Archive for the 'Writing Process' Category

• e  83 Kurtzman and Orci on Trek and writing together

  Story lessons from Star Trek, from the mouths and minds of the writers.

• e  36 Same script, different day

  Do you ever get sick of working with the same script that you are loathe to even look at it anymore? Yes.

• e  23 Not my problem

  Alvin Sargent’s advice: If you have a problem, give it to the character.

• e  114 Writing better scene description

  A YouTube lesson on making more-readable scene description.

• e  9 How to handle a body-switching protagonist

  Readers will follow you down almost any rabbit hole provided you can convince them something rewarding awaits.

• e  15 Are writing groups a good idea?

  They’re not a terrible idea, as long as they’re approached with the right expectations.

• e  13 Time jumps and oil drilling

  Two unrelated questions answered. 1. Clarifying young and old versions of characters. 2. How much research to do before writing.

• e  20 Making unnecessary and possibly horrible changes

  Making your movie. Keeping your soul.

• e  18 Question sprint

  Killing backstories, writing out lyrics and why you will always want to be writing something else (amongst other topics), explored.

• e  16 Does a working writer keep improving?

  Dedicate one day a week to disassembling good movies.

• e  20 The six-hour scene

  Having trouble with a scene? Here’s six questions to ask yourself.

• e  19 When friends read your script

  You need good readers. Here’s how to choose and keep them.

• e  22 Northeaster

  I spent five days in Maine, writing and researching my next project.

• e  49 Rethinking motivation

  Try replacing the question of what the character wants/needs with, “Why is the character doing what he’s doing?”

• e  10 Changing horses mid-stream

  I generally caution that rewriting is the enemy of finishing, but sometimes it’s necessary.

• e  25 Calling on the hive mind: Writing the future

  A call to contribute to a lecture on authorship in the digital age.

• e  6 Where to begin a script

  You don’t have to know everything about your story and characters before you begin. Discovery is the best part of the writing process.

• e  10 Interview up at cecil vortex

  Link to an interview on creativity.

• e  50 Inconvenient brilliance

  Obey the muse, whatever the timing, or risk her departure.

• e  5 What if my agent doesn’t like my idea?

  Knowing the market isn’t the same thing as taste, and everyone’s taste is different.

• e  44 How to write dialogue

  Seven steps to writing meaningful, entertaining dialogue while handling exposition.

• e  13 Scribble version, final version

  Examples of the differences between the sketch and the full scene.

• e  24 Clarification on point one

  Update on “How to write a scene” post. Does the character drive the story or the storyteller?

• e  48 How to write a scene

  The steps I take and questions I ask myself in order to write a scene.

• e  20 Workshops: An invitiation to idea theft?

  Get over it. No one wants to steal your crappy idea.

• e  17 Am I a writer or a director?

  If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

• e  5 La escritura profesional y el auge de los amateurs

  My first experience with being translated.

• e  14 How many drafts does it take?

  This “knowing when it’s done” sense only develops with experience.

• e  18 How to Rewrite

  Decide what you want to accomplish, then figure out which scenes would need to change. Only fix one piece at a time.

• e  13 Writing characters you would hate in real life

  Don’t strive for likeability. It’s a fool’s errand. Rather, aim for believability.

• e  2 Screenwriting wastes a lot of paper

  Suggestions for saving paper, your money and the environment.

• e  15 Happy Easter from Beijing

  A dispatch from China.

• e  6 Writing vs. relationship

  Dedicating to craft and characters while maintaining contact with actual human beings.

• e  19 What does a writer’s assistant do?

  I outsourced this question to my former assistant, Rawson Thurber.

• e  5 Keeping motivation after four drafts

  Read it as if some other, lamer screenwriter wrote it. What would you do differently? Then, do that.

• e  33 Writing about what you don’t know

  If screenwriters only wrote about subjects they knew intimately, most screenplays would be about Tetris, television or getting picked last for team sports.

• e  13 Stressing over structure

  Stop thinking about structure as something you impose upon your story. It’s an inherent part of it, like the setup to a joke.

• e  2 Rewriting based on other people’s notes

  Be brutal. The needs of the movie outweigh the needs of the scene.

• e  5 Does your own writing make you laugh?

  Any joke becomes unfunny after you stare at it for too long.

• e  3 David Dean Bottrell on How I Write

  KINGDOME COME writer talks candidly about his process.

• e  Comments Off Working on multiple projects

  How to juggle multiple ideas. First, avoid it if you can.

• e  8 Ergonomics for the screenwriter

  There are real hazards to being glued to a desk all day long. Some tips to avoid pain and suffering.

• e  6 Jessica Bendinger on How I Write

  BRING IT ON writer on setting goals and taking advantage of fear.

• e  2 How I Write

  Avoiding the early edit and other ways I get my story down on paper.

• e  Comments Off Tyger Williams on How I Write

  FOXY BROWN writer on coloring his beats to visualize the structure, and other methods.

• e  Comments Off Todd Graff on How I Write

  CAMP writer uses bad movies as a muse and motivator.

• e  Comments Off Generating ideas

  Techniques for solving script problems and staying focussed.

• e  Comments Off Script comments

  Every screenwriter needs feedback from a trusted set of eyes.

• e  Comments Off Writer’s block

  I can’t help with writer’s block. But I do have experience with Laziness, Brain Lock and Perfection Paralysis. Defined herein.

• e  Comments Off More research

  Keep in mind, does it pass the “I’d buy that” test?

• e  Comments Off Collaborating with multiple writers

  The hive mind approach for screenwriting? Good luck.

• e  3 Writing is hard

  Don’t wait for flow. It might come; it might not. But it’s your job to keep writing anyway.

• e  Comments Off Generating ideas

  Techniques for solving script problems and staying focussed.

• e  Comments Off Process of writing

  Estimating how it takes to gestate and write a draft is part of the job.

• e  Comments Off Finding time to write

  You need to actively clear time in your day to write, which means giving up something.

• e  Comments Off Research

  Knowing the exact shade of ochre in the king’s bedroom is pointless unless you have a fascinating scene taking place there.

• e  Comments Off Rewriting, but where’s the script?

  It’s awkward enough to take over someone else’s script without having to ask for the file.

• e  Comments Off How much research does it take?

  You don’t need to know everything, just enough to firmly place your characters in the world.

• e  1 Finding the structure

  If you’re beating yourself up over not plotting out your whole script beat-for-beat. Guess what? You don’t have to.