story

Heed the words of Mamet -OR- Don’t overstay your welcome

Maximum Z David Mamet, editing, outlines, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been on somewhat of a tear lately in regards to watching films – both at home and in theaters.

One of the things that’s really stood out is the tightness of the writing. In every film, the scenes don’t waste time. They present what’s needed at that particular moment while also advancing the story.

I’ve always had a tendency to overwrite – especially in my earlier scripts. There was just too much on the page, or some scenes just went on too long. This would result in necessary editing and trimming down in subsequent drafts.

But then I heard a piece of advice I’m fairly certain is attributed to playwright David Mamet:

GET IN LATE, GET OUT EARLY

I interpreted this as “Get to the point of the scene as soon as possible, then move on to the next one”.

You don’t want your reader/audience to be bored by slowing things down with anything unrelated to the story. They’ll become less interested in wanting to see what happens next. Once that happens, you’re pretty much screwed.

This is something I’ve seen in a lot of scripts – especially from newer writers, along with a handful of seasoned vets. Many is the time I’ve given a note along the lines of “this is good, but tightening it up would make a world of difference.” Sometimes it’s dialogue, or description, or action lines.

If something can be cut from a scene and the scene still accomplishes what it needs to, then whatever you cut didn’t need to be in there in the first place.

When I outline, I do so with a “what’s the point of this scene?” approach. What happens in this scene that advances the story? Even as the story continues to grow and develop, the focus on the main point of each scene continues. There may be a small amount of overwriting in the first few drafts, but those are quickly dealt with.

This approach has really helped contributed to establishing the flow and fast reads for my scripts, and I’m looking forward to applying it to the current spec.

No restraints! (up to a point)

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While my short film is now in the hands of the editor, that allows me more time to get back to working on the outline for the new action-comedy spec.

It’s coming along, but choices have had to be made in terms of how far to take things regarding the story and how things play out.

Do I play it safe and hold back, or do I throw caution to the wind and go all out?

Believe it or not, this was a tougher decision than expected. I don’t want to overdo it, but I also don’t want things to be boring. There’s pushing the envelope, and then there’s way over the top.

But then again, this is an ACTION-COMEDY, with an emphasis on both parts, so maybe there’s some kind of middle ground that would work.

It also helped to get the opinions of a few other writers, who all said for this kind of story, you pretty much have to ramp things up, but to also not let things get out of control, which makes it feel like you’re throwing everything at the wall, which reeks of desperation – which I do not like, or want.

What I do want is for the reader/audience to really get the impact of everything that happens because it all works within the context of the story while also reinforcing/supporting the action and comedy. Not an easy path to navigate, but I feel up to the challenge.

So that’s the plan. Most likely it’ll be initially putting it all together in a simple and straightforward way, then go back and figure out the best/most effective way to have each scene and/or sequence showcase the action and comedy when applicable. Sort of “How can this be more exciting and/or funnier while still accomplishing what it needs to?”

I also suspect that once everything is in place, that’s when the real fun begins. Even with all of this figuring things out, I’m really enjoying putting this one together and look forward to unleashing it on the world when it’s ready.

Drips & drabs, but no drudgery

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Some kind of bug/virus took me out of commission earlier this week, which slammed the brakes on everything – including the slow-but-steady progress developing the new spec. Apart from a persistent runny nose, I’ve for the most part recovered, and am slowly getting back into it. Slow definitely being the operative word.

I may be working at a snail’s pace, which is a bit frustrating, but it’s a snail that’s seeing results, which is good. Even with this like-molasses-in-January output, things continue to move forward. Getting a few scenes done today means a few more than I had yesterday. It might not seem it at the time, but all the little steps forward will gradually result in the completion of a long journey.

The most important thing is to GET IT WRITTEN. Outlines and first drafts ain’t pretty, but at least they’re a starting point.

It’s not just about putting all the puzzle pieces together, but figuring out what the puzzle is and all the potential components. Pages and pages of the project’s notebook are jam-packed with ideas and possibilities. There is absolutely no doubt this will continue to be one big mess, but oh what a beautiful mess it is (and will continue to be as it takes shape).

But despite all the frustration about timing and slow progress, I’m still having an absolute blast doing it. Having a solid polished script is great, but it’s the figuring things out and organizing all the ideas that has always given me an extra thrill. I do what I can to spin an entertaining yarn, and this time is no exception.

I’ve said it many times and it still rings true – you can see the writer’s love and enjoyment of the material in the material itself. That’s what I’m shooting for here – apart from just having a fun script. I want the reader to get just as caught up in the story and NEED to see what happens next. I try to have my scripts fall under the category of “I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it”.

Onward, runny nose and all.

Finding the right next one

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Progress continues for developing the story of the new spec, with a few important details solidifying, along with weighing options for the overall setting (Is it too familiar? If it changes, how much will that affect the rest of the story? Is that a good thing?)

But the one thing really coming into play this time around is figuring out the best way for one scene to lead into the next – to the point that it needs to seem like it was only logical that this next thing is the only thing that could have happened, and so on and so on. It’s challenging.

This is where watching films and reading scripts really comes in handy. Taking a look to see how other stories have accomplished this can make quite a difference. Granted, a lot of the scenes involve being set up earlier in the story, so not only is there a payoff somewhere down the line, they also tie in to how the story is developing AND move things forward.

A leads to B, which leads to C, which leads to D, etc., etc.

It’s also important to stress that the events of the story need to flow organically. B needs to be the only thing that could have followed A without it feeling forced or “this happens because I need it to”. Making sure of this is a big contributing factor to all the time being spent on the story.

I’ve discussed this with several other writers, and many said this is a positive thing. Putting so much effort into this now leans towards the story’s foundation being pretty solid, and establishing that steady A-to-B-to-C movement will help things flow.

Something else I’ve noticed in a lot of the films and scripts is that the scenes are VERY TO THE POINT. There is no time wasted whatsoever. The scene starts, they get to the point asap, then move on to the next one. I’ve seen the opposite in a lot of scripts, including some earlier drafts of my work. I’ll be making sure this doesn’t happen this time around.

Even though there is still a lot to figure out for this story, there’s also a lot coming together – at a slightly faster pace than usual, which is something I’m not used to. There’s even been a random moment of clarity or inspiration when I’m not expecting it, which is always great.

My automatic reaction to when that happens is “does this work within the context of the story and accomplish its purpose?” and if not, is there a way to adjust it so it does? Even if I end up not using it, it might still have the potential to be used in one form or another somewhere else in the story (or in an entirely different script).

And what might be the best thing of all is that I’m simply having a great time putting all of this together. Like I said, it’s challenging, but still fun. Wish it could go a little faster, but I think it’ll be worth the wait.

One inch at a time

Maximum Z beats, characters, creativity, development, emotion, enthusiasm, excitement, ideas, inspiration, motivation, perseverance, persistence, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storyline , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A lot of my time lately has been jotting down ideas – and lots of ’em – about the new spec. Some random, some of a “this leads to that, which in turn results in this” nature.

As I recently said on social media, it’s a big beautiful jumbled mess, and I’m absolutely thrilled about it.

Just a few weeks ago I was stressed there wasn’t enough to the story, but then the gears started turning and the ideas started coming, and it was off to the races.

Since then, I must have filled in at least half a dozen pages in the notebook for this project with every single thing that popped into my head about it. Even more surprising is how much of it came from out of the blue – all kinds of stuff that never would have occurred to me before. Can’t really say that some kind of ‘on’ switch was tripped, but something was ignited somewhere.

Not only are ideas covering aspects of the story making themselves known, but so are ideas about the things you don’t see onscreen – emotional beats, character development, and so forth. It begs the question – what took it so long to show up?

There’s a lot to go through, and confidence levels are running high that there’s more on the way. There’ll be a lot to sift through to figure out what to keep and what to put aside for potential use at a later time (or another script).

This may be moving at a slow pace, but it’s definitely starting to take shape. What that shape is remains to be seen, but I like it.