Countdown to “The Quest”: Day 4
On Monday, July 16, a mere four days from now, you will have the opportunity to Go On Your Own Quest [GOYOQ]. If you are just now entering this conversation, you may go here for details.
I am posting a series of items this week to help prepare those of you who want to spend the next 24 weeks digging into screenwriting theory, and prepping, then writing the first draft of an original screenplay alongside the participants in “Go Into The Story: The Quest.”
Today: Screenwriting Practice.
Along with reflecting about your own approach to screenwriting theory, as I detailed here yesterday, there is also screenwriting practice, the actual process you have developed to write a screenplay.
Of course, some of you may not have a process that you have locked down. Or you may have an amorphous, loosey-goosey set of practices.
Let me go on record as saying — again — there is no right way to write. If, for example, one time you work up an extensive outline, then the next script you go straight to FADE IN and work out your story on the fly, if that random approach works for you, kudos. Some writers absolutely need a sense of freedom to create.
However it is hard to imagine how a writer could maintain a career as a professional screenwriter or especially TV writer without developing a pretty specific set of writing practices. We have deadlines to turn in drafts. We go up for writing assignments which require us to break down and analyze a story, then come up with a new take all within a matter of weeks, sometimes even days. We get called in for production rewrites that come with an enormous pressure to produce solutions right now.
Remember at a fundamental level, Hollywood perceives writers as problem-solvers, therefore the ability to identify problems, then come up with solutions quickly is an incredibly important skill-set to have. And that will almost always require the writer have some sort of process in place.
I have already shared my process: How I Write A Script. Before you Go On Your Own Quest, I encourage you to reflect about your screenwriting practices. Perhaps, too, project into the near future. If you do choose to use the GOYOQ structure to write an original screenplay by the end of the year, here are two things you will confront:
* Six weeks of Prep: Working on and working out your story before you type FADE IN. The writers I pick to participate in “Go Into The Story: The Quest” will have all committed to creating an extensive outline, ideally the entire story, scene-by-scene. If you don’t like working with an outline or have never tried it, I encourage you to embrace the idea of it at least this one time. I would say that the vast majority of writers with whom I have worked in Prep, they have found the experience of creating an outline to be a hugely positive one because it makes the actual page-writing easier, even fun because all those big questions about whether your story works have pretty much been answered before you type FADE IN.
* Ten weeks of Pages: This involves a commitment to pounding out pages week after week, setting deadlines and hitting them. It also requires that you only move forward, no going back, no rewriting, no editing. Whatever ideas you come up with or revelations you have, simply note them for future rewrites, and keep your focus on getting to FADE OUT. Remember in my view, there is only one rule in screenwriting and that is about the first draft: Get the damn thing done!
So as you sit here today reading this post, you are four days away from the chance to Go On Your Own Quest. As you prepare yourself mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the challenge, take some time to reflect on your screenwriting practices — and consider how doing Prep and Pages may benefit your process.
Tomorrow: What are my strengths as a writer?
UPDATE: On the “Go Into The Story: The Quest” front, I have settled on the group of writers who I am inviting to participate in the inaugural session of this project. I am emailing them individually as well as all the other finalists as this item posts and into tonight.
Tomorrow [Friday at 6PM Eastern] here on GITS, I plan to announce the Questers.
Next week I will post more information about the free Core or Craft class available to everyone who submitted a logline to “Go Into The Story: The Quest.” As I have pledged, I will make sure that everyone has the opportunity to take a complimentary class through three options: Lectures, an actual Class, or a condensed version of the class in the form of a Webinar [hope to begin those in August].
And then I do intend to go back through all 3500+ loglines that were submitted for “The Quest,” giving myself more time to consider each one. I suspect I will find some diamonds-in-the-rough, other writers who I will contact to discuss their stories.
Stay tuned!
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