nanowrimo?

I've been in NaNoWriMo mode lately.

Not in the trying to write one book in one month, but just in trying to get the story out there on the screen. The current story I'm working on is something that has been in the back of my mind for years. A large portion of it (ok...the bulk of it) takes place in Montana, and there were years in between my last Montana trip. Knowing that I was headed back out there this summer, I thought now would be the time to get started on it.

However, since it has been percolating for years, there are several scenes that I can see very clearly, only they don't all happen one right after the other. And I'm one of those people that I have to begin at the beginning and write straight through to the ending. I will jot down notes about different scenes, but I most likely won't write out the full scene.

So now I'm writing straight through. And there have been a few short scenes or conversations that I need to work through, but I haven't quite figured out how they should fully go. And at first I struggled with it. I analyzed the dialogue that didn't quite flow, or the structure of the scene...and then I thought...you know what? I may get to the end and decide that it isn't necessary, or something will become clearer to fix it.

I'm just getting from Point A to Point B right now and you know what? This is the reason they call it a first draft. So I moved on. And I'm actually looking forward to finishing and coming back and revising. Maybe it's that I love putting my mind back in Montana, or really loving my characters (despite what I'm doing to them!) and can't wait to get to where it works out. I have no deadline to finish it by the end of July, or even by the end of August, but they say in NaNoWriMo it helps to just get the words out. Layout the groundwork for the story. And then the cleanup can begin.

Okay. Back to it. After all, who wouldn't want to spend time in this place?

48 hour film project

It's been a fairly busy summer and I realized the other day that I hadn't noted the 48 hour film project, or rather how it went. I mentioned it briefly in the beginning of May, but didn't elaborate further on it. As in years past, it reiterated just how much I love writing, crafting a story and creating characters and all that, but also just seeing a story come to life like that and watching the finished project.

We spent Friday evening...or rather the first part sketching out a story line based upon our elements (film noir! how cool was that?). Once the basic story was sketched out and we were sure incorporated all the elements (one of our characters had to have a career related to animals, how are you going to make that noir-esque?) leaving our "horn" for later since we weren't sure right then what kind of horn we'd have. Would it be an animal or musical? I mean...how many people have a horn lying around?

With our schedule, my job was essentially finished Friday night once we had a finished script. And that's not to say that it's an easy job. I think the pressure was a little less this year since it was my third, but also since we didn't have the entire cast and crew assembled. The prior ones I knew they were just in the other room, waiting. But I think too sketching out the story fully first was a huge help. I knew scene by scene what was coming, I just had to flesh it out with dialogue.

Since I wasn't really needed and the trains not running much due to maintenance, I didn't plan on spending all day on Saturday at the set. Of course once I did arrive early afternoon, I was reminded of how much fun it is to be on set. It's really cool to watch your words come alive with the sets and the actions and of course the dialogue. So I stayed up until we wrapped Saturday night. And thankfully I made it to the metro shortly before a train came by. The night before I'd had to wait thirty minutes!

Seeing as how the trains were hit or miss on Sunday, I didn't head back to hang out and watch the editing. So let me tell you, Sunday was kind of rough. I could not wait to see how it turned out! And I'm not good with waiting. I was definitely very, very excited about the finished product. Our actors were fantastic and I'm sure we'll be seeing great things from them in the future. And of course, we had an incredible crew. I'm just thankful to have been a part of it!

And by the way, I hope you caught our homage to the 1920s?

june was a busy month!

Yup, I was a little quiet in June, without intending to be. I even had another post that I had started, and didn't quite get the chance to finish and put up. June ended up being a month of traveling. I first prepared to leave DC for just a little over a week to meet some family up in Montana (yup, the picture above is where I spent summer vacation), and then I traveled some for work, which was a fantastic experience and I visited two countries that I might not have visited otherwise. One maybe, but the other one was, regrettably, off my radar.

I was also working on a new story. But even that was pushed aside some during the craziness of the last few weeks. I am not now expecting to travel anywhere for the time being, so I'm looking forward to the chance to work on this blog more, really develop my story that I've had in mind for several years, and also work on a new idea I am developing with my sister. Perhaps the great thing with this last item is that it involves food: recipes, new ingredients, restaurants...the things we love.

Montana was, in a word, amazing. And cold. I landed and the pilot said the weather was about 42. 42?! I'd left 90s in DC...and while I had expected 70s, I had not expected to be chilled. Did I miss crossing the equator? Last I had checked, it was June.

Thankfully it did warm up and the rain even stopped and I had several days of beautiful sun. We could not make it to the top of Glacier's Going to the Sun road for one of my favorite hikes, the Hidden Lake hike, but we did see a new part of Glacier. And, on my last full day, I saw a bear!
It was from the safety of the car, and I couldn't get a clear picture of it...but I did see it! Not sure if it was a black bear or a young grizzly, but it made my day. And then it was bittersweet to leave. No matter how much I love my vacation, there's nothing like being back in my own place...even if it was for only two days before I left for my work trip.

And now I will finally make the Huckleberry scone mix I bought to take into my office today, and also work some more on my novel, which incidentally takes place mostly in Montana. Hmmm...sounds like I might have to go back for another research trip. What do you think?