Foiled Again!

I came up with what I thought was a great idea for a screenplay. The idea was original and interesting. My writing partner agreed that it had a lot of potential. The more we worked on it the more we liked it. We came up with a fantastic logline and title. We were making progress on story ideas.

And then it happened... again. My partner stumbled upon an article about a movie in development with a very similar premise. The movie appears to be stuck in development, but what do I know? In any case, we were unable to find any information about the plot other than a very general overview, but even then the major concept seems fairly identical.

So much for "original". Foiled again! (haha)

The Art of Compromise

Writing with a partner has many ups and downs. I have learned a lot from the experience. There are many benefits, but as Ted Elliott said, "It doesn't make it easier." The art of compromise is constantly at the forefront.

The biggest asset to working with another writer on a project is having two different minds which are generating ideas. One of us will make a suggestion and the other person will improve the concept and so on. There is much to be said for writing chemistry. We have definitely come up with ideas together that we would not have come up with alone.

Yet, when you have two people with different notions of which ideas will work best and which direction to take the story it can be stressful. When do you compromise? When do you fight for a concession from the other guy?

My writing partner and I are currently working on a rewrite of our script. We have both had to bend. In the end, the story is not exactly what either one of us would have written, but it is, hopefully, something better.

So, I will take two aspirin and prepare for our discussion on the latest notes we have received.