Interview [Part 6]: Geoff LaTulippe

One of the more active and colorful voices in the online screenwriting community is Geoff LaTulippe. Writer of the 2010 romantic comedy Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, Geoff also has a blog, is co-host (along with Scott Beggs) of the popular Broken Projector podcast, and is quite active on Twitter (@DrGMLaTulippe).

Geoff and I had a wide-ranging back and forth via email about his background, the development and production of Going the Distance, and the craft of screenwriting.

Today in Part 6, Geoff shares his thoughts on several aspects of the screenwriting craft:

Scott: Some craft questions. How do you come up with story ideas?

Geoff: Man, I don’t know if I have a good answer for this. Lots of things intrigue me, and every once in a while a concept just gets stuck in your head and the only way to get it out is to turn it into a story. That seems to be how most of my stuff comes about.

I also just pull from real life a lot. The Everyday is a limitless well from which to draw inspiration. For me, anyway. So if something funny or scary or interesting happens to me, the first thing I think is, “Can I turn that into a script?” Which I think makes me kind of a concept whore, but I’m OK with that.

Scott: How important do you think the story concept is to the overall strength and commercial viability of a screenplay, specifically a spec script?

Geoff: I don’t know if that’s for me to say. There are countless movies that I see an ad or trailer for and think that it’s not for me, but then I end up seeing it and am blown away, wondering, “How in the HELL did you make me care about gay cowboys in circa-1980s Wyoming?????”

I think, all other things being equal, people respond more to great writing than they respond to OK writing about a topic they’re in love with. So, in my opinion, concept is only half the equation. And if a story is really, truly great, you can turn any audience onto anything.

Scott: We’ve talked before about your approach to prep-writing, how you’re pretty adamant about not working up an outline, instead you prefer to write a short story type version of the narrative, then go to pages from that. Could you describe your prep process, why it works for you, and why outlining does not?

Geoff: I don’t even like writing treatments, ideally; unfortunately, I have to deal with them because they’re part of the pitching process. It’s a necessary evil, but it’s not my preferred mode of operation.

Generally, I just start with some scribbled-down notes and a general idea of where I want the story to go and how I want it to end up. Then I just go. I generate my best ideas (or at least the ideas I like the most) on the fly. If I pre-plan too much of a script, I start to feel constricted by what I’ve predetermined and my creativity suffers.

Most of the fun of writing, for me, is discovering MYSELF where the story is going to go. Hell, that’s ALL the fun of writing. Getting to be party to that surprise. If I outline, I deprive myself of that. And then writing becomes a job, and it’s less fun and I’m just not as good at it.

Scott: How do you go about developing your characters? Any specific tips or tools you find yourself using regularly?

Geoff: Mostly, think you just have to be a student of people. If you know people, you will NEVER lack for characters, no matter what genre of script you’re writing. It helps to know unique people, and it helps even more to engage them and peel back their layers.

I firmly believe that the more you have this outlook, the better your characters will be and the more the audience will cling to them. Moviegoers want to have a visceral experience — they want to feel like they know these characters onscreen. So what better way to accomplish that than work from people we all know?

I think one thing that’s focused on WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much is “likability”. Fuck likability. Give me someone who’s bleak and damaged and awful any day over someone who’s just happy and saves puppies. I don’t care if your character is likable — I only care if he or she or it is interesting and entertaining and engaging. That’s all that matters.

Scott: What about dialogue? How do you go about finding your characters’ voices? How can a writer develop their ability writing dialogue?

Geoff: Again, I really think it’s all about listening to how people speak in the real world, and then stylizing it if you need to. Everything you write, whether it’s a romantic comedy or a space alien actioner, is filtered through your experiences in the world. Those experiences, by and large, are FILLED with people. Why not authentically reproduce how they talk, putting your own spin and spice on it?

That’s why I’m a big advocate of having stuff read out loud, even just to yourself. You realize quickly if this is anything someone would ever say in any circumstance. Or not.

As a side note, one of my favorite things to do is think back over passionate debates or arguments I’ve had, and then write down the things I WISH I’d said in the heat of the moment. That makes for some really excellent quips.

Scott: How would you define theme? How important is it? Do you start with themes or do they arise in the context of developing and writing the story?

Geoff: Theme, to me, is the ultimate notion that you’re trying to get across with your story. Love is Hard. Space is Dangerous. Hope is Lost. Whatever it is, you have to ask yourself, “If I had to give it to the audience in one sentence, what would be the POINT of all this?”

The good news is that, in talented writers, I think it comes out organically. It’s not something you have to force. But it IS something you have to consider, or why are you writing the fucking thing in the first place? Why bother?

Scott: What do you think about when writing a scene? What are your goals?

Geoff: Keep. The reader. Engaged. As far as I’m concerned, this is the ONLY rule of screenwriting. However you can do it, entertain the reader. Make sure they can’t put the script down. If you’ve done that, little else matters. If you haven’t done that, NOTHING else matters.

So that’s all I think about: did I just keep my reader wanting to read more. And even then, I only think that at the end of the first draft when I’m getting ready to rewrite and refine. Mostly, I just go, knowing that I’m going to have to come back and fix some of it anyway. But getting something on the page is more important than anything else the first time through.

Scott: What keys do you have to write entertaining scene description?

Geoff: I think scene description should, again, engage the reader as much (or more) than anything. I’ve often had lines of scene description that someone has pointed to and said, “This should be dialogue!” And sometimes they’re right. And other times, I feel like that’s a perfect compliment and I’ve done my job.

Scene description is a GREAT place to talk to your audience, to shape the story how you want it to be shaped in the tone you want it to be taken. As long as you’re not overly showy or melodramatic about it, you’ll catch someone’s attention. Scene description is often just that — description. Why? Have some fun with it. Readers remember that stuff.

Scott: When you finish a first draft, you are faced with the inevitable rewriting process. Are there some keys you have to rewriting your scripts and if so what are they?

Geoff: I let people I trust look it over and give me notes. Then I absorb those and jump back in. My first draft is there to say, “Here are all my ideas. Let me know what works and what doesn’t.” I take that data along with my own feelings and any suggested direction from my creative partners and dive back in.

And here’s the most important thing I’ve learned about rewriting: my job is to decide what notes I think are worth taking to heart and which I think are worth pushing back against. But when it’s all said and done, the best I can do is give everyone what they want in MY WAY. That’s been such a sun challenge on every project I’ve ever worked on where there’s a note that HAS to be addressed. I might not like the direction the note takes the story, but it’s on ME to find a way to solve the problem in a manner that makes ME happy. That notion has freed me up to take a lot of interesting chances.

Scott: What is your actual writing process?

Geoff: All depends on how much work there is and what my deadlines are. I have an office in my apartment, so I work there. If there’s lots of work, I work every day. If there’s not, I take the day off. I like not having any real structure. Keeps every day interesting. And I’m always writing SOMETHING, even if it’s not a screenplay, so I rarely get “rusty”.

Not big on writing to music — just never felt helpful or unhelpful to me. Once I get going I kind of get lost in the words and all the rest gets tuned out anyway.

Scott: What is your single best excuse not to write?

Geoff: Best? I just don’t want to, or I’m just not feeling that I “have it” that day. The former is far rarer than the latter. If I feel like I don’t have it, I don’t push it. I walk away, recollect myself, and try again later. It’ll always come. Sometimes it takes longer than others, but it’ll always come.

Scott: What do you love most about writing?

Geoff: The exploration. Finding the world inside myself and forcing it outside myself. The discovery of what I find there. I don’t know if I’M very fascinating as a person, but some of the things that have come out of me…I’m quite proud of.

Scott: Where do you see yourself in 5–10 years? In an ideal word, what are you doing?

Geoff: Hopefully in a place where I’m considered an interesting writer who takes chances and has something that no one else has. That’s the dream, anyway — to be indispensable.

Other than that, just chugging along, writing things that interest me and producing things that I could never write myself. I’ve got my fingers crossed. Which makes it hard to type.

I might have to rethink some things.

Scott: Finally what advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters about the learning the craft and breaking into Hollywood?

Geoff: Read every script you can get your hands on. Write until your fingers bleed. Don’t spend any money you don’t need to spend on people who can’t help you get better or put your script into the hands of someone who can because the people who really CAN do those things won’t charge you money to do it. Move to Los Angeles — the chances it’s going to happen for you anywhere else are abysmally infinitesimal. Develop a thick skin — if criticism breaks you, you’re not a writer; you’re just someone who strings words together.

For God’s sake, ENJOY writing. If you’re not doing it in the first place because you love it, you’re never going to do it well. Writing is a lot of things, but it’s never a hobby. You either write with a goal in mind or you’re putting together a really nice diary.

Drink at least occasionally. Not so you can write while you’re shitfaced — so that you have more ridiculous experiences to write ABOUT.

For Part 1, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

Geoff is repped by WME.

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