SHOTGUN Project Journal: Let’s Begin.

—Idiom
ride shotgun,
a. to protect or keep a watchful eye on something.

b. (formerly) to ride atop a stagecoach as a shotgun-bearing guard.

c. a phrase called out by someone who claims the privilege of riding in a car’s passenger seat. (Usually Shotgun!) :

In conjunction with ideas like love at first sight, and true love, the definitions above formulate the main themes of my newest spec script, Shotgun.

In this story we’ll follow the lives of Kevin Sloan, a club bouncer, and Whelimina “Billie” Lockheart, an abused woman, who cross paths in an hospital emergency room. With their current situations promising less than ideal outcomes, they take a leap of faith on a life with each, which is instantly tested when past and present elements from their individual lives come looking  for resolutions. Fueled by an ever growing and unyielding love, Billie and Sloan ride shotgun for each other in order to deal with and overcome life’s obstacles.

Shotgun promises to be a fun ride, and though it’s a love story at heart, here’s a  sneak peek at some of the issues my dark and twisted mind has in store for Billie and Sloan: an abusive ex-boyfriend, an overdue mob debt, drug addiction, Child abuse, incest, family secretes, murder,  there’s more, but I can’t give it all away now can I?

The idea for Shotgun came to me as I was coming to the end of writing Things People Do, though it wasn’t called Shotgun at the time. I was all geared up to try my hand at a fantasy or horror screenplay, like Colic, but I couldn’t get this drama out of my mind once it dug in. The outline is done, characters developed, and I wrote about a half page of the opening scene the week before last, so this week I get to continue.

I’m hoping to get at least the first 10 pages/minutes of it written and ready to post by weeks end. Doesn’t seem like it should be a problem, but you know how life gets sometimes.

Ever had a story that tried to force you to write it despite all your planning? If so, what was it, and how did you deal with it? Did you give in or did you put it on the back burner for later?