Excerpt: Story Goes Here

"If we begin by accepting that writing a screenplay is roughly equivalent to writing a new program -- I mean, we're still dealing with the basic language fundamentals of grammar and syntax -- then we've accepted that this project is very much like something we're quite used to doing. Writing a good screenplay is of course somewhat more difficult, but still well within the realm of possibility. After all, the difference between a program that compiles and a program that actually does what you intend is, while sizable, just a matter of using more words in the right places."

The speaker walked quickly to the whiteboard at the front of the room and began scribbling furiously.

"We've got some distinct advantages working for us on this project though," he said as he drew a vicious circle around a salient point or two. "English is our first and native language, for example. We don't need to worry quite so much about the nuance of language as it applies to this. Also, we've already had some experience on larger coding projects, so there is also that to consider." He paused, almost as if to accentuate the point he was making, but his dramatic pause lost effect as his long, dark blonde ponytail finally shook itself free from its restraints.

Bending over to reacquire the band, he asked, "So what do we still need?"

His audience remained silent as the question withered and died alone in the corner.

"Um," asked one girl, too tired to really handle the early morning hour, "should we maybe talk about what it's going to be about?"

"Ah, right. As the University told us when they gave us the project, they're really not particular about the subject of this play. They really just want something written by students -- that they can show publicly, Bones." he said, directing the comment at a rather robust individual with a formerly rather enthusiastically raised hand. "Naturally, because we've got time restrictions in place, we're best served by a subject that's easy to write about; with less concern about the content of the subject, we can really focus on making things reasonably believable. To that end, I've already started fleshing out a subject that seems to play right into our hands!"

This line of conversation led quickly to groans from the vast majority of the audience. Project dictates seemed to be something they were already quite well familiarized with, and nobody seemed hopeful about them.

"We're going to write about something we're all familiar with. Something that we'll be dealing with -- every one of us -- for the whole month we'll be writing this thing. Collectively, we'll have so much experience that writing will be a breeze, and the best part is that we'll never have to deal with writer's block!"

Frustrated, a snarky voice from the back piped up, "Would you just freakin' tell us, already?!"

"Alright, alright. We're going to write about..." Unable to stop himself, the speaker took an unbearably long moment to emphasize the build-up. "...an individual who is in the process of writing a film!"

'Bones', who by now had moved a little closer to the door, stopped at this, then turned and asked condescendingly, "Wait, you want to write a play ... about writing a movie?"

"I know!" replied the speaker, almost bouncing with delight, "Isn't it so perfectly meta? By writing a writer, we're writing ourselves; day in, and day out, we'll be having the experiences that make our play real. All that we have to do then is dress them up a little bit for the stage -- make the whole thing a little bit larger than life, so that it's reasonably interesting to watch -- and then we're done! It will practically write itself!"