I go to school for writing. This doesn’t make me a better writer than anyone that hasn’t gone to school. What it does provide is the opportunity to study screenwriting with as much time and input as any “legitimate” academic pursuit. The fact I spend as much time dissecting Casablanca and the Pilot episode to Friday Night Lights as an international politics student spends pouring over the UN Declaration of Human Rights is pretty embarrassing.
Because I’m in the unique position to constantly gab about filmmaking, many of my friends will ask me what I’ve learned, how the industry works, and if I’ll read their script. I thought I might take some time and write out this little blurb about some of the things I’ve learned in hopes it helps someone who’s trying to break in. Also writing this probably fills some narcissistic need of mine… but I’ll leave that for the next article and the comments section.
1) Don’t be so f#@king sensitive. One of the benefits of film school is how to take a critical beating and rise up from the ashes. Workshops are attempts to streamline your story and to get input from like-minded people that are trying to do the same thing. They are not blowjob fests. People that read your material should be harsh. They should tell you when your story doesn’t make any sense, when your characters have no drive and when they simply lose interest. If you don’t have a little masochism in your heart, then do something else because taking the abuse is part of getting better.
2) If someone reads your material and tells you they like it without any criticism, then they didn’t really read your stuff. If someone really likes your material, they’ll generally offer ideas on how to make it better. You can generally tell how excited some is for your material by how excited they are to give you ideas on how to change it. “I like it” is code for I put it down half way through.
3) Outline your story, then outline it again. Then step outline it, then write it, then outline it again. Your story will live and die on how familiar you are with the material. Outlining is a great “getting to know you” process. This process doesn’t kill your creative spontaneity… it adds to it by showing off your unique ability to write those beats.
4) Put your Freud cap on and sit your characters in the chair. The more you know about what drives your characters, the better story you have. What is it your characters are trying to do? What is the one thing they want more than anything? Are their actions and true needs in direct conflict? You should have an idea of what your character is trying to get with every line of dialogue you write. Actors tend to break dialogue down by discovering the intentions behind each line. A good director will do this as well. The more psychological work you do with your characters, the richer the experience for everyone involved.
These are just a few things that are crammed into my head and just came out my ass. Good writing everyone!
