Bonjour!
I walked into today's writing a little nervous and anticipating the worse. Up until right now, I had everything outlined, meaning I had the beginning and the setup all ready for action. Charlotte had her goals, and she was heading off to Hollywood to pursue her dream. I had no idea where I was going from there, how she would be reunited with Danny, or what she could check off of her list. It was a nerve-racking night and morning for me. But I went to class at 1 after work, pulled out my little pink notebook, and said whatever comes to mind, down into my notes it shall go. So I started with where I knew it should start... A title shot.
TITLE: MAY
It has now been roughly a month and a half since Charlotte has moved to Hollywood. She's moved into her apartment, she's gotten a dog, and now, she's on her way to completing the rest of her list. I knew that as I started off this next scene I needed to have Charlotte and Danny meet up in some odd way. I started jotting down ideas like a grocery store, or some building, or even just casually running into each other on the street. It didn't seem good enough. It seemed too cliche. I needed them to be reunited in such a way that flipped the bird to the norm and seemed more realistic, because, c'mon, how often do people really reunite in mundane places like the supermarket or random buildings. So it occurred to me; Charlotte just got a dog. How about a dog park?
It might not seem like the best place, it might even seem mundane itself. But to me, it helps make the story make sense, and in fact, it set everything up beautifully for the next shot.
Now that we've migrated past their awkward reencounter at the dog park, they go grab a cup of coffee. Cliche, I know, but I like challenging myself to making these mundane places seem more active. Let me let you guys in on a secret, I hate writing sitting scenes. When people are sitting, having conversations on a couch, or even in a coffee shop, it bugs the hell out of me. There's no action. Not that there always needs to be, but sometimes, I want to focus in on something that is different from most conversational situations. So, with the dog tied up outside, I have a scene where my two characters are being reacquainted. The dogs are visible in the window behind them. This eventually leads to a fight between the two dogs outside, a commotion in the background that distracts from the mundane conversation indoors, but it's still action nonetheless. Something I'm playing with, that I know Wes Anderson does too, is how he makes very still moments, dialogue moments that are equipped with quippy and witty dialogue that's quickly paced, enough information is given to help us identify what we need to understand, and sometimes action is used that has absolutely nothing to do with the scene. For his films, he has these apartment/compartment like shots where you can see everyone in their rooms, doing their own thing, but each thing is unique and specific due to the character(s) involved. I want to somehow recreate that idea, but throwing in a major dose of Kylee Q Brock to the mix. We'll see what happens.
Right now, I have to actually write what I've got down from today. I started off on page 51 of my little notebook, and I filled up to 75, writing in classes, writing in movies, writing in the dark, writing while I walked, writing while I ate, even writing while I worked out. I'm going to own this challenge, and stay completely on top of my writing!
Over and out,
Kylee Q Brock
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