Still on page 40…

I figured it’s high time I gave a report on Galen of Velaria. I’m typing this from my phone because my computer is being a brat, so forgive the brevity of this post.

I’m on page 40, which is a good accomplishment, but I’m a bit behind schedule as far as Script Frenzy goes. I should probably be on page 45 right now as far as they’re concerned. Still, I’ve made some real progress and gotten farther than I’ve ever gotten before on a screenplay, which is good.

Galen’s wife has already made an appearance. She has broken free from her captivity in the king’s harem and is a fugitive. She heads straight for home…only to find Galen and Winslow missing. So she goes to the town busybody and finds out they “ran away.” She is determined to find them.

Meanwhile, Ardith has taken Winslow to Julius’ house in Etheria (land of the fairies) and is taking care of him so Julius can garden more to feed the 3 of them. Ardith is so tired from her new responsibility that she doesn’t notice Julius is falling for her.

I also wrote a comedy scene related to Galen’s invisibility that I think everyone is going to enjoy. I thought I’d play with that idea a little bit, hehe 😉

Have a lovely weekend!

~N.L.

One-Fourth Done and Feeling Empowered!!

My Script Frenzy screenplay is 1/4 of the way done!!!!! (at least by SF standards)

25 pages are written. Yes, they’re crude, and in desperate need of editing and fleshing out, but they’re WRITTEN.

I know I already posted about SF today, but I had to rejoice in this a little bit. This time last week I was panicking because all my ideas were crap and SF started on Sunday. I really thought I was going to have to drop out. Seriously, my ideas DID suck that badly. But as Morgan and I were talking, I randomly popped up with, “What if we do like, Communism meets Fairy Tale World?” and the idea stuck.

To my writer friends, if you write screenplays (or even if you don’t) and you’ve never done Script Frenzy, PLEASE do it. It is like a shot of life to your writing career (or career-to-be). Don’t worry about the quality of your work, you can always edit later. Just write. Routine isn’t always a fun thing, but even us super-human writers need a little structure sometimes. I’ve learned my lesson!

Once again, happy weekend lovelies!

~N.L.

And the story grows… (SF Day 6)

Galen of Velaria is just… wow… taking off like I never would have believed a week ago. Now that I’ve got 22 pages done I’m so glad I signed up for Script Frenzy, because it’s a GREAT motivator for getting writing done.

The changes I’ve added are that Julius is actually a fairy that refuses to use any magic, because he says “it’s an acid to the soul,” meaning he’s afraid that power would corrupt him. Nevertheless, he helps Ardith come up with her plan to save them all from King Callagan’s “ultimate power” and is a supportive friend. Then when Ardith meets Galen, he’s trying to do his blacksmith work but he had to bring his baby with him and it’s impossible for the baby to deal with the noise and the heat, so the baby is squalling and Galen is angry that the king and his men are forcing him to do this.  At first he’s afraid of Ardith when she tells him she’s a fairy because he thinks all fairies are bad (a lot are evil) but she earns his trust and tells him her plan.  He says he wants to help, but he has to think about it. He allows her to take the baby out for some rest while he works.

It’s supposed to be very fantasy-like, but frighteningly realistic. Like this is WAY too similar what really happens to people sometimes. (kinda reminds me of a movie I just saw recently *cough cough The Hunger Games cough cough*)

Can’t wait for more of this story to develop and I can’t wait to reveal the final product to certain people who are already raving fans of my yet-unborn story 😉

Praising the Lord for all He has given, especially on Good Friday! Happy Easter weekend! Eat lots of chocolate bunnies for me, I’m on a diet… (although I may sneak a few jellybeans when no one’s looking…)

~N.L.

Love days like this (SF Day 5)

Writers, you know those days where you feel like creativity is just pouring out of you? Today was that day for me. The story was just flowing and I HAD to write until the epiphany went away.

A new character has joined us. His name is Julius, and he is an expert on all things magic and folklore. (He’s also young and attractive, which you wouldn’t expect). He and Ardith have apparently been friends for a while, but we don’t know the backstory to that yet. I’m thinking I’m going to have to turn this into a book after I’m done with the screenplay for Script Frenzy, because this story is just too big and rich for a dinky 2 hour movie. (I know, I’m arrogant…but if you feel no pride in your story, why write it in the first place?)

18 pages down, 82(+) to go.

Happy Thursday night! (Or whatever it is for you)

~N.L.

Day 3 of Script Frenzy

11 pages down, 89 to go. 🙂 It is progressing very well and the story is evolving more smoothly than I ever expected, although I feel like I’m having to cram a TON of info into a tiny number of pages, since it’s fantasy. This movie should really be at least 2 hours, maybe 2.5 hours long, and I’m trying to cram it into a 1.5 hour script length. (which means if I want it to be a complete story at the end of Script Frenzy, maybe I should start writing 5-6 pages a day)

Anyway, here is a short narration from page 9 that I thought might pique some interest 🙂

VO: (Voice-over)

And so it happened that King Callagan gained nearly unlimited power and began controlling almost every aspect of common life in Velaria. Women who could not bear children were executed, and their husbands were required by law to marry again within 90 days. The strongest men and their young boys were forced to work in the mines and in blacksmith shops to make treasures that would pay off the king’s yearly debts.Women and young girls were forced to make garments for the wizards from the wool of sheep; sheep which every family was required to own. Weaker, smaller men were allowed to own farms instead of working in the mines, but they had to give 90% of everything they grew to the king. Some people in Velaria tried to resist King Callagan, but anyone who did was struck down immediately; so eventually, everyone simply obeyed, not knowing what else to do. There was only one hope left for Velaria, and that was Ardith; the only good fairy left in the country. She saw what was happening and wanted to do something; but you see, fairy’s magic is not the same as a wizard’s magic. Wizards seek to control, and fairies, at least, good fairies, seek to help. She alone could not defeat the powerful king, but she would soon set out to find a human who could with the help of a little magic.

Like it? “Like” the post or comment to let me know (and if you don’t like it, let me know what I can fix). Thanks! 🙂

~N.L.

Day 2 of Script Frenzy–I DID IT!!!!

I am so freakin PROUD right now, I wrote my 4 pages today! Within an hour and a half, actually 🙂 ME HAPPY…

This is going to be way easier than I thought if I just have to spend an hour and half on it every day. I’m not being super careful about details right now, just writing basically on track with the story. Today King Callagan made a deal with some wizards and found the source of ultimate power, and tomorrow he’s going to use his powers to lure his love interest in and then set up his Communistic reign in Velaria. He is already somewhat corrupt, but the power is just going to finish his corruption and make him totally evil. It’s going to be interesting to write lol…

Instead of working on character sketches for minor characters today, I’m going to post here my character sketches for King Callagan, Galen, and Ardith. Here’s a little glimpse of what these characters are like.

King Callagan—

• Mid-20s
• Attractive, but ruthless and evil
• Has friends in high places in the magic world and tricks them into giving him the source of ultimate power
• Rules his country like a dictator and is feared and hated by everyone
• Takes away men’s wives, sleeps with them for one night, and then kills them

Galen—

• Early-20s
• Super attractive and intelligent
• His wife was taken away by King Callagan
• He has an infant boy named Winslow
• He works as a carpenter but is also a master swordsman

Ardith—

• A fairy
• Appears young and beautiful but is actually thousands of years old
• Is good and wants to see good prosper and prevail in the land of Velaria
• Is wise and caring but CLUELESS about how to raise a child

*sigh* I love writing fantasy 🙂 Can’t wait to see where this story is going to take me. Hope you guys had a great Monday!

~N.L.

Day 1 of Script Frenzy (April 1)

(I’ll write another post tonight about what happens today)

Whelp, looks like I’m flyin’ solo on this one after all. My partner decided this would be too much for her this month, so I’m by myself. Don’t worry, I’m fine with this. The concept we came up with was mostly mine anyway, and since I’m a control freak, I love the idea of… well, being in control.

So last night I frantically threw together a beat sheet (which is definitely subject to change, ESPECIALLY the ending. I think some of Blake Snyder’s categories can be played around with, right?) and I’d like to post it here so you guys can check it out. My screenplay is called “Galen of Velaria.”

Opening Image (1): Evil King Callagan is upset because a princess refused his offer of marriage due to receiving another offer from someone more wealthy and powerful.

Theme Stated (5): Ultimate (or absolute) power is something no human should have.

Set-up (1-10): King seeks ultimate power against the advice of his counselor and finds it. He captures it and sets up a communist-like regime.

Catalyst (12): The only good fairy left, Ardith, decides to find a human being who can stop King Callagan and destroy the source of ultimate power.

Debate (12-25): Ardith searches and searches and finally finds Galen, a widower with an infant son. She begs him to fulfill his destiny but he has to decide whether to leave his baby behind and follow the path to victory or stay with his child and continue to face the oppression. Galen agrees to become invisible and silent in order to fulfill his destiny.

Break into Two (25): Galen takes off on his journey, and Ardith stays behind to care for his baby boy, Winslow.

B Story (30): Ardith has a hard time learning how to care for a baby but eventually gets the hang of it and starts falling in love with Winslow.

Fun and Games/Learning (30-55): Galen has a hard time adjusting to being invisible and silent, which turns out to be comical. He also observes a lot of things while no one can see him and his resolve to beat King Callagan strengthens.

Midpoint (55): Galen arrives at the castle and tries to find where the king has hidden the source of ultimate power.

Bad Guys Close In (55-75): After a lot of sneaking around, Galen gets so close to the source of ultimate power and almost takes it—but he accidentally knocks over a vase and breaks it and the guards find him out. He tries to escape without the king finding him, but the king un-magics him and puts him in a horrible prison cell.

All is Lost (75): Galen curses magic while he’s sitting in a jail cell, missing his baby.

Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): Ardith appears in Galen’s jail cell and offers to break him out, but Galen tries to send her away, saying he just wants to go home and be with Winslow and this whole thing was a bad idea in the first place. She has to show him the future in order to convince him that he has to keep trying.

Break into Three (85): Ardith breaks Galen out of the prison cell and works together with him (baby in tow) to find the source of ultimate power…WITHOUT MAGIC.

Finale (85-110): After a lot of sneaking around and stabbing guards, Galen captures the source of ultimate power and subdues King Callagan with it. He is tempted to keep it himself, but finally destroys it and out of gratitude, the people choose him to be their new king.

Final Image (110): Galen is crowned king, is reunited with his baby, and begins a romantic relationship with Ardith.

So after I beated it out, I wrote the character sketches for the 3 main characters and wrote 3 pages. Not bad for a Sunday!

Today I am hoping to write at least 4 pages and some more character sketches. Wish me luck! And good luck fellow Script Frenzy-ers! 🙂

~N.L.

Hit a Wall… (and Script Frenzy)

Great. Right after an AMAZING week of writing I have hit the dreaded wall on Siranai. I have no clue what to write next. Literally, NO ideas. Not that I don’t feel motivated, I’m just stuck in a rut!

Sooo…yeah. Maybe today would be a good day for editing…

In other news, I’ve decided that next month I’m doing Script Frenzy for the first time with my friend, Morgan. This is going to be interesting experience because I have never collaborated with anyone on my writing before (the actual writing part, not the ideas). I can get a little possessive about my ideas sometimes so this will be a good exercise in letting go for me, kind of like a bigger version of my previews. I have to be honest, I do not always enjoy criticism and change. But I welcome it because I know that it will make for a better story.

For those of you who are not familiar with Script Frenzy, it’s basically a challenge to write a full-length script in the month of April. Here’s the link to their website–

http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/

You can work alone or with a partner and if you’re a SUPER fast writer you can even submit multiple scripts/screenplays. It is supposed to be a good exercise especially if you are kind of out of the writing groove, it helps you get back in. So I’m going to try it out and I’ll keep a journal here about how it goes and what the experience is like.

Happy Wednesday, readers! The weekend will be here before you know it!

~N. Lingarow