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Writing Scripts When You Can

© Dave Brandl

Ain't tecknolojee wunnerful? These days, you can literally write anywhere ... anytime ... and there are tools beyond paper and pen, now, too!

I was recently in a musical show and during two long rehearsals in the final week, I was able to write nine pages of dialogue while waiting for other things to happen. Keeping my PDA handy, I was able to add a bit at a time between my scenes, ultimately resulting in pages of dialogue that wouldn't have been written otherwise, or at least not as soon. I was then able to upload that dialogue onto my PC and incorporate it into the rest of the script.

Multi-tasking: The ability to maintain two or more activities simultaneously. These days, with so much going on in our lives, finding time to be creative and productive can be as much of a challenge as getting a finished script produced.

But ... when we look at apparent "down time," we may realize that it may present opportunities for productivity. In addition to the above example between scene rehearsals, consider how much time we spend in lines, waiting rooms, at airports, between television commercials, and other seemingly non-activities.

With a PDA, or even just with a pad of paper and a pen, there can be chances to jot down notes, a line or two of dialogue, or a character sketch. Repeat that multiple times, and pages of a manuscript emerge. My PDA is an HP iPQA Pocket PC with phone. I can tap in words with a stylus or use the thumb-typing keyboard extension. I also always have a pen and paper in my pocket at the ready.

But there's more to this exercise than just having the tools. One must also be prepared to begin writing on a moment's notice. In this case, I had those scenes pretty well outlined already, so I knew where they were going. Although it took a few moments to reestablish my writing mode each time, I was able to step back into that mode and continue at each break.

Someone once said that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. In this case, maybe I was lucky to get some writing in. On those days when I do get the chance to sit at my computer for an extended length of time, I feel really lucky. But when that doesn't happen, I try to make some of that luck by being prepared, for whatever few minutes I can get, in order to complete the scripts on my list.

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