When writing partners disagree
I’m co-writing a script with a writing partner and we’ve run into a wall because we have opposing opinions on our latest draft. I think we should go one way and she thinks we should go another way.
Normally we would try to find a way to compromise and work both of our ideas into the next draft, but in this case it’s seemingly impossible. What she wants do will change the way readers perceive the story in a fundamental way. We have a twist at the end of the second act that is very important to the story, but if we make her changes the twist will lose all of its impact. I’m certain that if we make the changes our story will suffer. She thinks otherwise. We’ve come to a standstill because we disagree with each other wholeheartedly and we don’t know what to do now. Any ideas?
– Will
Los Angeles
I don’t have an answer, really. I’m posting your question mostly so readers will consider one of the significant downsides of writing with a partner. While it’s great to have an extra brain helping to write a script, you’re unlikely to always agree, and compromises may not always make sense.
I’ve only written one thing with a partner — the pilot(s) for Ops, with Jordan Mechner. Jordan’s a friend and a good writer. But I have more experience, and tended to use that fact to win any and all disagreements. That’s not a particularly healthy working relationship. We’re better friends now that we’re not staring at the same scenes.
Some people are good writing partners, just like some people are good roommates. I’m not either one, frankly, and that’s not likely to change.
It’s not an answer, but my best suggestion at this point, Will, is to let her try it her way. It may spoil the twist, but it may uncover some other interesting possibilities you aren’t considering.
Articles
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Do it both ways, show one version to a group of friends, and the other version to a different group, and discuss the problem and the two different ways you handled it with everyone. If your friends know what they’re talking about, that should resolve the problem.
OR, you could pay me to read it, I’m a reader at a big agency, and I’ll tell you what’s what.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:53 am
I’ve written a lot with a partner, and we’re always arguing over things… but always in a constructive way.
When we’re at loggerheads, which happens once in a while, we take it to our writing group.
Getting that outside perspective is why I have a writing partner in the first place–opening the story up to people whose opinions you trust. Especially when it comes to figuring out how effective/essential twists and surprises are, getting a fresh pair of eyes can be a godsend.
Plus, then the loser of the argument can save face by pretending they’ve been bullied into giving in by a third party…
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:56 am
Honestly Will, you should have had an agreement in place beforehand, set up some sort of system to settle disagreements and disputes before you ever got to the point.
John also has a point: Try it her way. The way you frame the question, (“If we do it HER way, it will change everything and the script will suck!”) makes it sound like you’re just very set on the way you envisioned it. Do a draft her way, and it may rock. If it doesn’t work out, do another draft your way. This is what you signed up for when you became a writing partner, give and take. Sometimes you have to lay your sword down in order to move forward.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
Or you could agree to try writing it both ways and then let the final scripts be read by friends to see which one works best. Then move forward with that version of the script.
Sure this may take longer, but it might give you the best final version.
A quicker way might be to have each of you write up a detailed outline of the script as you each see it unfolding and then letting a neutral party(parties) weigh in on which one is better.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:59 am
I would never write with a partner again. Never never never.
This comment is probably not very helpful.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
The fact that you’re protecting a twist is a big, big, big problem. Twists a screenplay does not make, as my dear friend Yoda once told me.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hmmm… now what would happen if you replace “writing partner” with “producer”?
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I recently completed a short script with a good friend of mine (it was our first collaboration).
While we never had any major disagreements over the plot, we did have lots of different opinions about more minor aspects.
He argued his case and I mine, but since I’m probably the more dominant personality and more confident writer in the room, I tended to win most of the debates and he very graciously stood back.
But that didn’t always mean I was right. I had to question whether I liked getting my own way (I do) and if that was clouding my judgment (some of the time it was). After some retrospection I went back on my opinions and agreed that I wasn’t always right. It’s not always the easiest thing to do.
I would concur with the advice of others who suggested trying it her (your co-writer’s) way and honestly and objectively considering if that could be better for the script.
It might not be. But you won’t know unless you do. Also, ask an impartial third party who knows screenwriting to read which works best (although this might involve a lot of reading on their behalf).
Best of luck with the project, but more importantly best of luck with your writing relationship.
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I would do both versions and make a pact now, that the version with the most thumbs up wins.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
My vote would be like many of the other comments – bring it to a few people who are outside the loop. I don’t think you need to write two versions. Just go to a few people who you both trust and you can each pitch your version. Talk to them. Get feedback. And go with the majority. But agree beforehand that you’re both going to back off your diea and let the neutral third party (or parties) decide.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
The only time I’ve ever written with a partner, I enjoyed the process. But it started out as a friend’s idea, his proposition, and I was basically drafted in to writing it because I had some experience. But it was fun to take a premise which I never really absorbed into whole heartedly, and just write. The final product wound up not meeting my friend’s standards, but the enjoyable collaboration would be something I wouldn’t mind doing again.
But I don’t see how I could do it if I was 130% invested in the concept.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I co-wrote a short film with 4 other people. Our personalities clashed quite a bit, we had very different political and moral views on the world, and the fact that the short film was a sort of political drama between young adults only made matters worse. The only thing we had in common was our experience with writing a script (none).
We spent hours scrutinizing every single detail of it. We didnt even agree on who was the “bad guy” and who was the “good guy”. The story was impossibly complex and had to had major changes done to it several times. We did over 30 full re-writes of it, eliminating actions, characters, adding new ones, undoing changes, you name it. Many of these discussions turned personal, and all of us flew off the handle more than once. A couple of discussions even ended in tears, and i had to personally drag one guy out of the room before it got physical.
It sounds like a horrible work experience. And in a sense, it was. Stress levels were going through the roof, and im not even in speaking terms with one guy. But to tell you the truth, i think the whole ordeal helped the script tremendously. The fact that all five of us where so different gave the script an unexpected amount of depth. We used our contradictions and projected them to the characters in the film, and this made the characters clash in much more interesting and realistic ways.
I wont lie to you, it was exhausting. Each detail, twist, action or character arc was discussed for hours. I dont know how long it takes to write a 20 minute script, but im pretty sure 9 months was way more than the usual amount.
The ONLY rule we followed, no matter what, is to never pull rank on anybody else. Everything was decided by its merits. The director never EVER made changes based on being the director, everything was decided democratically based on its merits and its value to the story. We went all the way back to the essence (or pathos or whatever) of the film we were trying to do if it was necessary. Some stuff got ruled out, other stuff got modified before being added to the script. A LOT of things were cut off, and nothing was ever set in stone. No idea, no matter how many groans and eye rolling it got, was discarded until it was proven that it didnt work.
The result is a script none of us could have written by ourselves, and one that surprises me every time i re-read it. I agree that some people just arent cut out to write with someone else, but dont run for the hills just because you disagree a couple of times. There’s plenty of creative couples that fought all the time and still managed to do great things. Jagger and richards, lennon and mccartney, etc.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
The only way to settle a dispute like this, in my experience, is with an impartial outsider. One time I had a thing with my roommates and we had the landlord settle it. I lost, but I was a lot happier with it that way than if I had just caved and then been passive-aggressive about it.
I’m surprised no one has suggested an all-out brawl though. Just sayin’.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Mac-man (#6) – Surely it’s absolutely impossible for you to tell whether a story point in a script you’ve never read is worth protecting?
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
you should probably schedule a duel
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
That’s part of the process. Fight it out until either you win or you see the light. If your writing partnership falls apart over this then it wasn’t meant to be. If you’re in a fruitful partnership, you’re going to have much bigger arguments than arguing over a twist ending. Fight it out. Don’t give an inch. It’s good for the story. Whatever you do don’t seek an arbiter or an outside opinion. That’s just chickening out.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
There is only one way to settle an argument like this.
I don’t know what it is, but I know there’s only one way.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:57 pm
All of the screenwriting that I do is with a partner (nothing professional yet, but we’ve worked together almost nine years). We’ve had long, drawn out arguments, not nasty but heated, over certain plot points. We always manage to work through them, though. Here’s a couple of tips from our working together:
Make sure there are no other underlaying reasons for the argument. Like a romantic relationship, maybe this argument is covering a desire on one’s part to actually break up? Or, just underlaying annoyance with each other that may mean take a break for a week or two and then come back to it.
Write it both ways, and objectively look at them. That usually solves it right there. But if not…
Throw both ideas out the window. Say you won’t use either, and then solve the problem a third, fourth, fifth and sixth way. It might make you miss your original idea, but in doing so it might give you better language to sell your idea. And, the third way might just surprise you…
In my experience (take it with some mighty big grains), pulling in an outsider to pick one-way-or-another is going to cause resentment. You need to work through it to get to the best solution.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
@Mac-Man:
That’s a pretty big generalization. Ask Tony Gilroy whether or not a screenplay needs twists.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I was going to say do both and compare. OBJECTIVELY. As a viewer, not a writer, reader or exec.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Will,
This isn’t the only screenplay you’ll ever write.
This MAY be the only screenplay you’ll write with this partner.
Given those two facts and given a lack of prenup, it makes sense to go along with your partner, let her have her way, and move on.
Your next spec you can write in whatever way you wish.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I just finished writing a screenplay with two other partners. Two of us were also producers on the project. The other one was the director. And the other producer is one of the fastest, smartest men I’ve ever met. He’s also a pain in the ass and the one getting most of the money. He won easily all the disagreements. He just explained very reasonably why some of his ideas were better for the scene-character-plot-audience-box office, etc. Most of the time he was right.
It’s the first time since I started writing professionally that I’ve written with partners, and I’m dying to do it again. I learnt to never fight too much for an idea. If you trust and respect the people you’re writing with, and they don’t agree 100 % with an idea, it’s probably not as good as you think. And you can always find a better one.
You should also try writing it both ways. It’s only going to take longer. Once you do it, it should be obvious which one was right.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I have written with a partner before and I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN. It was terrible, mostly because the guy who I was writing with was not a good writer. He wrote very clumsy action and UTTERLY TERRIBLE DIALOG!!! Even if I had written with a good writer, I still know I would have hated it. It’s not my cup of tea.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I’m fairly relentless in defending/pushing my ideas to/on my writing partner. Especially when I’m wrong. I really grateful, actually, that my partner knows when to stand his ground.
We’ve agreed to settle all major disputes with a race around the world. Well, that’s what I’ve decided anyway — I haven’t told my partner yet.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
The obvious answer is play rock-paper-scissors
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Try it both ways and give it your best shot. You’ll probably wind up doing at least a dozen drafts, so why not experiment?
If you get it into development you’re going to have to do all kinds of crazy shit to it, some of which will make you cringe. But if you have a good collaborative relationship with your partner/producers/director you’ll be able to backtrack and it will wind up a stronger piece in the end.
They’ll all appreciate your effort to try it their way. Good collaborators will all recognize when a script has gone off the rails. If not, then you need to lose the partner. Not much you can do about producers other than hope you get lucky enough to work with good ones.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm
It’s a very common problem with writing teams. Unfortunately there’s only one solution: You need a third party.
Rather than wasting time writing it both ways, try to agree on one person who’s opinion you both respect. Agree that you will do whatever (s)he says, then pitch it.
At the end of the day one of you is right. One way IS better than the other. And it’s not always “you” who’s the better judge of that. I’ve been with a writing partner for 5 years and we always find ourselves completely disagreeing over this or that. Half the time I come to realize (usually 3 months or so later) that he was right.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
One note I think I should add:
If you’re getting a third-party opinion, it should not be anyone involved in the making or potential-making of the film. A writing team needs to present a unified front. As far as the world is concerned, you have one brain and four hands.
The minute a director, producer or studio executive realizes he can play you against each other, you’re screwed.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:03 am
I agree with others who note that a “twist” ending is not necessarily a good thing, especially if this disagreement is about how it is protected.
As far as working with a writing partner, we’ve had similar differences, but the win/loss ratio usually ends up being about 50/50. Predominantly this is because we’ve long since recognized where our skillsets DON’T overlap, and generally defer to the other when the problem is not within our forte.
However, for those few times where the issue is with something that does overlap, we have a tried and true method: Drink it out. Rock (Band) it out. Sitting there arguing about it for thirty odd minutes doesn’t help, but going out (or staying in), popping open a couple of peace drinks (not too many, mind you – you don’t want to get tossed) can relax the tension.
Plus, with that, a lot of gold can be accidentally uncovered, and if you’re open to it, you may find a route that makes both of your ideas obsolete.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:45 am
Logan nailed it for me. Sometimes, the struggle is everything – why not have it as fun?
I couldn’t imagine writing my next screenplay without a writing partner or writing my next book with one.
A mesmerising subject. I have to ask; does anyone really own the characters?
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
Two writers I know who collaborated on a play had written a “pre-nup” contract that specified how disagreements were to be handled, including who the outside judge would be. There were different judges for different areas of disagreement (staging, plot, characters, etc; not sure of the actual categories).
I believe their solution was for each person to present their idea, then they went away and each wrote both versions. So there were four scenes for the judge to read. The judge commented on each of the drafts, then the two writers would conference. They claim this method was used a few times, and once they got the comments back, it was pretty clear how to proceed, with no further arguments. I suspect that the exercise of writing your partner’s idea forces one to look at it differently.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Yikes, that pre-nup idea, complete with a judge, sounds like no fun at all, except perhaps as some sort of classroom exercise. IMO, at least.
I occasionally write with a partner. We’ve each written much more on our own than together, and we each have different, complementary strengths. As a result, there’s a level of mutual respect that seems to defuse any tension. Usually we hash out the entire story together, then divvy up alternating sections to write up separately. Then we read each other’s work, suggest or make changes, then move on until a draft is complete. Then we do the rewrites together, fine-tooth-combing the whole thing until we’re satisfied. Works for us.
When disagreements arise, at any stage, we discuss them, explain our reasoning and try each others’ suggestions, as well as compromise solutions (which often turn out better than our individual ideas). Despite the usual frustrations, we’ve never had heated arguments or said things we regret. Obviously, some of this is a question of temperament. Some people simply cannot work with another person. Or they prefer to show their drafts to trusted sources and assimilate the feedback into their rewrites.
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I’ve had a writing partner for about 5 years now and we’re on to our eight script together with more writing assignments already on the horizon. The truth is, if you’re not approaching this relationship as you would a marriage, you’re fighting a losing battle.
Let’s make the assumption that you’re right and what your writing partner wants to do is intrinsically wrong for the script – objectively, you would probably show her why she’s wrong and she would capitulate. But since this is a relationship that is not occurring in a vacuum, being right is not enough. Browbeating your writing partner into agreeing with you will not yield the best results. Creative arguments need to be approached with a professional level of detachment, and the less your ‘gut’ has to do with it, the better. That’s the only way to turn a disagreement into an opportunity to strengthen your script.
I can’t tell you exactly what to say to her because I don’t know either of you personally, but I get the feeling that the message she’s receiving from you at the moment is ‘you’re fucking up the script with these inane ideas!’. That’s certainly what I got from the way you phrased your question to John.
Instead, I would suggest you find (in your own words) the way to give her the following message: ‘I like you and respect your writing. I believe neither you or I want to do something that hurts the script, so, even though at the moment I don’t understand your idea completely, in the spirit of finding the truth of the matter, we should explore both options as open-mindedly as possible’.
You can’t hold yourself as the bearer of the truth, even if what you say is right. You have to make an effort to find the ‘truth’ together, or your partnership will sink. Inflexibility is your enemy here.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Great to have some ground rules in place before you start.
Even better to agree on an arbiter for when you get stuck.
April 24th, 2009 at 8:22 am
1) Tell her what you really think of her writing: That it’s not nearly as good as yours – that it sucks – that she’s never going to amount to anything in this town – that she’s ruining a great movie that could have made millions if only she had listened to you – that it was a mistake on your behalf to try to help someone as untalented as she is – that she shouldn’t be writing in the first place.
2) Then, go ballistic, take the latest printout of the script, tear the pages out, tear the pages into small pieces (make sure you don’t grab too many at once because you won’t be able to tear them up), throw some object against the wall (try not to destroy your laptop in the process) and walk away.
3) At home, let anger and frustration take over. Use insomnia constructively to experience the power of the dark side. Suppress thoughts about the workings of the industry, about writers having to do what producers say, etc.
That’s what I would do.
Or not.
April 24th, 2009 at 8:58 am
The thing I like about writing with a partner is the removal of doubt. As a solo writer, you always have that niggling doubt, “is this any good?” Maybe once you’ve sold a few things that feeling goes away, but for all my amateur writing, it’s the same.
With a partner, you have someone who agrees with your instincts and who is able to take your ideas into new and exciting areas. Once you’re finished, sure, there may be a few things you would change, but, largely, you have a completed screenplay that at least one other person agrees is pretty good.
It’s a good feeling to not be standing alone against the critical masses.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Will,
When I work with my partner, if we have different, irreconcilable opinions on a scene or a plot point, we don’t do either. If both of us can’t see why it’s a good idea, it’s probably not a good enough idea to begin with.
If both of you can’t see why either of these changes is right for your story, perhaps you need to find that third, better alternative that fixes both of your problems. If it’s more than just a matter of style and voice, try to find that better alternative.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I’ve written successfully with a partner for over 15 years, and am currently teaching a writing class on Collaboration at a major film school.
The biggest advice I can give is hard advice to follow. Stop thinking of this as “her” draft or “your” draft. Neither of you is writing this screenplay. Instead, the two of you form a new entity, what I call the “third writer,” who is the actual writer. (And any contract you sign will pretty much acknowledge this.)
Your solution is unlikely to be the right one. Her solution is unlikely to be the right one. The real solution will be one that could only come from both of you working together as a team.
Now, will that working together come with both of you in the same room? Maybe. Will it come with you handing pages back and forth, back and forth, rewriting each other without even discussing? Maybe. Try every method till you find what works best.
As for the suggestions here that you submit various versions to an impartial judge — I’d say that’s the first step in breaking up your partnership. If you expect to write this one script, and this one only, as partners, maybe that can work. But I wouldn’t advise it.
That is different, however, from ANS’s suggestion (#2) to show it to your writers group. If you indeed have a writers group — people you’re committed to and who are committed to you and your work — then having them read your work doesn’t set up the “divorce court” scenario, it’s a normal part of your writing process, and you’ll benefit greatly just from discussing the changes with them, even before you write another word.
Hope this was helpful, and hope you work it out. Good luck.
April 25th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
JB wrote: “Your solution is unlikely to be the right one. Her solution is unlikely to be the right one. The real solution will be one that could only come from both of you working together as a team.”
This piece of advice just got me out of a two-week stalemate I’ve had with a producer/writing partner. I paraphrased what you wrote and added that, no matter what, the end result of our cooperation would be better than what either one of us could accomplish on our own. – The argument worked, and the project is going ahead (sigh of relief) despite our differing views.
But, I also added that instead of delivering just one draft I wanted to deliver one draft “done my way” and a second draft “more her way” if she didn’t like the first one.
Anyway, helpful advice for me. Deal memo on it’s way. Thanks.
April 25th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
JB wrote: — “Your solution is unlikely to be the right one. Her solution is unlikely to be the right one. The real solution will be one that could only come from both of you working together as a team.” –
This piece of advice just got me out of a serious two-week stalemate I’ve had with a producer/writing partner. I paraphrased what you wrote and added that, no matter what, the end result of our cooperation would be better than what either one of us could accomplish on our own. – The argument worked, and the project is going ahead (sigh of relief) despite our differing views. Deal memo is on it’s way.
But, I also added that instead of delivering just one draft I wanted to deliver one draft “done my way” and a second draft “more her way” if she didn’t like the first one.
Anyway, helpful advice for me. Thanks.
April 25th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
While promoting VALKYRIE, Christopher McQuarie said the night before doing press for THE USUAL SUSPECTS, he wanted to talk to Singer to get their stories straight on the ending. He said one of them believed the events in the story actually happened, while the other just as strongly disagreed. He said they almost had a knock down fight, and he’d never been angrier with someone before.
The reporter asked who believed what: “I’ll never tell.”
I wonder… who can lay claim to greater authority on the “right” answer, the writer or the director? (Yeah, yeah, yeah, the viewer’s free to decide — forget that).
Also, the team that co-wrote MONSTER’S BALL — their friendship disintegrated.
April 25th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
@EVE
I would watch the tone of
“…I wanted to deliver one draft “DONE MY WAY” and a second draft “MORE HER WAY” if she didn’t like the first one.”
Said as such would seem very condescending to me and likely create a bigger rift.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Having written 3 scripts with a partner and more than a dozen on my own, I’ve noticed that
1) With a partner, the first draft goes quickly (because there’s someone there to keep you accountable for pages) and the rewrites go slowly (because of disagreements just such as this.
2) Solo, the first draft can go slowly, and rewrites tend to go more quickly (provided you are motivated about the script, or someone is paying you).
I’ve also long since learned that it works best to have one person taking the lead on a given script. If one of you were given the chance to direct the film, who would it be? My first writing partner and I kind of switched off leading the idea, and it seemed to work well.
April 26th, 2009 at 1:03 am
@MATT
Point well taken. But I didn’t phrase it exactly that way and I haven’t related the full context of my situation, which is a variation on the theme of writing partners.
In my specific situation I’m dealing with a producer who is heavily involved in shaping the script – making very specific creative contributions and demands. She is like a writing partner, except she doesn’t do the physical writing. In addition, I’m hired by her to do a rewrite of a script she had commissioned that was written by somebody else altogether. So, there are a lot of layers to deal with here. And yes, I am condescending in that I am confident that I can significantly improve the current script – otherwise I wouldn’t want to do this job.
When it comes to creative ownership I’m not exactly someone who likes to share. I have a vision and I like it to be my way. For people like me it can be challenging to find ways to overcome or resolve major creative differences. But those are crucial skills needed in order to function in the industry.
I have found various comments in this thread to be helpful, In particular JB’s advice happened to work out great for me today, opening up my thinking about what it means to collaborate and I’ll want to remember it for the future.
April 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Building somewhat on JB’s point, I’d say that both members of a team need to have veto power. In fact, you should probably respect your partner enough so that if he/she doesn’t like something, it should be pretty clear to you that it doesn’t work, or at the very least that there’s a better way (and there’s almost ALWAYS a better way). So I would say dismiss both your options. This isn’t compromising, it’s pushing yourself and being rigorous.
There will be plenty of time, down the line, when you start showing the script to people, to return to this conflict and consider whether one of your ideas may have worked better. But if you engage in a full on power struggle at this point your whole project is probably going to implode.
April 26th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Eve, as far as dealing with producer notes goes, I try and remind myself that, while what they say may sound completely lame, there’s often something underneath their comments/ideas that makes sense. So if they say the TONE shifts in the second act, when you’re certain it absolutely doesn’t, it may mean that in fact the PACE shifts in the second act (it also may help to ask, with genuine curiosity, WHERE specifically they see this shift). It’s often very easy to dismiss (and be enraged!) by the notes you get, but it can be helpful to remind yourself that your script can always get better. It’s also true that they may forget the specifics of what they’ve asked for, and when you return a rewrite that’s clearly improved, they’ll be pleased with it (and pat themselves on the back) even if you’ve done nothing they’ve asked for .
April 27th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I’ve been writing with a partner for over a decade, and there’s an easy answer to your question: let go.
I’m going to assume that you’ve already spelled out to your writing partner exactly why you feel her changes effect the script as well as listened to her reasoning.
There aren’t a lot of maxims I stick with when it comes to screenwriting, but one is you have to kill your babies.
Even if you write by yourself, screenwriting is a collaborative process. Your work is going to go through executives, producers, directors, actors, other producers, and friends of actors who think they have good ideas.
Why ruin a good writing relationship (and possibly friendship) over edits that could very easily be changed by whatever individual has access to the purse string? Better to use this opportunity to exercise those skills of turning someone else’s notes into something you can feel proud of.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
You would think with all these script doctors abound, one of them would offer a marriage counselor service for warring writing partners.
Or at least a tie-breaker service.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:03 am
I was one half of the most contentious, bombastic, vile screenwriting partnerships in the history of the state of Wisconsin… as far as I know, anyway. We cranked out about 10 scripts during our decade together. Finally, after all that thunder and lightning, we went our separate ways, creatively. We both got married and had kids. And we’re both still writing scripts, just not together.
And you know what’s fascinating?
I miss it. I miss working with him. I miss the screaming matches, the fury, the rage, the absolute root canal agony of getting the script in our opposing, bullish heads onto the page. Some beautiful stuff came out of that WWE style of collaborating, stuff that I could never duplicate on my own.
So the lesson here? Don’t fret or negate all the negativity in a writing partnership. Let’s face it, drama is conflict, right? Well, don’t wuss out… put the gloves on, steel your gaze, and get in the ring.