Outlining...

After a few weeks of work, I've finished my portion for the outline of Soucouyant. My writing partner is working on his portion.

This outline is meant to be a blueprint of how the story will be told. If you've read the book you'll know that there are several jumps in time over several time periods. I think our biggest challenge is to integrate all of the time periods into a cohesive story. What we've decided to do is to figure out the story for each time period, and then we'll figure out how to best mix them up.

From our previous experiences: the finished script does resemble the outline in terms of storyline. Each scene may not be exactly how we planned it, but the content/drama is more or less the same.

Once we agree on the outline, we'll move to the actual screenwriting, where the bulk of the work is done. The outlining process is useful as it forces you to understand the story you're trying to tell and how it will unfold.

So, I think I have a good grasp of what we're trying to do now and I'm excited and motivated to get going!

Rum & Coca Cola

Ever since a cousin's wedding a few weeks ago, I've been listening to a lot of old Calypso, Soca and Chutney (the main music in Trinidad). It reminded of a part in Soucouyant where the Son is singing Lord Invader's Rum & Coca Cola. Growing up you rarely listen to lyrics and can barely make sense of them. This song is absolutely incredible.

Not sure exactly how, but I KNOW this song will feature prominently in the screenplay. It just sums up everything.

Official Confirmation

From the Arsenal site:

Soucouyant film option sold (Jul. 2010)

The film option to David Chariandy's award-winning novel Soucouyant has been sold to New York-based filmmakers Ian Harnarine and Jon Malkiel. They most recently co-wrote the adaptation of physicist Ronald Mallett's memoir Time Traveler with Spike Lee, currently in development as a feature film.

Soucouyant, shortlisted for the Governor General's Award and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, is now in its third printing.

Reboot: Soucouyant

Last year some time I read Neil Bissoondath's "A Casual Brutality" and really enjoyed it. Looking up info on the author, I came across a list of West Indian-Canadian authors and read about David Chariandy's "Soucouyant". Ordered it from Amazon (since I couldn't find it at local NYC stores) and read it.

It immediately struck a chord with me as it really explored the 2nd Generation experience coupled with dealing with aging parents.

It was a quick read and couldn't stop thinking about it. I was wondering if it really was that good, or was it that I had such a personal connection to the material? I passed it on to my writing partner and was surprised that he loved it too.

If you haven't read it - you should. It's beautifully written with some extremely brutal moments that will kill you.

Anyways, we were looking for something to adapt and this story was it. We contacted the Publisher (The great folks over at Arsenal Pulp Press) and Mr. Chariandy. They were so gracious to trust us with this wonderful story.

Not sure how this blog will take form now, but I will try to update frequently as we begin the book to script to screen process. Might become a scrapbook, or random thoughts on what I'm dealing with at the time.