Encountering Difficulties: Part 1

Hello again!  It's been a few days since my last blog posting, so I thought I'd check in again despite not having many updates.  I've been working on my script these past few days, and it's been pretty difficult to say the least.  Although I have a pretty solid idea and a decent plot progression, I can't help but to over-write.  After writing most of it (except for the ending, as I'm not entirely sure how it'll go yet), I decided to run it through a speech time calculator.  

This, however, proved to be completely demotivating as my dialogue exceeded the allotted time, and I still need to factor in pauses and short moments of silence.  Thus, it has become clear to me that I need to cut down on the writing.  I could easily remove the beginning monologue scene and work with the rest of the script, but I'm strongly against the idea.  The monologue sets the scene for the rest of the production, and I feel like it offers imperative insight into Joseph's mind.  So, my problem here is that I don't know which dialogue lines to cut out from the conversation scene, as they are all fairly important in the overall production.  Another difficulty I'm facing is that I don't know how to end the scene.  The last line must shock the audience and work to set up the premise for the movie, but I have no idea what it could be.

I've changed a few things about the production since I started.  Namely, Joseph's devotion to his religion.  At first, I wanted Joe to be deeply dedicated to Christianity and it's strict rules.  He knows that he's had gay thoughts, but he considers them to be wrong, and wants to change.  Yet, after some consideration, I decided to change this.  Although the idea of having Joe be in a constant battle with his psyche is appealing, its also hard to execute in the short amount of time that I have.  Instead, outward conflict is easier to write in conversational scenes.  I still decided to keep a little bit of the 'internal struggle' idea, and I implemented it in a voice-over scene instead.  I find v.o. to be a little cheesy, but I think that under the right circumstances, I can pull it off. 

I wrote the monologue scene somewhat quickly with the intention of it being a placeholder.  However, after re-reading it a little later, I quite liked what I had written.  The writing is definitely still subject to change, but its not at the top of my list.  Anyways, here it is in all it's glory:

I've been writing my script on Celtx, as I have experience using this software, and I enjoy how easy it is to work.

As of now, my main concerns are figuring out how to end the production, as well as shortening it.  As I continue to work on this, I also need to begin to consider casting and location scouting.  More updates to come on that.  For now, wish me luck as I take on the extremely strenuous and back-breaking task of adding two extra lines of characters talking!