My collaborator in the second phase of the Script Project, Marvin Wolf, has temporarily cleared his desk of book proposals and competing scripts and is focusing again on "Right of Way."

"All I'm doing now," he says, "is slashing down the thickets of story lines that go nowhere, trying to heighten suspense with (often visual) clues, add depth and definition to characters, maintain but amplify the original theme of a city on the move, and move the story of the worst three days in Russell Napolitano's life along on a tsunami of action that will come crashing down to wreak death and destruction in the last act."

"And maybe have a bit of fun with it in the process."

Marv has been remarkably self-directed, if not downright reticent, as he begins the rewrite. I was expecting that we'd touch base frequently to throw around ideas or trouble-shoot, but he quickly disabused me of that notion. This is his draft, and when he finishes I can take my turn.

Which is fine, except that as I explained to him, part of the project is to write this blog, letting readers in on the development process.

After some gentle persuasion, he has graciously consented to supply me with periodic updates. We'll have to determine how frequent and how detailed. In the meantime, there's not a lot to report:

"So far I'm just a few pages back into it," he says. "I'm keeping a little as is, losing some, rewriting some, paring and shaving some, writing much original. When I go back to it tomorrow, I might hate it and rewrite it. Probably will, at least some."

And I'll let you know about it here, if I can wheedle it out of him.