I had an epiphany about a month ago that it’s time to adapt my novel, Time Without, into a screenplay.
I’ve been working on it for about a week now, and I was extremely happy when I finally got the first 30 pages done.
Until it became glaringly obvious that I had a problem. If the conversion keeps at the same pace, the screenplay will end up being over 200 pages long.
Yikes, that won’t work at all!
Luckily, last night my sleeping brain got busy and came up with a solution. It realized that there is a whole section I can cut without damaging the main story.
Not that I want to cut that section. It has one character in it who appears nowhere else in the story, and it explains why everything is set in motion.
Even so, the section isn’t 100% necessary for the story, and leaving it out will get the story into the action much quicker.
I guess a writer must do what a writer must do. And this writer must cut twenty-six of the thirty pages I’ve adapted.
Unfortunately, I’m probably going to have to find twice that much more to cut to keep the screenplay from becoming a bloated mess.
But I’m not really complaining. I would much rather it be me that makes the decisions about what gets cut and what gets left in.
And it’s a great way to become reacquainted with the story.
We spent 2 weeks in the UK, 2 weeks in Italy, and a couple of days in Paris. So much to see and do!
We visited museums galore, walked many miles every day, and climbed more stairs than I care to remember.
BTW – Stairs in Europe are unavoidable. If you want to go to Europe and not do stairs, you might want to invest in a personal helicopter. If such a thing exists!
Here are just a few of the sights.
First pic is my favorite tree in Cambridge, UK, followed by 3 London pics.
The rest are Italy. Verona, Venice, Milan, Verona, Rome, Bologna.
My phone glitched and refused to take photos well before we got to Paris. Oh, well!
Aliens vs Ghosts just earned its first accolade!
I’ve had them most of my life.
Dreams in which I go into a house, a seemingly normal house, but once I explored inside I would find hidden depths I never expected.
Early on, I dreamed of dusty rooms hidden in the attic or closet.
Then there were the dreams with dark spaces behind closed doors in the basement that, if explored, led to huge rooms full of beautiful furniture.
Sometimes the hidden rooms would lead to entire wings that were entirely invisible to those who were outside.
Once I even dreamed of finding an opening in my house that lead to a field where there was a circus in full swing, complete with all the acts and an appreciative audience.
Over time, the houses changed, as did the secrets I would find inside.
But one thing always stayed the same. I explored these houses alone.
Last night, I had another house dream. But this time it was an apartment. A normal, small apartment.
Until I decided to have a party. As people showed up, I discovered new rooms I hadn’t known existed. Before I knew it, the apartment had morphed into a mansion of massive proportions.
Quite the cool dream!
Though it does make me wonder, is my brain trying to tell me to socialize more?