October Horror Project Finished

My ode to the (unfortunately) late, great horror author Richard Laymon is complete. A very rough first draft anyway. Like the September sports comedy, I can't tell what I have yet. It "seems" good; "seems" to work. I'll know more once I venture into the eventual rewrite.

I'm beginning to wonder if all of this, "I'm not sure what I have, but it 'seems' to be working," is for a reason. In the past I've had an innate sense of what was working in a story, or script, and what wasn't. But that was when I was tackling one project at a time, completeting a draft that I could submit to companies, before moving onto the next script. My current plan for September, October, November and December - to barrel through very rough first drafts of scripts that I had already outlined, or had an idea of the shape of the story, is a new approach for me. Maybe because the speed in which I'm writing is causing this uncertainty of the quality ideas, as I'm writing mostly on creative instinct and not careful planning. Or maybe I'm on the precipice of the next level of my writing, as the September sports comedy is the first pure-comedy script I've written, and the October horror script is striking out into subject matter that is brand new territory for me.

I think it's the latter.

October Horror Project Part II/The 19-Pager

The Richard Laymon-inspired 19-pager is now at page 63. It has been a wild ride, to say the least. (It wouldn't be any other kind of ride when you use the horror cult author extraordinaire as inspiration.) This is definitely Laymon-lite. There's no way his level of violence and depravity would ever make it to a movie or TV screen.

It's been an interesting experience as ideas seem to flow. The reason I stopped at 19 pages last year was because I had a great beginning that I had to get down on paper, but no idea how to proceed. I still didn't have ideas going in now, but those 19-pages felt like the set up for a Laymon story. Since I love three of his novels - Endless Night, One Rainy Night and After Hours, and I count him somewhat as an influence, this could be my chance to pay homage to the late horrormeister. And since this takes place basically in real time over a 24 or 48 period, like a lot of Laymon books, my creativity, channeling Laymon, seem to hit stride.

Of course, this is all a very rough, first draft, but it looks like it will be done by the end of the month.

October Horror Project

I had to make a quick decision. Since October is the Month Of Horror, I needed to write a very rough first draft of a horror script, as part of my goal to finish four very rough first drafts of screenplays before the end of the year. The problem is I had a lot of options: an unfinished horror novel that would also work as a screenplay, a horror thriller of which I had written 19 pages last year, and stopped, and a new idea that would be a different take on the 80's slasher genre.

Right now, I want to finish the 19 page horror thriller - an homage to late horror author great Richard Laymon, who was the master at unspeakable evil in everyday settings occupied by ordinary people. But, the 80's slasher idea is very unique, and I've (very roughly) outlined the first 30 or so pages, and I know the general shape of the story. It may overtake the 19-pager as the month goes on. One way or another, I'm determined to get 100 completed pages of one or the other by the end of the month.

I really liked Laura Jordan in "JOYRIDE 2: DEAD AHEAD." I'm using her as the template for the main character for the 19-pager.

September Sports Comedy Done

It capped out at 120 pages, 20 pages over my original estimate. The screenplay has laughs (which is sort of good, since it's a comedy), but as David St. Hubbins said in "THIS IS SPINAL TAP," "there's such a fine line between stupid and clever." I can't tell which it is yet, and won't until I get into the rewrite. That won't be soon. Okay, off to work on my October Horror Project...