Day 2 was great too of course. It was all big fun until Sam (super teacher extraordinaire) said:
“OK. So the next time we meet, you’ll bring, lets say, minimum 30 pages of your script”.
Whaa, what? Minimum 30 pages ?!? Bloody-hell! What happened to “Let’s start with 5 pages” ??
But I don’t even know how it starts! I don’t know how quirky my characters are going to be. I don’t know what they say to each other when they meet for the first time. Will they fall in love instantly? And isn’t the whole story crap to begin with? Didn’t I just happen to have the worst story idea in the class? And why did I want to do this in the first place?
That was yesterday evening, when I came home after 2 intense days in class and with a very tired head.
During my sleep Will and Nik moved into my head permanently. This morning in the bus on my way to work Will came and sat beside me. He told me about his life, and why he had become the man he was. I told him that things were going to be better for him, if I was able to write those 30 pages. I told him that he would meet someone at some point who would pull him out of his problems. And that he was going to mean a great deal to that person in return as well. He looked as if he didn’t really believe me, his one day beard emphasizing the state he was in. I told him to trust me and to stay with me for a while.
I am not lying, these 2 days in class have sparked my project into action. I can’t think of anything else but this story at the moment, which is a problem when at work. And I feel this longing to go to the Cafe and download stuff from my head to paper. I fear what will happen when the Cafe closes, I hope it doesn’t close the stream of inspiration I always got when I was sitting there.
I am afraid you have to put up with a lot of writing about writing the coming period. It’s a big part of my life and has taken over my mind at the moment. If you are tired of it you could try to suggest what you want me to write about in stead. I might listen. Or not.
Just keep writing about your writing. It makes me feel guilty about not writing myself so I actually get some done! Whew. And very awesome picture! He’s my favourite monster.
Is it Oscar the Grouch or his brother Ernest?
30 Pages? Try a bigger type of font and some serious spacing between the lines.
Just keep on writing about your script and the course. I (and I think I can speak for the rest of the readers) love to read how this is progressing.
I thought it was the cookie monster, but found out that it’s not him. So I am not sure which one this is!
Bigger font, I have thought about it, but there are rules saying that all scripts have to be written in Courier 12 pt. If not – your script won’t be accepted anywhere.
This is a industry standard, and done because everybody knows that one page of script will be about 1 minute of film.
So bascially – I am pretty much buggered.
I hope you paid for Will’s bus ticket!
(Love the graffiti)
No I didn’t. Will and I like living on the edge … :)
Why do they have to be meeting for the first time? Characters can have a history together before the audience meets them. (Are you referring to your ‘Cookie’ script, or an altogether new story?)
Do you know what will replace your beloved Cafe after it closes? (I just realized that this question has two meanings: 1- what new business will move in to the building, and 2- will YOU be able to find another special haven to spend time in after the Cafe closes?)
Best of luck with the search for inspiration! We know you can do it!
@Michele –
This is not my cookie script (which is only 10 pages – a 10 minute short) the one I talk about here is going to be a feature film script, and is a complete new story. I know that characters can have a history together before the audience meets them, but in my particular story they don’t. They bump into each other in a somewhat unusual place (that’s some of the things I do know) in the film.
I’ll come up with a working title soon so it will be easier to refer too, and to not get Cookie confusion.
The Cafe closure:
– No I don’t know what new business will move into it, the building will be torn down as far as I know, and then they will rebuilt it into something horrible. By the way, they have also closed the Regent Palace Hotel, which is just around the corner of the cafe, and which was my place to stay before I became a Londoner. I guess they are going to “redo/destroy” the whole area.
2. Will I be able to find a new haven to spend time in?
I can only hope I do, because if I don’t I will slowly dissolve and disappear into thin air. I want a Cafe with the same type of seats and tables, because they are so nice to write at. I also want waiters that are as nice as the ones in the Cafe. And tea the Milky Way like only Lorenzo can make it. So I guess this is a mission Impossible.
Any tips on potential Cafe replacement Cafe’s very welcome. I need a place, otherwise I can’t write.
@Pedro: It is Oscar! (awesome name for that green monster)
Good luck with the writing.
Hey, girl in the cafe, what about Regency Cafe? Recommended for a cup of tea and a think. Sounds good to me. Maybe the chairs are not as comfortable as the benches in the New Piccadilly. Some of the comments on this page are quite recent – and maybe they will lead you to some other nice place.
http://russelldavies.typepad.com/ateaandathink/2004/06/regency_cafe_17.html
By no means we can let you lose your inspiration.
I know it will make a poor substitute.
How about recreating The Cafe in Second Life?
It surely deserves a second life, me thinks.
@Mark : Thank you!
@Zazz – would you believe me if I told you that I live about 100 metres from the Regency Cafe? And I have never even been inside. I’ve passed it a million times of course. Layer Cake with Daniel Craig has been shot there.
What I mean to say is – I can’t get myself to go on a quest for a new place just yet, not before the other one is closed.
@joachim – I’m having trouble enough with my first life :-) I’ve heard about Second Life, but honestly it’s not really my thing. Not to say that the Cafe doesn’t deserve a second life, it deserves Eternal Life if you ask me.
Ingrid, I understand that you can’t start looking yet. Just keep it in mind for the time to come.