Getting big

The first draft of Act I has 7,800 words - 14 scenes that introduce some characters, conflict and mystery. I'm definitely going to have to go back (once the whole thing is written) and make sure that there are consistencies between the characters throughout the script and that the clues and setups all work cohesively.

I've also wondered about rewriting the whole script as a "flash back" with the second episode (which would be the sequel to this story) running at the same time. So, you would see dramatic events in the second episode, and then flash back to the characters before the episode happens showing dramatic develop between the characters, showing how they got into their predicament, while also showing the predicament at its height. BUT - that would be a huge amount of planning even on top of what I've already spent more than a year working on - so that's not likely to be the situation.

The second Act, though I'm only 3/4 through writing it - is 10,140 words, quite a bit longer than the first Act, which is good. The second act is supposed to be significantly larger than the first and third, and should carry the bulk of the story, character development and mystery exposition. The third act will put all the stakes on the table, put all the character development into its peak motivations and then play itself out.

In total, the script is now 19,510 words and 63 pages, which is significantly large, if you ask me. I've still got 14 third act scenes and 8 scenes in the second act to wrap up, so this script could wind up being 120 pages pretty easily. That's good - considering a movie is about a minute per page, and that would make it a standard two hours, which is pretty cool, too. So the story beat is playing out just about the way it's supposed to.

I wish I had more to show you that was a bit more interesting to read other than reports that "I'm working on it."