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9.06.2007

Screenplay Block

If it seems that I'm blogging more the past two weeks it's only because, well, I am. I have a severe case of screenplay block at present and I learned long ago to simply go with it when it happens. "You can't push the river" as the saying goes. To try to do so results only in more frustration...



This screenplay started as an adaptation of my book, Night Music, but that quickly changed. I've now completely abandoned that idea; although the subject matter is the same, the story itself is very, very different.

The story involves a man and a woman in modern time, and a man and a woman in the 18th century. They are to be played by the same two actors. The modern characters struggle to make sense of their past in order to move toward their future together. Confusing? Not really, if you understand that this is a story about reincarnation. But mainly it's a story about how love transcends time and circumstance and how souls are drawn to each other.

The trouble I'm having has to do with my inexperience with writing screenplays. I'm a micro-manager where writing is concerned, you see, and I find it impossible to simply write the story without getting bogged down with camera angles, background music and all that. Yeah, I'm the composer who also writes in all the bow strokes too, remember?

Sitting here, I hear a hammering on the outside of our house. They're getting ready to repaint it and I'm dreading the intrusion that will undoubtedly bring.