Setting the scene...

So...

I sat down last night and started creating the Sci-Fi\Fantasy TV world my characters are going to live in. From what I've been reading, and from my own personal TV viewing a solid, believable, SIMPLE, universe is a really good place to start. One pitfall for some shows I've been a fan of is a distinct lack of continuity. One minute pigs can fly, the next they can't. So my goal is to establish a good set of rules and a good solid SIMPLE backdrop so that I don't have to take time away from the stories to explain the world they are happening in. Seems like a good idea to me... And as a writer I need to know the universe my story is taking place in. I have to live in it as well, at least as far as the writing goes. So if in the universe I'm creating pigs happen to fly, I need to pack a helmet and a large umbrella. Check! In my opinion you should know the world you are writing about inside and out, and I also like to have my worlds grounded in some semblance of reality. I think you should be able to sit down for an interview and have the interviewer throw 1000 questions at you about the world you've created and you should either have an answer, or be able to fill in the blank from the existing mythology you've created. Keeping thing grounded in reality even when you're creating a fantasy realm, allows you to exploit the audiences familiarity with their own world by overlaying it onto your own... So if pigs fly, there has to be a reason, and a logic, and if pigs fly, what other mammals fly? That kind of thing....

Now, one of the reasons I love my girlfriend is that when she is eating something, looking at something, smelling something, reading something, she doesn't like she gets this sour look on her face. Kinda like the one our Cats make when they have smelled something particularly obnoxious. We call it the "shit" face around our house... So I gave her the first draft of my Universe outline, and as she read along there it was... the shit face! I guess in my excitement and eagerness to drive home a particular point about the world I was creating, I deviated from the first concept I wanted to stick too... Keep It Simple Stupid! I got all wound up in the point I was trying to make in the outline, and left her saying "WTF??" soooooo... re-write... remembering K.I.S.S... and it passed muster. Thank goodness... Next... Characters... Now that I have a world that is fantastical, simple, and still interesting... It needs to be populated. Soooo... off I go to figure out the characters and their archetypes and what their back stories should be... Who are they? What did they eat for breakfast? What was their 1st grade teacher's name? you know... gettin' to know them as well as I know myself.

Cheers...

More to come...

- G

Pilot project...

Ok...

So, I have decided to try writing a pilot. The reason... and interview with Alex Epstein... and my need to write things that I would like to watch. Alex said during our conversation that he plays a game with friends from time to time called, "what else could I do for a living?" and that the answer is usually "Frakked if I know"... Well, I have a day job (Sys Admin), and I enjoy it, but to be honest at the end of the day, when I have time to relax and do what I want, I'm usually still in front of a computer typing away or reading an article on writing. I'm not a professional writer, but I am a writer. There is a need to create, and desire to improve what I've written... No matter how many times I've been told that I can't, I have turned around and showed people I can and will no matter what they say... I'm accomplished in my own mind. I've won contests, finished 2 feature scripts that have been well received outside my family and friends, I've had a play produced (by an amateur theatre company), I've written a novel, and some really bad poetry... and it's something that I love. So hey! Why not throw my hat into the TV ring? I know what I like! I know what turns my channels...

Sooooooooooo... rant complete...

I am working on a pilot. It's for a one hour Sci-Fi\Fantasy show to fill the gap in my TV viewing left by the cancellation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. There's a few really good shows on the air now. Fringe is excellent, Heroes is a little hit am miss lately, I'm enjoying Dollhouse, Terminator SCC has been good (although off the air now)... And there's a bunch of shows airing this fall that are going to be pretty interesting and I'm hoping will be good... The Vampire Diaries looks like it'll great fun! But now I want to contribute. I'd like to write something for the Buffy Audience, for the lovers of Angel, and good writing... You know? So here I go, off on my pilot project. Check back for updates on how it's going...

Cheers!

- G