I’ve started to get familiar with my new software. Sure, it will take some time to get the hang of it, but it seems impressively intuitive. When you start the program, a blank screenplay page appears. Intimidating. Until you realize that Movie Magic Screenwriter knows you’re just starting out with the screenplay and therefore suggests adding “FADE IN” followed by a scene heading followed by a location followed by–you get the picture. Feeling great about this purchase! (And no, I don’t work for Write Brothers.)
Today, after fiddling around a bit with the program, I wrote twelve scenes onto 3×5 cards and wrote one page of detailed biographical information for each of the four main characters, which was fun! (I still have a couple more to do.) Let’s see… Because he was so clueless and geeky, the boss character was picked on mercilessly as a kid, which explains why even though he’s all grown up and is a VP of Marketing, he’s almost pathologically afraid of being perceived as uncool. He’s still pretty clueless, unfortunately. Another character, who fills a co-worker role, wears khaki shorts no matter what the weather, even on bone-chilling days when everyone else in the office is bundled up. He claims it’s because he’s always hot but that’s not the real reason.
Quite a bit of time was spent researching names, so there’s at least an inkling of meaning in each moniker. While somewhat tedious work, it was satisfying in the end.
I must admit that self doubt is already rearing its ugly and annoying head. But I think it’s normal and healthy. One thing I gleaned from my skimming of Screenwriters’ Masterclass was that when in the process of writing, Wes Anderson often suspects that a screenplay is utterly useless–even if it turns out to be wildly successful. Even he has moments where he’s practically drowning in self doubt. If it happens to him, it’s going to happen to me–and to a far worse degree. The key, of course, is to not let it stop me.
With my trusty Movie Magic Screenwriter by my side (or at my fingertips), it ain’t gonna.
