Timeline is important

I remember the first time I was watching a Soap Opera, and the camera cut between 3 different storylines. I suddenly realized that one story took place over the course of one 20 minute conversation; while the second over the course of a day; and the third over 2 days. Being a fan of "24," I noticed this discrepancy and pointed it out to my wife, who really hated it when I point out how badly written, acted and directed her "Stories" are.

It occurred to me that my show needs to be consistent in its timeline. I don't want weeks to go by for Joe and Kim, while only a day goes by for Tiffany and Rob. So I moved some scenes around to keep it consistent. One of the minor, yet major tweaks I'm applying to the structure of the show.

The first scenes now occur on the Friday after "Good to See You." Emily and Christine make a date for "Friday Night." It also gives Joe time to get to Long Island, and Brian time to get back from the Conference. It also makes sense that he would be fired on a Friday, as any fan of Office Space knows. The following Monday, Brian starts his job search, and Joe starts getting on Kim's nerves. Later that week, they get a job at the coffee shop, and Dan finally tells Tiffany about his concern about Rob. Act 2 takes place on the following Friday, where everything else comes to fruition, and resolves the next day.

I think before I go on and write the scenes, I should run the outline by some friends, and get ideas from them. There are two people whom I would very much like to weigh in on the story: Christine and Sean Fitzgerald. After all, it is the characters we created together that are now growing and maturing.  I also took some time to watch the original film again. It's very strange. When it was made, the character plots were open ended, and the viewer could imagine any continuation of the plots that they wished. But now, knowing where the stories are GOING to go, it's a VERY different piece. It's kind of like watching The Sixth Sense a second time when you know the twist at the end.

Last major tweak that needs to happen, the characters NEED new names. Tiffany, Dan and Rob are the only fictional names I have. Everyone else is being referred to by the name of the actor that played them in the film. I want to fictionalize them and solidify the structure.

Please comment with feedback about the progress. Particularly, suggestions of methods to make up character names.