Wednesday, March 19, 2014

A Sense of Occasion

I don't know why, but I always seem to need some kind of occasion to relaunch this blog business...

Okay so, what exactly is "occasional" about this particular Wednesday in late March...?

Well, even though the Sochi Paralympics ended only a few days ago, I don't feel right calling it: The Approximate End of My Personal Olympic Break. 

And your run of the mill Hump Day doesn't really cut it either.

With the first day of spring arriving tomorrow, I guess we could always go with: Equinox Eve.

Or: 

The 48-hour Run Up to Wes Anderson's Latest Cinematic, Cerebral Confection Hitting a Big Screen Near Me!! 

Or: 

Groundhog Day.

Now that one has a ring to it. Because, in actual fact, earlier today I finally stuck my head out of the hole I've been burrowed in all winter long, and saw... 

...a finished script!

Well, at least as finished as any as-yet unprinted, unread full pass on a first draft of a second draft script ever is...

But still - I have just typed the words, FADE OUT. 

And all of 109 pages back, I have the words FADE IN typed at the top of Page 1. 

And in between, there's a whole bunch of black marks that hold the promise of a fully formed, filmable story with a beginning, middle and end. 

But with only about 10 days left before my submission deadline, I still have a long way to go before getting to my official version. 

I'll start with printing this one out. 

But I won't read a word of it until tomorrow morning - when I'm fresher and more adequately caffeinated. And then... well then I'll see exactly how much of what I've had in my head this whole time actually made it to the page. 

Then there's a day or two where I won't do much of anything but freak out.

Then I'll re-read to see what actually is on the page, and try and get that and my mind more closely aligned. Which leaves me with the editing, the re-writing, the re-reading, the editing, the reorganizing, the reconciling, the counselling, the re-writing, then, maybe - just in time for the deadline - the letting go...

First things first though. Right now, I'm off to have a little sushi dinner and raise a glass - to my own personal Groundhog Day.