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Lesson 1
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6 Replies
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David Wickenden Teaser/ High Speed Writing
Writing the teaser was a breeze. The outline did it all. I just embellished. Very happy with the first draft. When I write, I normally vomit the entire novel or screenplay non-stop, so I have very little urge to think about editing. I wrote 5.5 pages in about an hour and a half.
What did I learn from doing this assignment?
Outlines work well. This is the 2<sup>nd</sup> time I use an outline. I first learned about it in the thriller course. The writing of that script has gone extremely fast, as did the teaser. I will also look at using an outline for my novels. I have always called myself a pantser, which is to write by the seat of my pants. It has worked for me, but never this fast.
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Module Four – Lesson 1 TEASER
David Thompson’s Teaser / High Speed Writing
What I learned doing this assignment is that what I’d already had down for the Teaser still works. I always work from an outline, I use Scrivener initially to craft the outline (chapters for novels and books, Acts and scenes for screenplays) and I know it makes the whole process move rapidly.
Here’s my current draft of the “Cold Open” or Teaser (formatting lost, of course)
EXT. ROADWAY – SUNSET
…the setting sun. Huge orange ball on the horizon. Dust billowing like flames.
TILT down to a road stretching off into the distance. Heat blooms in waves off the pavement.
SFX: A ROAR OF ENGINES – LOUD.
A RED MOTORCYCLE flies past followed by a BLACK CUSTOM CHOPPER. They are racing full out. Flying at us from the sunset.
The noise is deafening.
Tisiphone wears the black chopper, it’s an extension of herself. Her hair streaming behind her.
The setting sun now gives her a halo of fire.
FALLOWS is a rough biker type covered in tattoos. His attire says “Don’t fuck with me”.
His round, red face is contorted with fear. Rear view mirror shows Tisiphone
His eyes widen in panic. He twists the throttle and his motorcycle accelerates. He looks up and a CURVE looms. He loses control.
The red chopper twists and tumbles violently.
Fallows lands HARD, flips across the landscape. It has to hurt.
He looks back over his shoulder and begins to move, slowly, painfully, somehow still alive. Face BLOODY. Eyes WIDE.
Tisiphone stops, watches Fallows briefly as he crawls.
She slips off the chopper.
She is lit from behind. All we see is a silhouette. Huge WINGS appear. They spread outward.
Fallows crawls slowly, looking back, eyes wide. His hands grab at the dirt. One hand hits a black boot. Tisiphone’s boot.
She kneels next to him. Fallows’ bloody eyes widen and follow Tisiphone as she examines him. His eyes pegged to her wings.
Tisiphone grabs his hair and pulls his head back.
TISIPHONE
I can’t believe you missed it. The only tree for miles.
Tisiphone twists his head to look at a tree.
TISIPHONE
Oh, take a good look.
She picks up a small twig then stands.
TISIPHONE
Remember now? That’s the tree that broke your brother’s neck.
She snaps the twig.
She crouches over Fallows.
TISIPHONE
(holds thumb and finger up)
Missed it by that much!
She stands and looks at Fallows.
FALLOWS
How the hell do you know…
TISIPHONE
He told me. He told me all about you.
FALLOWS
What…?
Tisiphone shakes her head and points.
A tall man appears. His head lays at an odd angle. There’s an etheric glow around him.
TISIPHONE
Oh hun, he told me. Everything.
FALLOWS
What…? He can’t! He’s dead!
Tisiphone shakes her head and points.
A tall man appears. His head lays at an odd angle. There’s an etheric glow around him.
TISIPHONE
Yes, he is.
She looks at his broken leg. Bloody bone poking through fabric.
TISIPHONE
And you are in no shape to make the run again. Only one thing for it.
FALLOWS
What do you want? Money? I’ll pay you.
She crouches over Fallows and puts her hands on his cheeks.
TISIPHONE
Hun, I just want what your brother wants. Retribution.
She kneels again and grasps the top of his head. She forces him to look at her.
She slowly twists his neck – we see tortured pain on his face – and then we hear a CRACK as she quickly snaps it.
His eyes are locked on hers.
TISIPHONE
That’s not what really killed him. It was the snakes. Lots and lots of snakes.
She stops and looks around.
TISIPHONE
Damn! Never one when you need one. Oh, well.
Her arm lifts up and an enormous RATTLESNAKE is twisting in her hand, its tail buzzing.
She drops it on his back. He screams as the snake begins STRIKING.
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Well, you got my attention, David. Looks like a fun ride ahead.
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Wayne’s High-Speed Writing
What I learned doing this assignment is how easy it is to simply copy and paste an outline onto the script formatting program and write a script using Copy-Paste more often than not.
Tell us your experience using the High Speed Writing Rules.
I didn’t completely resist some word smithing for better clarity or better articulate important expose information, and still didn’t spend more than estimated time. -
Moses Quainoo
MODULE 4-LESSON 1: TEASER AND HIGH-SPEED WRITING.
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
Assignment
Write your TEASER. Do the first draft as fast as possible, focusing on the High-Speed Writing Rules. Tell us your experience using the High-Speed Writing Rules as you wrote your teaser.
Post your assignment in the forums.
TEASER<b style=”background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>-FIRST DRAFT
Algiers -Algeria.
0327 hours, August 13, 1979
INT – THEATRE -NIGHT
Start: A Ballerina comes to perform on stage. Who is the Ballerina on the stage?
INT – ROOM -NIGHT
Challenging Situation: The BALLERINA busts the front door down. She enters
The BALLERINA engages the knife fighter, blocking with her left arm and dodging his forward thrust. The fighter drops on his haunches to strike, but The BALLERINA lifts her knee-high to stop it. She continues with a stealthy kick to the mouth and sees blood soak his lower gum.
Conflict: She meets a ferocious knife attack. The BALLERINA rolls over, dodges three returning streams of gunfire which miss her, Fio, and rises to her feet as the armed killer recoils from the dog.
The BALLERINA drives a series of hard chops in him. He utters a sound and drops flat, overpowered. He isn’t a Kung Fu fighter. This militant bleeds. She ties him.
Action: The BALLERINA defends herself. She attacks a militant and floors the suspect in seconds for TeamLOVEDAY. She captures one.
The second-armed killer escapes through the window from Fio.
Finish: She shoots the other gunman with many bullets, ripping through his body.
Sanaa-Yemen.
EXT – DESERT- DAY
Start:
Challenging Situation:
Conflict:
Action:
Finish: Team AC captures their suspects.
The Do-Wells emphasizes team spirit.
INT – AKOSOMBO CAMP BUBBLEROOM VAN – NIGHT
Challenging Situation: ‘Core’ Mission Supervisor and third-in-Command Loveday’s sister, Jennifer Sebastian, documents the mission times and declares this mission a partial success.
Inside Van. On her communications headset, Jennifer reports, “Love 3.58 seconds, A.C. 3.31 seconds. The mission is a success. TeamLOVEDAY stopped a man against ‘orders’.”
EXT-LEARJET-NIGHT
Challenging Situation: Learjet air bonne from Sanaa. TEAMAC is on board. Fly to Algiers.
EXT – ALGIERS AIRPORT -NIGHT
Action: The Learjet takes off from Algiers. TEAMLOVEDAY gets on board.
EXT-KOTOKA AIRPORT – DAY
The teams leave the airport through VIP Lounge.
Finish: They return to Airport Hub early morning in four yellow Hammers. Neighborhood sleeps. No one is the loser. Everyone is lone triumphant except Loveday.
INT- THE DO-WELLS CLUBHOUSE -DAY
Start: The BALLERINA
Challenging Situation: The BALLERINA fails the assignment — capture the two militants and bring them out of the guest house alive — because one dies. She has trouble following orders, preferring to do it her way.
Conflict: Lt. Col. FRANK Sebastian, her father, rubs his eyes and tries to calm his nerves. The briefing is a rendezvous of ‘core’ members for ‘Talent Hunt.’ Settings for such events change to new places every time.
He reminds her that justice is not up to her discretion. FRANK, the founder, states that her flaw made her lose the Presidency to AC. She must learn to take orders as given. The BALLERINA contends the most important goal was to stop the targets, which she did.
Action: For punishment, BALLERINA receives orders from FRANK to scout for talent at the Center.
Finish: She must recruit a handful of spies, as three have recently died in Algeria and Yemen.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Moses Quainoo.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Moses Quainoo.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Moses Quainoo.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
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Wayne Finished Act 1 First Draft
What I learned doing this assignment is how quickly I can capture what I want to establish in few words AN D leave doors open for further expanding setups or story lines.
Tell us how you used the High-Speed Writing Rules and insights you had about writing a first draft.
Although it’s been over a week to do this assignment, there was a pesky little trip to Aruba in-between where I was not allowed to take any work. (Not complaining.)
These speedwriting “rules” are familiar but good to reinforce as writing swiftly actually seemed to leave space to open up the ability to find more ways to create many levels of set up, many of which are undetectable until much later in the story.
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