story

Simple now, fancy-schmancy later

Maximum Z dialogue, editing, plot, rewrite, scenes, screenwriting, script, Scriptnotes, story, thesaurus, writing
What? This isn't what you wear when you're writing?
What? This isn’t what you wear when you’re writing?

Right now, it’s all about finishing the first draft of this spec. Just get it done. Hopefully this momentous event will occur sometime in the next couple of days.

The script as a whole will of course need a lot of tweaking and reworking – it’s foolish to think otherwise – but it’s also important to get the words on the page to paint a strong mental picture. The more picturesque your text, the more vivid it becomes inside the reader’s mind.

Despite using the “write it now, fix it later” approach, I try to work with a wide variety of words, descriptions and phrases throughout to keep things interesting.  Remember – the thesaurus is your friend. Use it wisely.

Changes will be made where necessary in forthcoming drafts. It’s more than likely a word or sentence will be modified several times, then changed back to what it originally was. This happens all the time.

As this draft was put together, the words that met my needs at the time were used. Are there ones that work better, or at least do a better job of conveying the intended mood?  Without a doubt, but rather than spend too much time now to come up with the perfect word or phrase, I’m more interested in maintaining that nice, steady momentum.  There’ll be time to spruce it up later.

You can have great language in your wide margins or dialogue, but it all boils down to this: if the story’s not rock-solid, the whole thing will fall apart.

I was especially reminded about this listening to a recent episode of Scriptnotes. One of the entries in the Three Page Challenge featured the colorful phrase describing a room:  “A dragon’s lair of treasures.” Nice, huh?

I don’t know if the writers had that in there from Day One, but it’s definitely not something I would have come up with the first time around. It’s not hard to imagine this is the result of a little brainstorming. It’s short, descriptive and effective.

Don’t worry about getting it all perfect when you start. That’s what rewrites are for.

Moving that inner strength outward

Maximum Z anxiety, burnout, creativity, dialogue, encouragement, goals, ideas, inspiration, motivation, problem-solving, productivity, scenes, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, story, stress, writer's block, writing
It may not be as heavy as you think
It may look heavy, but it might not feel that way

I hate hitting a lull. Even the sound of it is off-putting.

“Lull.” Yuck.

Which of course is exactly where I found myself over the past few days regarding the first draft. I thought I was making some good progress, but instead found myself staring at a screen that mockingly stared back.

“Come on, writer boy,” it seemed to say. “Show we what you can do.”

Putting more pressure on yourself combined with the anthropomorphization of electronics doesn’t usually end well. You’re already frustrated, and when the words won’t come, you just want to throw up your hands and do your best Bill Paxton impression.

I’ve been down this path before. I don’t like it, it ain’t pretty, but it’s gonna happen and I accept that.

This is one of those times when you have to remind yourself that you’ve got two options: quitting, which is the easy way out, and totally squashes all the hard work and effort you’ve already put in.

Or you dig deep and force yourself to keep going. Again.

I recently started re-reading my copy of THE FIRST TIME I GOT PAID FOR IT, which chronicles the tales of many successful and well-known writers and how they got started. Apart from some great stories, it’s a good reminder to us outsiders striving to be insiders that even the pros started in the exact same place we are now.

And if you’re like me and want to change your status in that scenario, there’s only one way – keep writing!

I don’t know what the exact trigger was, but the next time I faced off against that blinking cursor and half-empty page, something clicked.

Boy, did it.

The words didn’t just flow – they gushed. It was like a Niagara Falls of scenes and dialogue pouring onto the page. My fingers could hardly keep up with my brain.

Whoa. Three pages in thirty-five minutes? Inconceivable!

I definitely now feel back on track. A renewed sense of what drew me to the story in the first place. Being that much closer to being able to type FADE OUT. And a little more faith in my ability to be productive, even when I don’t think I can be.

Take that, lull.

Quel est le bon mot, baby?

Maximum Z Balboa Theatre, blog, found footage, genre, ideas, networking, originality, pina colada, productivity, rewrite, rules, San Francisco, screenwriting, script, social media, story, Twitter, writing ,
Normally I'm a G&T kind of guy, but one these sounds pretty nice right now
Normally I’m a G&T kind of guy, but one of these sounds kind of nice right now

Opting for a random assortment of topics today. Enjoy.

-Ever get to the point where you just want to finish whatever is you’re working on and get it out of the way? That’s about where I am right now with this first draft. I wouldn’t call it a slog; more like resisting the urge to make a mad dash to the end.

On a positive note, the closer I get to finishing, the more I see how much has to be fixed.

Here’s a great guest column from Lee Jessup’s blog about how a writer should approach rewriting.

-Sometimes you come up with a story idea out of nowhere that makes you wonder: Even though this is a totally new genre for me, could I make it work?

I came up with a concept for a found footage story, including what may be a workable grasp on how to handle the ‘omnipresent camera’ part. It can be a little intimidating to try something new, but you won’t know until you try and possibly even discover a strength you never knew you had.

-I connected with this fine fellow the other day on Twitter. Do so if you haven’t already, and make sure to take the screenwriting survey. One of the questions is something along the lines of “what are some of your basic screenwriting rules?”

This is what I came up with:
1. Don’t be boring.
2. The audience is more intelligent than you think.
3. Write as if ink costs $1000 an ounce.

There are lots of others, but I think those are pretty important. Feel free to contribute yours in the comments section.

-This isn’t necessarily me hopping on the Kickstarter bandwagon, but check this out if you’d like to help preserve the small moviehouse experience. Give if you can, even if you don’t live in the Bay Area. It’s a great theatre.

Getting around the mental roadblock

Maximum Z creativeness, creativity, editing, ideas, outlines, scenes, screenwriting, script, story, writer's block, writing
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This might take some figuring out

Wouldn’t you know it? There I am, being all productive and cranking out pages, when I suddenly decide “There’s got to be a better/shorter way to do this sequence,” and out it goes.

All I need to do now is compress the purpose of that sequence into one, maybe two scenes, and my machine-like output can continue.

Ah, if it were only that easy.  Arm-in-arm with Elvis, my creativeness has apparently left the building.

Sucks, doesn’t it?

I don’t hate writer’s block. I loathe it. I despise it.  My dislike for it burns with the intensity of a thousand suns all on the verge going supernova. The frustration of wanting to write something, but not being able to.

If there was a valuable ceramic piece within my reach, it would definitely be flung at the opposite wall.

And to make things worse, I know how this part starts and ends; it’s all the stuff that happens in the middle that’s giving me so much trouble.

But there’s not much to be accomplished with all this bitching, moaning and overall kvetching.

This requires taking a step back, a few deep breaths, patience and clear-headedness.  I’ve worked my way through this type of situation before (sometimes even with better-than-expected results), and hopefully this time will not be an exception.

But I still don’t like when this happens.

-Movie of the Moment – ffolkes (aka NORTH SEA HIJACK) (1979). A tight, compact thriller reminiscent of DIE HARD, even though this one came almost a decade earlier, and the main character (portrayed by having-a-ball Roger Moore) is a misogynistic, sociopathic cat-loving jerk who of course is the best at what he does, which is training commandos.

I vaguely remember seeing this on TV way back when and obviously it stuck with me. When I saw that it was on Netflix streaming, I made a point of rewatching it to see if it held up.

Apart from some cheesy guitar riffs here and there, absolutely. Nothing too fancy and maybe a little predictable at times, but still smart, gripping and intense. With a running time of 1:48, this thing really moves.

A sure sign of the times – this was rated PG! I honestly thought it would have been an R (since PG-13 wasn’t around yet). A shocking revelation at first, but there’s not that much actual violence in it; it’s the subject matter that makes the difference. Can you imagine a movie about terrorists holding a multi-billion-dollar oil platform hostage being released now with a PG rating?

Exactly.

Definitely worth seeing.

X + Y = you(r script)

Maximum Z Pirates of the Caribbean, pitching, screenwriting, script, Star Wars, story, The Last Starfighter, Tracking Board, writing , , ,
Two individual great things combine to make a new great thing
Two individual great things combine to make a new great thing

Scenario time! You find yourself in the mythical elevator with the even more mythical open-minded Hollywood exec. Their attention is all yours for the next 30 seconds. Your moment to shine is at hand!

You give ’em your honed-to-perfection logline. They react with raised eyebrows, a slight tilt of the head and an intrigued “Hmm.” The fish is nibbling at that hook, but the deal ain’t sealed yet.

“How would you pitch that?” they ask. “What’s your X meets Y?”

In other words, what two movies does your script incorporate elements from while telling a unique and original story?

I’ve read arguments both for and against doing this. Personally, I don’t have anything against doing it, but usually try to avoid it, preferring to let the logline do the selling.

But sometimes you’re going to need those two points of reference to offer up a stronger idea of what somebody can expect from your story.

It’s also important to name films that are well-known, successful or both. Avoid box office flops and the obscure at all costs! There’s also the question of timeliness, but I’ll get into that in a second.

Case in point: The folks at the Tracking Board Launchpad gave each semifinalist script it’s own landing page, featuring a thumbnail sketch of details (logline, genre, contact info, etc.)

Part of what they wanted from the writers was their “X meets Y” pitch.

Since I couldn’t go with the phrase that served as my mantra during the writing process (retro sci-fi steampunk pirates), I thought “PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN meets STAR WARS” summed it up nicely.

The response was that this was just “okay”, but the story didn’t seem as reminiscent of STAR WARS. Maybe there was another film that was more similar?

Fortunately for me, K was right there next to me during this exchange and suggested “How about ‘PIRATES meets THE LAST STARFIGHTER?'”

Yeah, that works. Definitely a stronger connection with my script on several levels.

Maybe my only nit to pick is that it’s not the most recent of films. 1984, to be precise. Almost 30 years old(!). But it’s still pretty well-known and is usually mentioned as part of “they don’t make ’em like that anymore”, so 2 points in my favor. If you’ve never seen it, you should really make a point to do so.

(And just to put it in perspective, STAR WARS is over 35 years old, but is probably a little more in the public eye.)

So take a look at your script. Put some thought into what best makes up your “X meets Y”.

That way, the next time someone asks “How would you pitch that?”, you’re ready to go.