Feed the Cat

It's better or worse than an alarm clock, but just some time after 5 am it's the clawing at the cage that starts, then the mewing. When someone finally gets her out of the kennel (usually the wife) there's the sporadic attacks at your feet, jumping on the bed and finally standing on your chest purring.

The cat needs to be fed. If I need my sleep though I'm gonna kick that cat out and shut the door. But this time I didn't Dammit.

The clock reads 6:40 am...Sure why not--I haven't been sleeping for the past hour anyway.

Pets can be a lot of responsibility but, sometimes, I like the excuse to get out of bed a little early cause I get the run of the house before the wife graces us with her presence. So, for a couple hours of quiet, it is a prime time for the muse to tap on my shoulder. The devil of my id who's got a secret to tell.

In a sense we all have to feed the cat in our lives. The screenplay's gonna wake you at obscene hours and isn't gonna be quiet. Jumping on your lap looking for some good ear scratching. Where's my toy, it'll say.

I have neglecting that pet. I'm sure we all have at some point. But, I went into writing my stories half assed. I figured I could make sense of what the screenplay needed as I went along. God, I was so wrong and I paid for it.

Not outlining or fleshing out the story in some through manner will only starve it. Characters can't live in your mind alone. Taking the time to develop the characters into true believable entities is very important. Anyone who truly believes that in some manner that doesn't need to be done are gonna have to bury their ideas in the backyard. How do I know? I've burned myself too many times and had this tough lesson slammed hard into my gut. I've come close to killing plenty of ideas myself.

I've learned it's important to fill the water dish and make sure there's plenty of food when the story needs it. That screenplay is only gonna mew in your face till it's fed. And you could feed it the cheapest bag you could find at the store. (Well, hopefully not the recalled stuff.)

But you know what food your screenplay needs.

Make your screenplay happy and fill that dish. In the end, you'll be glad you did.