Lesson 3

[Danielle Dillard]

Vision: To write touching family stories that entertain and educate.

What I learned most doing this assignment is high-speed writing while not worrying so much about quality. As I followed my outline, I also thought of some other scenes I could add in to write which I liked better than the scenes in my outline. I look forward to continuing the process.

[Kristina Zill]

KZ’s Act 1 First Draft Part 1

Vision: To master screenwriting so that I can turn any of my ideas into salable scripts; and to master working with producers so that I can help turn those scripts into successful movies.

What I learned today: I listened to Mastery Session 16: Breaking Through Slow Writing. At the end of that recording, I set my timer and I wrote for 5 minutes. That was all the time I needed to write a rough draft of a scene.

It was very helpful because although I know from listening to past Mastery Sessions that the beginning of being blocked is thinking, “I can’t move forward until I figure out this one thing” — in fact, I was beginning to do that. I also catch myself looking too far into the future and wondering if this script is really going to be any good. And my usual response is to jump over to some other screenplay-in-progress where the grass looks greener.

Setting the timer for 5 minutes ensured that I didn’t give myself time to think about all the ways it wouldn’t work, so I believe I’ll be using that technique quite a bit from now on.

[Paul McGregor]

Paul’s Act 1 First Draft Part 1

6. Vision of success from this program: I want to write scripts that become movies that change people’s lives.

5. I was able to write 7 pages today by following the high-speed writing rules. I had to recognize the shortcomings in my Outline but keep writing the scenes anyway. I am convinced that, as I write Draft 1, answers to the questions about my Outline will turn up.

7. What I learned from this assignment is that this is a great way to get things down on paper even if it’s not perfect. It’s better than staring at a blank page until you think you have the perfect answer. That perfect answer has more chance of showing up as you are actively engaged in writing, not staring at the ceiling.

END

[Raquel Solomon]

Raquel’s Act 1 First Draft Part 1

Vision: I want to go deeper into my writing to create screenplays where characters of depth are placed in compelling journeys with a fresh voice that Hollywood producers as well as independent film companies know they must make!

What I learned is that it is possible to speed-write and not get hung up on perfection.

It is hard to stick to the original outline when other ideas come through but I will add these at a later draft.