Dispatch From The Quest: Miranda Sajdak
Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding of the craft from the experiences of the Questers. I should also add they are a great group of people, so I expect you will enjoy getting to know them.
Today: Miranda had a tough week… but for some good reasons:
This week was brutal! If I were to assess one area of weakness in my writing, it would be dialogue. Dialogue is difficult. As a reader, the most frequent note I give to other writers is that their dialogue is too on-the-nose, or too full of exposition, or doesn’t sound realistic. I also am constantly reading scripts in which every character sounds the same. Unique, realistic, expressive dialogue is HARD.
And, as a writer myself, I know just how hard it is to make dialogue really work. I’m not looking to write the next “here’s looking at you, kid.” I’m just looking to write something that doesn’t sound awful or unoriginal. This week, fortunately, Sandy came up with a good idea: let’s take one of our other scripts (which we’ve been working on together for a few months) and work with that. Finding a way to rework a different, more familiar script was a good gear-shift for me, especially after the intensity of last week’s scene writing process.
Additionally, the focus on subtext in the scene-writing actually helped kickstart some good ideas for all our projects. I work well within a given set of requirements, and exercise 2 this week really helped me stretch as a writer.
We also were assigned a monologue passage, which we needed to tackle with our current Quest script. That passage was as difficult — if not more so — than the second exercise. Getting inside the head of a specific character, and articulating their needs, while making their dialogue distinct, is difficult at best.
This week helped me also recognize that this project is grueling, primarily as it’s so close to me: it’s the only feature I’ve ever been involved in writing that really feels like a culmination of all my years of movie-watching/film-related education — so it matters that it be good, that it feel real, and that it be incredibly entertaining. Even the little, minor details are starting to claw their way to the surface, and I know I’m being harder on myself and the script than I need to be with this one. That said, I genuinely believe in this script, and I know it needs to be great to truly be noticed.
I am finding, overall, though, that these exercises are helping my other work immensely. Though I care far less about some of my other scripts’ characters, these exercises are helping develop ways to draft solid stories and emotions for them to experience. As such, I’m finding that The Quest is improving not just this current script, but also my writing as a whole. As many writers are employed writing others’ ideas, it’s important to be able to write strong scenes and sequences, even when you’re not invested personally in the stories or characters. That said, given that this Quest script IS one truly I care about, I know I’ll be consistently struggling to make this draft the best it can be — a fantastic, limits-pushing feature, with strong character arcs and storylines. And, of course, great dialogue.
Writing is hard. So I think we can all thank Miranda for her honesty. Any time a writer has the courage to go public with the hardships of the craft, that reminds each of us — we are not alone.
Two observations:
* Each of us has writing strengths. It’s great to acknowledge and develop those. Conversely most of us have areas which need work. We can only get better if we recognize them as deficiencies and put effort into improving them. The fact Miranda is willing to take on the challenge of getting better at writing dialogue speaks to her quality as a writer.
* Reading Miranda’s words, her passion for this particular project is palpable. Of course, that is a good thing as it will drive her to do whatever she can, along with her writing partner Sandy, to nail the story. However the sheer fact this project is so important to Miranda can translate into significant pressure. Sometimes pressure is a benefit, inspiring us to prove we can do it. On the other hand, pressure can magnify the importance of every scene, every page, even every line, and left unchecked, that can stifle our creativity.
So a good approach: Find a balance. Embrace your passion. You need that to go into the story and find the animals. At the point that translates into pressure, to the degree that motivates you, great. If that starts to squelch your creative instincts or even your productivity, that’s when you need to set aside your attachments.
Tomorrow: Another Dispatch From The Quest.
About Miranda: New Englander turned Angeleno by way of New York. Enjoys: high-powered action films, dark dramas, and ’90s legal thrillers. Does not enjoy: the dentist. Mushrooms. @ScriptChix.
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