Just Write #2

Ever since I started blogging again, I've been looking for a way to incorporate my writing hobby on my blog. Finally, I've figured out a way to do it. I've started a feature called Just Write, in which I share some of my writing/writing ideas. I'd love feedback, and it would be super cool if y'all wanted to share some of your writing/ideas with me! You can either do your own Just Write post and link it up in the comments, or you can put it right there in the comments. I'm super excited about this, so don't be shy when it comes to interacting. I want to hear anything you have to say!

My first Just Write post featured the pitch for the screenplay I was writing for my screenplay class. Update: I got an A in the class. I didn't write the entire screenplay, but I got the first two (out of three) acts written. Anyway, when I first posted the pitch, a few of you commented,m saying you wanted to see more of it. I figured for this week's Just Write, I'd share a little snippet with y'all. This was a really fun scene to write. This is a flashback to when the protagonist, Riley, first met her best friend, Lexie. 

(The formatting is a little janky because it's hard to put screenwriting format into a blog because screenplays have a VERY specific format guide. Other than that, I hope you enjoy.)

INT. TAXI – LATE AFTERNOON

The taxi's interior is clean, with black vinyl seats and polished door panels. A blue air freshener dangles from the rear view mirror.


Lexie and Riley sit in the back. Lexie's shoulders slump, and she fingers her seat belt. Riley, not wearing a seat belt, leans her head against the window, eyes closed.


The driver eyes Riley through the rear view mirror.


DRIVER
She doesn't drool, does she? I hate wiping people's saliva off my upholstery.

LEXIE
No, sir.

DRIVER
Lemme ask you something. You seam like a fairly nice girl, and she has obviously made it her mission to be as big a handful as possible.

LEXIE
Sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

DRIVER
I guess I'm just wondering why you put up with her. I'm sure there are tons of nice girls who want to be your friend.

Though her eyes are still closed, Riley furrows her eyebrows.


LEXIE
In my experience, sir, the ones who seem nice often aren't. Riley has a sharp tongue and rough edges, but she doesn't pretend.

DRIVER
Still seems like a lot to deal with.

LEXIE
She's the best friend I've ever had.

Riley's hard expression softens into a small smile.



INT. HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA - NOON (FLASHBACK)


The room is vast, with dozens of tables occupying the floor space. Hundreds of HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (15-18, varying ethnicities and physical attributes) swarm the cafeteria, standing in food lines and crowding the tables.


Fifteen-year-old Lexie waits alone in the line for the salad bar. She stares at a table about twenty feet away, populated by a group of seven girls leaning close together, gossiping and laughing.


Fifteen-year-old Riley stands a few people back in line, staring ahead blankly.


A JOCK (17, 6'2" -- brawny arms; short, gelled hair) brushes Lexie's shoulder. She whirls around and smiles politely at him.


LEXIE
I'm sorry. I must have bumped you.

JOCK
No worries. I touched you on purpose to get your attention.

LEXIE
Oh. Well, you have it now. What can I do for you?

JOCK
Many things, I'm sure. You know, you're pretty hot for a freshman.

Riley fixes her eyes on Lexie and the jock's exchange. Her lips purse.

LEXIE
Uh, thanks.

JOCK
So, what that mouth do?

LEXIE
Excuse me?

Lexie glances toward the table of girls again, eyes pleading, but the girls refuse to notice.

JOCK
I bet there's an empty classroom around here.

LEXIE
Uh--

Riley pushes past the people standing in front of her and slings an arm around Lexie's shoulders.

RILEY
Hey, asshole, how about you leave my girlfriend alone?

JOCK
Girlfriend? That's sexy as hell.

RILEY
I bet it won't be so sexy when I cut your dick off. That's right, I'm a little crazy and I am very fond of knives.

The jock's mouth gapes open. Without another word, he pivots and flees. Riley and Lexie burst out laughing at the same time.


LEXIE
Thank you for that.

RILEY
That guy had creeper vibes oozing off of him.

LEXIE
I suck at deflecting people like that. I was hoping my friends would see and come help, but I guess they were distracted.

RILEY
I'm Riley.

LEXIE
Nice to meet you! My name is Lexie. Do you always have second lunch period? I've never seen you before.

RILEY
I'm new, actually. To the school, not just to second lunch. Today is my first day.

LEXIE
Holy cow! Welcome! Are you new to Los Angeles as well?

RILEY
Yeah, I'm from Arkansas.

LEXIE
Oh my. That's kind of a culture shock, I imagine. What brought you to L.A.?

RILEY
My mom has lived here for a few months. I just moved in with her.

LEXIE
Well cool! Hey, if you want, when you get your food, you can come sit with me and my friends.

RILEY
Oh, all right. Thanks!

LEXIE
It's the least I can do after you saved me from that creepy guy.

END FLASHBACK.

Any questions, comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts or tell you more about the storyline. What do you think about this new feature? Also, I would definitely love to see some of your writing!

Just Write #1

Ever since I started blogging again, I've been looking for a way to incorporate my writing hobby on my blog. Finally, I've figured out a way to do it. I've started a feature called Just Write, in which I share some of my writing/writing ideas. I'd love feedback, and it would be super cool if y'all wanted to share some of your writing/ideas with me! You can either do your own Just Write post and link it up in the comments, or you can put it right there in the comments. I'm super excited about this, so don't be shy when it comes to interacting. I want to hear anything you have to say!

As some of you may know from some of my previous posts, I am currently taking a Screenwriting class in college. I think it's really cool, and I'm really loving learning how to write a movie. One of our first assignments was to write a pitch for the movie and read it to the class (let me tell you, that part was terrifying). I figured I'd share my pitch with you all and see what you think of the story!

Run and Go

One of the most basic human instincts is fight or flight, and the heroine of this contemporary drama, 17-year-old Riley Quinn, has a history of choosing flight. In ninth grade, when her father re-married and her boyfriend became her step-brother, she changed her name and booked a flight from Faber, her small Arkansas hometown, to L.A to live with her famous lawyer mother. She didn't offer an explanation or a good bye to her father and lifelong friends.


Now, three years later, her mother finds Riley and her new (and newly-orphaned) best friend Lexie hiding out in a motel in Rhode Island. To Riley, the punishment they receive feels more like torture—Riley and Lexie have to move back to Faber and live with Riley's dad and his new family.


Of course, her first reaction upon their arrival is to flee once again. However, Riley discovers her father's health is declining and realizes she cannot leave again. She realizes she must stay and fight. Nobody in Faber lets her off easy, though. Riley's father is hurt and confused. Her old friends are cold and unforgiving. Nobody is willing to overlook Riley's betrayal, and they certainly are not willing to accept Lexie, the only person Riley seems to care about anymore.


Riley's ex-best friend, Mia, has taken Riley's friends, first love, and has now taken it upon herself to make sure Riley and Lexie know they are not welcome in Faber. Riley has devoted the last three years to protecting thoughtful, fragile Lexie, but now she is is preoccupied, focusing her attention on convincing the town she is not as heartless as they think she is, stifling old feelings for the boy sleeping just down the hall, and wishing desperately to make up the time she lost with her father. Lexie feels overwhelmed and cast aside, especially as she realizes all the truths about Riley's life in Faber that she kept hidden.


Riley struggles to reconcile who she was when she lived in Faber with the life she forged for herself in L.A. She finally admits—to herself and to the rest of Faber—why she left so abruptly. Right when she believes she may be able to balance what she wanted then and what she wants now, when she believes she may be able to balance her newfound loyalty to Lexie with her old ties to Faber, the two worlds collide together and shatter Riley's life into countless shards of jagged glass, and she is left to decide which pieces she wants to pick up—Lexie's or her father's. Either way, Riley cannot run from this problem.  

Any questions, comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts or tell you more about the storyline. What do you think about this new feature? Also, I would definitely love to see some of your writing!