first act | Adreon Patterson

Posted

September 21, 2018

Reworking the Setup

After a decent first act has been created and read over, the revising and reworking process began to take shape. Writing the first act was the beginning of my thesis journey as I headed into the Fall quarter. With every word and action on the page, I must go back through my writing with a fine tooth comb.

For the past few days, I’ve been thinking about my first act and all the things I want to do with it. As I stated in my vlog last week, my screenplay has begun to take on a new direction as I switched from theatrical film to the pilot film for a potential series. After speaking with my professor this week, I decided to focus on more character development and direction. I wanted the strong female leads to be nuanced and well-rounded individuals with real personalities that any person (male or female) can see a little of themselves in one of them. In order to show them as fully realized humans, I decided to include more of their environment, clothing, activities, and songs to inform the audience. Researching the current television and reading other musical scripts has helped me in taking the next step in my thesis journey. I realized what worked and didn’t within the genre and what conversations were missing on the music business. Equaling the playing field for the leads has become my mission as the scenes are allowed to breathe. Hopefully, as more feedback comes in from others, I will be able to retool and revise the first act as I get ready for the second one.

Waiting on critiques from others has become a little nerve-wracking as I set mental benchmarks for my writing timetable. Independent study and teaching internship have begun to take shape as I inch closer to Master thesis. I made it through my first exercise as a teaching assistant (cue the steamers). I did some client work that I’m still on the fence about when it comes to payment. The visual work was scaled back this week while work and school took over my life. So far, my thesis journey is turning more into something tangible and realistic than working on a writing assignment.

Come back next week for more on my journey to creating my Master’s thesis.

Don’t be a stranger! Leave a comment below.

Posted

July 20, 2018

Writing and Editing in the Key of Self-Awareness

Being self-aware can be both a gift and a curse. On one end, it keeps me humble and respectful as an artist and writer. I know there are better writers, but they aren’t telling my story. On the other end, I’m ALWAYS in my head when it comes to the creative process. I doubt myself at every turn, even to the point where the blinking cursor and I end up having a staring contest. This along with slow and measured in my writing has allowed me to become my own worst critic.

This is even more true with my thesis. I find myself going back and forth between forcing myself to type out some words and flooding the pages without a concept of time. I second guess myself as I try to make my first act flow into my second without sacrificing my well thought-out plan. Am I setting the scene correctly? Is the mood for the scene right? Are my characters too different? Or not different enough? Does the dialogue come off authentic? Or too slang-heavy? Is the screenplay more show than tell? Are the dialogue and action balancing out? Do I have too many characters? Or not enough? This struggle has been plaguing me since I decided to make screenwriting my career choice. It can be tiring and overwhelming at times especially with my anxiety issues. But the task is of my own making so I have to be up for the challenge.

My self-awareness has played into my ability to edit in addition to writing. For me, I edit my work as I go along. I feel it helps me to create a better piece. I’ve noticed over the past week or so that I think of different ways to improve upon my previous scenes and dialogue. Some scenes have worked out for the better as I fleshed them out and added one or two. The dialogue is definitely getting sharper and snapper as I write for these characters more and more. There’s nothing like dripping sarcastic or dramatic wordplay to get my writing muscles going. I hope to harness my self-awareness more in that way in the coming weeks and months. My thesis journey is going to be a great yet scary ride for me (and my anxiety).

Come back next week for more on my journey to creating my Master’s thesis.

Don’t be a stranger! Leave a comment below.

Posted

July 13, 2018

Working Backwards

Writing can be a daunting task, especially with a self-imposed deadline. I’ve found myself over the past month being a little gun shy when it comes to writing my thesis. I’m excited about writing my first film script in some time. But a nagging feeling seems to come from time to time as I try working back to create a full screenplay from a one-act play. The task seems more like a boulder than a pebble when it comes to self-starting. Every day has been a struggle as I muster up the strength to write. Something I’ve never had a problem with before as my love of knowledge and words has always been my driving force. After letting my mind rest for a week after Spring quarter, the early writing sessions have been a struggle after months of school, work, and my internship draining my creative tank. The guilt is overwhelming as I begin questioning my choices and motives as a writer. Writing this screenplay has been a battle as I try to create within a program that champions writing novels, journalism, and short story collections over screenwriting. I have something to prove, and I have to remain steadfast if this is going to work.

Over the past week or so, I’ve found my stride by letting go of my preconceived ideas and allowing my scenes and characters talk to me. I find that’s the best way for me to get my first act going. Trying to create a first act that flows with an already established second act can be a beast. On the daily, I am having constant mental battles over what is the best approach or how events in the first act are going to change parts of my second act. I feel my second act is filled with strong points that still need some finessing, but the first act has to set-up the later events. That’s the gift and curse of taking existing material and creating something new from it. But I guess it’ll all work out in the end as I will have my second finished screenplay before graduation.

On the plus side, I did find out this week my independent study got approved. This will be my opportunity to finish my screenplay under deadlines similar to working screenwriters. It will definitely be an experience. I can’t wait.

Come back next week for more on my journey to creating my Master’s thesis.

Don’t be a stranger! Leave a comment below.

Tag: first act

Reworking the Setup

Share this:

Like this:

Writing and Editing in the Key of Self-Awareness

Share this:

Like this:

Working Backwards

Share this:

Like this: