HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM NEWSLETTER
Welcome to the latest edition of the Hollywoodscript.com Newsletter, which is published by script consultants Craig Kellem, Judy Kellem
(http://www.hollywoodscript.com)
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The purpose of this newsletter is to share information, ideas etc. concerning the fascinating (and elusive) world of screenwriting.
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TRUSTING THE MAGIC
by CRAIG KELLEM
Recently I was asked to participate in a media type situation which I will tell you all about when it gets closer to the air date. The principles I employed to prepare for this event are very similar to those we recommend in terms of developing material for screenplays so I wanted to share it with you since it's so fresh in my mind and was so important to me at the time.
This extensive interview involved memories and anecdotes from a show that I did many years ago. So, as with screenplay development, the first thing that I did was to make a list of possible elements (in this case anecdotes and the like) from this period.
I had not thought about this “material” for quite some time, so my recollections came to me in a disjointed and sketchy fashion. But at this point in the game, this was absolutely no problem because, like in all developmental situations, initial ideas are usually unformed. I was careful not to demand more from myself and felt satisfied just being in the ballpark.
Once the list was initially compiled, I triggered some magical but familiar lever in my soul asking it to produce more information about what I had experienced back then--additional memories, and a sharpening and focusing of things. I then TRUSTED THIS PROCESS, stayed alert and waited for the onslaught.
Sure enough little ideas began to bubble and my ever present list fattened. As I appreciate the value of LITTLE improvements to this type of procedure, I took great pleasure modestly expanding, freshening and even rewriting the list (just to keep it pretty).
Time went by and it continued to grow like a plant that presides over its own individual trajectory .
As with screenplay development, I then had to start making some key creative and editorial choices. Things like, “do I really want to tell that particular story?” “Is it funny enough?” “Does it need a punch or softening or what.” Am I hurting anyone from telling this story and if so, how can it be told in an entertaining way but without the same "teeth"?
By the time I was ready for the gig, I felt pretty good about my inventory. But, when the moment of truth began to near, a certain extra and accelerated editing sense manifested which jettisoned my final approach. It felt good to shape and dice. The menu was feeling ready.
I couldn’t help noting that all this targeted preparation had been a creative process unto itself. It had a rhythm, and growth carriage all its own. I definitely gave it all I had but there was a certain cosmic wind and pace which defined and empowered it as well!
Now the new challenge would be (in effect) to “pitch it" since, as in pitching a screenplay idea, no way you can simply read your notes and be effective. At that point I whipped out my own article (which is on our site) concerning pitching. I was relieved to remember my own advice which is, "the greatest enemy of pitching is the notion (often generated in the "how to "culture) that there is a TECHNIQUE to be learned.” I remembered that the only rule for good pitching is "being yourself and communicating the truth.” I also imprinted on my mind to try and remember to enjoy the experience, make contact, and to be as spontaneous and from the gut as possible.
The predicate of the entire process involved trusting that the creative side of myself would not let me down in either the developmental stage or the “pitching” stage.
It went pretty well. I felt really satisfied that I had taken my best shot. And in retrospect, I felt good about the prepping. I never rushed it or demanded answers that were not yet available to my psyche. I remembered bad habits from the past like being in a hurry for the relief that occurs when we need to solve the problem or the situation NOW. (I often see writers prematurely making ill advised creative decisions because they have not yet learned to trust and wait for their precious creative delivery system to do its thing).
What I hope to accomplish by telling this little story is to remind you that the development PROCESS is critical and it proceeds in wonderful imperfection from seed to bloom and that it takes time but "what you're seeking will more often than not be there WHEN YOU GET THERE.”
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OUR MONTHLY CONTEST IS TRULY HELPING DESERVING WRITERS GET INTO THE GAME!
Craig,
I have a wonderful addendum to this story (perhaps for your next newsletter). I just signed up with Underground Films a management company in Culver City CA. They were voted one of the top 5 companies for new writers by Script Magazine. Other new writers they have represented are now doing work for Steven Spielberg, Dimensions Films and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
They already have two film companies interested in "After Midnight" and several of the majors want to meet face to face with me.
I couldn't have done it without your help!
Regards,
Mike Amato
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MORE RE CONTEST
Judy had the pleasure of working with and “crowning” our latest winner, RAPHAEL ABRAMS for his fine script, MIDNIGHT FOOTBALL. The coverage etc will be up later in the month due to the fact that our web guy’s away.
PS WE HAVE OTHER BIG NEWS REGARDING A RECENT WINNER AND WILL BE ABLE TO ANNOUNCE IT SHORTLY.
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THE MAJORS
by CRAIG KELLEM
I had a conference with a client last week whose script has reached a mature and encouraging stage of development. The script is beginning to work--big time. We’re both excited about it and can’t wait to see what happens in the marketplace. But I threw this talented writer a cautionary note, NOT SO FAST. I made the following point that I want to share with you. When you reach the major leagues there’s usually still more work to be done. Think about it. In the actual game of baseball, players who reach the big leagues are invariably novices in that orbit. They are now competing with the best and the brightest out there. Well, it’s the same with screenwriting, when the script is beginning to percolate, and your heart is beating hard because you know you’re in range, it’s often time to have a “last look” and make sure the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted. Does the script need a few inches more tightening? Are the big scenes all they can be, or would a tweak or two take a double and turn it into a home run? Do all ostensibly “transitional scenes” have their own intrinsic element of magic? When you’re sitting on a pot of gold, give it one more polish before you take it to the bank.
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Hi Craig-
I've been meaning to write you a thank you note regarding your three very thorough and instrumental note sessions on my script, "The Wise Guy." Although the deal hasn't yet finalized, "The Wise Guy" is being optioned by a producer, and an agent at UTA is very interested and excited about the project.
It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that your countless hours on the phone and tireless email sessions are the very reason the script is receiving such praise. I cannot thank you enough for all your hard work on the script, encouragement, and pseudo-therapy sessions you gave me on writing (and the meaning of life!). Hopefully, the film will get produced someday. If so, it should be dedicated to you. Thanks again for everything. I can't wait to work on the next one with you. Sincerely,
Robert Steinman
rgsteinman@earthlink.net
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Q AND A
Q-The script I'm working on has the main character in almost every scene. She has a huge internal conflict, which creates an outer conflict with her entire world. One of my other characters serves as a sort of fairy godmother. Another one stirs the main character into action. A third character is big part of her conflict. In other words, all the other characters in some way support the main character. Some reviewers wanted me to make all these characters arc. I could do that, but think that would take the attention away from what I want it to be on. Any suggestions?
A-An arc merely means the individual progression of any given character in a story. All characters, however big or small have their own experiences in a story. Arc work can be used to make sure that these individual experiences makes sense, are well aligned etc. Using this as a basis, your question doesn't really make sense.
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I LOVE BEING A WRITER --EXCEPT FOR THE WRITING
BY MARK MILLER
It's no secret that when it comes to sitting down to actually doing the writing, we writers excel at procrastination. If, anywhere within a five mile radius of the computer, we happen to notice an unsharpened pencil, a window, a refrigerator, a phone, unopened mail, a magazine, something needing dusting, the TV remote, a ladybug making its way up the wall, a freckle, a birthmark, a pimple, a scab, or even a stray thought -- that's more than enough reason to stop writing (assuming we've even started yet) and focus on that distracting alternative, at least until it suddenly occurs to us why we happen to have been sitting in front of that blank computer screen for the past forty-five minutes.
Sometimes, we take advantage of even longer periods of procrastination -- and for each of these, in order to deal with the guilt, we have invented a specific rationalization. It's not "meeting a friend for lunch" -- it's Networking. It's not "vacationing in Hawaii" -- it's Gathering Important Life Experience. It's not "having sex all afternoon with your lover" -- it's Getting In Touch With Your Emotions and Learning About the Opposite Sex. It's not "going to see a movie" -- it's "Research -- Hey, Come On, If I'm Going To Be Writing Them, I Have To Know What's Out There." My mother used to tell me, "You have an answer for everything, a solution for nothing," and I'm starting to appreciate her wisdom.
Lately, however, I've become aware of yet another form of procrastination to which we writers fall victim. Okay, to which I fall victim; I won't drag the rest of you down with me. Because if you identify with me, you're doing a good enough job dragging yourself down. For this form of procrastination is perhaps the most disturbing and insidious of them all. It speaks to the very heart of who we are, what we do, what we want. And I'm really not sure I'll ever be able to overcome it. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow writers, I hope you appreciate the amount of courage it's taking me to come clean about this, but here goes: I have become addicted to the trappings of being a writer.
Yes, sadly, it's true -- I am passionately interested in and devoted to every possible aspect of being a writer, with just one exception -- doing the actual writing. Ironic, isn't it? Or better yet, crazy, irrational, tragic. How dare I presume to even call myself a writer? Would someone who watched the Food Channel all day refer to himself as a chef? Would someone who collected band-aids call himself a doctor? Would a woman who read all day long about famous architects call herself an architect? And yet, is what I am doing so very different from these professional wanna-bees? And I call myself a writer. Hah! I disgust myself.
Think I'm exaggerating? Check out all the writing-related activities with which I fill my time--time that could be spent actually writing:
a.. Books. I must have a hundred books on writing. 500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader, Getting Your Script Through the Hollywood Maze, Screenwriting On The Internet, The Hollywood Creative Directory, How to Enter Screenplay Contests and Win, Power Shmoozing, The Script is Finished--Now What Do I Do?, The Craft of the Screenwriter -- Is there useful information in these books? Yes. Have I read even half of them? No. Would I be approximately 115 years old by the time I finish reading them all? Absolutely. Of course, by then, there'd be new ones to read.
a.. Conferences and Seminars. Screenwriting Expo, Independent Feature Project, Learning Annex, Maui Writers Conference, Words Into Pictures, Southern California Writers Conference, Sherwood Oaks Experimental College. I've been to them all, keep attending them, and apparently just can't get enough in-person information about "The Hero's Journey," "Story Brainstorming," "How to Write a Blockbuster," "Building Strong Characters," "Seducing the Studio Reader," and "Creating Narrative Tension." The best thing about these conferences and seminars: while you're there, you have a legitimate excuse not to be writing!
a.. Screenwriting Software. I was so jazzed to purchase my current screenwriting software, which came with so many bells and whistles I honestly wondered how Shakespeare was able to create without owning it. Its Name Bank helps me generate character names. It has real-time pagination, spell-check and auto-correction; auto-floppy back-up to protect my work; Voice Readback, online collaboration with a partner, and a rave from Francis Ford Coppola on the back. Heck, the box even proclaims, "Write polished professional scripts within minutes of opening the box!" Well, I've had the box opened for months, not minutes, and apparently, as it turns out, in addition to the software's impressive features, you also need an idea, talent, and discipline. But do they tell you that on the box? Noooooo!
a.. Writers Guild of America. I'm a member, so I can attend the Film Society screenings, where I'm free to shmooze (see Power Shmoozing, in Books section, above) with other writers who aren't working. I have access to the Script Registration Department, where I'm free to register scripts I haven't written. I can visit their library, where I can read scripts other writers have written, or read about other writers in screenwriting magazines. I can join writer-related committees. I can offer my services as a mentor to another aspiring writer. I can become involved in WGA politics. I can attend readings of works by fellow members, tributes to fellow members, and a variety of "An Evening With." fellow members, during which, though I'm not actually writing, I'm gaining insight by finding out how someone else writes.
a.. Writing Paraphernalia. My mousepad has the design of an old-fashioned typewriter. I have a baseball cap that says "Writer" on the rim. One of my t-shirts proudly proclaims the fact that I survived one of the Writers Guild strikes. My set of refrigerator word magnets allows me to form sentences while waiting for my pasta to boil. I've lost count of how many free pens I've accumulated from companies promoting writing software, books, and script consultant services. I've decorated the back of my door with photos of movies I wish I'd written. I have an audiocassette of Steve Martin reading one of his short story collections. Any half-decent detective might deduce that the owner of all this stuff is a writer. That same detective would have a far more difficult task acquiring evidence of actual writing on the premises.
Okay, you get the idea. It's procrastination, pure and simple. And granted, my procrastination is completely writer-related; it's not like I'm spending all day at the racetrack -- though mightn't that give me the Life Experience to write something wonderful about a racetrack? Still, it's clear that I've been doing a lot of things that fall into the category of Not Writing. I'm circling the writing area. I'm in the writing air space. I'm holding for writing landing clearance. But I'm not writing. And I'm telling you this so that the next time you see me reading a book on writing, attending a writers conference, power shmoozing with someone at a Film Society screening, or about to pick up a complimentary writer book mark -- you stop me, snatch the book mark out of my hand, shake me if you have to, look me straight in the eyes, and remind me that I should be at home, writing. I have been warned.
THANX MUCHO MARK--AND TALK ABOUT TRUTH IN HUMOR!!
Mark Miller is a Los Angeles-based comedy writer, who has written and produced TV sit-coms, sold feature film comedies, been a humor columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, contributed to numerous national publications and websites, and has produced a weekly comedic relationships feature for America Online. He can be reached at markmiller2000@comcast.net
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