine right now, because my goal for the first draft is to get it on paper and get it organized.

Nothing seems funny anymore (in the script, not my real life. ‘Wah I’m turning into Morrissey!’) I’ve gone over these bits and the notes so many times the material just doesn’t pop the way it use to. That’s OK at this point, because I’m still working on a coherent structure and story. I shouldn’t sweat the details right now. The comedy will be refined in later drafts. Here’s an analogy that involves a house:

You shouldn’t worry about the wallpaper before the roof has been put on.*

I’m expecting the comedy to seem stale by the time I give drafts my reader’s circle. Between them, table reads and rehearsals, I’m confident the comedy will be refound, and perhaps some even funnier bits will come out!

We shall see…

*The roof of the house is the top part. Wallpaper is the decorative paper put on the walls on the inside of a house. Therefore, one would be more concerned first about the roof being on the house because it would keep the elements out and be a much safer place for you and your family. The roof is put on the house even before some interior walls are created! Roof=important, and done early.
Wallpaper, on the other hand, is for the decor, which is important too, but could easily be held off until the end.** Everyone wants a well decorated home, but c’mon dude, first things first!

**Definitely wait until the roof is on your house and walls have been built before you start hanging up wallpaper. I cannot stress this enough!!!!

I’m almost set up in my new apartment. Waiting on AT&T so I can stop stealing my neighbor’s wireless*, and I have some furniture to get rid of. But it’s coming together!

Got an email from Matt Kubinski, and he’s confirmed Mother’s Bar for a location to shoot! Sweet. Matt runs the Indie Incubator film fest here in Chicago, and has been very good to me and my film making career. This is the fest that got us on WTTW’s Image Union. Good guy, glad to know him.

Steve at CANTV is skeptical that we could come in and shoot on his time, but mentioned that I could pursue doing it myself. Steve had previously gone out of his way to let us shoot a music video there. He’s another good guy looking out for the lil’ guys (like me).

I believe I can take a training course at CANTV, then I can sign up for hours. If it falls through, it’s not a big deal because the CANTV set is meant to be used for infomercial type shots, and I could always cheat and shoot somewhere else. So no worries.

Tonight I start pounding the keys to spit out a first draft. All the cards and notes have been organized. I’m going for speed at this point because:
a) time is of the essence and
b) no one gets it perfect the first time.

I also feel under the gun because 2 of my very talented actor/comedians will be taken away from me, possibly forever, and I want them in this film.

I’m writing a scene a night, with 2-3 on a Saturday and Sunday. That’s 9-11 scenes a week. No doubt it will be a first draft mess, but that’s OK. There will be ample time to revise and rewrite.

I’m also compiling a list of writers/film makers/actors/overall people who’s opinion I respect**, to send a draft for review/critique. It’s important to have a group like this (size of group isn’t important. Steven King writes for his wife Tabby) to share works in progress with. More on this later.

OK, I’m off to Target, then writing the first scene!

*some one in this building named their wireless signal ‘Milf Island’. Classy!
**is that the proper use of ‘who’s’?