writing

Create your own doorway

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Had a great Zoom chat the other day with a newer writer. They’d found me on social media and liked what I’ve had to say about screenwriting and working on establishing a career at it. Would I be open to imparting some of what I’ve learned and any other advice I might have that could potentially help point them in the right direction?

Even though I admitted to still being one of those trying to “break in”, so my two cents of guidance was probably worth about that much anyway, how could I say no?

We talked about wide variety of topics, mostly involving screenwriting, including our respective backgrounds, experience, short- and long-term goals. They also asked for potential suggestions as to how they could go about achieving those goals.

I told them what I’ve said to many writers before, and it still rings true.

Everybody’s path to success (however you gauge it) is going to be unique to them and them alone. What works for me will probably be totally different than what works for you. If you know what your goals are, then it’s up to you to figure out what it will take for you to get there.

You need to create your own doorway, because nobody’s going to do it for you.

Use everything at your disposal. You might think you don’t have anything to work with at first, but you’d be surprised how effective even the littlest thing can be. It’s all about perspective and determination.

For example, the writer had worked on some short films in various capacities. They could use those to showcase their skills, as well as adding the other filmmakers and crew into their network. You never know who knows of another gig or has heard of a project that needs someone who can do the things you do.

If that’s what it takes for you to find that way in, that’s what you do.

The writer said nobody had put it that way before, which really helped them as they start to figure out their approach and possible strategies. They appreciated the advice, and the honesty.

This sort of stuff might seem pretty basic to those of us who’ve been at it for a long time (such as yours truly), but there will always be those just starting to dip their toes into these turbulent waters. I didn’t really have anybody like that when I was starting out, so why not offer up a helping hand in some capacity?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a doorway to finish creating, followed by kicking it wide open.

Knowing your nails and how to use them

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Savvy and experienced consumer of literature I’m sure you are, no doubt you’re more than somewhat familiar with the classic piece For Want Of A Nail:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Sometimes we don’t realize how important something is that at first glance might seem completely insignificant.

The same concept could apply to screenwriting and the details of your story. A reader could see something and wonder “I don’t get it. Why is this in here?”

If you do the work and plan accordingly, the answer/reason will soon be obvious. That little detail is there for a reason, probably an important one, and without it, the rest of the story won’t work.

This is important on several levels.

It shows you put a lot of thought into putting the story together.

It shows you understand the concept of effective setups and payoffs.

It shows you respect the intelligence of your reader/audience and don’t feel the need to deliberately draw our attention to this sort of thing.

It always bothers me when a story sets something up and doesn’t pay it off, or has something later on in the story that comes out of nowhere.

Some writers go into it with a solid idea of how everything is set up and know how it’s going to play out, some come up with the bare bones of a foundation and fill in the blanks, and there are even those who sit down with a blank page, start writing, and see how it goes.

I tend to waver between the first two.

Sometimes you might even go back over what you’ve already written and discover an opportune moment to put in a small detail that can further enhance something later on in the story. It’s as if your subconscious was working in conjunction with your creativity and giving you an unexpected helping hand.

Are parts of your story set up that they start with a “nail” and escalate from there? Or does something happen later that could use a stronger setup?

You’d be surprised at seeing the ripple effect one little change can have on the rest of your script. Hopefully for the better.

How about a li’l boost?

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Had the chance to talk to some writing colleagues this week. Some new, some I’ve known for a while. One via Zoom, one on the phone, and the rest in person.

(Ah, the results of networking and making connections!)

While each conversation was specific to each person, there were a few common threads: what we were working on and how it was going, experiences and results of previous projects, and glimpses ahead to potential future work.

But apart from discussing actual writing stuff, there was also a mutual contentedness about just being able to have a nice chat and offer up some morale-boosting encouragement.

For most of us, writing is a solitary activity, so social interactions might be on the sparse side. As much as I enjoy a productive session that sees progress on my script, there’s just as much enjoyment from shooting the breeze with another writer (or writers) over a cup of coffee.

I’m extremely fortunate to have a lot of other writers live nearby, so I take advantage of that and meet in person whenever possible. (Highly recommended if you can)

If this isn’t the case for you, what’s stopping you from dropping another writer a line and inviting them to talk on Zoom? You’re probably already connected on social media, so why not take it one step beyond? It’s a great way to meet and get to know each other better, all from the comfort of home. And you might be surprised how receptive they are to the idea.

No matter how you do it, one of the unspoken benefits of talking with other writers is the pleasant reminder that YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS. It’s more than likely they’ve gone through the exact same things you have, so they can relate. Maybe they’ve endured more, so you can learn from their experience, and vice versa.

Just as it’s important to try and maintain a regular writing schedule when possible, taking the time to step away, relax, and engage in a casual conversation can be just as helpful.

For all the writers involved.

There’s gold in them thar dumpster fires!

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Saw a great quote the other day that was along the lines of “Being a writer is like having homework for the rest of your life.”

From a certain perspective, that definitely has a negative connotation. Emphasizing the ‘work’ part of the word indicates drudgery and toil. Like, strictly dullsville, man.

The obvious solution is to make it a positive experience.

I know. Easier said than done, but bear with me.

(Writing should never seem like work anyway, but that’s another post.)

To be a better screenwriter, you need to read scripts and watch movies. You can see how the pros did it and figure out how that could potentially influence your work.

While watching your favorites and the classics can definitely help, I also suggest watching really shitty movies as well.

Hard as this might be to accept, there’s something be gained from it.

What was it that made them bad?

The possibilities are numerous, but a good percentage of the time – it’s the script.

As a writer, you can use that to your advantage.

Painful an experience as it might be, watch that bad movie from a writer’s perspective. Is it the writing that sucks? The story? The characters (and not the actors)? Is there a coherent sense of structure? Is there any structure at all? Does the story flow naturally, or do things happen because it seems like the story needs them to?

Maybe it feels like the writer didn’t take any chances, or worse, went for the very easy and cliched (i.e. expected) solution. Does anything in your script feel that way? If so, think about what changes you could make that would produce the same results, but get you there in a totally different way.

It may be 90-110 minutes of your life you’ll never get back, but at the very least you’ll get a better idea of what NOT to do when it comes to developing your script.

And that is a worthwhile lesson for any screenwriter.

No words

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’nuff said.

#paythewriters

#wgastrong

#sagaftrastrong