Why They Call it the “First” Draft

“The artist’s life is frustrating not because the passage is slow, but because he imagines it to be fast.”
- David Bayles & Ted Orland, “Art & Fear,” 1993

“The first draft of Psycho Ex is killing me not because it is a bad first draft, but because I was hoping it was the final draft.”
- Robb, 2009

Based upon the macro feedback from a few rounds of readers, Psycho Ex has some problems. Specifically:

• The first act/half is WAY too slow
• The middle is confusing
• The third act is somewhat clunky
• Nobody “gets” the ending

So it’s merely the beginning, the middle, and the end that need work. I guess that’s why they call it the “first” draft.

Bit the Bullet

After days of agonizing I finally uploaded Psycho Ex (it has a new title) to zoetrope.com for peer review.

I don’t know why I still feel like the thing isn’t done – it’s currently on its third round of readers and responses have been positive. It’s as if there’s some threshold I still haven’t crossed, but I don’t know what it is.

The script will be up for 30 days and due to the way the site/community is designed it should get 4 or 5 reviews. We’ll see how it goes.

Next stop after that: agent queries, contests, and inktip.

Home with Parker

I’m at home with a sick Parker (age 4). We’re watching videos about flights to the moon.

I asked Parker if he is going to be an astronaut when he grows up and go to the moon. He said no. I asked him what he is going to be. He said a teacher.

Then he asked me what I’m going to be when I grow up. I said I don’t know.