John August

Projects

The Nines on SciFi

Projects, The Nines

The Nines will be airing on Britain’s SciFi channel [several times this month](http://www.scifi.co.uk/schedule/index.php?search=nines) — not to be confused with the U.S. SyFy channel, or the other international outlets with similar names.

AMC has the basic cable rights to The Nines for the U.S., but (as far as I know) hasn’t yet aired it. Ryan Reynolds has become a bigger star in the past year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it works its way into rotation at some point.

A few months ago, I had to oversee a special TV-safe cut of the movie, which replaced the most egregious swearing and excised about three seconds of masturbation. I don’t know which version will be showing in the U.K.

Habits, heavy lifting, and the possibility of suck

Charlie's Angels, Video, Writing Process

[MakingOf](http://makingof.com/insiders/media/john/august/john-august-on-personal-writing-habits-and-process/99/283) has part two of my interview up on the site. (You can see part one [here](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/interview-with-about-adaptions-and-picking-projects).)

Some notes on certain sections:

0:07 Writing process
—-

In [How to Write a Scene](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/write-scene), I go into a lot more detail on “looping” and “scribble versions” of scenes.

0:49 How scripts have evolved
—-

My hunch is that the modern era of writing action begins with James Cameron. Every screenwriter I know read and devoured his scripts for Terminator, Aliens and Point Break. We’re all probably channeling him a bit.

1:30 When I write
—-

I really do try to do most of my work during “office hours.” But during crunch times — which has been a lot more, recently — I find myself going back to work after dinner, or setting the alarm for 5 a.m. to get stuff written before breakfast.

Writing is an inherently selfish act: you’re shutting the world out to live in a fantasy. You don’t really appreciate that until you have a family.

2:18 This could possibly suck
—–

One of the main reasons we procrastinate is to give ourselves an excuse for why things might be terrible: “I know it’s not great, but I wrote it in three days.” Suck early and fix it.

3:30 Writer’s block
—–

You know who gets writer’s block? Non-writers. They think it’s cool and romantic to struggle to make Art. They make sure everyone knows how torturous the process is, so when they finally squeeze something out, it won’t be judged on its merits but rather the emotional anguish involved in its creation.

Writers write. Hacks Posers whine about how hard it is. ((“Hacks” was really the wrong term, because there are some very prolific hacks. There are also some genuinely talented writers who go through spells of low productivity. I find stories glamorizing their travails really tedious, however.))

4:09 Heavy lifting
—-

The twenty minute timer actually works. Do twenty minutes of solid work, then give yourself ten minutes of freedom.

Ideally, you want finesse: a combination of strength and dexterity that uses a scene’s natural momentum to make everything look effortless. But sometimes, that’s not possible: there isn’t time, or there’s some major impediment. With enough craft, an experienced screenwriter can often muscle a scene that shouldn’t otherwise work.

4:35 You can always cut something
—-

I’m obliquely referencing a meeting for Charlie’s Angels, during which the studio president ripped ten pages out of the script and told me to write around what was missing.

5:10 Most people aren’t screenwriters
—-

If you want to work in film or television, you need to work on films and television shows. Screenwriting is mostly writing, but without experience in how stuff is actually made, you’ll never be very good at it.

Why some folks got The Variant free

Projects, The Variant

When I published [The Variant](http://johnaugust.com/variant) for 99 cents, I anticipated some potential readers would have practical or philosophical reasons for not buying it. So I wanted to give them an out:

> If after reading the lengthy [free sample](http://ja-vincent.s3.amazonaws.com/variant_sample.pdf), you decide you want to read the rest of the story but don’t want to pay 99 cents -— or for some reason can’t -— send an email to sales@johnaugust.com.

> If you can present a coherent case for why the story should be free (to everyone, or specifically in your situation), I’ll send you the .pdf at no charge. Note: In doing so, you agree to let me print your email in part or in full.

I was prepared to be sending out a lot of free .pdfs.

So far, I’ve only sent out 19. That’s out of 4,281 copies sold.

paid vs free

The longest request was 328 words; the shortest, a single sentence. I didn’t turn anyone down.

Flat broke
—-

The most common theme in requests was economic hardship. Ninety-nine cents is not a lot of money, but when you’re watching every dollar, spending cash on something unusual seems hard to justify.

Desiree writes:

> The New York Times article said that you would send free copy of your work to anyone with a good rationale. Well, times are tough. 99 cents may not be much money but I really do need the change. Thanks in advance.

Jim:

> I would love to get a copy of The Variant. I was very taken with The Nines and thought it didn’t get the attention it deserved. My case for not paying? I work in public radio and don’t even have enough funds to pay my credit card (right now I’m maxed out, so can barely cover groceries).

Johanna offers more detail than you might want:

> The sample pages I read were compelling enough that I wanted to at least ask if you could see it in your heart please to share the rest of the story with me.

> I’m disabled, on Social Security, I just left the hospital a few days ago and have still have a drain in my neck. My bones are infected. It is hoped I’ll recover. None of that matters, really, except that what little money I have now absolutely has to be used to pay for the many costs of daily washing pillow cases (which my home care provider does for me), buying extra supplies for rebandaging and cleaning the drain which they never give one enough of and expect somehow, actually, I don’t think they really expect anything afterwards. They don’t really think. Out of sight, out of mind.

> Anyway, your story was captivating and interesting and thank you for letting me read a sample of it. Should you choose not to share any more with me, I understand. It’s not my right to read your words.

Robert:

> Sparing you the details of my current circumstances, I will say only that I am broke, tapped out, sapped, impecunious, impoverished, rabbit-eared (picture the floppy white pockets pulled out from a pair of tight jeans), depleted, and so on.

> So, as I write to you on a borrowed computer, from a squalid hotel room, on an empty stomach, I ask for your kind pity, sir. Please allow me the pleasure of reading your work before my fading vision finally leaves me for good.

Trouble overseas
——

The second biggest group of requests came from abroad. Since the Kindle version only works in the U.S., I offer a downloadable .pdf for international readers. That still presents a challenge for some potential buyers.
[Read more…] about Why some folks got The Variant free

Popcorn Fiction

Follow Up, The Variant

Back when I released [The Variant](http://johnaugust.com/variant), I mentioned that it was originally written to be part of an oft-delayed anthology of screenwriters-writing-fiction.

On Friday, that anthology emerged as [Popcorn Fiction](http://popcornfiction.com), with its first story penned by the estimable Scott Frank. Featuring murder, sex and trapeze artists, “The Flying Kreisslers” is a great read.

Popcorn Fiction should have a new story up every two-to-four weeks. I’ll be writing one of the future installments, a tale much shorter than The Variant.