John August

QandA

The not-so-well-dressed screenwriter

Film Industry, QandA

I’m a newbie screenwriter and started to wonder if my appearance will come in to play as I try to pitch and sell my script. I was having a total femme moment and thinking of dying my hair with bold red streaks and then thought, “Would this speak to my creative side or would it convey too much whimsy?”

I know actors have to worry about appearances but do writers have to worry about too bold of hair color or the like…and when it comes to meetings do you dress semi-casual or do you have to suit up?

–Cheryl Laughlin 

In my first Hollywood meetings, I always overdressed. I was uncomfortable, and the executive was uncomfortable. Gradually, I realized that the writer should always be the worst-dressed person in the room.

Not by much, mind you — you don’t want to look homeless or sad. But if the executive is wearing a suit, you want to wear a sweater. If he’s wearing a button-down shirt, you wear a polo. Just going one step more casual puts everyone at ease.

Obviously, women’s clothes are a little harder to gauge, so you’re a bit on your own. I’d say, wear whatever the assistants there wear: professional, but probably not a suit. If you dress like you’re working at a nice store, you probably won’t go wrong.

As far as your hair, do whatever you like. You certainly don’t need conservative hair to make it in the business.

American English and troublesome contractions

QandA, Words on the page

I’ve improved so much just by reading your website and IMDB posts. So a heartfelt thank you, sir.

My question is cultural, when it comes to dialogue. I’m from India — Bollywood. Been here, in Los Angeles, for three years. People who’ve read my scripts (Hollywood scripts) like ’em except the dialogue. After a lot of research, I understand how to write American “lingo”, but….

I have no clue when to use “I’ve” as opposed to “I have,” “You’re” as opposed to “You are.” In recent movie Bad Santa even word “Okay” on subtitle was “‘Kay”.

The usual internet response to this kind of basic question is: “If you don’t know the difference, you shouldn’t write.” Obviously, I disagree. Why? ‘cuz you don’t give up when you’re 23.

I know, most help on this on the internet is towards American writers. But, I was schooled in English, all my life, but a British school. I have better command over the English language than many here, and I hate when they say “We understand, English is your second language,” cuz of my dialogue.

And honest to God, your teachings with upcoming Bollywood writers is Godsend. All my friends there visit your website.

–Raj
Los Angeles

I’m happy to get readers anywhere. According to my web log statistics, India falls at number 16, between the
Philippines and Mexico. So to all my Indian readers, welcome.

I share your frustration with the “if you don’t like it, then leave” attitude of far too many Americans, whose concept of internationality begins and ends at the namesake house of pancakes.

There is a difference between “you’re” and “you are” as used in American English. Unlike spoken French, where consonants sort of attach themselves to the nearest convenient word, an American speaker either says “you are” or “you’re.” It’s not just spoken laziness.

For dialogue purposes, here’s my advice:

1. The contractions we’re talking about are basically pronoun + helper verb (to be, to have, or would). If this contraction precedes another verb, use the contraction. “I’ve told her not to talk with anyone.” “You’ll see what I mean.” “He’d be a fool to listen.” In the context of the scene, the character might speak both words for emphasis or parallel construction: “Believe me, I am regretting it now.” “You would think that, wouldn’t you?”

2. By the same logic, American English leans towards the n’t verb negation. “I didn’t understand at the time.” “You shouldn’t have come.” There may be instance where you want to emphasize the “not,” such as, “You should not mock the Moccasin Man.” And don’t stack up contractions. “You wouldn’t have known” is fine. “You wouldn’t’ve known” is fussy and awful.

3. Only “to be” contracts if there’s not a following verb. So, “I’m sorry.” But not, “I’ve a reservation.”

4. Don’t use ‘cuz. “Because” is a word that’s naturally shrunken down by the reader. The short version feels like a zit.

5. “Gotta,” in the sense of “got to” or “have to,” is pretty common in American dialogue — but don’t use it in normal prose. “You’ve gotta be kidding me” or “I gotta get to the store by five” are both a little idiomatic, but read well.

6. There are probably a few dozen other words that are fine in some circumstances, dreadful in others: gimme, shoulda, kinda, sorta, etc. If in doubt, spell it out.

Hope this helps.

The Get A Mentor program

QandA, So-Called Experts

We met some time ago back in April of this year. You came to Boulder and were kind enough to come and speak to a group of aspiring writers. I was the one in the front who asked the question about the character Ronna (if she was meant to be black).

I wanted to find out if this Get A Mentor program is worthwhile. I’d like to be a director, but I’d like to obtain some practical experience beforehand. Any advice?

–Rayna
Denver

Rayna’s referring to the character [Sarah Polley](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001631/) played in [GO](http://imdb.com/title/tt0139239/). In an early script, I had written that she was “eighteen, black and bleeding.” When we were casting the film, we met with black, white and Latina actresses for the part, and ultimately picked Sarah, who was sublime. Over the years, a few people have written to ask if I was forced to change Ronna’s ethnicity, or if I felt it changed the movie in any way. No, and no. Her race was never a story point, so all that mattered to me was finding the actress who could nail the part.

I’m assuming the program you’re writing about is [this one](http://www.getamentor.com/), but I’m not familiar with it beyond what I’ve just read on its website. It seems legit, up until the point you’re paying a couple thousand dollars for privilege of being mentored. Call me old-fashioned, but I consider mentoring to be a pro-bono thing. And I don’t know what value you’d get talking to this mentor on the phone.

As an avid snoop, I’ve been trying to figure out more about this program. Based on its [Better Business Bureau profile](http://search.bbb.org/), it’s located at 7095 Hollywood Blvd. #325. That may be a rented mailbox. There’s a “Mail and More” at that address, and the guy who answered the phone said #325 was probably one of their mailboxes.

Now, a lot of legit businesses use rented mailboxes. But I always get a little nervous sending money to strangers, especially if I couldn’t track them down if I had to. None of this is meant to scare you off, or say that this organization is in any way shady. Its mission is certainly laudable, so I’d love to say that it’s as helpful as it claims. If any readers have experience with it, please write in.

Page count for animation scripts

Formatting, QandA, Television

First, I’d like to thank you for answering my last question. It was a big help and since then my writing career has been moving forward — slowly, but forward nonetheless. Also, my spine is in better shape.

My question is this: Is an animation script supposed to time out the same as a live action piece (one page equals one minute of screen time), and if not, how do you know how long a scene — especially an action-filled scene — will last on screen?

The two animation scripts I’ve read (half hour TV) are both long and short. One was 35 pages long. The other was 22 pages long, which is still longer than the 19 minutes of screen time, but not by much. Any words of wisdom?

Oh, and in case you haven’t mentioned it on the site, a great TV writing website is [TVWriter.com](http://www.tvwriter.com).

–Horace
Toronto

For starters, the one-page-per-minute rule of thumb is nothing to bank on. For me, it’s like saying it never rains in July, or that reality-show alliances only last until mid-point: while it generally holds sort of true, you wouldn’t want to stake your life on it.

Screenplays top out at about 120 pages, and most movies are about two hours long. But most one-hour U.S. television shows are really 41 minutes, although the scripts can be up to 60 pages or more. The script for a show like [ER](http://imdb.com/title/tt0108757/), with its rapidly spouted medical lingo, tends to run long. And don’t get me started on [Gilmore Girls](http://imdb.com/title/tt0238784/), where the character never seem to break for air.

As for animation scripts, I’m not aware of any particularly appropriate page-per-minute guideline. If you’re writing a spec episode of a given show, my best advice is find a sample script that’s been shot and aim for that page count. Failing that, I’d aim for something a hair over the page-per-minute guideline. It may not be right, but odds are it won’t be terribly off.

And thanks for the link.