So I’ve signed up for Script Frenzy (see link in the sidebar) so for the entire month of June, I will be (finally!) writing the screenplay based on my professional life (and I use both of those words loosely) in Houston.

I am, of course, going to change much of the reality of that history, but some things are best left as they are, such as how my manager and I were called the harbingers of lay offs. We moved to a floor and poof everyone else on that floor was downsized (what a euphemism!) or moved to another floor. Twice, we were the only employees left on the floor. We kept hoping for severance packages until Enron imploded and flooded the job market with qualified candidates. Then we were very happy to have jobs at all, even if we had no work to do.

Aside from the 30 days of writing restriction, I’m imposing a few limitations of my own choosing: keep it small and affordable. So no crazy special effects, no wild stunts, no exotic locations.

Why small and affordable? Because that’s what studios (and agents) like in new writers. They are rarely keen to invest $150millioon dollars in an unknown.

With only 2 main characters, the cast budget can be kept to a minimum and an empty cubicle farm is cheap for production costs. Filming in Houston is, I understand, very economical.

Not that I’m actually looking to move to Hollywood and take up screen writing full time. I mean, I am still me, and I still hate LA. But I think adding those limits will force me to write a better script. I guess we’ll see. I just want to know if I have it in me to do this. I miss creative writing. I haven’t done any serious creative writing since college.

Current Netflix: Tsotsi and Notes on a Scandal