screenwriting

A note of appreciation

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scrooged thx

Seeing as how this is Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer some hearty words of gratitude.

To all my writing colleagues, being associated with you has been a major factor in my being able to become a better writer. Reading your works has been a joy, and the number of you who’ve returned the favor and offered up notes has proven invaluable in elevating my material.

To all the incredible writers, creatives, and consultants, all past and future, who’ve consented to being interviewed on this site, your willingness to be involved, your honesty and candor regarding advice for writers, and suggestions for potential pies (and other assorted desserts) cannot and will not be overlooked.

And to all my readers. I’ve been doing this for almost 11 years. Each week’s post is always a challenge for me to provide content of both an informative and entertaining nature. It’s nice to know there’s somebody out there enjoying this, which makes my efforts that much more worthwhile.

Everybody have a fantastic weekend, and go write something.

-Looking for a gift for that special screenwriter in your life (even if it’s yourself)? How about a book or notes from a consultant? Lots of options available from the numerous interviews found right here on this very blog. Just click on the “Go Ahead & Ask!” link up on top, and have at it.

(Remember – lots of these folks do this for a living, so you’re not only helping out yourself or another writer, but them as well.)

-Feeling generous? How about tossing a couple of bucks towards somebody’s crowdfunding campaign? Projects like Venita Ozols-Graham’s short film Just Dessert or Chris Mancini’s graphic novel Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master. Time is short and every dollar helps, so donate if you can!

Hope this helps

Maximum Z determination, frustration, motivation, perseverance, persistence, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , ,
TR
Nothing like a rousing speech to get things going

To all the writers out there having a tough time with their latest script:

It’s challenging.

It’s frustrating.

It’s the way it is.

But that spark within you continues to burn.

Right?

Nurture it.

Feed it.

Work on something else if you have to.

Let your enthusiasm help it grow.

Remind yourself why you write.

Why you do this.

Rediscover the joy.

Your enthusiasm for this particular story.

The excitement of putting ideas on the page.

Grab onto it.

Hold on tight.

There’s no “right” way.

There’s the way that works best for you.

Write when you can.

Don’t worry about how much.

Any amount of writing is better than none at all.

Write because you want to.

Write because you need to.

Write because there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing.

Write for you.

Write.

Assorted ends & odds

Maximum Z comedy, contest, crowdfunding, genre, horror, podcasts, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, short films, spec, story, strategy, television, The Flash, westerns, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Nothing like a little variety – and at such reasonable prices

A lot of developments on several fronts around Maximum Z HQ this week. Don’t want to go into much detail, but among the highlights:

-outlined a horror-comedy short, and have now moved on to writing it. Seriously considering making it, so watch this space for further developments.

-working on the short, plus some inspiring and motivating comments from a few colleagues, makes me weigh the option of revising the horror-comedy spec I wrote last year. This would be done with the intent to lower the potential budget – smaller number of characters and locations. Defnitely doable.

-I’ve always been a fan of the The Flash TV show, and came up with a story idea I think would be fun to see. So, I’ve decided to attempt to write a spec episode about it. Since I’ve never written for TV before, this will be quite the learning experience.

-forgive the self-promotion, but my western took the top spot in its category for Creative Screenwriting’s Unique Voices contest. I’m quite thrilled, and even if it doesn’t take the grand prize, it’s still something I’m very proud of having accomplished.

-Here a few external items of note:

-There are lots of screenwriting retreats, but how about one at a 5-star game lodge in South Africa? Networking. Mentoring from industry professionals. A safari. All the details at scriptoafrica.com.

-Chris Gore of Film Threat has launched a crowdfunding campaign for his documentary project ATTACK OF THE DOC. If you were a fan of G4TV and/or Attack of the Show, this sounds right up your alley. Donate if you can!

-last, but not least. Yours truly is one-third of a trio of hosts of the new Creative Writing Life podcast, which offers up our thoughts on all sorts of writing and writing-related topics. Co-hosts include author/friend-of-the-blog Justin Sloan and author P.T. Hylton. As of this writing, it’s on Spotify, and we’re working on getting it onto iTunes. No matter what platform you use, feel free to give it a listen!

Hope you have a great weekend. Go write something.

A little praise goes a long way

Maximum Z animation, filmmaking, networking, Pixar, reading, screenplay, screenwriting, script, social media, Spider-Man, writing , , , , ,
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Special delivery! Just for you.

While a majority of my focus these days is on figuring things out for the sci-fi adventure revision/overhaul, I’ve also been taking time to read the scripts for films that have had some kind of influence on both my writing and my material.

The ones I’ve devoured so far are THE INCREDIBLES and SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE. I have scripts for non-animated films as well, but these were the two I started with.

Both were great reads, and also served as fantastic samples of effective writing. I was impressed to the point of wanting to say so on social media, so I tweeted short statements of praise to the writers. Levels of fanboy gushing were kept to a minimum.

Phil Lord, one of the Spider-Man writers, liked it, which was quite nice to see. No word from Brad Bird or Rodney Rothman, nor was I expecting any. That’s not why I did it.

Although they might not always admit it, every writer wants to know somebody liked their work. It’s great when it’s one of your peers, but there’s a special something to when a total stranger tells you “Hey, I liked this.”

Since you’re reading this, I’m going with the theory that you’re on at least one or two social media platforms, and there’s a pretty good chance that a writer or filmmaker whose work you enjoy is as well.

And they don’t even have to be famous. I’ve seen plenty of shout-outs and “This is a MUST-READ/MUST-SEE!” comments for material from other writers and creatives also trying to break into the industry.

No matter who they are, why not send them a quick note expressing your enjoyment? It’ll take you all of ten to fifteen seconds to write, and that’s all you need. Just some nice words. And don’t ask for anything in return!

You might get some kind of response, and you might not. Both are okay. For all you know, despite their lack of response, your comment may have brightened their otherwise gloomy day.

The important thing is you let a fellow writer/creative know that their work had a positive impact on you.

And who doesn’t like to hear that?

Footing finally found

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keaton wind

Well, that was fun.

After what seemed like endless attempts, I finally came up with what is hopefully a solid beginning for the sci-fi adventure spec. Or at least the first ten to twelve pages or so. If I haven’t grasped you in my yarn-spinning clutches by then and have you begging to turn the page, I’m in trouble.

But with all those previous drafts at hand, along with heeding the guideline that the events of the story need to KEEP PUSHING FORWARD, it all (slowly) came together.

And to make sure I wasn’t deceiving myself, or working with a “Eh. Good enough” mindset, I took a short break (to work on another script, of course). A quick perusal upon my return showed that, yep, it still works.

Finding the right beginning was truly the biggest obstacle. I wanted to really put this world on display, along with better establishing the main characters – primarily the hero and the villain, along with the supporting characters. Numerous options were explored, but none seemed to fully fulfill my requirements. The journey to find that solution was a long and frustrating one, and it was tough to not get annoyed.

But I held on and kept trying, over and over, finally hitting on a solution. Even though the rest of the story looms, I couldn’t have moved forward without reaching this point. Fortunately, most of it is pretty set in place, so hopefully it won’t take too long to work through it.

Quick addendum – during one of my moments of downtime working on this script, I saw several “scripts wanted” listings that were asking for low-budget horror. Last year I cranked out a first draft of a horror-comedy that wouldn’t be too tough to trim down the number of locations and characters so as to make it cheaper to produce. Figure it’s worth a try.

-Writer/filmmaker/friend-of-the-blog Venita Ozols-Graham has put together a crowdfunding campaign to produce a filme version of her award-winning psychological thriller short script WHO WANTS DESSERT? Donate if you can!