GETTING STARTED

by Craig Kellem

"I've got an idea, how can I get started WRITING?" We're asked this question on a daily basis. More often than not, there's a subtext to that question, a sense of an oncoming gold rush. The writer woke up in the morning with a million-dollar idea and must get ready to write the script before lunch . . . if possible. One foot is already out the door and headed for Hollywood.

That's of course an exaggeration but there's real truth to it. Getting the idea is, of course, the place to start but a long courtship with your notion has only just begun. You need to dance with the idea, often for quite some time, before commencing to the next stage. And the next stage is NOT writing.

Instead it may be wise to first determine this: IS YOUR IDEA TRULY A MOVIE?

Make sure your answer is yes, and that it's not just a one note joke; a desperate venture to get rich; a deliberate imitation; or a passion that could be fully satisfied in a hot scene or two but would never hold up over an entire script.

Think you have that aspect covered? Consider this.

There are many otherwise quite capable writers out there who come up with a high concept "gem" and run through the barn with it, counting their money, without realizing that the fully developed idea could barely fill a four minute slug on SNL. They work their hearts out to no avail.

Movies are long. They have breadth. Your idea needs to have dimension in order to fly. It needs to teem with opportunity: eventful scenes, twists and turns, and character magic.

Another question is this: How much do YOU like the idea? Be honest! Does it really come from the heart? Or, is it a marketing scheme? Or the remnant of your last cocktail or raucous outing with your buds?

Writing a screenplay is a big investment. So why not commit to something that fascinates and thrills you, something that you want to spend the better part of a year bouncing around?

Initially, this may be hard to determine. But it's worth giving yourself the time to live with the notion and see which way the wind blows. Let it gestate and grow. Ideas take on a life of their own. . . or not. Study its behavior. Leading you one way or the other.

Now, focus in on what's popping up in your mind. Does your idea suggest a scene or two? Write them down. Put them on index cards randomly, no need to be organized...yet. Let your mind wander. Get it all down on paper without restrictions. Thinking about a characters? Jot down the hot licks about them remembering that the main ingredient is YOUR emotional connection with them. Forget the mundane--stick with your creative electricity. Only collect the stuff that's a ten on the Richter scale of your heart.

Now, are you beginning to get a sense of the trajectory of your film? A rough sense of how your idea sets up, then develops. You may even get a sense of how your story resolves? Good! Then you'll have the rough parameters of Acts 1, 2 and 3 (Act 1, the set up; Act 2, tell the story; Act 3, resolve it). The form will be manifesting.

As you bubble and percolate, AVOID the temptation to write at all costs! Instead, let the DESIRE to write build up as you dabble. Let your energy be expressed in the proliferation of creative nuggets randomly thrown on a page or on index cards.

Also, resist the temptation to start marketing your idea to Hollywood. C'mon, you don't need an agent yet. Nor do you need a query letter. The impulse that Hollywood must be alerted must be muted. You must remain in the role of the mad scientist mixing his/her elixir and letting it brew.

It takes time to do this right. Instant gratification is your solemn enemy right now.

In creating pieces of the puzzle, try to work from the inside out. So many writers, in their zeal to get it done, reach for hare-brained filler and contrivances when great ideas are only a heartbeat away. They are found in your mind and soul but they must be gently accessed and cultivated.

Look into your heart.

My associate Judy (Kellem) says this--"there is a marked, qualitative disparity between stories and images born from real life experience and those made from pure intellectual invention. Life is rife with evocative moments, large and small, which create powerful feelings. Insights. Unique situations."

Wait for them. Build them slowly. Give them life.

Sooner or later you will catch a creative wave and you'll be writing on the walls. Things will start to go quickly now. Pieces begin to fit in. Keep prepping. The devil's in the details. Thicken your offensive.

Start writing only when it's ready--full and brimming with promise and preparedness.

GETTING STARTED is more about slow growth, invention and discovery of your idea, rather than a rush to put it all together and get it out there.

Have faith. Don't rush. "It will be there when you get there."

Copyrighted 2002, HollywoodScript.Com LLC All rights reserved