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.