A writer who doesn't want to write. How novel. Yes, novel. Ha, ha. I should write a screenplay about it. Except I don't want to. Anyway, the only way to get better at writing is, apparently, by writing... so even though I don't feel like writing about the convention, I guess I should. Gross.

Wednesday (November 12, 2008)
I had an awesome time spending time with a cousin I had never met until the night before (and would be living with for five days). We bought books at Borders, ambled around the outdoor mall, ate seafood, came home and played wii, drank some wine, watched Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (which has a fantastic opening / first act), and made cookies. Awesome.

Thursday (November 13, 2008)
11.00am - 12.30pm ~ Karl Iglesias: Mastering the Ten Essential Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters
See the previous entry for the basic notes from this panel. It was pretty good; he was pretty practical and no-bullshit. As in, he basically told a couple people (based on the issues they were having with their writing) that they didn't (unbeknownst to them) actually want to be screenwriters. Sure they wanted to write, but what they wanted to write were novels or short stories or anything-but-a-screenplay.

2.00pm - 3.30pm ~ William Martell: Description & Visual Storytelling
There were a couple small phrases and things he mentioned that were helpful to me. Some of the stuff is technique I already use in my writing or habits I already avoid, so that was encouraging. He basically stressed the value of each word of the screenplay. Duly noted, and amen.

4.00pm - 5.30pm ~ Wendy Cutler and Devorah cutler-Rubenstein: Improv Techniques for comedy Writing
Probably one of the best panels/seminars I ended up doing. But also I'm biased towards improv. I last did any improv 5 months ago, and it turns out I was missing it something fierce. I recorded audio from 2/3 of the session (I found out after that the program I was using had a time limit of 1 hour 8 minutes), but unfortunately I didn't get the great scene I was in with this other girl (named Traci no less) which impressed everyone in the room. And I mean that literally. Wendy and Devo (leading the panel) thought it was a great scene (and Wendy called me out on my improv experience, noting how I turned an initial denial into a 'Yes, and...'). An older man stopped me as I was leaving to tell me he thought I was a great actress and reminded him of Winona Ryder(!). And for the rest of the convention, people came up and talked to me because they recognized me from the class. Wow. I also had fun working with a guy named Dennis in a couple of the exercises and we ran into each other randomly over the next few days - nice to have a friend/acquaintance to wave at, passing in the halls.

While I was waiting for the bus (and then when I was taking the 1.5 hour ride home) I thought about improv and writing and whether - as per Karl Iglesias - screenwriting was what I really wanted to do. And yeah. I was pretty sure - though I still had three days of convention left. To Be Continued...

Yes, I'm back from Los Angeles and the 2008 Screenwriting Expo (and yes, I've been back since Monday night). My thoughts are still being siphoned out of the 3-ounce, bomb-proof plastic bottles I had with me on the plane, but in the meantime, enjoy some screenwriting words-of-wisdom from the convention, as uttered by Karl Iglesias himself.

Highly Successful Screenwriters...
...Have a driving reason to write.
...Educate themselves.
...Set a high standard of excellence.
...Trust their instincts and write what excites them.
...Set writing goals and write regularly.
...Understand it takes hard work and talent.
...EVOKE EMOTIONS IN THE READER.
...Are open to criticism and feedback.
...Understand the rules of the game.
...Handle rejection like a pro.

Well, I'm off to Los Angeles today (you know, in like 17 hours). I just finished writing another practice scene for the CS Open tournament. I need to type up these last few and print them out to go with the others. Otherwise, I'm mostly packed and set to go. And fleetingly nervous.

I signed up for the panels I'll attend at the Expo, should be pretty good (and I get reimbursed for all of them since I'm a volunteer):

Thursday
Mastering the Ten Essential Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters - Karl Iglesias
Description & Visual Storytelling - William Martell
*Using Improv Techniques for Comedy Writing - Wendy Cutler and Devorah Cutler-Rubenstein
Seducing the Studio Reader - Robert Flaxman

Friday
(Volunteering)
Myth, Magic, Metaphysics, How to Use Them in Your Stories
Round 1 - CS Open

Saturday
Any Writer Can Make It in Hollywood and I Can Prove It to Anyone That Enrolls - Gary Shusett
*Setting Up Character & Story - Syd Field
How the Big Dogs Do It - James Dalessandro
How to Write A Screenplay in 10 Weeks, a 90 Minute Crash Course - Marilyn Horowitz
Three Essential Principles for Creating Worthy Characters - Richard Walter

Sunday
Grabbing the Reader in the First 10 Pages - Michael Hauge
Genre Tricks & Trends - Pilar Alessandra
*Anatomy of a Screenplay, Lars and the Real Girl - Michael Hauge

*I'm most excited for these ones because improv rocks, Syd Field is THE Syd Field, and Lars and the Real Girl is a pretty awesome movie.

Maybe I'll write more tomorrow when I'm hanging out at Tampa airport and delighting in their free wi-fi. Peace.

 Just got an email from the Expo that Aaron Sorkin is going to be there for a panel/lecture/discussion/whatever on Sunday! Holy cow, this is almost becoming a dream come true.

More CS Open scene writing practice done today, of course. It'll go up on facebook later. Maybe I'll figure a way to post a permanent link here. If you're lucky.

And by golly, I'm going to figure out what panels I want to attend, and I'm going to do it today! Probably.

Today I learned how massive a 140-page screenplay is/looks when it's actually printed out. =]

And I still need to decide on panels to attend at the Expo.

I figured I might as well start something here before things start to get interesting.

The news for the day is that I was (finally) selected as a volunteer for Screenwriting Expo. Hooray! - a nice surprise this morning, considering I thought they were finished picking volunteers two weeks ago (and since I hadn't heard from them, I assumed I wasn't one). So I'll get to meet and work with people at the Expo ('guaranteed' networking is always a plus, right?) as well as get my registration fee back (yes, I'm pretty excited about that).

Otherwise, I've got a list of things to get done before the convention - printing out scripts, doing more practices for the CS Open scene-writing competition, and whatnot... Also, still no word from either screenwriting contest about quarter/semi/finalists. We'll see, we'll see.

Anyway, I leave in a week for Los Angeles. So, I'll keep you updated as things occur.