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!

 

Tips for Global Creative Screenwriters

Friday 10/9/09 time 11:57 AM

Last year I needed to do some research on "giftedness". It turns out there's different kinds of giftedness. Like there's the person who does calculus at five. We'd all agree she's gifted, right?

But then there's the person who can take a moment and turn it into an epic story. Or someone who spends all day wondering the "why" of something. Are these people gifted? Or just odd? Society seems to be split on this one!

But experts call these folks GLOBAL CREATIVES.

Screenwriting classes are full of Global Creatives.

Global Creatives sign up for screenwriting classes because they have lots of amazing ideas. They've usually read piles of books on screenwriting. They've started a screenplay or two. But they've never finished.

When it comes to teaching screenwriting, I consider myself more of an Outward Bound guide than anything else. My job is to get people through the ropes course. To help them find the will and tenacity to keep going so that they won't fail.

Here's the thing: One of the qualities associated with being brilliant and creative (like so many screenwriting students I have known) is that you often have (maybe just a little bit of) ADD. As a result, Global Creatives need to work at not getting distracted. 

If you're a Global Creative and/or a screenwriting student, I have some tips for you:

1. Get off the internet. Really. Go somewhere that doesn't have wifi. The web will take anywhere you want to go, except for that magical place where you write FADE OUT on your screenplay.

2. Leave your script at the front of your screen when you take breaks or stop writing for the day. This way, when you return to your computer guess what you see first? Oh yeah! Your screenplay!

3. While you're in the middle of writing your screenplay, you will get a better idea. Trust me, you'll believe this idea is so wonderful that you MUST stop writing what you're working on now, and immediately begin the new thing. THIS IS A MIRAGE. Keep working on the first script. I know it's hard. Keep going. 

I have more tips, but I'm not going to tell them to you today. Why? Because you're brilliant, you're creative, and you really need to get back to your screenplay!

Advanced Screenwriting Workshops for Fall

Tuesday 9/29/09 time 4:39 PM

With Fall suddenly upon us, Mark Handley and I are pleased to announce new workshops designed especially for advanced screenwriters! Please click the SEMINARS RETREATS AND WORKSHOPS button, (above) to learn more about our offerings.

We're looking forward to spending October 17th and November 21st with some talented old friends and former students in one of the most beautfiul spots in Seattle: The Good Shepherd Center. We'll talk shop, nosh on elegant box lunches and help you get your screenplay ideas ready to write.

Starting in the new year, we're offering a first draft boot camp for those brave, advanced souls who want to get another completed screenplay under their belt. You can do it! We know you can.