Characters in Search of a Point

My days have been full of writing – at least with thoughts full of thinking about writing. I’ve committed to delivering a 1st draft of the second episode of the sitcom today. The routine seems to be me procrastinating for a spell, then digging in, writing for a few hours, procrastinating some more, then forcing myself to keep writing. You could say I’m on schedule to meet my target.

This last episode was a tricky one. I had a basic premise, but it took me awhile to flesh it out. I tried breaking it into an outline, and that was helpful, but there remained a lot of holes that I wasn’t quite sure how to fill. I decided to dive in and write the teaser. Then I deleted everything I wrote, and came up with something different. From there I abandoned my second attempt, and rewrote my first attempt. The dialogue was completely different, but the setting remained the same. I also repurposed a few gags from my initial attempt.

It’s like I had to spend time with these characters, improvising different scenes, so I could learn what makes them tick. I worry sometimes their voices blend too much into my previous characters. Thus far, I think I found the handle.

In other news, my distributor sold my documentary series, InJustice, to a broadcaster in the Middle East. I had Jazzy on the phone on Friday, going through my hard drives, tracking down the files they need. They’re paying in US currency, and with the Canadian dollar so low, I appreciate the exchange.

Today has more writing in store. I also need to set up some meetings, while following up on others. Lots to do. Deadlines to meet. Wish me luck.

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