Out of the Box

I'm starting this post early this morning because if I don't, I know that I won't be getting to it today, and that kind of negates the purpose of having a daily blog. My topic for the day is thinking outside of the box. This is not something that I generally struggle with, because I have a great group of friends that constantly challenge me to think beyond the tried-and-true. But as I've been working on my upcoming script frenzy challenge, it's become increasingly difficult for me to twist the classic fairytale with my own original mark. I love my first act, don't get me wrong. It blends pieces of my favorite story with something much more realistic and, what can I say, I think it's going to be hilarious.

I especially love how I end the first act. It's such a "oh hell no" moment that just makes you angry that that is where I stopped it. And I love that. I love being so into a story, that when the ending comes, it makes you groan because you want more. And for the people I've let in on my planning process, they give me the same reaction. But here's my problem. I have no Act II. Nothing. I know how the whole play will end, and I have a few ideas on how to reel the audience back into it after a fifteen minute intermission, but I don't know how the conflict will end, or even how my heroine discovers herself. I really believe in this story, and I'm working so very hard on it because I am so active in our community theater, and the director said that he would read it and consider allowing me to direct it. Can you believe it? So I have this extra standard place on both my story, and myself, and I know that that plays a part in my inability to crank this thing out.

I am a perfectionist, and sorta OCD when it comes to my writing. I can't just allow myself to make mistakes, which messes up my flow. During NaNoWriMo, I was daily challenged to ignore those red and green squiggly lines in order to get my word count up. For Script Frenzy, it's a matter of page numbers. 100 pages of a script in 30 days. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, especially when you factor in that you have to write it in a script fashion instead of a story.

You know, like this:

JANE enters fifties diner. TOM is behind bar serving customers.

Jane:

Hi there, Tom!

Tom:

Hi Jane! How are you?

Jane:

I'm doing quite well, and yourself?

And so on and so forth. That takes up a lot more space than having to write:

Jane enters the fifties-style diner, pushing open the glass door trimmed with gleaming stainless steel. As the door swings shut behind her, she catches the eye of her best friend Tom. Standing behind the diners bar, he waves, a smile lighting up his face. Serving one of the customers their ordered food, Tom moves over to where Jane has taken a stool.

"Hi there, Tom!" Jane says, her voice light and bubbly.

"Hi Jane! How are you?" Tom replies, grabbing a menu for her.

"I'm doing quite well, and yourself?" Jane asks, sliding the menu towards her, absently deciding what she'll order.

See the difference? I hate writing in script fashion, but I have to admit that it does eat up space with it's simplicity. So now, with only three days left until my frenzied writing begins, I will be here, in my box, searching for my lost nuggets of literary gold.