Freedom!

... to get some work done!

I'm off work: from my job-job at least.

So, where to start?

Am starting by reviewing my previously written material. Then character development. I found this set of questions online months and months ago (sorry, can't remember where, so no link). This seems as good as place as any to begin.

(yeah, yeah, character analysis 101, but what the hell.)

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Essential Questions about a Character:
(Always answer each question in the first person)

1. Describe yourself in three sentences.
2. How did you get your name? Do you like your name?
3. How old are you? Do you like your age?
4. Who is your best friend? Who are your enemies? What makes an enemy and what makes a friend for you?
5. Do people generally like you? How much money do you have? Are you happy with that?
6. Describe something significant that happened to you yesterday.
7. Describe something significant that happened to you in your past.
8. What do you want? What do you need? What is stopping you from getting what you want?
9. What do you like about yourself? What do you dislike?
10. Any religion?
11. If you could be someone else, who would you be?
12. Who is your hero? Who is your role model?
13. What is your favorite fairy tale?
14. What do you hope for in the future?
15. What is your greatest fear?
16. What is your greatest dream?
17. What makes you angry?
18. What do you worry about?
19. What is your ideal death?
20. What’s your worst death?
21. I am obsessed with…
22. I can still hear my mother saying…
23. I can still hear my father saying…
24. I am like …
25. My motto in life is …
26. I never have …
27. I always …
28. Describe your living environment…
29. What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
30. What do you see in the mirror? Do you like what you see?
31. How do you get ready to go out?
32. Are you loved?
33. Who do you love?
34. Are you happy with your life? Do you have the ability to change it?
35. What animal are you most like?

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Update: 4pm.

Okay, so I didn't use the above list at all.

Those questions are more general fine-tuning questions. My script problems are a little more broad than that. I might come back to these sometime later, but today I needed a more focused strategy.

I've started placing my script in real time, as in a start date and an end date for the story. Earlier drafts play with time, i.e. scenes are not ordered chronologically from first to last. Which I like and am planning to keep. However I need to have a really firm idea of what is actually happening in order to make sure everything makes sense.

Furthermore, my general wishy-washy attitude about time has resulted in wishy-washy characters. By firming up exactly what happens when will help me clarify each character's objectives for each scene. You can only know what you want if you understand where you're coming from...

I'm also discovering weaknesses in the plot. "Discover" is not really the right word, as I already knew that there were weaknesses in there... this is more like pinpointing them, I guess. It's a kind of unraveling effect -- just pulling on a string and the whole outfit is coming apart.

Now, this post may sound negative, but I'm actually relieved as I write this. Don't worry, I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water. I feel like I'm making progress, and although I have a lot of work ahead of me, I feel like I can solve the problems that are unfolding in front of me. It's been a good day so far.

And I'm having fun, to boot.