Dispatch From The Quest: Paul Wie
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: Paul with the “Top Ten Things I Learned About Writing This Week”:
1. Good writing takes A LOT OF TIME to get right, so write a lot and allot enough time to write.
2. Rewrite until you can’t possibly rewrite anymore (aka until your deadline). Then rewrite again — after you’ve had some time away from your work.
3. Just like how a runner can get runner’s high, a writer can get writer’s high after a good day of writing. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. I’m sure if you can end each day with that feeling, you can sustain a writing habit for the rest of your life.
4. Earn your rewards. A nice dinner, a night at the movies, a night out with friends — these pleasures in life are exponentially more enjoyable after a good day’s work. If you skip the work and go straight for the reward, you’ll enjoy it less and feel kind of guilty about it.
5. Writing scenes is the key to experimenting with different elements of your story. Sometimes you never know if a plot point or a character will work until you write it out in Courier Final Draft Size 12 font.
6. “Taste is a result of a thousand distastes”. This is a quote from my favorite director, Francois Truffaut, and he speaks the truth here. I’ve had so many distastes this past week that they’ve only reaffirmed my taste for the movies I love.
7. Writing a bad scene takes as much work as writing a good scene. Turning a bad scene into a good scene takes even more work — and the help of divine powers.
8. A well-lived life gives a sense of reality and truth to the work you create — but for an aspiring writer, this can feel like a catch-22. It’s not easy to make a living, write, AND try to have meaningful life experiences at the same time. But somehow, it must be done.
9. Exercise daily. A nice run, a long walk, a soccer match with friends — anything to clear your head, get your blood flowing, and fill your lungs with fresh air will help you cope with the demands of writing.
10. Embrace the difficulties. Because writing is always difficult. I’ve rarely found this work to be easy. If you write poorly, at least you’ll know how NOT to write something. Then once in a while, you’ll find a piece of gold, and it’ll all be worth it.
Obviously the goal of The Quest is for the participants to craft a script that lands them representation and a deal. But there is this consideration as well: What they learn in our 24 weeks together:
* In Core, 48 lectures, dozens of insider tips and techniques covering eight essential subjects related to screenwriting.
* In Prep, a proven six stage approach to prep-writing.
* In Pages, a ten stage process to pound out a first draft.
Apart from all that, there are the weekly teleconferences, workshop feedback, and the unique insight each derives from his/her own immersion into character-based screenwriting.
When I look at Paul’s list, I see some great lessons about the craft. Who knows? Maybe one or more of these will become a bedrock principle Paul will use for the duration of his life as a writer.
As writers, we should always be learning. From time to time, it might be a good idea to stop and think about what we’ve been learning lately.
How about you? Can you come up with a list of things you’ve learned about the craft lately?
Tomorrow: Another Dispatch From The Quest.
About Paul: Director + Writer. Loves Spielberg, Truffaut, Abrams, Kurosawa, Attack the Block, cinematic stories beautifully told. @paulhwie.
Comment Archive