Interview [Video]: Dustin Lance Black

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has started a documentary series called Academy Originals. Here is an interview with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award for his script Milk. It’s a fascinating look at his prep-writing process which leads to his “vomit” (first) draft.

I was really interested to see the table Lance works on because I interviewed him a few years ago and we discussed our mutual affection for using index cards:

DLB: Then what I do is find the scenes that speak to that, and I put them on note cards. I have this table in my kitchen that’s of a certain size that I think is about two hours. And I start laying out these note cards and if they start to spill over the table, I know I’ve got to cut stuff. I keep doing and doing and doing it, going through it and through it and through it, combining things, telescoping time, combining characters if I have to until these cards fit on this table, then I think, Will this collection of cards communicate the reason for this film? And hopefully do so in a dramatic and entertaining way.

SM: It’s funny that with all the technology available, I talk to so many writers who still like to work with those three-by-five inch index cards. Like we need that tactile experience of working with those cards and seeing the story come into shape.

DLB: You can see it all laying out in front of you. And you’d have to have a massive computer screen to see the entire story. Plus there’s no program I know of, not yet at least, that allows you to take a fine tip Sharpie and scribble something in the corner of a note card that’s already crammed with ideas. It’s collage and art. I don’t know of a program that’s loose enough to accommodate the craft, because it’s still a craft, crafting a screenplay.

Ever since I spoke with Lance, I kept trying to imagine what “certain size” table he has that translates into a two hour movie. Well, there it is in the video. In fact at the 3:40 mark in the video, Lance flat out says about scenes he’s had to cut, “There’s not room. I don’t have any more room on that table.”

There’s a lot of takeaway from this short video, especially about the prep-writing process, but perhaps the single most important message from Lance comes right at the beginning:

That’s where I start. Taking an idea, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, and figuring out why. Not just what you’re gonna tell. Not that it’s entertaining or interesting, but why are you telling that story. What is the purpose of that story.

This speaks to a writer’s emotional and psychological connection to the material. And that is so critical to the process. It’s challenging enough to start writing a story, let alone finish it. If you have a clear perspective on why you need to write it, you are much more likely to complete it… and write it well.

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