As long as I can remember I've wanted to become a writer of some kind. I've been writing stories ever since I was a pre-teen. I started out with a completely awful Harry Potter ripoff series cleverly entitled "The Wizards and Witches of Newnan, Georgia". It dealt with three siblings who find out they have magic powers. Then they go on to have many, many misadventures. I'm giggling to myself as I remember the asinine plots I came up with back then. There's even one where the children and their friends attend... wait for it... a school of witchcraft and wizardry. The stories just become worse and worse as the series goes on and on, like a horror franchise that doesn't know when to stop. Those folders are hidden somewhere in the depths of my bedroom back home. I pull them out every once in a while if I want a good laugh. Then I tuck them away immediately because they really are that God-awful. You can't blame me though. I was 11 years old! Everybody has to start somewhere.
*clears throat* Okay, let's skip ahead!
The year 2002, the year Sam Raimi's Spider-Man was released, was when I realized maybe I was more of a screenwriter than an actual author. I don't want to keep bringing up my terrible works of fiction, but after Spidey came out, I did write a particularly ridiculous script that has my teenage self rescuing actress Kirsten Dunst from the hands of her evil agent. Then my family and I have to go into the witness protection program after we witness said evil agent kill... somebody? I don't remember. It was really convoluted. Man, now I gotta search for THAT gem. Maybe it's on my external hard drive! *memories memories*
EDIT: It's not on my external hard drive ...damn!
Around that same time frame was when I realized I was a huge horror buff. I have three horror-related drafts collecting dust on my obsolete laptop. One is a Body Snatchers-type story, set on a farm in the middle of nowhere as a family reunion takes a turn for the worst. I wrote that one after the last visit to my grandmother's farm over 10 years ago. The second is one I wrote around the time The Ring came out. It's about this notebook that brings to life whatever is drawn in it. The protagonist, a horror-crazed, picked-upon loner, draws a typical horror-movie villain inside, and the jocks who pick on him slowly start dying. Whooo is killing them?? Sheesh, that one is staying put. The third is a typical home-invasion thriller. It's meant to be an homage to Halloween and the original Black Christmas. I wrote it when I was a junior in high school. The first 20 pages or so up through the invaders breaking into the house and the baby-sitter/kids hiding from them are actually really suspenseful. Or they are in my head. It might make a great short film. What happens afterward still needs work. I've never gotten the tone quite right.
My favorite project is one I've been writing ever since the spring of 2005. It's partially auto-biographical with a few changes to spice things up. It's a coming-of-age story about an introverted guy who attends a small Christian school, and the girl who he likes helps break him out of his shell. At least that was the plot in the first ever draft I wrote many moons ago. Several things have changed since then. These days it's not so much a romantic coming-of-age story. I want the story to mainly focus on the protagonist and his realization that he isn't happy in his humdrum life: taking his sister to school then to dance while he works all night to help his single mother with the bills. Let me explain. The protagonist, Peter, used to dance with his sister, but after the sudden death of his father he feels the need to help out his mother. So he gets a job, and he isn't happy with where his life is going. It takes the help of a free spirit who goes to the same school AND dance studio for him to realize what he's been missing all this time.
It definitely needs work and a lot of focus, but I guess you could say it's my passion project. I've set the time in 2004, around the same time I was also an introverted guy attending a small Christian school. I already know the soundtrack is going to be AWESOME, with some great 80s new wave (Peter's favorite genre, duh) sprinkled with hits/alternative songs from the time period. So basically you've got some Echo & the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears, and Duran Duran when on the flip side there's The Killers, Cake, The White Stripes, and a bunch of really random but really rockin' alternative shtuff. I listen to the music every time I sit down to write, but I usually end up distracted and hold a solo dance party in my room instead.
I've always been a firm believer in "write what you know". Two themes that are common in pretty much all of my writing are a strong family unit and witty teenage girls.
First off there's usually a bond between the protagonist and his family. In the horror scripts, as minor as the family subplot may be, toward the beginning of the story, it's clear there is a strong bond among the family unit. So when shit hits the fan (not literally, ew) it's heartbreaking to see that unit be torn apart. Especially in my forever-hidden "notebook" idea, as the protagonist slowly starts to unravel, he drifts further and further away from both his family and his close friends. That drifting apart has always been a very terrifying idea to me, mostly because I cannot begin to fathom life without my family.
My favorite parts of my "passion project" are the scenes between Peter, his sister, Liz, and all their friends at the ballet studio. These parts of the story are very auto-biographical. I was always extremely close to my sister, Emily, and all our ballet friends growing up. We had the best of times whether it be dancing in class, staying up late watching terrific movies (such as Bring It On, Moulin Rouge!, and Donnie Darko), or rocking out to tunes such as the great "Bouncing Off the Ceiling" by the A*Teens. Emily and her friends were also extremely quick on their toes, and that's something I feel I've really brought to life with Liz and her ballet friends in my script. Hmm... maybe I should just write a pilot for the Disney Channel... NAH!
I hope this update has given you an insight into the secret live of Joe Moore. Writing has always been and will always be one of my favorite pastimes. I've had a lot of fun reminiscing as I've shared both my embarrassing first projects and my screenplay ideas. I kinda want to get on my computer from 1994 (it might as well be), and write the evening away, but seeing as it's 2:30am, I guess I've already done that. I have to be up and ready for work in less than five hours. I ain't no spring chicken anymore, so this upcoming morning is gonna be rough. But you know what? It was totally worth it to jot down this stroll through memory lane! Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Around that same time frame was when I realized I was a huge horror buff. I have three horror-related drafts collecting dust on my obsolete laptop. One is a Body Snatchers-type story, set on a farm in the middle of nowhere as a family reunion takes a turn for the worst. I wrote that one after the last visit to my grandmother's farm over 10 years ago. The second is one I wrote around the time The Ring came out. It's about this notebook that brings to life whatever is drawn in it. The protagonist, a horror-crazed, picked-upon loner, draws a typical horror-movie villain inside, and the jocks who pick on him slowly start dying. Whooo is killing them?? Sheesh, that one is staying put. The third is a typical home-invasion thriller. It's meant to be an homage to Halloween and the original Black Christmas. I wrote it when I was a junior in high school. The first 20 pages or so up through the invaders breaking into the house and the baby-sitter/kids hiding from them are actually really suspenseful. Or they are in my head. It might make a great short film. What happens afterward still needs work. I've never gotten the tone quite right.
My favorite project is one I've been writing ever since the spring of 2005. It's partially auto-biographical with a few changes to spice things up. It's a coming-of-age story about an introverted guy who attends a small Christian school, and the girl who he likes helps break him out of his shell. At least that was the plot in the first ever draft I wrote many moons ago. Several things have changed since then. These days it's not so much a romantic coming-of-age story. I want the story to mainly focus on the protagonist and his realization that he isn't happy in his humdrum life: taking his sister to school then to dance while he works all night to help his single mother with the bills. Let me explain. The protagonist, Peter, used to dance with his sister, but after the sudden death of his father he feels the need to help out his mother. So he gets a job, and he isn't happy with where his life is going. It takes the help of a free spirit who goes to the same school AND dance studio for him to realize what he's been missing all this time.
It definitely needs work and a lot of focus, but I guess you could say it's my passion project. I've set the time in 2004, around the same time I was also an introverted guy attending a small Christian school. I already know the soundtrack is going to be AWESOME, with some great 80s new wave (Peter's favorite genre, duh) sprinkled with hits/alternative songs from the time period. So basically you've got some Echo & the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears, and Duran Duran when on the flip side there's The Killers, Cake, The White Stripes, and a bunch of really random but really rockin' alternative shtuff. I listen to the music every time I sit down to write, but I usually end up distracted and hold a solo dance party in my room instead.
I've always been a firm believer in "write what you know". Two themes that are common in pretty much all of my writing are a strong family unit and witty teenage girls.
First off there's usually a bond between the protagonist and his family. In the horror scripts, as minor as the family subplot may be, toward the beginning of the story, it's clear there is a strong bond among the family unit. So when shit hits the fan (not literally, ew) it's heartbreaking to see that unit be torn apart. Especially in my forever-hidden "notebook" idea, as the protagonist slowly starts to unravel, he drifts further and further away from both his family and his close friends. That drifting apart has always been a very terrifying idea to me, mostly because I cannot begin to fathom life without my family.
My favorite parts of my "passion project" are the scenes between Peter, his sister, Liz, and all their friends at the ballet studio. These parts of the story are very auto-biographical. I was always extremely close to my sister, Emily, and all our ballet friends growing up. We had the best of times whether it be dancing in class, staying up late watching terrific movies (such as Bring It On, Moulin Rouge!, and Donnie Darko), or rocking out to tunes such as the great "Bouncing Off the Ceiling" by the A*Teens. Emily and her friends were also extremely quick on their toes, and that's something I feel I've really brought to life with Liz and her ballet friends in my script. Hmm... maybe I should just write a pilot for the Disney Channel... NAH!
I hope this update has given you an insight into the secret live of Joe Moore. Writing has always been and will always be one of my favorite pastimes. I've had a lot of fun reminiscing as I've shared both my embarrassing first projects and my screenplay ideas. I kinda want to get on my computer from 1994 (it might as well be), and write the evening away, but seeing as it's 2:30am, I guess I've already done that. I have to be up and ready for work in less than five hours. I ain't no spring chicken anymore, so this upcoming morning is gonna be rough. But you know what? It was totally worth it to jot down this stroll through memory lane! Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
2 comments:
Liz sounds like a pretty awesome character...
Oh she is. You don't even know :)
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