I've just written a 15-minute screenplay over the past two days. It's for a film that a friend's fledgling production company is doing - a collection of seven shorts that will make up a full-length film that will go straight to DVD and be marketed to church youth groups.

At first, I thought the stories generally had to have the themes of grace and redemption, so I came up with a story idea and wrote part of a screenplay around those themes. Then I discovered that there was a specific logline on the distribution company's website that all the shorts have to interpret, and my story didn't quite fit the logline. So I came up with a second story and wrote part of a screenplay based on that logline. Then I discovered that the DVD's intended audience will be youth groups, and I thought that the story I was working on might not have much youth appeal. So I came up with my present story and wrote a screenplay based on the logline and intended for youth.

Now I just have to do some editing and submit the script. The good thing about all of this is that I now have two additional story ideas that I can turn into whatever I want to turn them into. One thing about creative writing: You can't have too many story ideas.