editing

Story first, jokes second

Maximum Z comedy, editing, horror, jokes, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, writing , , , , , , , , ,

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Well, that was fun. A bit of an uphill battle, but I’ve survived.

The good news – the basic foundation for the horror-comedy outline is complete. Even though I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen, it consistently went through a steady stream of changes, edits, tweaks, and so forth.

Let’s just say that what I ended up with is several versions removed from what I started with. For the better, I’d say, but still pretty darned close to keeping with the original idea. Even managed to come up with some new twists and wrinkles along the way.

Despite still considering the story as pliable as warm Silly Putty, it really is coming together and I’m quite happy with the results. Sort of a pre-first draft, one could say.

But in addition to the ongoing process of fine-tuning the story, there’s the just-as-if-not-more-so important part of making it funny.

When they say “dying is easy; comedy is hard,” they’re not kidding. Quite an apropos phrase, especially in this context.

Like with the comedy I’m polishing now, the more I work on it, the more opportunities I expect to find to work in a suitable joke of some sort. Sight gags, plays on words, what have you. I think that’s similar to how the ZAZ team did it with Zero Hour for Airplane!. Not that this script will be anything like that, but you get the idea.

I think I’ve discussed this before, but as I outline, I’ll also include potential lines of dialogue or specific actions for each scene. Same thing applies here. But now that the story is (somewhat) set in place, I can now fine-tune both that and punch up the jokes as I work my way forward.

Luckily for me, there are also great examples of films that did this sort of thing, so I can watch those to get a good idea of how to approach it with this story. Not a bad self-imposed homework assignment, right?

Finding the funny for this won’t always be easy, but coming off doing it for the previous script, and with the burden of telling the story in the first place somewhat out of the way, it seems just a little bit more so now.

Easy, that is.

My brain’s helping hands are ready to go

Maximum Z characters, concept, creativeness, creativity, development, draft, editing, emotion, excitement, networking, output, passion, problem-solving, productivity, professionalism, project, relationships, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, story, storytelling, writing , , , , , , , , ,

 

vintage handyman
No job too small! (schedule permitting)

Thanks to my ever-expanding network of savvy creative types, I get lots of chances to be on both the giving and receiving ends when it comes to reading scripts.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to get exceptionally helpful notes from a lot of really talented folks. All this feedback has somehow managed to influence my writing for the better, and for that I am overflowing with gratitude.

So the least I can do when somebody asks me “Will you read my script?” or “Can I pick your brain about this idea?” is to say “Of course.”* Maybe I can offer up a few scraps of advice that might somehow work to their advantage. If anything, I can at least point out where a fix in spelling or punctuation is needed. For a script, anyway. That counts, right?

*caveat – it’s taken a lot of work spread over a long time for me to build up my network and establish connections, so I don’t mind if somebody I actually know drops me a note with such a request. If our only connection is being connected on social media and we’ve never interacted – at all, you’re little more than a total stranger to me. So heed that one word and be social. It makes a difference.

I had the pleasure of such an experience this week. I’d connected with another Bay Area creative, and we’d been trying for a while to arrange a face-to-face meeting. After much scheduling, cancelling and rescheduling, we finally made it happen.

This person had an idea for a project, wanted to talk about it, and see if I was interested in being involved. I stated at the outset that I had enough work on my own for now, but would be open to giving notes – time permitting.

After the initial introductions and our thumbnail backstories, we focused on their project. I won’t go into specifics or details about it, because those aren’t the important parts.

What was important was:

-this was a story they’d had inside them for a while, and even though they knew it needed A LOT of work, they were still happy with simply having written it all out

-they were totally open and willing to listen to my suggestions. Some they liked, some they didn’t. Totally fine.

But the more we talked, the more the seeds of ideas were planted in their head. Even though a lot of the details we came up with, including possible paths the story could take, ended up being totally different from their original incarnation, it was easy to see that spark of excitement reignite inside them.

Seeing that happen with somebody you’re trying to help is more satisfying than you can possibly imagine.

We parted ways, with them really rarin’ to go and start developing the latest draft. They added that they really appreciated me being so willing to help out.

I just like doing that sort of thing. I never had that kind of person-to-person help when I was starting out, so why not do what I can for others? Granted, the internet and social media didn’t even exist then, so it’s a lot easier now.

I got a few emails from them the next day showing me what they’d come up with since our meeting. Same concept, but a totally new approach (and, in my opinion, provided the opportunity for a lot of new possibilities). This also included a more thorough write-up of “what happened before the story starts”.

Even though it can be tough to read emotion in text, it was easy to see the spark was still burning strong within them. The way they talked about their plans for what comes next, I could tell they were actually looking forward to working on this.

It was nice knowing I had a little something to do with it.

We exchanged a few more emails (mostly me asking questions about story and characters and them providing sufficient answers), and I wrapped up with “Keep me posted.”

Their response: “Definitely. Thanks again. You’re a good dude.”

That was nice too.

Stuffed just a tad beyond capacity

Maximum Z comedy, development, dialogue, editing, horror, Marx Brothers, pages, plot, plot points, rewrite, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, structure, writing, writing process , , , , , , , , , , , ,
marx stateroom
All my script needs now is the line “…and a dozen hard boiled eggs.”

As the dog days of summer lazily drift on by, each of those days sees me dedicating a portion of it to working on the next small section of the horror-comedy outline. So far – it’s coming along nicely.

For now, it’s just filling in the blanks between primary plot points. Not counting those, I tend to think and plot things out in a linear manner; going from A to B to C and so on, rather than A to B to J, and then maybe filling in that stretch between D and F. This approach helps with not only crafting the developments of the main storyline, but also the subplots and figuring out how all the interconnections work. Others may do it differently, which is fine. This way works for me.

What originally starts out as one to two sentences summarizing what happens in a scene quickly becomes lengthy descriptions, including specific character actions and snippets of dialogue. This has caused the outline to appear dense and bulky, or at least that’s how it looks at first glance.

At first this would appear to be a bad thing, but keep in mind that this is only the outline, so a scene write-up that appears as an impenetrable block of text here might translate to, say, half to three-quarters of a page, including dialogue. Not a bad exchange rate.

Just as an example, as a scene was playing out, it kept getting longer and longer, which would have run way too long for both script and screen. Realizing that simply would not do, I made some minor modifications and managed to break this exceptionally large scene into three slightly smaller ones. Each one still retains the point I wanted to make, as well as continuing to advance the plot, theme, and characters. A win all around.

The way I figure it, it’s a lot better to have an overabundance of material during this stage, and then be able to cut, trim, or maybe even add more where necessary down the road.

Another key part to all this development is making sure everything I come up with plays some kind of role in the overall context of the story. Call it the “keep only if relevant” rule. If there’s something on the page that has nothing to do with the story or the characters, then why have it there in the first place?

Pushing yourself to push further

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A little effort can yield major results

The past few days have seen some significant progress regarding the rewrite of the dramedy.

There’s been a lot of cutting, tightening, reorganizing, and at least several attempts at how a particular sequence plays out. Took a while, but I’m happy with the results. Funny how sometimes it always seems to take a couple of tries until you find the “just right” solution.

One thing that happened more than once during all of this was that I would spend a good deal of time rewriting something until I was satisfied with the results, and think “That’s good for now. What can I work on next time?” That would usually be followed by jotting down some notes to be used in that next session, and then shift away from script work.

This time, however, things were a little different. Couldn’t say if it’s experience providing me with a little more insight, or having a little more time to work with (what with Ms V being done with school and soccer), or just my writer’s brain constantly on the job, but as I would wrap up revising one part of the story, there was no hesitation to immediately jump into the next one and start on it.

This occurred more than a few times, and provided some very positive results on several fronts.

Continuously pushing myself to do a little bit more, even if it was just some minor edits or tweaking some a few lines of dialogue, helped take care of stuff that needed to be taken care of, which in turn would (in theory) make the script better than it was. A gradual chipping away at the list of fixes a script needs can complete the list quicker than you realize.

And it certainly must be mentioned about the impact it had on me as a writer. Rather than think “I’ll just take care of it next time,” I got into the mindset of “despite how this might look, it’s not as big a problem as you think. Give it a try.” I did, and while the first attempts may not have yielded immediate or desired results, each one was at least a step in the right direction.

Call it what you will. Positive thinking. Going the extra mile. Exercising the writing muscles. No matter the nomenclature, it’s become a big help for me and will no doubt be an important part of my writer’s arsenal for all future endeavors.

-Since 2003, the National Hispanic Media Coalition has hosted an annual Writers Program in partnership with Comcast, ABC, Disney, and Final Draft in efforts to prepare and place Latinos in writing jobs for major television networks.

The program consists of a five-week, total immersion workshop that is mentored and guided by former NBC V.P. of Script Development Geoff Harris and is conducted in Burbank, CA. A total of 10 writers are accepted nationwide from an established network of non-profit agencies, schools, universities, guilds, and media organizatons. The goal of the program is for writers to garner the skills necessary to obtain employment in the industry.

NHMC’s Latino TV Writers Program has prepared and connected more than 100 graduates sine 2003, and 35 percent haev earned positions on TV and onlin shows featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, BET, HBO, Disney Jr., Hulu, Amazon, Lifetime, and Netflix.

The application deadline for Fall 2018 is August 5th, and winners will be announced mid-September to begin the program in the Fall. More information on NHMC and the program can be found here: nhmc.org/writersprogram.

Temporary self-isolation. Caffeine optional.

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coffee writers
That’s a lot of screenplays being developed

Nice to be back. Hope you enjoyed the interviews over the past few weeks. Despite the absence of my personal anecdotes, I’ve been pretty busy with a few assorted projects, with rewriting the dramedy spec being first in line.

Earlier this week, Ms V had a soccer-related activity a little farther away than usual, so rather than schlep all the way home and back again, I opted to stick around and do some more work on the rewrite.

Fortunately for me, there was a coffee shop nearby with the always -welcome free wifi, so I ordered my latte, sat down, and dove right in.

Yes, it’s practically the ultimate cliche to work on a screenplay in a coffee shop, but honestly? It ended up being a pretty productive evening. Did some major rewriting of several sequences, cut a few pages, and came up with some new approaches to scenes earlier in the story. Definitely a solid use of my time.

Even though I have an actual office space for writing at home, sometimes being outside of the house proves to be just as beneficial. Maybe it’s the ability to focus squarely on the writing. No distractions like laundry or having to take the dog outside.

I also find that when I work somewhere else, I’m a lot less likely to screw around and waste time online. Social media and email get put on hold, and all attention is focused on the work. It helps you get a lot more done than you realize.

This is also where the wifi angle factors in. Listening to music while I write helps me think. It acts as a kind of a white noise and counters all the potentially distracting sounds being generated around me. Being able to stream it comes in mighty handy.

Another benefit – the coffee. Sure, I can make it myself at home, but a barista-prepared drink always seems to taste a little better.

No matter where you get your writing done, the important thing is to find a location that works best for you (and there might even be more than one) and provides you with the best opportunities to get the work done.

I don’t usually ask other writers about their actual writing habits and situations. Some might thrive in their home work space, while others wouldn’t think of ever writing anywhere but at the local library or their neighborhood coffee joint of preference. But I’ll admit to being curious about it. Feel free to mention it in the Comments section down below.

(Need a last-minute gift for that screenwriter in your life? How about a gift card to their local coffee shop? National chains or local, doesn’t matter. It would be very well-received.)