John August

Projects

Writing on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle

Projects, Tarzan

amtrakLast week, I took Amtrak’s [Coast Starlight](http://www.amtrak.com/trains/coaststarlight.html) train from Los Angeles to Seattle, which meant 36 hours on the rails. That’s a very long time to spend in linear motion, but it was worth it.

My goal was to get some quality, uninterrupted writing time for the oft-delayed Tarzan, and I got it. I wrote long-hand, as I usually do on first drafts, and faxed the pages back to Los Angeles once I got to Seattle. Once everything was typed up, I had 41 more pages finished, which is good for three day’s work.

I’d recommend the train for any writer looking for some good alone time. Some caveats:

1. American trains are much, much slower than their European counterparts. We averaged 35.6 miles per hour.
4. My train was 2.5 hours late getting to Seattle, which is apparently the norm. So don’t expect to make it somewhere at a specific time.
1. You absolutely need a sleeping car. I have no trouble flying coach, but beyond hour ten, you’ll be pulling your hair out if you don’t have a door you can shut.
2. The dining car seats parties of four, so they’ll put you with strangers. Everyone I ate with was friendly and talkative.
3. Bring a pillowcase. The Amtrak linens are scratchy.
5. Cell phones work almost everywhere, except parts of Northern California.

I flew back from Seattle, which was always my plan. As much as I enjoyed my Amtrak time, I don’t know if I could have taken another 36 hours of train so soon.

Working on multiple projects

QandA, Tarzan, Writing Process

Do you prefer to work on one project at a time, from start to finish? Or do you prefer to keep a couple things going at once, maybe writing a couple pages on each a day?

–Jason Rinka
North Hollywood, CA

When the situation allows — that is, when I’m not horribly behind on a project I owe somebody — I prefer to work on one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I’m usually behind. As of this moment (March 2004), I’m on my third draft of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, my second draft of CORPSE BRIDE, and finishing my first draft of TARZAN. Generally, they get prioritized based on how soon the movie shoots, so CHARLIE gets the bulk of my energy, even though TARZAN is horribly overdue.

I would never try to write two first drafts at the same time — there’s too much planning involved. But a lot of rewriting can effectively be done in quick bursts, so working on multiple projects in one day isn’t as onerous as it seems. Once you’ve written the screenplay, it’s pretty easy to get back in the right mindset when a director calls with a quick change.

Television writers in particular have to be ready to work on any script at any time, since any given moment they have an episode in outline, an episode in prep, an episode shooting, and an episode in post. Of course, television also benefits from having characters and storylines that continue — you’re not reinventing every 60 pages.

AICN review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory script is completely bogus

Charlie, Projects

This morning on Ain’t It Cool News, someone using the pseudonym Michael Marker posted what he claimed was a review of my CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY script. In fact, it was an elaborate and tedious piece of fiction. Not only did this guy not read the current draft, I suspect he’s never read any draft. Every single detail he mentions (such as the American setting, and Mrs. Bucket’s job) was completely wrong.

While the faux-review was very positive, it points out how incredibly inaccurate fan-run sites can be. Anyone with an agenda can easily manipulate them, while hiding behind the shield of anonymity. Good or bad buzz can be created without any backing whatsoever.

If people want spoilers for the movie, they can read the original book by Dahl. The movie is very similar to the book, with a little extra to explain how Willy Wonka became a candy magnate, and an ending that goes a little further to pay off Wonka’s handing-off of the factory to Charlie. With Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, I think the movie will absolutely rock. And I’ll sign my real name to that statement.