John August

QandA

La escritura profesional y el auge de los amateurs

International, Resources, Writing Process

Daniel Castro has the first part of my essay, [“Professional Writing and the Age of the Amateur,”](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/professional-writing-and-the-rise-of-the-amateur) translated into Spanish at [his site](http://guionistaenchamberi.blogspot.com/). He volunteered, and I wasn’t going to say no.

Decidí que mi conferencia de esta noche no fuera estrictamente sobre la escritura de guiones sino sobre escritura en general. Todos los que estáis en esta sala sois escritores. Podéis escribir guiones o trabajos de documentación. Desde luego, todos escribís correos electrónicos. Todos sois escritores profesionales en algún campo.

It’s strange reading one’s words in another language. My Spanish is good enough that I have no trouble understanding it, but if I were to attempt to do the translation myself, it would be embarrassing for all concerned. So, many thanks to Daniel.

Creative Commons LicenseBy the way, this essay and most of the material on this site (other than the scripts) are covered by a [Creative Commons](http://creativecommons.org/) license, which allows you to use this information for non-commercial purposes as long as (a) you give me credit, and (b) you agree to share your derivative works in the same manner. So if you feel like translating anything you see here in Polish or Mongolian ([ahem](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/mongolian-characters-speaking-chinese)), by all means feel free. I’d just appreciate a link back to the original version.

Of course grammar matters

QandA, Words on the page

questionmarkThere is a question I’d like to ask. Regarding grammar on screenplays, how important is it to film companies, producers, studios, etc. I was under the impression, grammar can’t be filmed, so ? Your thoughts.

— Frederick

I’m generally of the school that there are no dumb questions, but I think your question is dumb enough to merit front-page attention. It’s also functionally ungrammatical, which gives it a nice bonus for irony.

Of course grammar matters.

It’s bizarre and saddening that aspiring screenwriters will agonize about the perfect margins and the proper number of brads (two), without ever considering whether a question mark might be appropriate at the end of a question. Or inappropriate at the end of a vaguely declarative statement.

True, grammar can’t be filmed. But scripts are read by people, not cameras. And people deserve the best writing you can muster. That means matching your subjects and verbs, watching your tenses, and practicing careful punctuation.

Bear in mind: as grammarians go, I’m pretty lenient. [English is not Latin](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/english-is-not-latin), and many of the so-called [mistakes](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/non-errors-in-english) are really just the opinions of stubborn jerks.

But wrong is wrong. And yes, it matters.

Your question was originally posted in the comments section of another entry. A helpful reader pointed you to my [lengthy missive](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/professional-writing-and-the-rise-of-the-amateur) on professionalism, which unfortunately did not meet your needs:

It didn’t answer the question. It made a vague reference to presentation and professionalism. Which means, studios, producers will assume it’s great. This is really an annoying question because it puts people on the spot about their education, grammar is at all time low in America and no one wants to discuss it. I hope I’m not dropping a bomb here.[…] He was aiming for inspiration. Inspiration isn’t an answer.

If I ever start a line of subtly demoralizing t-shirts, I now have my first slogan: “Inspiration isn’t an answer.”

TV staffing season

First Person, Television

[Jane Espenson](http://www.janeespenson.com/) has a good post up about [TV staffing season](http://www.janeespenson.com/archives/00000065.php), answering everything you’d want to know about the schedule for how shows hire their writing staffs. She would know; she’s been involved with some great shows, from Buffy to Gilmore Girls.

Also, she had Quizno’s for lunch. In case you were curious.

Cut-scenes do not a videogame make

Prince of Persia, Rant, Story and Plot

Screenwriter and videogame developer Jordan Mechner, who is writing the Prince of Persia movie I’m executive-producing, has a [great opinion piece](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/story.html
) in the new Wired magazine. In it, he argues that videogame-makers need to stop trying to ape Hollywood blockbusters, and instead focus on creating _playable_ stories:

In a movie, the story is what the characters do. In a game, the story is what the player does. The actions that count are the player’s. Better game storytelling doesn’t mean producing higher-quality cinematic cutscenes; it means constructing the game so that the most powerful and exciting moments of the story occur not in the cutscenes but during the gameplay itself.

You can see the whole article [here](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/story.html).