I took last week off to relax a moment and get some stuff done that’s been on my mind. I’ve been reading a lot at night before bed. I already finished off two books and I’m in the middle of a third now. I’m also looking at spooling up some new projects, projects outside of writing useless screenplays. I bought some equipment to start doing some small Youtube videos. I have a lot to put together still and there are some technical issues I have to work out, but I should be starting those within the next thirty days. I hope. Outside of that I’ve been keeping up with my work out routine. I almost broke my arm as I nearly lost control of a forty-five pound dumbbell in my left hand. Luckily, I was able to hold on and bring it back up with only some minor soreness.

Retro Video Games

Time was spent preening my retro video game collection as I work through my Super Nintendo titles to get them completed and purchase game cases for them, which is turning into an expensive endeavor. In the face of an apocalypse I’m not sure if this is the best way to spend my money, but it keeps my mind busy and focused.

Researching which inserts go with what games takes a lot of time and effort. I’ve discovered that people on eBay just purchase inserts to give their games the illusion of completion and don’t really know what goes with what. People, not caring and just taking others word for it, buy the game at a higher price, believing it is complete.

I spent weeks researching the inserts of the Sega Master System. The process of trying to figure out what releases had which inserts and when new games got new inserts was a chore. I can say with confidence though, that I’m the proud owner of nearly 90% of the NTSC Sega Master System games and they are 100% complete with hang tabs, clean cases, correct art, clean cartridges, newly soldered batteries, manuals, and appropriate inserts. I even put together a huge spreadsheet for it all. Absolutely not important, but I enjoy that type of thing. I wish the inserts were cheaper so the hobby was more about time than cash expenditure. Despite the money spent, I’ve learned a lot of new skills in collecting retro games, it’s been a rewarding hobby.

Mutant Chronicles

This is the main event for the purposes of this website. I’ve been transcribing my notes from my white boards that have been up there for months. I wanted to get my white boards cleared so I could use them to start formulating more of the story. As I transcribed all these things I realized that I had a lot of ideas already running through my scribblings and it caused me to re-think how I want to tell this story. Unfortunately, I think that means bringing the script back to square one. Well, I shouldn’t say that far. I’m keeping the characters and the basic storyline, so probably not square one, just rearranging elements. Square one sounds dramatic.

My original idea focused on the main character growing with the help of a more experienced character she meets in the story. I think I’m going to shift more of that relationship to her mentor in the pilot. The other character would now be a rogue element causing contention. There are some interesting dynamics at play in the mythology of the series that I think can be explored through their relationship. This will be more a Buffy/ Giles relationship as a result, rather than an Obi-Wan/ Luke relationship.

[Two hours later… ]

Ok, you can’t see it and the time didn’t pass for you like it did for me here, but I went and worked out the entire storyline using my notes and my new thoughts on the story. I wrote out a short four page treatment since I’m familiar with the story. This will give me enough to get scripting. There was also enough material to sketch out a few character biographies for the bible. I feel so much better now.

That is where I’ll leave it for right now. Hopefully next week I’ll have some screenplay progress for you.