So there goes another day. I woke the night before last with the last last scene in my head. I just had to swim it into shape and then write it into the computer. It sounds simple but it can be time-consuming. See, I’ve “finished” this screenplay four times this week. I think maybe yesterday was—at least—penultimate—pending the producers’ reactions. We’ll see.
And then, when I am released from my bondage to the script, all the things I’ve neglected come rushing in and I have to figure out priorities and run around putting my fingers in the dykes. (Does anyone remember what that means?)
And I’m still thinking of Marla. She was so courageous, more so as her physical difficulties increased, not to mention financial. She became dedicated to screenwriting. She took the first degree from the Professional Screenwriting University course in screenwriting which was difficult enough for anyone. I took it and eight months off from a film I was working on with a partner (based on her non-fiction book), in order to hone my skills (?) though I’d had some 30 stage plays produced and had taken several courses from acknowledged leaders in the craft (Syd Field, Michael Haughe and Robert McNee). Good thing, too.
There was a new assignment every 24 hours. I’m on Eastern Time, so was Marla. I would receive my lesson and assignment (a written task) about 4 in the afternoon, due the next day. I would read over the lesson, think about it over night, start writing early the next day, finishing in time to send it off before receiving the next one. If one was foolish enough to need groceries or to attend a social or professional event—(and don’t get sick or travel!)—then one fell behind, and kept on falling behind without huge extra time and effort to keep up. I managed to complete my course but several students dropped out of my class, unable to finish. Marla finished hers and went on to take the Masters degree. She wasn’t super-human, far from it, with her muscular dystrophy, but she was super-dedicated. And so smart and so knowledgeable - I mean, she learned a lot and retained it. I became her pupil. Yes, she advised and taught me, and i was so grateful.
And all this while struggling with the mundane daily tasks we all have to perform, but she also had to cope with her dwindling health and strength, her deteriorating body and her inadequate finances. She had a disability pension, insufficient to allow for her professional expenses. I don’t know how she managed. I tried, with my shrinking income and increasing age, to pay her something for “services rendered” — such excellent advice—not enough though, nothing, really. I wish…Don’t we all?
Anyway, Marla kept going as long as she could. She was actually in negotiation for her first feature film to be shot in North Bay, where she lived. No money, lots of negotiation, not the least of which was the producer’s divorce proceedings which delayed him and the film a LOT. So Marla’s dream was never fulfilled.
She was a great success, though. and oh, dear heart (one of her expressions), how I miss her.