Continuing our exploration of of: Pilar Alessandra’s, The Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes at a Time.
Go here to order: http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Break-Screenwriter-Writing-Minutes/dp/1932907807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281795215&sr=1-1
I promise you I don’t get any kickbacks by recommending this book.
Last week I told you that, as I went through the exercises in chapter two, I discovered different aspects to my characters: traits; actions they might take; relationships. And, the discovery that, a change in one character can, and will, affect other characters; the plot; the tone of the story and how these aspects of story are linked together in a ‘storytelling synergy’.
Chapter Two: The Structure Summary:
1. Create four (4) act segments: ACT I; ACT IIa; ACT IIb; ACT III.
2. Give each segment a title that illustrates the theme or event in that segment.
3. To discover all the structural possibilities, shift and rename your segments.
4. Twist the story around at the end of each segment by creating a reveal that sends the story in a different direction.
5. Flesh out each segment by introducing key events that reach a climax with that reveal.
6. Understand the big picture by reviewing the completed structure sheet.
This week I will cover pages 27 thru 40 of Chapter Three: The Outline. Ready?
Pilar suggests that we divide our four act beat-sheets into eight sequences. For example, in my screenplay, the Act I segment breaks down into:
ACT I: Lost
Sequence 1: TATTOO awakes in an underwater cavern unaware of who he is, where he is, or why he is there.
Sequence 2: Uneasiness washes over TATTOO, then anxiety, finally panic.
REVEAL: TATTO realizes he is claustrophobic and trapped in underwater cave with no way out.
Next, you describe each sequence using three (3) sentences that describe the GOAL, ACTIVITY, and COMPLICATION in each sequence. Again, using my ACT I as an example:
ACT I Lost
SEQUENCE 1
GOAL: Figure out who they are and where they are.
ACTIVITY: Make sure everyone is awake and okay and ask a lot of questions.
COMPLICATION: No one remembers anything.
SEQUENCE 2
GOAL: Find a way out of the cavern.
ACTIVITY: Explore the cave.
COMPLICATION: The cave becomes narrower and narrower. PANIC sets in as TATTOO realizes he is claustrophobic and stuck underground.
Lessons learned: as you progress through the exercises you will find that your mental idea of how the story will progress, changes. The naming of the Four Part Structures changed for me from: Lost, Fear, Hope, and Redemption to: Lost, Escape, Survival, Redemption. Be flexible — nothing is carved in stone.
One very helpful Ten Minute Lecture in this chapter had to do with developing your story in eight beats. The format goes something like this:
1. CHARACTER FLAW triggers CONFLICT.
2. CONFLICT triggers PROBLEM.
3. PROBLEM triggers STRATEGY.
4. STRATEGY triggers EMOTIONAL EVENT.
5. EMOTIONAL EVENT triggers MAJOR ACTION.
6. MAJOR ACTION triggers MISSTEP.
7. MISSTEP triggers BATTLE.
8. BATTLE triggers FINAL CHALLENGE.
Pilar writes: “Though each beat tells its own story, it is always connected to the next one in order to reveal the big picture. Each beat tends to ‘trigger’ the next. And, by doing so, the story is pushed forward.”
Other exercises include:
Beat-sheet supporting character/antagonist rewrite: brings in additional characters and layers the story and/or provides a subplot.
Beat-sheet complication rewrite: brainstorm what would be the best complication, what would be the worst complication; what would be the genre specific complication.
Beat-sheet midpoint rewrite: cover all the midpoint possibilities with the potential to steer your story in a new and more interesting direction.
Beat-sheet structure rewrite: why wait until your script is finished to start playing with structure? Use your one-page beat-sheet to make important changes to story and structure before you type FADE IN.
Beat-sheet non-linear structure: play with your sequences. Reverse them. Combine them. Jump forward in time. Imagine the possibilities.
Beat-sheet emotion rewrite: write down the key emotions experienced by your main character in every sequence and write down the resulting emotional arc.
That’s a wrap for this week. Hope you all have a good week and a productive week as you
Keep Writing!
Welcome back. If you are not one of my two or three faithful readers, please read the previous post to catch up with the rest of the class.
Finished? Good, let’s get started.
This week I finished Chapter One: The Story (pages 14 - 17) and started Chapter Two: The Structure (page 18 -25). I apologize for not completing more pages, but this has been one, unbelievable week. As a sidebar: on Sunday, August 15th, we put our home on the market. On Friday, August 20th, we signed the contract: SOLD! On Saturday, August 21st we signed papers to purchase a new home — having it built, no less. Fortunately, we were able to purchase a spec home that should be finished around October 28th — we close on the home we are selling on, or around, October 8th. Seems I will be homeless for about four weeks. But I digress….
To finish up Chapter One: The Story, Pilar has the writer focus on their original intention for the project. This is a map you will refer to time and time again as you travel through your story process. You will be asked to think about, then record: the Main Character’s flaw; the Logline; the secondary character’s logline; major complication; third act trigger; the fortunately/unfortunately ending.
To end this chapter, Pilar asks the writer to describe their story as if it were a bedtime story, one act at a time. What this accomplishes? You create the skeleton of your story by filling in the blanks. And, as you discover new things about each character, and/or about your story, just go back and fill in the blanks with that new information.
Chapter One summary:
1. Brainstorm the story.
2. Create a character driven structure.
3. Create a ‘What if…’ logline.
4. Create a complication that leads you into the second act.
5. Write a brief synopsis so you get the beginning, middle, and end on paper.
6. Brainstorm backwards. Discover what ‘triggers’ your act three resolution.
7. Finally, get a better feel for your story by writing it out as if it were a bedtime story.
Now, on to Chapter Two: The structure.
Let me preface this by stating, again, I am a Four Act Structure kind’a guy (see previous posts for more info). That said, I like the way Pilar breaks down a script into four acts by splitting Act Two into two parts: Act IIa and Act IIb. Works for me.
In this chapter you will learn how to organize your story by giving each of the four (4) acts a title, like chapters in a book. Once you have done that, she then asks for a reveal for each of those acts. Using the script I am developing as an example, it goes something like this:
FIND YOUR FOUR-PART STRUCTURE
ACT I: Lost
ACT II: Fear
ACT IIb: Hope
ACT III: Redemption
Then you provide the reveals – incidents that push the story along into the next act:
ADD A REVEAL
ACT I: Lost - Trapped in underwater cave with no way out.
ACT II: Fear - Lead character must overcome his claustrophobia or, meet certain death.
ACT IIb: Hope - Lead character finds trail markers he left behind showing him the way back to the treasure, a possible way out.
ACT III: Redemption - Lead character must overcome his phobia in order to save Pixie’s life and recover the treasure.
What I have learned this week: nothing is written in stone. Don’t lock your story down, ever. As I went through these exercises I discovered different aspects to my characters: traits; actions they might take; relationships. As an example, last week I described Pixie as Handsome’s girlfriend; that has now changed to fiancée.
Also, you will discover that how a change in one character can, and will, affect your other characters; the plot; the tone of the story. All these things are linked together in a ‘storytelling synergy’. How’s that for a mouthful?
Guess that’s a wrap for this week. If you haven’t yet purchased the book I highly recommend that you do. Learn from the best as you,
Keep Writing!
Hello my peeps. Hope all is well with you and yours.
Last week I finished my tenth screenplay, Red Frenzy, and, in record time. The first draft was completed in six weekends (actually, 13 days) writing from 7am to 11am on saturdays and sundays (approx: 52 hours). Now, I don’t mention this to brag, only to demonstrate that you can hold down a full-time job, take care of family, cruise through life, and still write a script. Of course, it also helped that I wrote this as a short story many, many moons ago and the kernel for this screenplay had been rattling around inside my head for quite some time.
Not so my current screenplay.
This one will take much, much longer because I am trying a new approach. I’m letting Pilar Allesandra lead the way. Do you know of her? For those of you who do, great. For those of you who have been living on Mars for the past few years, go here to learn more: http://onthepagepodcast.com/
Sign up for her podcasts — she is one of smartest people you will come across when it comes to Story. You won’t be disappointed.
Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. The new approach.
Pilar has written a new book called: The Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes at a Time. Go here to order: http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Break-Screenwriter-Writing-Minutes/dp/1932907807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281795215&sr=1-1
I promise you I don’t get any kickbacks by recommending this book.
Any hooo, it is my intention to write this new script using her techniques. This will require much more time on my part, but speed is not my goal — writing the best script I possibly can, is.
And, it is my intention to share this journey with you all. I hope to post each week on my progress. What I have learned from the book and how it has improved my writing. I hope you will join me on this little expedition — could be fun.
Although I have not yet completed the first chapter — I’m on page 14 — I have completed the synopsis based on discovering Character Flaw, Concept, Secondary Character Loglines, and Complications. Here is my synopsis for the screenplay, Cocos Island:
Four friends awake in an underwater cavern, on an isolated island, unable to remember anything about their lives, how they got there, or why. Problems occur when they come to the realization: they’ve located a Spanish treasure worth millions and one of them will kill to keep it. Fortunately, they manage to overpower the killer, rediscover the treasure, and escape with their lives.
Hey! It’s a start.
What I learned: secondary characters have their own logline. For Cocos Island it goes something like this: (please note: because the characters DO NOT remember who they are, I refer to them, not by name, but by some trait).
Pixie (female lead): falls in love with the main character, Tattoo, only to discover he is her ex-husband.
Crew Cut: an ex-Mossad agent feels instinctively he has been hired to kill someone, but can’t remember who.
Handsome: Pixie’s current boyfriend. He has to decide between greed or survival.
That’s it for now — stay tuned for more as I,
Keep Writing!
Good morning. Long time no see. And that would be My Bad.
Things have been a tad nuts-o around La Casa Scherer this past month. With doctor appointments for my wife and my live-in Mother-in-law, home renovations, and of course, writing, there has been little time for anything else.
The writing goes well. Started a new spec on July 3rd and currently sit at seventy-five pages. Not bad considering I only get to write on weekends (I clock in at four hours per day) and with all the other turmoil swirling around me.
The contest season is almost over — for me at least. I entered several — I guess this is my Guilty Pleasure — and did not make the cut in any of them. I did my best in The Nicholl where my two scripts — BOOMSLANG and CARDINAL SIN — received the following comment in my condolence letter:
PS: Your script received two positive reads but was not among the top 20% of entries.
Color me sad L
How ‘bout you all? Any Quarter Finalists? Semi-finalists? However you place in your respective competitions, congratulations on the attempt. Lots of folks see a movie and say they could write a better flick, but few actually attempt the act and even fewer ever finish. If you have completed a screenplay and sent it out into the world, pat yourselves on the back. Well done.
Well, guess that’s a wrap for now. Gotta get back to the script. My goal is to have the first draft completed by the end of August and, because I am ahead of schedule, I might throw a rewrite in there too. Oh! The script is called, RED FRENZY. Here’s the logline:
A serial killer meets his match when he answers a lonely woman’s personal ad only to discover she is a bounty hunter hot on his trail — and a vampire.
Keep Writing!
Long time no see — how you all been? Productive, I hope.
Been busy trying to figure which project to work on for the last two weeks so, consequently, I have not been very productive. Shame on me.
Truth is, I have been writing. First, I worked on my thriller, Blackridge Omega. Stalled on that one. Then decided to do a rewrite of another script while I waited for my Muse to return. That went well for a week, then I put that aside too. Frustrating. Very frustrating to want to write — to feel the need to write — to have projects to work on — but don’t feel the writing. Poor me.
But this morning all that changed. I’ve been kicking around a story idea for a while now — the seed is a short story I wrote many, many moons ago — and this morning I wrote an extensive outline. Twelve pages of legal sized paper. Long hand. And tomorrow I will open my computer and begin the shitty first draft.
My Muse is back — perched on my shoulder.
Other than that, not much new to report. The weather has been extremely hot — 90s for the last two weeks — and a tad on the humid side. As for the business side of my screenwriting, still slugging away at those pesky query letters — some success. A few scripts are still out, a couple of treatments too. Some day lightning will strike. Until then, I live by the 3Ps — Perseverance. Perseverance. Perseverance.
Guess that’s a wrap for now. Hope you stay cool — your Muse sticks around — and you find the time to,
Keep Writing!
Got your attention? Good. You’re probably wondering what the hell does this Propp fellow have to do with screenwriting. Good question. A little backstory…
On my long commute to work I will sometimes listen to CDs from The Teaching Company — mostly historical in nature (I love Early Middle Age England) — but I digress. The last set of CDs I purchased — titled: Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind — discusses the literature of the fantastic (from the brothers Grimm to Asimov). Somewhere on the first CD the instructor mentions Vlad Propp and his ideas on story structure. Hmmmmm, I say to myself — on these long commutes I DO talk to myself — this sounds worth looking in to. And I did. Here is what I found out about good ol’ Mr. Propp over on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp)
In a nutshell…. Vlad broke Russian fairy tales down and discovered the all had a specific sequence of structures. Thirty-one to be exact. Not all thirty-one narrative structures where in every tale, but, he found that all the tales he analyzed displayed some subset of those functions. The list is long:
- ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
- INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero (’don’t go there’, ‘don’t do this’). The hero is warned against some action (given an ‘interdiction’).
- VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
- RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
- DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain’s seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
- TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim’s belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim). The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
- COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
- VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero’s family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
- MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
- BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counteraction. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
- DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
- FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
- HERO’S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary’s powers against him);
- RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
- GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
- STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
- BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
- VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
- LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
- RETURN: Hero returns;
- PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
- RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognizably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
- UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
- UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
- DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
- SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
- RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
- EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
- TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
- PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
- WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
He also concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types in the 100 tales he analyzed:
§ The villain — struggles against the hero.
§ The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
§ The magical helper — helps the hero in the quest.
§ The princess and…
§ her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
§ The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
§ The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
§ False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
Got it? Look familiar? Maybe, The Hero’s Journey?
In addition, Propp divided story into 4 segments:
1st Segment: Introduction (setting the scene)
2nd Segment: The Body of the Story (departure on the main quest)
3rd Segment: The Donor Sequence (hero gains a magical object, potential solution is reached)
4th Segment: The Hero’s return (hero returns, complications may arise, resolution)
Ahh, there’s that pesky Four Act Structure again. Gotta love it.
I haven’t finished my analysis of Propp’s work — I fully intend to — but I do believe a better understanding of how fairy tales work and how they are structured can do nothing but make me a better writer. Check it out, use what you like. Throw out what you don’t. But always,
Keep Writing!
The Bear Claw is gone. The coffee — dark roast — grows cold. And I sit here writing this blog entry ‘cause I just can’t bring myself to open Final Draft and load my current script. Writer’s Block, you may ask? Nope. Just don’t feel like writing. But I will.
I think the problem stems from my day job. Really. At my previous employer — before my current job some 30 months ago — I would get to work around 6:00 am; work through lunch or eat at my desk; then head for the bookstore around 2:30pm. Once at the bookstore I would write my screenplay in longhand on yellow legal pads for an hour each afternoon, then transcribe that gibberish to my computer on the weekends. I had rhythm.
Now, I get up at 4:00am; leave for work around 4:20am; arrive on the job at 5:30am (yes, that is correct. A 75 mile commute one way — 70 minutes drive time); work through lunch or eat at my desk; early afternoon meetings and/or conference calls; leave for home around 3:00pm; and, depending on traffic, arrive home around 4:30pm. No more bookstore. No more rhythm.
But, on weekends I have plenty of time to write. I arrive at my local Panera Bread when they open — 6:30am on Saturday; 7:30am on Sunday — and work until 11:30am. This gives me nine hours of ‘alone time’, time to write each weekend. My lovely bride is most generous and understanding about this and I really, really appreciate that generosity and understanding. The problem is, when I first sit down to write, I don’t feel the rhythm. I’m unsure where to start — how to start. It feels like the first time each and every Saturday and Sunday morning. But, after finishing my pastry, after my first cup of Joe, after checking the ball scores — the Cleveland Indians are having another crap year — I get down to brass tacks and write.
Which is where I am now. Thanks for listening. I’m ready. Ready to feel the rhythm. Ready to
Keep Writing!
I’m not a happy camper. Really. Why, you might ask? I haven’t written anything in several days. Eleven days to be exact. Eleven days, twenty-two hours, and thirty minutes to be precise. I know, who cares? But, not writing makes me, not happy.
I have spent the last eleven days, twenty-two hours, and thirty-odd minutes reading. Reading scripts. Lots of scripts. I’ve read scripts by Shane Black, Joe Eszterhas, Mike Werb & Michael Colleary, Quentin Tarantino, and all the Usual Suspects.
And, to be honest, I’m tired of reading scripts.
I miss the writing, the creativity, the time spent with my characters in their worlds. But, I did learn things. Things that will – I hope – make me a better writer. And the desire to become better writers is something none of us – regardless of where we are in our careers – should ever not strive for.
Okay, what did I learn?
· Action lines should be conversational in tone. After all, we are in the reader’s head telling them a story: Once upon on time…..
· Character dialogue should sound as if two friends are chatting with one another.
· Character introductions should cover both the physical and the emotional aspects of each character.
· Show character attitude through dialogue. If your character is a smart-ass, make him sound like a smart ass. If she is sweet and naïve, make her sound sweet and naïve.
· If there is a need for exposition and/or backstory, let it come out in a normal conversation between two characters.
· Note character reactions in Action lines.
· Characters can and should talk about another character to give us additional insight into that character.
· Leave your voice on the page.
Most of these points, if not all, we have heard or read before, but like most good advice it dribbles in one ear and pours out the other. It’s good from time to time to ‘re-educate’ ourselves; to dribble that advice into our heads over and over and over until it sticks.
How ‘bout you, my one or two faithful readers? How long have you ever gone without writing? How did it make you feel? Did you return to the keyboard resolved to be a better writer? Let me know.
Today, things change for the better. Today, I throw off the yoke of despair. Today, I can be happy again as I,
Keep Writing!
Had an unproductive week – no screenwriting as such. Been spending time completing my treatments (see last post) and working on my ‘voice’. I’m working with an ex-development exec and script reader who likes my writing, I guess, but found my voice anonymous. Consequently, he offered to mentor me.
When I asked for clarification about the voice thing, he stated that when reading my scripts there was nothing on the page telling him that this is a ‘Mike Scherer’ script. My writing doesn’t have attitude unlike, say, Shane Black. I must agree. And, I discovered this for myself a few weeks back (see post: Liked it, didn’t love it). So, for now, I am working to put my voice on the page.
Back on the query front… I’ve been having limited success. Getting plenty of reads and plenty of PASSES, but, with encouraging words. For example, Would love to read something else; or, Keep my in mind for future projects. So, I decided to try something new and different. I put together a document listing all of my completed and polished scripts along with the genre, and a logline. Included in this document are projects in various stages of completion – my future projects.
I then sent this document to those producers who responded favorably – two, to be exact. After all, this was an experiment – and both responded with script requests. So….. I would highly recommend that you, my faithful two or three readers, do the same. When a producer and/or manager asks: What else you got? Send them the list.
Guess that’s a wrap for now. Back to my coffee and Bear Claw and my voice.
Keep Writing!
Hello, my Peeps – hope everyone had a successful week of writing.
Received my confirmation emails from the Nicholl this week. Is it just me, or are there fewer entries this year? I submitted my entries on March 28th and in my confirmation letter my submissions are numbered 1280, 1281, and 1282. On April 9th, when I received my emails, Mr. Beal stated that, to date there had been 2228 entries. Hmmmm. Now, March 28th leaves 33 days left until the deadline on May 1st. And Apri 9th leaves 21. So what, you might ask? Well, last year the Nicholl had 6380 entries and with 21 days to go the Nicholl is 4152 entries short of last year’s total. Are fewer folks trying to break into the biz? Have contests lost their appeal? Will Mr. Beal and company suffer a deluge of scripts to the tune of 4000+ in three weeks? (insert shrug) — I dunno. Just find it curious is all. Stay tuned.
On a different note, I did something this week I swore I would never, ever do. I… wrote a treatment.
I had a producer tell me he didn’t have time to read my script, Boomslang, so, “…could you please send me a treatment?”. I know, I know. This is like writing for free, but his reasoning made sense to me: producers are very busy people – at least the successful ones are – and that I would get a better response to my queries if I offered up a treatment instead of the completed screenplay. So…
I caved. And let me tell you, writing a treatment if tough, real tough. That said, I can see the wisdom in his words, so I have decided to write treatments for all of my scripts and to change my query letters to offer the reader a choice: treatment or script.
Finally, the queries are still flying out of my computer at a torrid pace. The response has been lukewarm at best, but I am a firm believer in the 3Ps: Perseverance. Perseverance. Perseverance. My philosophy is this: Query producers who produce movies in your genre, then throw’em up against the wall – the queries, not the producers – and see what sticks. Getting noticed / discovered / produced is a matter of reaching the right person at the right time with the right material. So, onward and upward and always,
Keep Writing!
