another vlog going up soon - and a quick update

I'm about to leave for my work day, but thought I'd let you all know that a new vlog (#3) will go up on the afterellen site probably within the next day or so... also, I'm currently uploading vlog #2 to youtube now that it's been archived on afterellen.

Doing the vlogs is a blast for me, and I hope you're enjoying them. The new installment is all about the writing process and what phases we actually go through from ideas to scripts over the course of a season.

For those of you who are unable to see the vlogs, here's the update as to where season 2 stands as of today:
SCRIPTS: the network has several scripts in various stages (first and second drafts) that they're currently reviewing
BEAT SHEETS: the network has two beat sheets that they're reviewing, and we're going to send them two more today (these are all second, third, and fourth drafts)
STORYLINES; all the basic storylines are set... we all know where each of the characters is going this season; now, with the remaining beat sheets, we're just finding the specifics of the characters' journeys

That's about it from this end... now, one more chug of coffee (with vanilla creamer, of course!) and I'm off!!

Until next time...

youtube

Just a quick post to share the exciting news that I've posted my very first youtube videos! (yes, I've joined the technology revolution a wee bit late... but thanks to my Mac, now I can actually do things like that)

If you haven't seen my youtube page, click here.


I'm going to be posting my "Exes & Ohs" behind-the-scenes-of-season-2 video blogs on youtube every few weeks. These are the same vlogs that I'm doing for AfterEllen, so I'll put them on youtube once they are archived on the AE site.

Hope you enjoy!

type, type, type

Every time I realize that I haven't posted in a while, I think "oh, it's only been a week or so..." And then I look at the actual date of my last post and am shocked and horrified to realize that it's been closer to a month. Yikes! I have to get back on the regular posting bandwagon! As soon as I'm done with this update, I'll put a post-it note on my desktop to remind me.

In my defense, I've been doing stuff. Ya know, writing season 2, filming vlogs for afterellen, appearing in commercials for psoriasis medication and mood enhancers... that kind of stuff. ;-) The vlogs you can see for yourself by clicking here. As for the writing, it couldn't be going better!!! Billy and I spend all day every day working through the stories, the beat sheets, the scripts... doing revision after revision... and every revision just gets better. It's definitely not a fast or easy process (in fact, my most recent vlog was all about the brain-sucking few days I had recently), but it is the process and I'm really proud of how everything is turning out. I obviously can't tell you anything specific about the stories - but I will say that if you were a fan of season 1, you'll love season 2 just as much... and probably even more!

The thing I can be specific about is what my schedule is like these days (it's riveting - try not to yawn): I'm usually at my computer early in the morning getting a jump on the day; then Billy and I meet up either in our Logo office or in our office-away-from-the-office by 10am, where we talk story and type, type, type our way through breakfast and lunch, then we leave at about 6 or 7pm, at which point I go home and catch up on whatever I missed during the day of typing. It's a very do-able schedule right now, and I'm enjoying it immensely because once pre-production starts up it's going to get incredibly busy... as you know if you followed this blog during season 1 (and as you'll discover if you follow me through season 2).

As for what it means when I say that I "type, type, type"... well, the best way to explain that is to tell you what I've done in the past week. Let's see... last Friday, I sent three scripts off to the network (one was a new draft; the other two were second drafts). Monday, yesterday, and today were spent talking through and revising two beat sheets (a "beat sheet" is basically a detailed outline of the story, and from the beat sheet you write the script). I sent those two beat sheets off this evening, so tomorrow and Friday will be spent talking through and revising two more beat sheets. I'm hoping they'll be ready to send off by Friday evening - but if not then, then they'll certainly be ready for Monday. Once they're in the network's hands, then it's time to get started writing a first draft of another script.

There's always a cycle of writing/rewriting on this end and reviewing/noting on the network's end. We'll keep re-working the beat sheets until they're solid and approved by the network; then we use the final beat sheets to write drafts of the scripts, which we keep re-working until they, too, are solid and approved. But I should add that saying a particular script is "done" doesn't mean it won't change again... it's more of an ongoing process until the day you shoot the material. There are always little tweaks that need to be made due to production-related issues (for example, if a scene is supposed to take place in a submarine but you can't actually get a submarine for the shoot, so you have to set the scene somewhere else). Once you've shot it, then the story changes again in editing... but that's a whole other post...

As for the season 2 writing schedule, we're on track to have all the scripts written and in solid shape before we head up to Vancouver (which is good because it would be impossible for me to write scripts and act in the show at the same time!). I'm really having a blast doing this... in case you couldn't already tell. :-)

Let's see, what else can I tell you? Well, I'm still addicted to vanilla coffee creamer... I'm beyond thrilled to be back working on another season... and I appreciate your patience with how infrequently I've been posting. But I just stopped typing to put the post-it on my desktop, so hopefully I'll remember to do this more often!

Until next time...