What Does It Matter, Anyway?

Writing is something that either consumes you or it doesn't. There's not really any in-between.

Some of the most talented writers alive may have no sense of passion, and we must forever wonder what stories were lost because they just didn't have enough passion to actually write. Other writers may have plenty of passion, but are simply too distracted -- too overdosed on information -- to put words on a page.

Writers' block is real. Don't ever think it's not. But don't think it's incurable, either. The best cure for writers' block is to stop. Shut off everything and detox. Give yourself a week without internet, social media, TV news, movies, TV shows. Give your brain a chance to rest.

Your voice is important because you are the only you in the whole wide world. If you're struggling to write despite your desire to write, then it's a sign of imbalance inside you. Give yourself permission to unplug. Give yourself permission to play. Give yourself permission to write.

Not happy with the quality of your writing Know that if you're reading this, I believe in you. Even if your writing is terrible, it can get better if you give it time. But you're going to have to write. You're going to have to figure out how to write well by writing a lot of bad stuff. You're gong to have to get all the bad writing out of your system so that the only thing left is good writing.

Only you can write what you write. So write boldly. Write with passion. Write the things you're afraid for anyone to know you wrote. Write like your life depends on it.

Does Your Story Pass This One Simple Test?

Writers are a funny lot.

We forget what it's like to be a fan. Not just that, we forget what made us fans to begin with.

I have movies I love--that I absolutely, unequivocally love. These are movies that have influenced both my life and my desire to write. Nobody else I know likes these movies. Nobody else I know wants to sit through these movies. These movies got made, but they failed to find an audience.

What do all really big movies have in common? They have a concept that's easy to understand.

As a writer, if you want your ideas to catch fire with readers, you need to make sure your concept is simple and straightforward. Think about it. Do you want to see a movie if you have no clue what it's about after watching the trailer?

Maybe you've heard of the elevator pitch. This is the 15-30 second, one-sentence pitch that embodies the essence of your big idea. It doesn't matter if you're pitching a novel, a screenplay, or a new business venture, the money people will all want that elevator pitch and they'll want it to be very, very good. I've heard it said your elevator pitch better be so good that someone would write you a check for a million dollars on the spot.

If it's not that good, then keep working on it.

Can you sum up your idea in one sentence that well? Would your story pass the elevator pitch test?

A Secret to a Hollywood Career

From Stephanie Palmer at Good in a Room:

http://goodinaroom.com/blog/how-to-be-a-writer-executives-want-to-hire/

Why Most Screenwriting Advice on the Internet is Crap

I saw a tweet the other day that wasn't directed at me (at least, I don't think I've made enough of an impact to inspire anyone's tweet), but it sure could've been directed at me. So, I wanted to address it. It basically said, "The only thing you've ever written is advice to other writers on how to sell their work", or something like that. It had been favorited and retweeted many times so clearly it's a sentiment that many people share about a variety of self-professed writing gurus.

If you look at my bio, you'll see that I readily admit I have no publishing credits, no optioned or sold screenplays, and I probably shouldn't call myself a writer. So, why do I call myself a writer, since I obviously suck so bad? Because I don't suck, and I am a writer, and I have written a lot of work in my life that you'll probably never read.

People tend to think that selling work as a writer is easy. It can be easy, or it can be extremely difficult. There are a lot of factors other than the quality of writing that determine whether or not one's writing sells. I may be one of the greatest screenwriters in the world, but I'm such a jerk that nobody wants to do business with me. Or maybe I have a medical condition that makes pursuing my dreams nearly impossible. Or maybe I have legal and financial obligations that preclude the screenwriting career I always dreamed of. Or maybe I'm just BSing you and I don't know anything about writing.

Basic Vocabulary: Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is something almost all writers know about even before they pick up the pen to write. Foreshadowing is simply the process of putting hints into the story about major future events.  

What you may not have thought about is how either are two distinct kinds of foreshadowing: direct foreshadowing and indirect (aka ironic) foreshadowing. 

Direct foreshadowing is exactly what it sounds like -- a scene that directly parallels a future scene. Nazis come in at the first act, drag our a business owner for assisting Jews, and shoot him. Then, the protagonist spends the whole film helping Jews, only to be confronted at the end by Nazis looking to shoot him. It's a direct parallel that, in this case, build a sense of danger of dread into the story throughout the second act. 

In GOODFELLAS, Joe Pesci's character kills a made man in the mob. It's explained at the time that made men were untouchable, off-limits. Later on, Pesci's character is tapped to become a made man in the mob at a private ceremony, isolated from his friends. Without giving spoilers, even if you've never seen the movie you probably can guess what's going to happen. 

Indirect foreshadowing is when you have an event or series of events that are the exact opposite of what's going to happen. Let's say a character makes a series of thematic, over-the-top suicide attempts where they will almost certainly be stopped that never really come closer to working but are mostly for show. These attempts may be ironic foreshadowing of the characters events suicide. Maybe this character hangs himself or shoots himself in a remote location. Or a character can continually put himself on dangerous situations thought the story, always coming out alive, only to die by being hit by a bus while crossing the street or fall down icy stairs. In this case, all that foreshadowing was meant to lull the audience into a false sense of security. Think about THE GODFATHER, when Vito dies. We hardly expect his death because he's survived so much. 

Ironic foreshadowing can also be used to set your protagonist up for a stellar ending. A protagonist who fails at one particular challenge throughout the story, only top be confronted by this same challenge at the climax, is being set up to fail. When that protagonist succeeds, because of newfound strength out help from unlikely allies, the audience is both surprised and happy. 

Use foreshadowing like a horseradish garnish: light and gently. Used effectively, it can really elevate the audience reaction to your story. 

- The Illiterate Writer

Building Stories that WOW

I'm going to share some of the best writing advice I've ever heard. Are you ready for this? Maybe you already know it and this is just useless reading for you, but it revolutionized my writing life.

Figure out the end of the story first and work your way backwards.

Get that? Figure out the beginning of your story before you type FADE IN:

I can't tell you how powerful this advice has been. Why? Because if you have your ending worked out in advance, then everything you write is building toward that ending. Plus you get the added benefit of being able to make the ending as powerful as possible before you've written a singe word.

Have you ever watched a movie or TV show where the ending was a total surprise, but when you re-watched it, there were clues all throughout the story as to how it would eventually end? Knowing the ending in advance allows you to weave all kinds of clues and foreshadowing into the plot organically, without it feeling so forced. It also lets you focus on what's important to the story to propel the characters toward the end and eliminate scenes and sequences that don't really pay-off in the story. An added benefit is that knowing the ending can help keep you from getting stuck along the way, as you'll know what direction you need the story to advance and that will give you a better idea how each scene and sequence should progress.

If your goal is to write lean -- say, a taut thriller or a horror -- knowing the ending at the outset is crucial. Even for love stories and character-driven drama, it can add a whole other level of richness to your story without a lot of extra work.

-The Illiterate Writer

Basic Outlining

To outline or not to outline? Let me save you some time and answer that for you: outline.

Over the years I've heard a lot of writers complain and moan about how the characters live I their head and they're surprised where the story goes while theirs writing it and how they wanted it to end one way but the characters wanted something different... if this is you, just stop it. Not only does it make you sound like a blithering idiot to everyone outside your Facebook group, but it sends signals to decision makers higher up the chain that you're not somebody they can depend on to deliver.

In the real world, where money changes hands and contacts are signed with real legal consequences for breaking the conditions of said contacts, nobody cares about your schizophrenic relationship with writing. In the real world, people with money want to see outlines and treatments, and they want to know that you can write the story they're paying you to write.

If you understand nothing else, understand that Hollywood works like any other industry. You get paid to deliver. You are expected to deliver on time. You better give the person writing the checks what they want if you have any hope of getting more checks later on. Hollywood isn't a place to go experience creative liberty. If total artistic freedom and uninhibited creative expression is what you want, I'm sorry to say, screenwriting is not the path for you. Moviemaking is collaborative, and there are a lot of people who can have a say in the development of the story, not just the writer.