My Words Hung In The Air

As previously mentioned, I joined a screenwriting group, a weekly gathering of very solid writers. One of the cool things is that once a month each writer gets the chance to hear actors (there are a number of talented up-and-comers who show up each week) read 25 pages of their script out loud.

Last night was my night. In fact, it was the first time I'd ever heard anyone read anything out loud that I had ever written, something that was long, long overdue, being that I'd long heard that it was truly a good thing for screenwriters to actively seek out.

As experiences go, it was pretty cool. The dialogue seemed to flow pretty well, while any repetitive lines in the dialogue and the scene description jumped out. The actors had some fun with the dark comedy of the material, which was nice to see, and afterward everyone there gave me a lot of really good notes about what didn't work.

I suspected that this would be a good experience, but now I'm sold. There's definite benefit in getting this new POV of one's work. It also made it clear that my first 30 pages were still rather rough, and that there is a lot that needs to be reworked for me to find the best story in the material, but I knew that going in, and now I have more of a sense of where the script's current shortcomings are.

Still, people seemed very intrigued with the premise, and had no idea where I was heading with it; in fact, several of the other writers worried that I had written myself into a corner. Since I know exactly where it is all heading, this made me happy; the fact that they were wondering where it was going next, and had no idea, can only be a good thing.

It all gives me a lot more motivation to have pages ready for my next session, a discipline-goose that is always welcome.