Screenwriting : Wednesday Weigh in... by Shaunda Young

...ugh! Weigh in's... (Just what I need). Shaunda, I agree with editing. However, my biggest challenge right now is I'm working on three different scripts and I'm hoping that I can focus on ONE soon enough.

My challenge is actually writing my script out. LOL I do stand up comedy and also do a YouTube show that I host and write..and film...and edit. So just sitting down and writing a script has been the biggest challenge for me. Oh and getting someone to look at finished scripts and filming them. That, too, has become a challenge I need to work more on.

Maybe Stephen Barber I could help you a little bit with working multiple projects in screenwriting. You can use it if you want. What I do is if I have plot ideas I write them down then put them in an envelope or a cup. Then when I am ready to write, I pull one out and only write that one. Leave the others until I can get to them. I have done this and, for me, this technique has worked. If you want to give it a shot, by all means go ahead. Happy writing.

My man, Cisco! Love your energy and passion, bro. Huge congrats on getting coverage. That's what's up. I'm weighin in with you :) You can give your lead a break, but things can't get easier after the first act. Story is all about escalation - gotta have it. I'd go back to my character profile, check their flaws, etc., and ask, what are the worse things that could happen to them? ... This helps me generate conflict in ACT2. Thanks for the add. Hope this helps

@Richard-- Thanks! I'll try anything once. Especially if it works for others.

Stephen - "anything once", hot-shot plane pilot? The Hot Air Balloon Fest is coming up here in Las Vegas in a month or so. Let's DOOOOOOOOO IT! I could always use a steady hand on the controllers while I'm hurling insults at the other participants! THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS OF UMBRIA, ITALY.

I'm actually terrified of heights, Bill. There's not a chance I'm going to be of help to you with all the drugs it would take for me to get on board. However, if you put a motor on that sucker and we can generate thrust with some horsepower, I might think about it.

arggggg...getting the thoughts in my head, onto the paper before the air changes them. There seems to be some mysterious space/vortex between my head and the keyboard...I thinks it's called '2nd thought', or maybe 'logic', I don't know, not even sure it makes sense to anyone else...but every once in a while I triumph over myself...that's a challenge I like winning! Thanks Shaunda ; )

Stephen: an airplane pilot scared of heights??? Who you crappin', Stephen? That's like saying "Hi, my name is Stephen Barber"....or....."Hi, my name is Shawn Speake"...or....."Hi, my name is Richard Botto"........"and I'm scared of hard work!" Nice try, Stephen. You did make me choke on my marinated artichokes and black bean salad when I read that, though. Good think my monkey knows how to do the Heimlich, albeit a little roughly. I have more lives than a feral cat colony. Scared of heights. Heh-heh. I owe you one, bro - you're gonna get it! THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS OF UMBRIA, ITALY.

Dan and Stephen and anyone else: You really need to take my weekend seminar "How to Overcome Your Fear of Heights Without Really Crying." It's a lot of fun and very simple, actually. + We meet at my spacious cabin at majestic Big Bear Lake. + After some great recreational fun, I take you for a short scenic ride a quarter of the way up Bertha Peak. + We get out of the jeep, and I rub peanut butter all over you. + The bears get a sniff of the peanut butter, and you embark quickly up the trail to the Peak. What makes this seminar so successful is that the bears are third generation and very well-trained, and don't go anywhere near the peak. Well, not most of the time. But hey - what is life, when you really think about it, without a good bear chase up a mountain once in a while? And you'll probably get a script out of the experience at no extra cost! You guys are gonna love it!!! THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS OF UMBRIA, ITALY.

@Bill -- You're nutz! But I love it. I'd be up for that seminar, actually.

Dan: I love those news reports/Youtube videos of the hot tub bears in places like Monrovia and other cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Of course, I wouldn't love them if they were in my hot tub. I used to see bears in the foothills there, and even in Studio City and Laurel Canyon. Big cats, too. All those green trails in the L.A. metro area are pretty connected to each other. Here in Las Vegas, I live a mile from the mountains. There is a pretty big-sized coyote that spends time in my back yard every night. I think he's in love with a big statue we have back there, and he has started to stare me down a few times before jumping over the back yard wall. I'm gonna beat him like he stole something from me pretty soon if he gets the chutzpah to take a leap at me. But if you don't see me posting here for a while....you'll know what happened. Coyote 1, Bill 0.

Dan: I use First Nature Premium Concentrate Hummingbird Nectar. Not only does it make the birdies do a Happy Dance when they're pollinating my roses, but it tastes damn good over shaved ice, too. I'm like a farmer, Dan - I don't waste a nuthin'!