Progress

Last night was the first night this break where I just kept writing without stopping. I decided whenever I run into an obstacle (something needs to be researched more, something isn't really working) I just made a note in the script or highlighted the first couple of words and then kept writing.

This first draft is going to be really long, but when the first draft is complete, I already have some ideas to make it shorter.

organizing

Today I took the time to reorganize the main plot points of my script. I wrote the first draft with Kate losing the transfer hearing my pinch 1 and introducing Amir into the picture as the midpoint, which I might keep that way, but everything after Amir needs to change. I'm not going to cut everything, but it will be moved. After Amir (or maybe the scene before he's introduced) I'd like to show Kate still worrying about her other case. I don't think she should be entirely focused on Limit's case yet, so the whole scene where she listens to the tapes won't be shows until much later.

idea!

Just thought of this today. When the teacher, Margaret Brenin (changed her last name), tells Kate that she knew about the bullying problem and so did the principal, Kate puts her on the stand. Margaret wants to do the right thing. But she fails to tell Kate that she's being let go after the school year is over. The prosecutor makes it look like the only reason she's helping Kate is to get back at the school for firing her. It also comes out that they were firing her because of her liberal views (it's a catholic school...very conservative) and that she was obviously bitter about it. After the Prosecutor's done with her, her statements lose all credibility. That's when Jeff looks for more evidence and finds it in the church books, with Margaret's help. All along they were blaming the principal for keeping the kids in the school, but they find that Father Crogan had all the control and made all the decisions, using the principal as a puppet.

Also, the conflict between Kate and Jeff occurs when Jeff pushes her to tell him about her sister, something she wants to keep suppressed. Kate was always the strong one and she believed her sister was weak, and she also believes Limits is weak too. She never forgave her sister for being weak and taking the pills, but in the end she realizes that it wasn't her sister's fault, just like it wasn't Limits' fault. They were both victims.

New idea for the script

Over the break I thought of something that can make my script more interesting but also involves more hard work. Before Limits is transfered to an adult prison, he bunks with a 16 year old kid, Kyle Brodie (who's referred to as Brodie) who's also going to be transferred. Brodie was in juvie before and can't seem to stay out of trouble. When he was really young, he started stealing from his parents and local stores and never got caught. They he began experimenting with other things, like buying and selling drugs, sneaking alcohol into school, anything to feel the exhilaration of doing something wrong and knowing he could get caught at any time.

Brodie got used to doing what he wanted to do without anyone stopping him, and his parents just gave up trying to change him. The first time he got caught, his own mother turned him in after she found stolen items in his room. Brodie did everything he was required to do in juvie and was set free early. He's in trouble now because he had sex with one of the girls he goes to school with and she said no, so her family filed a rape charge. He's pretty sure it won't stick but because he's already been in juvie, the possibility of going to jail is greater.

Brodie learns to like Limits and looks out for him when they're both transferred. A few of his friends have already been in prison and he's heard stories of how to act and the lingo to watch out for. Now we actually see the difference between a bad seed - Brodie - and a good kid who snapped - Limits.

Characters

I've been building on the history of my characters since that isn't coming across as well as I'd liked. I actually like my supporting characters, but it's really Kate, Jeff and Limits that I need to work on.

Also I changed the beginning of the script (the shooting scene) a little. Now it hints at the relationship Kelly used to have with Limits and it shows that Ms. Fry doesn't care as much as she did in my first draft.

This is really bad but I'll admit I like going backwards before I move on. I'm really trying not to. The second act is coming along so I'm not worried...yet.

YAY

Act 1 is finally finished. Today I read it over one more time and added a little bit here and there (and fixed my spelling errors!)...but I'm ready for Act 2, which is most definitely going to be the hardest because now all the legal stuff will come in to play.

I'm going to see a real court case this week...hopefully Friday. I also have a good friend from High school whose father is a cop and has access to one of the prisons in the city, so I'm going to ask him if he wouldn't mind giving me a tour of some sort...just to get a feel for where Limits will be during the trial. I've decided to keep him in an adult prison instead of a juvenile detention center because it will be much scarier for him.

I've been adding a little every night to my script but not too much...so tonight is serious writing! Peter and Jessica, don't judge me lol. I've been really working hard on my co-op stuff this week, getting my cover letters finished and sending out my resume, but after tomorrow I hope to just keep writing so I can have act 1 done by the end of next week. Act 1 will end with Kate deciding to take the case. Then I want to focus more on Limits because it's his story too, even though Kate is main protagonist. I want it to be a kind of a Sixth Sense Malcolm and Cole relationship where the story is about both of them.

New Addition

Since I missed two weeks (I can't believe we're already in week three!!!) I have major catching up to do. Just started my character bios tonight and I'm going to try and finish them for tomorrow so I have the rest of the week for my beat sheet.

Since I didn't get to pitch my idea in class I thought I'd give a little intro. The working title is "Victim." I'm writing a court drama about a boy, Robert "Limits" Simmons, who gets violently pushed around in middle school and tries to solve his problems by bringing a gun to school "just in case." Robert snaps and he ends up shooting two of the bullies, another student and the teacher. The audience is unaware of the harsh bullying until later in the movie.

Then there's Kate Morgan, a defense attorney who works for a firm that specializes in juvenile cases. Kate loves children and she would have plenty of her own if she were married. She's in her late 30's and the clock is ticking, but she won't settle for just anyone. Kate's also always too wrapped up in her cases to notice when the right guy does come along, like the Assistant to the Defense, Jeffrey Hall, who happens to be in love with Kate. After some hesitation for reasons revealed towards the end, Kate takes the Simmons case even though Jeff tries to discourage her.

Much more to be continued at a later date.