Are You Rotten Enough to be a Screenwriter?

Tuesday 12/1/09

Just how mean can you be to your hero? In order to be a really good screenwriter you're going to have to be a monster! I mean it. It's not good enough to create a nice girl who wants something really bad and has to work super hard for it. That's not a movie. That's a shampoo commercial.

Make a hero who wants something so much, she's willing to do anything to get it. Then (and this part is important) make that "something" that she wants, really hard to get.

This is where you play the big brother and your hero plays the baby sister. Like a big brother, you dangle the desired goal tantalizingly close to your hero. And every time your hero goes to grab it, you snatch it away. And then you laugh! Bwa-hah-hah!

If your hero is about to get outfoxed, don't make it with a sleazy con-man. Make it with the nicest, sweetest person he's ever met.  Hah!

If your hero decides he has to go to France, don't let him "find" the ticket. Make him crawl through hell to get it. Hah!

Writing the Second Screenplay

Wednesday 10/28/09 time 4:12 PM

A long, long, time ago I ran a half marathon. I ran a half marathon to prove to myself that impossible things are possible. You see, at the time, I was starting to feel that my dream of being a screenwriter was nuts. Crazy. Impossible. And so, I trained. And one cold, rainy day in November, I ran the Seattle Half Marathon. I got a medal and one of those tin foil blankets. I felt awesomely super-human, because frankly, I'm no runner.

Now the good news is that I proved to myself that the impossible is possible. And the impossible did happen screenplay-wise. But the bad news is that I didn't run again for six months.

So why am I telling you all this?

Lots of people achieve the impossible. They write a first draft original screenplay. It's a monumental task. For all the people who say they are "working on a screenplay" only a fraction ever cross the finish line to write FADE OUT.

But the effort of that first draft, the commitment, the time away from friends and interests and TV has been almost too much. And so, the first-time screenwriter takes a break. And the break turns into months and pretty soon it's years. Before you know it, the screenplay books are in a box at the garage sale. Sigh...

Mark and I know this. We know it's hard to keep working. That's why we cooked up some Advance Classes. Because we hope people will continue to write. And we know that we can get you hooked so that when you're driving in your car, or walking your dog you'll actually be thinking about how the bank robbers could use art supplies to bust open the safe. Isn't that the GREATEST feeling? Nobody knows that you're cracking a scene. It'll be our little secret.

A few weeks ago we had our first workshop. We loved it. Former students, many of whom admitted they hadn't really stayed "in shape" for another big race, laced up and got going on brilliant new ideas for screenplays. One screenwriter told us: "I feel inspired! Mark and Mary's class was just the injection of creativity I needed." Mark and I are thrilled!

November 21st we'll have another workshop. This one is about perfecting the Step Outline. Again, our past students know that if they wrestle that bad-boy to the ground; if they make their idea work structurally. If the hero is active, if the world is interesting, if the laws of the genre are followed, they will have the blueprint they need to get through the first draft.

I like to think of it as an expedition. If you bring the right stuff, pack your backpack right; then it's just one foot after the other through that first draft. That's why the Step Outline is so very important. Step by step...