Fun Fridays

            In grade school, I remember having “fun Fridays” at the end of each long, gruesome week of times tables and story time. While I remember looking forward to them every Thursday night, I can’t recall what this “fun” might have entailed. Like the ghost of King Hamlet Sr. in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “fun Fridays” has become a presence that looms over me at the end of each week, begging me to make things right again. And so, as to avoid death and utter tragedy, I have decided to avenge “fun Fridays” by bringing them back. That’s right, for all of you reading this, today is FUN FRIDAY. Even saying the words gives me chills.

            However, since the age of six, I believe that my idea of “fun” has changed a tiny bit. So for these next three weeks, “fun Fridays” consist of me watching as many movies as possible in the fourteen hours that I have (the other ten are set aside for sleeping). I started off this fun Friday by watching the movie, My Week with Marilyn. This story, about a boy who befriends Marilyn Monroe while working on his first movie set, was so unique that it had my complete attention from beginning to end. And because its fun Friday, I feel no obligation to explain why that is in great detail.

            Instead, I decided to rewrite one of the pivotal scenes in the movie. In this scene, Colin Clark, the third assistant to the Director, overhears Marilyn crying in the hallway after reading something her husband, Arthur Miller, wrote inside a notebook. There is little dialogue in the original scene, and mostly consists of long shots of Marilyn’s tear-streaked face. Since fun Friday has become my new YOLO, a phrase that precedes dangerous decision-making, I thought I would attempt to make the scene better.

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN REVISED SCENE: SCRIPT

INT. PARKSIDE HOUSE. BEDROOM -- NIGHT

COLIN sits on a couch next to ROGER, who is asleep and snoring. However, COLIN doesn’t seem to notice as he waves a glass of brandy in the air.

               COLIN

          (slurring)

My dad says...my, my dad says no Colin, there’s no reason Colin...you must try and find a good use of your time. And here I am, sitting in the room next to Marilyn Monroe.

COLIN raises his glass as if toasting, and chuckles to himself. He looks at his hand for a second too long, then hears a THUMP coming from the other side of the wall. He sets his drink on a coffee table and gets up. ROGER continues snoring.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. PARKSIDE HOUSE. HALLWAY -- NIGHT

COLIN’S P.O.V.: The hallway is empty except for an open notebook a few inches from the wall. MARYILYN enters the hallway and picks up the notebook, flipping through the pages as if looking for something. She is wearing a sleek, cream robe and no shoes. From the bags under her eyes, COLIN can tell she’s been crying.

               MILLER (Off screen)

Don’t be so dramatic. It’s just what I do, I write for a living, in case you’d forgotten.

It isn’t clear whether MARILYN hears him or not, and continues flipping through the pages until she’s found the right one.

               MARILYN

Right here, this is where you say, and the man knew he could not love her anymore. It’s about me, isn’t it.

          MILLER

It’s just a story, Marilyn, I thought you’d like it.

          MARILYN

     (mystified)

Like it? Like it?

MARILYN holds the notebook up to her face and sobs, getting the pages wet. She then sees COLIN in the doorway across from her, and they hold eye contact until COLIN breaks it. MARILYN clears her throat.

               MARILYN

          (reading)

Oh Jacob, please don’t leave me here! She wailed as her knees caved in and she fell to the floor. But all he left her with was the sound of the door slamming and the buzz of the refrigerator.

MARILYN’s arms swung out wide, in mock despair, but real tears still streamed down her face. Somehow, COLIN knew that MARILYN was putting on a show for him. He didn’t want to encourage her, but couldn’t stop watching.

               MILLER (Off Screen)

     That’s enough.

               MARILYN

          (still reading)

Out in the driveway, Jacob clutched the steering wheel tight, apprehensive that his wife might run from the house and convince him to stay with one flick of her curly, blonde hair...

MILLER steps into the hallway in blue flannel pajamas and a set of matching slippers. He grabs for the notebook, but MARILYN pulls it just out of his reach. COLIN leans back so that MILLER can’t see him, but doesn’t leave.

               MILLER

     I said that’s enough.

MILLER holds his hand out, palm up, anger seething from his eyes. MARILYN ignores his hand and shoves the notebook into his chest. MILLER stumbles backwards, but remains upright.

               MARILYN

     And by the way, apprehensive has two P’s.

MARILYN doesn’t look him in the eye when she said it, and storms back into the bedroom. MILLER reluctantly follows her after rubbing at the damp notebook. COLIN backs out of the doorway slowly and Parkside House is silent once again.

FADE TO BLACK.

            MOVIES WATCHED: 2

            SCREENPLAY PAGES WRITTEN: 12

            NOVEL PAGES WRITTEN: 48

            PAGES LEFT IN HOW TO WRITE A SELLING

            SCREENPLAY: 235

            PAGES LEFT IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR

            PECULIAR CHILDREN: 281

Keane and McEwan Walk into a Bar...

            For those of you who have been following the ‘number of pages’ updates at the bottom of each post, get excited. Because today I am finally going to clue you in. How I got to this decision is a story in itself. As Keane has so often stressed the importance of drama in a story, let me tell you it with a Keane-esque attention to drama.

            I was sitting on my bed, a nice indent forming where my butt sunk into the mattress, when the light began to flicker. I pulled the book closer to my face and squinted, nose scrunched up. It was 11:26 pm and I was tired. The words were tired too, and seemed to slump off the page every minute or two. My head would sag on my neck before I’d blink my eyes open and sit rigid once again.

            The last page felt thick in my hand as I turned it slowly. One more paragraph. I could see the end and covered the last line with the edge of my hand. I was an avid end-ruiner, and I had made it thus far without reading the last thought the author had kissed onto the page. I couldn’t spoil it now, but the light bulb wouldn’t last for much longer; I trudged on.

            “But now I must sleep,” Ian McEwan wrote. I imagined him in a room filled with books, because authors were always surrounded by books, typing each letter with a staccato diligence. I was done. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it: I had finally finished reading Atonement.

            To McEwan’s credit, Parts Two and Three of the book moved with a much quicker pace than the one hundred and seventy-five paged Part One. After setting Atonement on my bedside table at 11:27 pm, immediately Keane came to mind, and his nine point plot structure that I wondered if McEwan knew about. And so, to kill two birds with one stone as they say (although I’ve never felt the urge to kill a bird before), I will attempt to mesh Keane’s idea and McEwan’s story to create a literary mutant in a Frankenstein fashion.

            So number one: The Basic Idea (again, keep in mind that Keane likes to be a bit dramatic. This should be no more than a couple sentences on what your story’s about, Keane says. In response to this, McEwan would most likely have said, “Atonement is about a crime committed by a young girl and follows the lives of everyone effected by this.” Easy enough.

            Number two: Backstory. This is the part where McEwan went a little overboard. While I agree that it was necessary for McEwan to introduce us to each character before anything too important happened, I felt like I was in an awkwardly long handshake that I couldn’t get out of. Lesson learned: one hundred and forty pages of backstory is probably too much. Even if McEwan argued it was crucial to the plot, I still skimmed the majority of it anyways, so his point becomes irrelevant.

            Number three: Exposition. Keane emphasizes the importance of relaying the essential information to your reader slowly and dramatically (of course). Maybe this was the intent of McEwan’s one hundred and forty paged backstory, because if so, it worked. I was so eager to get to the essential information that, despite the “nerd status” that this next comment will give me, I have to say that I could not put the book down. So, I applaud McEwan for his ability to make his greatest weakness one of his strengths as well.

            Number four: Pace. When reading Atonement, I felt like I was a surfer lying flat on her board, waiting for the next wave to come. Even if the beginning was a bit drawn out, I could feel the rumble of something coming beneath me. And as the top of my board began to rise, and the wave finally came, my face was so close to my book that it looked like I was trying to inhale the words right off of the page. Although I’m sure Keane would recommended a story with a series of smaller waves, the semi-tsunami suited me just fine.

            Number five: Plot or turning points. In this rare case, I think many would argue that quantity beats quality. If I’m going to sit through a three hundred and fifty one page story, I want to be able to point to multiple instances that I felt were important to read. However, in McEwan’s story, I regrettably must say that the only one that comes to mind, a mere eight hours after finishing, was the moment in which his main character committed a crime. Yes, other things happened in Parts Two and Three, but it mostly seemed to be after-shock from the wave that already passed (too far?).

            Number six: Hurdles, the obstacles a writer must use to trip their poor main character that we come to love in the Backstory. While I think it’s strange that Keane gets enjoyment from seeing a man fall flat on his face, I reluctantly get his point. Like the mecca for this book, the crime committed in Part One seems to be the main hurdle that the characters keep having to jump over, turn around, and jump it again. However, a tangential episode, or Part Two, when Robbie is trying to get home from WWII, was a welcomed change in theme for me. Because of this, I give McEwan a thumbs up for his ability to “kick a man when he’s down”.

            Number seven: I know you’re probably thinking this is too long, and when is it going to be over??, but if you can count, you know we’re almost there! So number seven: Dramatic Irony. This is when “the audience knows something the characters do not”, Keane explains, and not because said audience read the last paragraph of the book, either. I’m tempted to write Keane a letter and tell him that if he ever needs an example of dramatic irony, he should give McEwan a call. This entire story, told from three perspectives, is precisely about what each character does or does not know. As the crime is a result of misinformation, I would hope that McEwan has a knack for dramatic irony, and he certainly does.

            Number eight: Climax; the point in the book when you say YES! All this reading has not been for nothing! I can assure you that I was saying this to myself at the end of Part One in Atonement. However, McEwan surprised me by having a second climax, if Keane will allow it, at the end of Part three, in which all three characters affected by the crime finally meet again. I knew the moment was coming the entire novel, yet it still hit me with force when the real criminal apologized to the wrongly accused. The punch in the gut feeling this second climax gives its un-expecting reader was definitely Keane-worthy.

            And finally, number nine: Resolution. In an epilogue that is entitled ‘London, 1999’, McEwan wraps up his story. The characters are paraded across each page like the cast at the end of a Playhouse Theaters production. However, I found myself furiously flipping the pages instead of breathing in each “where are they now”. Maybe its because I don’t like to read as much as I think I do, or because I never forgave the book for those first one hundred and forty pages, but the resolution only made me wish I could experience either climax a second time.

            If Keane and McEwan walked into a bar, and no, this is not the beginning to a very bad joke, I think Keane would pat McEwan on the back. Atonement’s success can be attributed to the sound story structure that McEwan built for his story. However, because of a Keane ‘faux-pau’s, I doubt Keane would have bought McEwan a beer.

            MOVIES WATCHED: 1

            SCREENPLAY PAGES WRITTEN: 9

            NOVEL PAGES WRITTEN: 48

            PAGES LEFT IN HOW TO WRITE A SELLING

            SCREENPLAY: 235

PAGES LEFT IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR

PECULIAR CHILDREN: 314

ATONEMENT: COMPLETED

Things I Know Now

            One piece of advice that I’ve always struggled with is “write what you know”. Now I’m sure J.K. Rowling didn’t “know” what it’s like to be an orphaned wizard, and J.R.R. Tolkien has never been a hobbit, but look how it turned out for them. I’ve always thought that there is something admirable in creating another world with just a laptop and some Times New Roman font. And in a way, both J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien were writing about something that they knew, if not literally then maybe metaphorically. I would also agree that if you plan to write a textbook on the history of World War 2, then by all means do a little research first so that you are “writing what you know”, as opposed to spewing false statements and your own, biased opinions.

            Despite my wariness towards this overused advice given to young writers, today I went out and wrote what I knew. Exactly what I knew. In a very romantic gesture, I sat in a coffee shop (albeit a Starbucks), and eavesdropped shamelessly. Nine times out of ten, I believe I would have overheard conversations about homework or grocery lists or which in-law was hosting Christmas dinner this year. However, today I became Starbuck’s very own Bob Woodland or Carl Bernstein, even if the stakes were nowhere near as high as they were when uncovering the Watergate Scandal. So here goes scene #2, nonfiction at its peak in the life of Carolyn Mazanec.

SCENE AT A COFFEE SHOP

INT. COFFEE SHOP -- MIDAFTERNOON

Feminine hands hold up a book at a small round table in the corner of a coffee shop. This is CAROLYN. Although you can’t see her face, you know she is bored. She crosses and uncrosses her legs, then shifts the book to her right hand and takes a sip of coffee with the other.

DAN, JAMIE, and KYLIE enter and sit at the table in front of Carolyn. They are all wearing Hawaiian shirts and have red nametags on. Carolyn is facing Dan, while Jamie and Kylie sit with their back to her.

               DAN

Okay, so Jamie told me that she saw you grab a fistful of twenties from her drawer, and she was concerned. What happened?

Dan is overweight and has thinning gray hair. He rests his elbow on the table and holds his face with his hand. Dan does not want to be here.

               KYLIE

I was on my computer when I saw that a few of the drawers needed refilling. Jamie was busy, so I thought I’d help her out. I went to go get the money from her drawer – which was unlocked — and that’s when Jamie saw me.

Kylie is wearing a black hoodie and has matching hair that looks like it’s been dyed.

          DAN

But I don’t understand. Has it ever been a part of your job to refill the drawers?

          KYLIE

No, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking, and in hindsight I shouldn’t have tried to help but Jamie was busy and...

DAN

The fact that Jamie left her drawer unlocked is another issue, and I’ll deal with that later. But do you understand how this looks?

ANGLE Jamie’s face, she looks into her lap and doesn’t say anything. Close up we can see an upper lobe earing and tacky pink eye shadow. SMASH CUT TO:

               KYLIE

Yes, I understand how this looks. I was just having a bad week, and the holidays were stressful and I wasn’t’ thinking.

          DAN

     (frowning)

What I don’t understand is why you would grab the twenties when you know that drawers are only refilled with ones, fives, and tens, which are always bound together, and you grabbed the loose twenties--

          KYLIE

     (interrupts)

Right; I accidentally grabbed the twenties and was in the process of putting them back when Jamie walked in.

Beat.

          KYLIE (CONT’D)

I was on autopilot, I--

          DAN

     (interrupts)

Now see that doesn’t make sense. When someone says they’re on autopilot, they’re doing something that they normally do without thinking. But when has a part-timer ever taken money from a full-timer’s drawer? It doesn’t make sense.

          KYLIE

Well sometimes when a full-timer opens their drawer, they ask if anyone needs to be refilled.

DAN

But Jamie wasn’t asking.

          KYLIE

Right, right. What I meant by autopilot was that I wasn’t thinking, just going through the motions.

          DAN

But see right there, that doesn’t make sense.

          KYLIE

It was just that it’s right after the holidays and it’s been a hard week for me and...

          DAN

     (interrupts)

No, it doesn’t make sense.

The three get awkwardly silent. Jamie looks like she’s about to say something, but then stares at Kylie and is quiet again. Dan looks up and notices Carolyn for the first time. They share eye contact, and for the first time we see Carolyn’s face. She’s young and embarrassed to be caught listening in.

               DAN

     You, over there.

Carolyn points to herself and Dan grunts. Carolyn takes this as confirmation that he is talking to her.

               DAN

Say you owned a shop, and one of your employees caught another employ taking a fistful of twenties from the register. What would you do?

          CAROLYN

     (stutters)

I don’t know.

          DAN

Don’t be shy.

Dan waves her to their table and Carolyn gets up, leaving her coat at her table. She thinks about going back for her coffee, but decides against it. Then, Carolyn pushes up her sleeves, but they don’t stay up; it’s obvious that Carolyn feels uncomfortable.

               DAN

     What would you do?

Kylie stares at Carolyn with a menacing look in her eyes. Carolyn quickly looks away.

               CAROLYN

          (quietly)

Well, you can’t really prove someone’s intentions one way or the other.

          DAN

     (intrigued)

I suppose that’s true.

          CAROLYN

But on the other hand it doesn’t seem like you trust her. So I guess I wouldn’t want an employee who I don’t trust.

Carolyn stares at her hands, afraid to look up. Jamie drums the table, and you can tell that nobody wants to be a part of this conversation anymore.

               DAN

     Okay, thank you. Hope the book is good.

Dan points to her table and Carolyn nods, taking her cue to leave.

ANGLE We watch Carolyn pack her book into a plastic bag and grab her coat. Over her shoulder, we hear Dan pushing back his chair.

               DAN

Why don’t you go home for now Kylie and I’ll call you once I decide what to do about this.

Carolyn quickly pushes in her chair and exits quickly. It screeches on the tile floor.

FADE TO BLACK.

     MOVIES WATCHED: 1

            SCREENPLAY PAGES WRITTEN: 9

            NOVEL PAGES WRITTEN: 46

            PAGES LEFT IN ATONEMENT: 121

            PAGES LEFT IN HOW TO WRITE A SELLING 
            SCREENPLAY: 238

   PAGES LEFT IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR
   PECULAR CHILDREN: 314