In this article posted on http://bluecatscreenplay.com, the author explains how to get the most out of feedback on your writing.
Category: Writing Tips
Writing process: Getting ideas
In this article posted on http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com, the author provides tips on how to come up with an idea for a screenplay. The suggestions could help with most any writing project. For instance:
- Set limits on your project. Know exactly what it is you want to write.
- Read newspapers to get ideas.
- Watch documentaries.
- Take a drive in your car.
- Go for a walk.
- Take the day off and visit garage sales.
- Learn a new sport.
- Ask yourself what’s troubling you.
How to write faster
In this blog, Ali Luke lists seven steps to faster writing. I’ve listed the seven steps below. To find out why Luke thinks they’re important, read her blog.
1. Find Your Best Writing Time
2. Minimize Interruptions
3. Cut Out Distractions
4. Write an Outline
5. Set a Timer
6. Start Wherever You Want
7. Don’t Edit While You Write
Writing process: Act two
A writing tip from Ken Atchity’s “Musings of a Story Merchant” blog:
“Act 2 is the Sahara Desert of writing a novel or screenplay, and it’s much more than merely the bridge between Acts 1 and 3. One way to deal with it effectively is to divide Act 2 itself into three acts—and, while you’re at it, divide each of those into three mini-acts. The division by three is powerful even down to the page, paragraph, and sentence level. It keeps the reader involved all the time! ”
Writing process: Shadow side
Below I’ve listed a few ideas from the article “Hollywood Shadow?” by Dana Goodyear. The article about writing was published in the March 21, 2011 issue of the New Yorker.
- Your shadow side is the source of creativity and flow. The shadow is your unpleasant and underdeveloped side. If you can understand your shadow, you can understand anyone’s; and your writing will touch on universal themes, making it more marketable and more personally gratifying.
- Assert your shadow’s right to have something to say.
- Give your shadow the respect it deserves.
- Procrastination is resistance against time.
- Writing is a kind of death.
- Accept the authority of process over external authority.
- Don’t resist process.
What I’m reading: The Writer’s Journey
I’m reading (well, re-reading) Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Although the book focuses on the structure of screenplays, the information can be applied to other forms of storytelling, as can the descriptions of archetypes that characters represent.
Magazine vs. newspaper writing
Here’s one writer’s take on the differences between writing for newspapers and magazines:
http://www.freelancewriting.com/articles/newspaper-vs-magazine-work.php
Tip of the day: Writing with style
If you’re a freelance writer (or want to be one), you know it’s important to write the best article you can and turn it in on time. But wait — after you turn your article in, your job may be done, but your editor’s job has just started. In many cases, it’s her job (or the copy editor’s) to make sure your article conforms to the publication’s style sheet. The closer your article follows those rules, the less work for your editor, who will then think kindly upon you when making future assignments.
A magazine’s style sheet is its list of rules covering everything from what words are capitalized to what numbers are spelled out. Each publication has its own set of rules, although many style sheets have a lot in common. To make sure you aren’t breaking those rules, ask for a copy of the publication’s style sheet. If none is available, take a few minutes to study the publication and ask yourself: Are the titles of books put in quotation marks or italics? Are there certain words that are abbreviated? In headlines, what letters are uppercase? Or you can compare your submitted copy with the published version and note any differences. Understanding those style issues can go a long way toward getting that next assignment.
What I’m reading: The Perfect Screenplay (continued)
I found some more notes I took while reading The Perfect Screenplay by Katherine Atwell Herbert:
Each scene needs to:
- Have a purpose and story arch
- Tell a small piece of the story
- Push the plot forward
- Reveal something about the characters
When writing dialogue:
- Save the most important information until the end
- Give each character a unique voice
- Make sure the characters are doing something while talking; avoid talking heads
Act I:
- Introduces the main characters, their relationships and personalities
- Establishes the setting and time period
Act II:
- Includes complications and subplots and reveals more about each character
- Shows the personal side of the protagonist by revealing what he would do if all his problems were solved
- It’s here that things get really bad and the protagonist loses all hope in himself
- Remember to dramatize the theme
- Vary the tone, rhythm and length of scenes to keep things interesting
- Use subplots to add texture and cultural variety
Act III:
- Often opens with the main character at a low point
- Main character somehow gathers himself together to try again
- Encouragement to keep going may come from another character
- Eventually the main character figures out what’s been holding him back and preventing him from reaching his goal
Climax:
- Make sure the hero is on stage and facing the antagonist
- Don’t rush this scene
Post climax:
- Often includes a hint of marriage or a promise of a future relationship
What I’m reading: The Perfect Screenplay
I just finished reading The Perfect Screenplay: Writing It and Selling It by Katherine Atwell Herbert (Allworth Press, 2005).
After getting over my initial resistance to the title (“Perfect Screenplay”? What’s that?) I was able to find several useful suggestions in the book. The tips can help all writers, not just those writing screenplays:
1. Screenplays have a premise and a theme. The premise explains what the main character has to do. The theme is what the film is really about (the lesson learned). For example, in the Million Dollar Baby movie, the premise is that a young woman, estranged from her family and lacking any resources, seeks self-respect and a career, so takes up professional boxing. The movie’s themes are there’s a price to pay for your dreams and an artificially sustained life is no life at all.
2. A phone pitch about a screenplay should include a punchy two-liner about the project. (Try writing a two-liner about your writing project, whatever it is).
3. Some film companies hire readers to analyze submitted scripts. Here are some of the elements readers look at: premise, story line, characterization, structure and dialogue. (Keep those elements in mind when you’re assessing your own writing).
Nancy Woods 