Wednesday, April 13th, 20112011-04-13T21:28:52Zl, F jS, Y
I enjoy teaching and talking about everything from why I love movies to how to dig deeper into your character work to how to use sluglines correctly. And the readership of JE would indicate that the needs and wants of learning about writing are all up and down the scale. So today I’ve reposted a simple how-to approach to slug and action lines for newer writers:
A slugline, which indicates where a scene is taking place, includes three elements: INT. (interior) EXT. (exterior), location and time of day. So we might have:
INT. JULIE’S OFFICE – DAY
Notice that all must be capitalized. If you use Final Draft, this aspect of the formatting is automatic.
There are only two choices when it comes to interior or exterior – INT. or EXT.
Location can be anywhere – just make sure to make it both simple and descriptive. Sounds like a contradiction, right? Well, let’s do a little exercise:
EXT. A BARN – DAY
Pretty interesting, huh? Not. But how about if we try this:
EXT. A DILAPIDATED 19TH CENTURY BARN – DAY
Okay, now we’re being much more specific, right? Or how about:
EXT. A BRIGHT RED BARN – DAY
Different barn altogether, yes?
Time of day should really be limited to the following choices:
DAY
NIGHT
DUSK
DAWN
LATER
MOMENTS LATER
In other words, you would never say:
EXT. A BROKE DOWN, WASHED OUT GREY BARN – AROUND 10AM
…because it would be ever so NOT done. Or, you know, not “industry standard”.
Now. Let’s talk about action lines. Action lines are the bits that come after the slug.
So we have:
EXT. A LOW-SLUNG DAIRY BARN – DAY
DREW MACMILLIAN (52) staggers out into the sunshine. His left arm drips blood.
VIOLET MACMILLAN (O.S.)
I TOLD you not to come into the barn!!
Okay we’ve got a ton of stuff we could learn from here. We’ve got Drew staggering out of the barn. The action line is where the, um, ACTION happens. Notice that the action line is written in the present simple tense: Drew staggers.
Many new writers, not knowing better, write action lines in what we would technically call the “present continuous tense”:
Violet is swinging a rake. WRONG! Taser in your neck!
Violet swings a rake. RIGHT! Have a cupcake!
Stepping away from grammar labels momentarily, the reason the first example is not appropriate for a script is that it distances the reader from the action in a small but subtle way. So rather than being in the scene with Violet, in a sensory way, we are distanced because you are telling me what she is doing. I don’t watch it myself – you narrate it to me. As if I am a sight-challenged person. Violet is swinging a rake. Oh hey, thanks for that, are my underpants on the outside, too?
When an action line is written properly, I observe the action myself. I watch it happen. You aren’t telling me it’s happening, it just IS happening. I am the observer and I see Violet as she swings the rake.
Let’s see what else…
EXT. A WHITE CLAPBOARD BARN– DAY
DREW MACMILLAN (52) staggers out into the sunshine. His left arm drips blood.
VIOLET MACMILLAN (O.S.)
I TOLD you not to come into the barn!
All -cap when introducing a new character and in general, put age in brackets.
Notice that I used (O.S.) rather than (V.O.) in Violet’s dialogue? O.S. stands for “off screen”. Some people use (O.C.) or “off camera”. In Hollywood, we mostly do (O.S.). So it literally means that the character who has spoken is somewhere IN this scene but we just cannot see them. She’s behind the door, inside the barn with her rake,
(V.O.) means “voice over” so that would mean that the character speaking the words is nowhere near this scene but rather is narrating it from the past, from the future or maybe from the comfort of his or her living room or jail cell. So we might have:
EXT. A CON-AG INDUSTRIAL BARN – DAY
DREW MACMILLAN (52) staggers out into the sunshine. His left arm drips blood.
VIOLET MACMILLAN (V.O.)
I TOLD him not to go in the barn.
You’ll often hear “show it don’t say it” in action lines. Well, yes, a more fundamental screenwriting rule would be hard to find. But what the devil does it mean?
Well, pretend you are a Hollywood script reader for a moment and you run across this in an action line:
Violet and Drew have been friends since high school.
Or –
Drew enjoys impressing the other farmers even though he’s broke.
Or –
Violet has a hot temper.
***********************
As a basic reality check, action lines do not appear on the screen, correct? So using that as a jumping off point, does everybody see what is patently wrong with these examples?
Go ahead. Look back up at those examples. I’ll wait…
So what does “They’ve been friends since high school” look like in an action line? It looks like NOTHING because you have told me, not shown me. So, if you’re needing to show that two characters have been friends since high school, don’t TELL me that in an action line – EVIDENCE me that in the actions that are going on. Such as:
VIOLET: I’m so fat! I can’t fit into this dress!
DREW: Aw hon, you’re as beautiful as you were at senior prom.
There are so many creative ways to let us know that these two have been together since high school. This can be indicated in dialogue or it might be indicated by possessions, shared memories, or even someone else making a comment. Don’t cop out and simply announce to us what this relationship is. It’s lazy writing, it doesn’t work, it is the mark of an amateur and it will get you a PASS.
On the other hand, crafty and skillful writers can say things in action lines like:
Violet crouches down in the hay. Wishing she were anywhere but here.
Drew sharpens a knife calmly. Never can be too sharp.
Violet sits up, frightened.
Why can you get away with things like this? Because these are sentiments generally accompanied by facial expressions or body language. Can you picture Violet sitting up, frightened? How about if she sat up, annoyed? Or sat up, confused? See how she’d look different in each instance just by that single word choice?
Remember – show it, don’t say it. Evidence things, do not list them.
To summarize:
Action lines SHOULD:
Be like haiku: brief, economical and as sensory and colorful as possible
ALL CAP and briefly describe new characters – even extras like the NURSE.
Always show do not tell. Evidence how your character feels. Do not make a list.
Be written in the present simple tense.
Action lines SHOULD:
NOT be dense and long-winded. Try to keep them to about 4 lines. Particularly on your first few pages.
NOT be so brief that they are choppy and weird sounding. Don’t economize so much you leave out the fundamentals of sentence structure.
NOT ever talk to the reader. Do not tell us how we should feel in this moment. Do not tell the camera what to do. Do not give music instructions or set design ideas. Just tell your story. In fact, if there’s one DO NOT about action lines this might just be the most critical one because having these types of instructions on your pages will mark you as an amateur faster than it took you to read this sentence.
Tuesday, April 5th, 20112011-04-05T20:41:37Zl, F jS, Y
Well – it should. In the past few weeks I have had more writers come to me and say remember that GREAT idea I had two years ago, that was WAY on top of the zeitgeist and so high concept?! Well, I never did get it done and now I see a spec sale of the same idea.
Womp woooomp.
That, guys can be the price you pay for hatching great ideas but not acting on them. Keep yourself organized. Your ideas, your loglines, your scripts, your character work. Use a calendar and if you can, a script buddy who will keep you on track. It’s that important. Great ideas are a dime a dozen unless they are not only executed well but actually executed. Particularly high concept ideas because those do float around in the ether. If you don’t write that script, somebody else will. And you’ll be left with half a script or outline and a very bitter taste in your mouth.
Sunday, April 3rd, 20112011-04-04T01:37:48Zl, F jS, Y
Take a good look at these faces. These are just a few of the best, brightest, most talented and committed writers I have worked with in Los Angeles. If I could add writers from other states and countries, we’d have to make a pyramid or use bleachers to fit everyone in! I won’t label this pic with names just in case any of these brilliant eggheads has any dubious or notorious misdeeds they need to hide from the general public
Today we met for our maiden Sunday Salon. Our first gathering, we’ll be honest, was a cocktail party. But starting now, we are meeting once each month for this writing super group
during which we meet for a short writing exercise or lesson and give each other updates on our writing statuses. Then we have snacks and we write. Before we adjourn for the month, each writer sits with me to confirm goals to be achieved before the next meeting.
I can’t tell you how wonderful the energy in that room was today. I love my job – great writers humble me. Membership in the Best & Brightest is intentionally very exclusive; these writers are all on a very high level of their writing potential. I have worked with some for years. I’d love to host a beginner or intermediate writing group down the line. Let me know if you’re interested!
I have had several meetings with clients this week using Skype, which has been enormously fun! That way, we can not only see each other but I can also use the IM function to demonstrate something, reiterate a point or make a list of homework, etc. You can then print out the IM and keep it for your notes. It’s genius!
Coincidentally enough, almost every client I spoke with this week so far wanted to know how to beat out a story/structure using the sequential narrative or mini-movie method. So I thought I’d share with you here the way JAWS looks if you were to beat out every 10-page sequence.
Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book, along with JAWS:
*****
The Sequential Narrative divides your premise line into even smaller premise lines – you might call them mini-premise lines, or sequences – 12 of them, in fact, providing another form of structure within the three-act structure. Every one of these 12 sequences is its own self-contained dramatic unit, each with a beginning, middle and end. It is a fantastic tool for brainstorming and outlining.
Let’s put this to work and use the Sequential Narrative to describe each 10-page sequence of an action movie that most of us have seen and that honestly scared me from swimming in the ocean for about 17-and-a-half years – JAWS.
Important note about pivot words:
Remember, pivot words are meant to act as hinges on swinging doors that make the next part of the action move forward. They don’t always work smoothly and surely are not grammatically correct but they emphasize divisions between dramatic units.
Here are some pivot word samples:
After
But
Now
Only
Suddenly
Then
Unfortunately
Until
Yet
When
Where
SEQ 1 of JAWS
SUDDENLY a shark attacks a swimmer and AFTER the medical examiner confirms the death was caused by a shark attack THEN the new police chief decides to close the beaches.
See? Not a premise line for the whole script but a premise line for a 10-page sequence. So now what happens? Well, we have to describe the NEXT 10 pages, right? Which is sequence two:
SEQ 2
BUT the mayor refuses to cooperate because closing the beaches will hurt the 4th of July celebration and the town’s livelihood THEN a little boy is attacked in full view of the townsfolk UNTIL the boy’s mother puts up a reward for the capture of the shark.
Look at the way the end of the first sequence “THEN the new police chief decides to close the beaches” creates conflict when we get to the beginning of the second sequence “BUT the mayor refuses to cooperate.” See how the conflict just went up? Watch the beginning and endings of each sequence for that related conflict and escalation.
SEQ 3 Because the first major plot point (or break into two) occurs somewhere between pages 25 and 30, we need to raise the stakes and make things way worse for the main character in this sequence:
WHEN at a town meeting, Brody says the beach will be closed for 24 hours and Quint offers to kill the shark for $10,000 THEN two townsfolk try to catch the shark and they realize the shark is a monster and spread the word and SUDDENLY there is a frenzy of amateur shark fisherman who pour into Amity to try to catch the shark and Brody loses control of the situation because now the sea is full of bait – the fisherman.
So how did the conflict just get worse? Brody can’t protect the citizens of Amity if half of them are crowded into small boats trying to catch a shark that is way out of their league.
SEQ 4
AFTER Hooper (Dreyfus) from the Oceanographic Institute examines the remains of the first victim he tells Brody it was definitely a shark – and a huge one THEN that the shark the fisherman caught is not the shark that is doing the attacking but the mayor won’t allow Brody to confirm NOW the little boy’s mother slaps Brody in public and berates him for allowing people to swim with the shark still out there.
(There is huge character development for Brody here; he wants to please the islanders and fit in and is torn between protecting the town and pleasing the mayor/business owners and he can’t seem to win)
SEQ 5
WHEN Hooper and Brody cut open the shark’s belly and see it wasn’t the right shark UNFORTUNATELY the two get drunk and go out on a boat at night to try to find the shark THEN they find a boat that’s been attacked by the shark and find another victim.
SEQ 6 This is the midpoint of the story, where we have another major plot point or reversal. See if you can identify it for JAWS, below:
AFTER Brody and Hooper tell the mayor it’s a great white but he still refuses to close the beaches UNTIL crowds pour in for the 4th of July holiday and Brody tries to protect the beach BUT a practical joke scares everyone out of the water and the real shark attacks a man boating near Brody’s son and now for Brody everything is on the line – the community, his integrity – his family.
SEQ 7
WHEN Brody confronts the mayor and convinces him to hire Quint to kill the shark THEN Brody convinces Quint to allow Hooper to go BUT Quint is skeptical and resistant of Hooper’s city ways.
(Seems like a slow sequence but actually crucial character development happens in this sequence making Quint’s fate emotional.)
SEQ 8
WHEN the three men set off to find the shark UNTIL Quint hooks the shark BUT Hooper doesn’t believe it is a shark and whatever it is swims under the boat and breaks the line.
(Again, the character development in this sequence is crucial and satisfying. It reinforces Brody of fear of being out on the boat, yet his determination to protect Amity and his family.)
SEQ 9 This is the third major plot point, or plot point two, or as some call it, the break into three. In other words, this is the plot point that opens up the exciting third act –
WHEN Brody chums the water and the shark rises to the surface in front of him, Quint shoots the shark with a hook attached to a barrel and they stay out all night and wait for it to reappear UNTIL Quint tells the horrifying story of his experience on the USS Indianapolis BUT the shark attacks the boat making it take on water.
This famous “we’re gonna need a bigger boat” and USS Indianapolis sequence certainly does propel us into a pretty exciting third act – the three men have now seen and experienced first hand what a huge monster this shark is and how aggressive it is – it attacked and damaged their boat! Out there on the open sea, there truly is no way out except to battle and kill this monster.
SEQ 10
SUDDENLY, the shark disables the boat and it starts taking on water UNTIL the next morning as they try to repair the boat the shark reappears BUT Quint bashes in the radio and they shoot the shark with one and then two more barrels.
SEQ 11
AFTER the men tie the lines to the boat and the shark begins to drag the boat backwards THEN they cut the line and the shark chases them, the engine gives out and the boat is sinking BUT Hooper volunteers to go down in the shark cage.
SEQ 12
AFTER the shark attacks the cage and begins to pull the whole boat down and he eats Quint BUT Brody shoves compressed air into the shark’s mouth and it explodes and SUDDENLY Hooper surfaces and they paddle home.
Important note about plot points:
Sequence 1 is where the inciting incident lives. On or about page 10.
Sequence 3 ends with the first plot point or break into Act Two.
Sequence 6 is the midpoint reversal.
Sequence 9 ends with the second plot point or break into Act Three.
Sequence 11 is the battle scene.
But wait a second – the battle scene of Sequence 11 definitely spills over to Sequence 12 in JAWS. True enough. Please use common sense and know that story would be no fun if it were one-size-fits-all. Use the bold-faced indicators above as guidelines. Ultimately the story will find the best way to be told.
Can you reverse engineer your script into this type of sequential narrative? Can you outline your current project using it?
Thursday, March 24th, 20112011-03-25T00:33:07Zl, F jS, Y
In the same way that grapes are harvested, squished and fermented until they become more potent than grape juice, your writing needs to go through the same process. That’s why in theory, every draft of your script gets more and more powerful. With every pass, you remove and replace words with other choices that get the meaning across in a more cinematic or active way. It’s not only removing or replacing words, it’s also about placing words so that action lines can read in a kinetic way.
A rough draft (aka vomit draft) might feature something as scintillating as:
Jeff walks across the street.
That’s terribly boring, but for your first draft, don’t judge it, just keep going and get your beats on paper. But perhaps the next time you work on the scene in which Jeff crosses the street, you might write something more like:
Jeff runs across the busy street in the rain.
Later it might read:
Holding onto a red umbrella, Jeff sprints across the busy street in the pouring rain, dodging cars.
Hey wait, whoa – we’re adding words. How is this more potent? It’s not, it’s just wordier, with more going on. Well, several drafts later, when you’re satisfied with the story itself, you might come back and write:
Pouring rain.
Jeff (o.s.)
Wait!
Wrestling with a red umbrella, Jeff SPRINTS across the street -
HONK!
Now the moment is written in a way that comes ALIVE and is much more fun to read. The moment is more potent on the page and much more kinetic – HONK! works well as a shorthand for “dodging cars.”
When you’re first getting those words on paper, don’t judge, just write. But keep your eyes open later so you can see the possibilities for something simple to become more sensory, more active and more fun.
Monday, December 6th, 20102010-12-06T19:13:32Zl, F jS, Y
Has your script ever been called “episodic?” This is a subset of a narrative problem. If structure is the spine of your script, narrative is the muscles on that skeleton. Gross – but you know what I mean. Structure is the mast and narrative is the sails.
The narrative should be like a rollercoaster going up up up and then releasing into a thrilling ride with many twists and turns, gaining speed as it goes. Episodic means that your script is not like this. Instead, it feels like a series of episodes that don’t seem connected to a larger build – a rollercoaster with no thrills.
The cure for an episodic script first lies in reexamining your premise – full stop. In fact, I’ll go on record as saying that taking a bird’s eye view of your premise is the first thing to look at when any big problems arise in the script. Check and recheck the premise for the overarching conflict facing the main character. What’s at stake? Is it pretty huge, relative to the character and the character’s world? What’s your premise, and is it unique and entertaining?
Now think about your scene work. We know each scene needs a beginning, middle and end – setup, conflict, resolution – complication, resolution, new conflict – and so forth and so on, during each scene and for each sequence and each act. But there’s the thing: As you resolve something toward the end of one scene, that same resolution kicks something else into gear in the next. Scenes are causal – linking to one another, always causing something else to click into motion.
In poorly written, episodic scripts, characters move from one slugline to the next but what they are actually doing doesn’t build. It becomes like reading a diary of what someone did that day. I went to the gym. I took a shower. I drove to work. I had lunch. I went home. I had dinner.
As opposed to: I went to the gym and stubbed my toe. I took a shower and slipped because my foot was hurt. I drove to work and got in a fender bender. I had lunch at the insurance office. I went home. I hacked up my wife.
Compare this:
Esther does this
Then she does that
Fred meets her and they talk
Esther does this
Then that
Then this
With this:
Esther does this BUT
She stumbles into that AND
THEN she discovers this
WHICH leads her to overcome THIS
And eventually she learns THAT
EXCEPT she will have to sacrifice THIS
The emphasized words indicate turning points in the scene. Surprises, setbacks, reversals. Static scenes guarantee a static story. You only have about 100 pages, people, so light a fire under it. And don’t get accused of having a soft, episodic script – because that’s just another way of saying PASS.
Saturday, October 16th, 20102010-10-16T20:02:54Zl, F jS, Y
I was blown away by the sheer number of entries into this competition. I think we may have struck upon something that is fun, (relatively) easy and a great way to really think about word choice and impact. That’s the thing with haiku; there is very little wiggle room, due to the syllable limitations, to use words that are not powerful and evocative. Hmm…remind you of something…maybe ACTION LINES IN YOUR SCRIPT? Beyond loving haiku, that was the point of this exercise.
The winner is a haiku I received almost straight away after the competition opened, and I was very moved by it. As other haikus kept rolling in, there were none that matched the instant emotional response this one evoked in me:
In crying rain, she
opens her umbrella heart
shelters me from storms
-by Pete Ratajczak
But there were others that really struck me as well and what I want you guys to notice is the emotionality contained within the haikus that follow below. These haikus really used sensory details to evoke a feeling – and that is what haiku is all about. Not just minding the syllable count, but within that constraint, painting a picture as if on a grain of rice and imbuing it with emotion.
in the twilight hours
as rain descends upon earth
dreams of snow drift in
-by Elizabeth Ditty
Brittle empty shell
Courtesy of Alzheimers
Thursdays with my mom
-by Sheila Watson
Inhale the essence
Chilled air shocks scent receptors
Hot gasp past warm lips
-by Keliane Wicks
We found them, lovers
naked in a car. Fall leaves
descending, through woods.
-by Michael Ennis
Jack-o’-lanterns smile
their sad, distorted grins of
silent agony.
Pain pierces the skin
Neurons twitch and rapidly
Endorphins rush out.
-both by Renee van Amerongen
Trough of gold urine
Frothy, musky, for God’s sake
Flush the damn toilet!
-by Trevor Mayes
Miss you like summer;
If heartbreak’s in vogue this year,
At least I’m in style.
-by Tillery Johnson
Cassiopeia
sees Orion shuck his belt
A star will be born
Sunday, October 3rd, 20102010-10-03T09:17:15Zl, F jS, Y
Hi guys! This is a guest blog by new blogger, Ashley Ariel. I like the style of her writing and this is a fun review of the “Hawaii Five-O” reboot!
*****
(MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)
Ah, fall in Los Angeles, filled with the familiar scents of pumpkin lattes, forest fires, and the not-so-subtle undertone of desperation seeping from nervous showrunners all over town.
These proverbial shifts in the weather signal the beginning of The Great New TV Show Hunt, wherein I set my sights on finding a shiny new story in which to lose myself. Each premiere offers up a bright and shining promise that all too quickly fades within moments of the series lead opening their pretty little mouth. All of this brings me to last Monday night when I, in my innocence, turned my attention to “Hawaii Five-O.”
It begins with promise: lush scenery and a tense moment, quickly followed by serious explosions. The hero, McGarrett, is a pretty enough piece of eye candy, but Anton, our villain, immediately arrests attention. Shackled, surrounded by grim-faced men with very large machine guns and on his way to a secret military prison, Anton is obviously a prisoner, yet he radiates creeping menace, utterly stealing the scene.
It is revealed that this is the end of a protracted cat and mouse game the series lead has been playing with Anton and his brother, Victor. A mere 90 seconds into this interaction I’m muttering imprecations at the aforementioned showrunners, intimating 17 kinds of violence if they decide to kill off Anton, as he is such a compelling villain.
Victor chooses this moment to call McGarrett to let him know that he is now in possession of our hero’s father and he wants a prisoner exchange. McGarrett whines about not being able to negotiate, stalling for time. Meanwhile, Victor goes ahead and triangulates the convoy’s position using the call’s cell signal. A chopper swoops in, wreaking havoc on the convoy, prompting Anton to attempt his escape. Despite my firm warnings, 240 seconds into the episode, McGarrett shoots Anton quite dead.
Victor is, understandably, rather peeved at this turn of events and in return kills off daddy dearest. Setting up what could have been an interesting season arc. However, yes, you guessed it. McGarrett tracks Victor down and executes him before the end of the episode. Coincidentally, my interest in the show is now riddled with McGarrett’s stray bullets.
A good villain is hard to come by. Seriously, let me say it again. A good villain is hard to come by. A good villain with fascinating and personal ties to the hero is pure gold. If precious moments of a pilot are wasted setting up a face-off between two men who have each absolutely devastated each other only to have this tension squandered by ending their potentially epic confrontation with a few hasty bullets, I have nothing to say to you. It is a horrifying waste of story potential and in its first episode, “Hawaii Five-O” manages to kill off not one, but two fascinating villains.
Truly chill-inducing villains are a dying breed. So much focus has been cast onto the development of the hero that we’ve allowed our scoundrels to languish. This must end. We need antagonists who are just as fascinatingly flawed as our protagonists. We need characters who will raise the level of storytelling without resorting to the crutch of cliché. We need villains who will come screaming off the page, setting imaginations and worlds on fire.
Who will meet this challenge? Who will write the next great villain?
Who will rise up in defense of villainy?
***
Ashley Ariel studied screenwriting at a college you’ve never heard of, has attended several writing programs of equally vague importance and has blithely put aside any attempt at snobbery, fully embracing her love of the summer tent pole action flick. Her short “Foolproof “won the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 10-10-10 Competition. She’s taught workshops on story in the wilds of Kansas City and once, accidentally, ran into Colin Farrell while stocking shelves at Borders. She’s worked on lots, on sets and has read a slew of very bad scripts for several small production companies. She currently lives in LA where she is trying to concentrate less on what she can’t change and more on what she can.
Monday, September 20th, 20102010-09-21T00:16:01Zl, F jS, Y
I had lunch with a client the other day who expressed great frustration to me; he’d just read an article in a screenwriting magazine about how terrible the marketplace is and how bad the odds are for aspiring screenwriters. Well, he said, guess I’ll give up. It’s not worth it.
What he says is true. The marketplace is in bad shape right now and Hollywood is in flux. It is time for change. And yes, aspiring screenwriters are even less likely to make headway in these current conditions. Does that mean you should quit writing? If that’s your instinct, maybe you should. But if you’re like me, writing is not an option. It’s a part of who I am. But why write if nobody is around to give you money for the writing and you have to keep your day job?
If you are writing solely to to try to earn money, you should indeed quit right now. For any writer of any ilk, getting paid for writing is anomalous. Yes, we hear about famous screenwriters and their homes in the Hollywood Hills, or best selling authors like John le Carré, Ken Follett or Stephen King. What you have to understand is that any writer anywhere who gets paid to write is a rare exception. Writers write because we can’t help it. We write because we love it. We write because it’s our jobs to express ourselves so that others may find more meaning in their lives. We write so that we can understand this crazy life and we write to try to help others do the same.
Yes, Hollywood is a red hot mess right now but there are other venues for writing and for writers. Independent production companies are always looking for scripts and there is a burgeoning world of online opportunities as well. Film production also takes place in – wait for it – OTHER PLACES outside of Hollywood. Bollywood has by now become widely known as the most prodigious source of films, reel-for-reel, in the world. Did you know that Cairo is the center for filmmaking in the Middle East as well? Increasingly, films are made in many other parts of the world. Films with goals set as high as any Hollywood film, even if the budget is halved.
But let’s not focus on film. You write. Maybe you write short stories, poetry or essays. Perhaps you blog. If you don’t, maybe you should. Did you know that a good blog post should be pretty much like a good essay, with a beginning, middle and end? Do you read essays, by the way? I love the Best American Essays series. What about short fiction? Or flash fiction?How about the – deep breath – novel?
What do you write and why? If you find that you have narrowed your writing down only to scripts, you may want to consider that screenwriting is a zero sum game, ultimately. It’s so hard to get the validation you crave because movies are so expensive and so risky to make that giving a new writer a chance revolves around ROI more than artistic merit. Exploring other ways to express through your writing is good for your soul. It’ll keep you writing, it’ll keep those muscles in shape and it’ll keep you expressing.
Feeling worried about the odds in Hollywood? Pretty sure you’ll never get a lit agent or a book deal? Why not try blogging? Anybody can blog. Heck, look at me! But there’s a difference between some blog and a GOOD blog. You want you readers to come back again and again. And yes, you get some crazy comments once in awhile. But you also get the satisfaction of being a small part of someone’s day, if only for five minutes. It’s an opportunity to express, entertain and even educate.
The bottom line is, no matter how much public funding is cut from the arts in schools, no matter how few jobs there are for entertainment writers at the moment, no matter the similarly shrinking odds in the publishing world, arts and expression are always an important part of our lives and don’t you forget it. Don’t necessarily write for money or validation – write for the love of it. You have stories to tell and there are many who could benefit from your poetic wit or your focused rage or the story of your grandmother or miserable first day in high school. If you have something to say, say it fearlessly and without expectations of compensation. Do it because you’re lucky to have the ability to use words to express and not to write would be a shame and a waste of your gift. Do it because to not write would feel like a little death.
So let’s do something a little different here on Just Effing. Let’s have a 500 word contest.
Guidelines:
500 words on any topic, in essay form. With a beginning, a middle and an end. Change us, teach us, shine a light on a moment that we may never have experienced personally. I will post the top three essays for all to read, and choose the grand prize winner myself. I will explain why the top essay won. Just effing entertain us. Or touch us. Or make us angry and yearn for change. Remember, this is a non-fiction essay. The 500 word count will be strictly enforced. (Gotta get you guys used to the mandates and rules of writing for print publications, dontcha know.)
Prizes:
The best 500 word essay will receive a $25 Amazon gift certificate and a phone chat with me to discuss the state of your writing and what you’re feelin’ these days.
Deadline:
Please send your essays HERE by Monday, September 27 and I will choose the top essays in the ensuing days. (I will be in Israel where there’s a dramatic time difference, so bear with me).
Friday, July 2nd, 20102010-07-02T20:31:06Zl, F jS, Y
Hello everyone – welcome to a lovely Friday (at least here in LA!) and a wonderful holiday weekend (at least here in the US!). Rather than hector you all to write write write this weekend, I’m actually going to preach something new to practice: Slow down and take some me time. That’s one of the five-a-day for writers, remember, you old time Wavers? Live and be well.
So take a walk, cook something new – oh god, I hate these lists – look at the stars, go the library – oh god, hate hate hate these cliches and platitudes, don’t you? How about something more like take some time this weekend to gain a little perspective and breathe deeply and be in nature? That’s often the quickest way to take your engine speed down a gear or two.
I recently brought on another person to my world, a lovely woman in New York to keep track of my schedule and more importantly, how I use my time, so that I get everything done and also take days off. Crazy, right? A time minder. After having worked with me for a few weeks she emailed me this morning and said okay I think I’ve gotten to the root of it – you do what it would take three people to do. It’s simply too much. Ah – and here I had been chastising myself because I need to get more done.
So upon the advice of a lovely Brit who is very close to me, yesterday I threw my school books on the fire (okay after 6pm but still) and met a friend in Venice, where we walked to the beach, took our shoes off and walked until the sun went down. We laughed, we soaked in the cool evening ocean air, and we danced around the foamy fingers of water as they raced toward us. I didn’t get any work done last night. And I’m glad.
So have a lovely weekend, Effers, whether you are in the US and celebrating the most American of holidays (in which we grill meat and blow stuff up) or elsewhere (enjoy your undoubtedly more peaceful weekend). If you want to write – write – but go out and be in nature at some point, will ya?
And now for your viewing/laughing pleasure, I present, Kevin the Screenwriter:
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