Do you struggle with the concept of High Concept? I know I do with each and every script. Coming up with THE High Concept for your script is frustrating in the least and almost impossible at best – hard to figure what those characters in Hollyweird consider High Concept especially after this week: Now It’s Erector Set: 3D Movie (No Kidding). (See Scott Myer’s blog Go Into The Story : http://www.gointothestory.com/2010/02/now-its-erector-set-3d-movie-no-kidding.html).
I mean, come on, how can a writer ever figure out what Hollyweird REALLY wants?
You can’t. Never. Won’t happen. Why, you might ask?
Because they DON’T KNOW THEMSELVES! Or, to quote the one and only William Goldman: ” Nobody knows anything!”
So, what to do. The first step is to decide right off the bat that you are going to write the script you want to write. Don’t write to Hollyweird’s expectations. Don’t write to current trends. Just write the best damn script you can and let the market come to you. And one way of insuring you ARE writing a damn good script is to make sure your concept does not suck. Here’s how:
First, get rid of that idea that High Concept is anything that can be pitched in one sentence OR can be expressed as X meets Y. Second, we will explore several techniques to develop your scripts ‘high concept’.
The first technique is the Steve Kaire Method. Mr. Kaire states… “The premise or logline is the core of High Concept. My comprehensive definition of High Concept is comprised of five requirements, each of which is mandatory. The five requirements are in descending order of importance. Therefore, numbers one and two are the most important as well as the most difficult to attain. But meeting only several of the requirements is not enough. All five requirements have to be met for success in achieving the “slam dunk” project everyone is looking for.”
Here are the five (5) requirements:
Requirement #1: Your premise should be original and unique.
Requirement #2: Your story has to have mass audience appeal.
Requirement #3: Your pitch has to be specific.
Requirement #4: The potential is obvious.
Requirement #5: Your pitch should be one to three sentences long.
To read more go to: http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=609
Second, Ray Frensham in Teach Yourself Screenwriting suggests two methods:
*The rule of threes. *Contrasts.
An example of The Rule of Threes would be: Five criminals. One line-up. No coincidence. (Usual Suspects) And an example of Contrasts: He was the perfect weapon – until he became a target. (The Bourne Identity)
I know… these sound like tag lines, but… whatever works, right?
Third, Colorado author Jameson Cole, developed a methodology that concentrates on the character and the conflict: There are three elements of character: PHYSICAL; SOCIOLOGICAL; PSYCHOLOGICAL. And three elements of conflict: PAST – the relevant backstory; PRESENT – a current dilemma usually requiring a goal-oriented decision; FUTURE – what happens if failure occurs. Using In The Line of Fire as an example:
In The Line Of Fire:
PHYSICAL – An ageing
SOCIOLOGICAL – Secret Service agent,
PSYCHOLOGICAL – who feels guilty
PAST – for failing to save President Kennedy from being murdered
PRESENT – duels a deadly assassin. The outcome of their battle
FUTURE – will decide whether the current president lives or dies and whether the agent’s troubled past will give way to peace.
In The Line Of Fire: An ageing Secret Service agent, who feels guilty for failing to save President Kennedy from being murdered, duels a deadly assassin. The outcome of their battle will decide whether the current president lives or dies and whether the agent’s troubled PAST will give way to peace.
Finally, here is a technique I have decided to use based on the principal of the Four Quadrant Movie. What’s this, you might ask? Simple, sort of. A Four Quadrant Movie is a movie that appeals to: men under 25; women under 25; men over 25; women over 25. Pretty much everyone. Here is what I have started to do in my own scripts. First, I lay out the quadrant, and then I ask myself a series of questions. Like this:
|
men over 25
I
|
women over 25
II
|
|
women under 25
III
|
men under 25
IV
|
- Who are the characters that resonate with each quadrant?
- What is the story that resonates with each quadrant?
- How do we merge them together into a HIGH CONCEPT story?
Simple, right? Well, maybe not at first but with practice it should become second nature. I mean, your first script wasn’t easy either, was it? Well, ah, maybe not for you, Diablo, but the rest of us mortals…
Keep Writing!
Good morning, my peeps. Hope you all had a successful week of writing.
Just a quick update on how the query process has been going for me. First, I must pass along props to my writing friend Donna who graciously took it upon herself to rewrite my query letter and WOW! She did a great job. Really. Made me see the error of my ways. I immediately rewrote ALL of my queries – to management firms and production companies – based on her style/method. The results were impressive.
Normally, when you send out cold queries you can expect a 2 – 3% response rate: 100 queries == 3 requests for your script. With Donna’s wonderful rewrite – and this only applies to production companies so far – I sent out 36 queries and received 3 requests for my script – something like 8%. Now, the thing to keep in mind is that these were same day requests – requests I sent out on Friday morning. Very cool. The true results will be known over the next two weeks as it sometimes takes that long for those busy folks in Hollywood to get around to answering your email. I have had requests come as much as four weeks after sending out the query. Go figure.
Ok, now for the scorecard for this week:
Production Companies:
- thirty-six (36) queries.
- Four (4) invalid email addresses.
- Three (3) requests for scripts.
Management Firms:
- sixty-two (62) queries.
- Four (4) invalid email addresses.
- To date no requests.
The thing to realize here — these queries were all sent on Friday, Lincoln ’s Birthday, a day most firms only worked a half day (Monday is a holiday, so they were all shooting for a long weekend) and it will be a week or two before I can harvest the fruit of my labors.
So, for this year – 2010 – I have sent out:
Production Companies:
- sixty-five (65) queries.
- Seven (7) bad email addresses.
- Eight (8) requests for scripts.
- Three (3) rejects.
- Five (5) still reading. Or, like I’ve said before, maybe a NO, but I will follow up.
Management Firms:
- one hundred-thirty (130) queries.
- Eight (8) bad email addresses.
- One NO THANKS.
Am I sensing a pattern here with these management types? I think what it boils down to is this: produces are ALWAYS looking for a good script to produce. Managers have more writers to manage than they know what to do with. Just have to keep plugging away. Remember the Three Ps?
Anyway, that’s pretty much a wrap for this week. Time to get back to work and to
Keep Writing!
Just a quick post to share with you a post I made over at the GITS Club message board – if you haven’t stopped by and registered I highly recommend you do so. Plenty going on over there and many, many helpful folks. And, of course, thanks to Jeff Messerman for starting and running the board (http://www.gitsclub.proboards.com/index.cgi) – so, what are you waiting for? Oh! Yeah. My post……
I’ve been asked by Jeff if my day job was in advertising and by lizzo1014 if I am a copy editor.
Nope. Neither.
I’m a programmer by day – screenwriter by night. But this got me thinking — a dangerous situation at best. It got me thinking: how does the day job influence my screenwriting?
As a programmer I have to be a problem solver. I have to be creative. And when I am coding, I have to think ahead – if I code this function this way, how can I use it somewhere else; if I do this first, what has to happen next? What happens four or five functions down the road? You get the idea.
Programming and screenwriting – or writing in general – require similar skills: understanding structure; the ability to think ahead; solving problems in creative ways.
So, how does your day job influence your writing? We are now open for discussion.
Keep Writing!
Hello fellow scribes – hope you all have been doing well and writing like crazy.
Down here in North Carolina we have survived yet another bad stretch of winter weather. Last week we had five inches of snow – ok, I can hear you northern types laughing, now stop it! – and it kept me from the coffee shop on both Saturday and Sunday. I now know how a junkie feels when he goes cold turkey. I do have an office at home, but, somehow, it just is not the same. But I digress.
I’m still sending out queries. Now that Sundance is over I have put my focus on production companies and will until, oh, say April. My scorecard for 2010 runs something like this:
Management firms: sent out sixty-eight (68) queries so far and have had three (3) bad email addresses; five (5) requests for scripts; three (3) rejects; two (2) still reading – or, maybe, it’s a NO and I will never hear from them (I will follow up in a week or two and just ask).
Production Companies: sent out twenty-nine (29) queries this week: four (4) bad email addresses; one (1) NO THANKS. Not done with these people just quite yet. Remember, I live by the Three Ps, my peeps: Perseverance. Perseverance. Perseverance.
Which brings me to what I call The Silly Season: screenwriting contests. Do you enter? Which ones? Have any of you had any success and if so, what did it get you? The reason I ask is this: every year I vow NOT to enter contests. I think – except for the Nicholl – they are a waste of time and a huge waste of money. Yet… Yet, I enter a few every year. I know. Practice what you preach, Scherer! 
But, like most un-produced scribes I am seeking validation.
Not only are we writers loners – writing is a lonely profession after all – we are needy people, too. We need/want validation. How else can we know how we stack up against the competition? How else can we know if we can write at all? Sure, Mom and Aunt Sally rave about our stories – they’re suppose to – it’s their job to encourage and nurture – but…. It’s not the same. So let me know if you intend to enter any contests this Silly Season and which ones. As for myself: The Nicholl; the PAGE International; AAA Screenplay; and Final Draft.
As for my writing? Well, I have put the Sci-Fi comedy tentatively titled Peter and Ba’al on the back burner for now. I intend to write the screenplay, but I don’t have the need to do it just yet. After a few weeks of character sketches, researching locations, etc. that burning need to write it hasn’t arrived. The story is already outlined, sort’a. I wrote this originally as a short story – so I know how it will flow and how it ends. I just don’t feel like writing it. I do, however, want to write a new script as yet untitled; a story based on the Prometheus Mythology. I’m excited about this baby and when I put this post to bed I will begin my research and collect copious notes and develop story ideas. More in the coming weeks.
Okay, my peeps, I guess that’s a wrap for this week. Stay warm. Be cool. And as always,
Keep Writing!
Hello, my Peeps – hope you all are doing well.
Not much writing accomplished this week – but I did do a rewrite of one of my older scripts. Much improved if I do say so myself. Now, I need to revisit the story line and ensure the story logic is correct, tighten up a few scenes, ratchet up the tension a bit. The script is called DELUDED and the logline runs something like this:
A jilted homicide detective falls for the sister of his high school sweetheart while struggling to solve a series of murders only to discover his new girlfriend’s affections have nothing to do with love.
Deluded is in the vein of Sea of Love meets Basic Instinct.
As for my attempts at landing representation? Sent out an additional thirty-seven queries – two were kicked back for invalid email addresses. I swear this is the most frustrating part of the query process – finding reliable/valid email addys. But, this is where the Three Ps come into play:
Persistence. Persistence. Persistence.
If an address doesn’t work for me – say, first-initial-last-name@yaddayadda.com – I will try: last-name, then first-name, then first and last initials, ad nausea. You get the idea. It takes time – but it mostly works.
Like to point you one or two faithful readers out there in CyberSpace to a new screenwriting message board: The GITS Club Message Board at http://www.gitsclub.proboards.com/ — swing on by and give it a test drive.
Well, that’s a wrap for this week.
Keep Writing
Greetings fellow scribes – hope you all are doing well and got some writing done this week.
If you read one of my recent posts – okay, the last post – you may recall I mentioned my quest for representation. Well, the quest has been in progress a week or two and the scorecard is somewhat encouraging. I have been concentrating on querying managers, waiting to approach production companies after Sundance. Here’s what has happened to date:
Sent out 36 queries. Had 3 emails bounce – invalid email addresses. Received 4 responses: 3 requests for scripts and 1 neutral pass – ‘…not taking on new clients at this time’. Needless to say I immediately sent scripts to those requesting managers. Of those three requests – one has already passed. But it was, in my mind, an encouraging pass. Here’s why:
This particular manager – well respected, and I think you would recognize the name – gave me the first real encouraging response I’ve yet to receive. Here is what this manager said about my screenplay, Cardinal Sin:
Had a chance to read CARDINAL SIN today and thought you did a great job. Really well-written. Though I really liked it, unfortunately it’s just not enough for me to champion. I really appreciate you sending this my way. Keep me in mind for any future projects.
Cool, huh?
I immediately replied asking the obvious question: What did you mean by ‘just not enough for me to champion’? I speculated in my email that the comment meant the story wasn’t BIG enough. The manager’s response: ‘I meant I just didn’t love it enough to champion.’
Okay, I can live with that. What I take away from this exchange is this: keep sending Cardinal Sin to managers and/or producers until I find that one person who does love it enough to champion.
Another takeaway from all this: the 3Ps will pay off. What are the 3Ps you might ask?
Perseverance. Perseverance. Perseverance.
You can also add to that,
Keep Writing!
Happy New Year, my Peeps. Hope you all entered 2010 safe and well and happy.
Just wanted to touch base with my one or two constituents out there in Cyber Space and let you in on what I’ve been up to.
Last week I finished a rough draft – actually closer to one-and-a-half drafts – of my latest script: No Road to Fortune. Here’s the logline: An ambulance-chasing lawyer lands a malpractice case worth millions only to learn he is up against the best lawyer in the state – his older brother.
I’ll let it to simmer on the back burner for a week or two while I develop a new screenplay tentatively titled: Peter and Ba’al. Here’s the logline for that: A down and out TV Evangelist is visited by an Alien who wants to meet Jesus.
Sort of a Sfi-FI comedy. I’ve never done a comedy before, so this is new territory for me.
I’ve also started to query management and production companies, begging them to read and/or buy my scripts We’ll see how that works out as one of my goals for 2010 is to, at the very least, option a screenplay. Fingers crossed.
How about you, my one or two faithful followers? What are you up to? I hope you’re writing – everyday. Are you going to send out queries? Let me know. The spec script season runs from February through April and then again from September through November. Remember, you will never sell a script if you don’t send out those queries and above all else you must
Keep Writing!
…this past Sunday. Didn’t want to write. Couldn’t write. Couldn’t concentrate.
I wanted to quit — for good!
And I hated that feeling. I’ve been working on a new script and no matter how I swizzle things, I can’t figure out the ending. Oh, I KNOW how it ends — I’m just not sure how to get there. I’ve never had this happen before. Always knew the ending of my previous scripts — knew how I was going to get there. All this is new territory for me.
And I hate it!
I have read about professional screenwriters having troubles: staring at the blank page; how difficult they found writing, and I always thought, hmmmm, I don’t have that problem. What’s so hard about writing? Now I am beginning to wonder if all those scripts I finished without ‘writer’s block’ or lack of an ending, or ’staring-at-the-blank-pageits’ is because those scripts weren’t any good in the first place. Maybe I’m having issues with this script because at long last I have a good story going on here.
Maybe not.
How do you, my faithful reader(s) — you are still out there, aren’t you? — how do you handle your uncertainty — self doubt? Do you chuck your script — start something new? Or, do you plug away in hopes the fog will lift and the end will make itself known? What I have learned from this ‘episode’ is this: I can not NOT write. Good. Bad. Indifferent. I will always,
Keep Writing!
Why? Because I ain’t all that PC. All my life it has been Merry Christmas, and Merry Christmas it will remain.
That said, I do understand some folks do not celebrate Christmas and for them I wish:
Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Kwanzaa!
And… no matter your religious affiliation, or lack there of — yeah, even you believers in crass consumerism,
I wish you all happiness, writing success, and a prosperous New Year.
Let’s hope some of us find a manager or agent in our stocking this year
But above all,
Keep Writing!
What is your New Year’s Resolution this coming year? Normally, mine is to NOT make any resolutions But not this year. No sir. No ma’am. I resolve to make a resolution!
I have spent the better part of 2009 completing a new screenplay – you can read Act I (more or less) on my script page above: Cardinal Sin — and rewriting, ad nauseam, several others – four to be exact. So, my New Year’s Resolution for 2010 is to complete two – count ‘em – two, new scripts – I have a spreadsheet stuffed with ideas — and to send out queries to production and management companies. This is the year folks!
At least, I hope it is
And even if it isn’t 
I will continue to write. Continue to query. Continue to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. I’m a firm believer in the 3Ps: Perseverance! Perseverance! Perseverance! So…..
What will be your resolution for next year, my two or three cyber friends? Leave a comment. Let me know and
Happy Holidays!
Keep Writing!
