Dispatch From The Quest: Sandy Leviton
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: Sandy Leviton explores the benefits of thinking like a buyer:
We dove into our story concepts this week. We had a few Questers feel the very foundation of their stories suddenly shaken up while exploring the depths of their concepts. This, thankfully, was not the case for Miranda and I. A lot of the lectures and discussion focused on how our stories relate to other people — the audience, the readers, and the buyers. Having been buyers (I worked at a prominent cable network for years), gatekeepers, and now readers and consultants ourselves, none of this is new to us. We actually specifically, tailored our story concept to be one that we are not only passionate about, but that would fit the criteria that buyers ultimately look for. Suffice to say, this was an enjoyable and easy week for us that allowed us to dive further into our character and plot. This also allowed us the chance to help out our other Questers in terms of their concepts and it was exciting to see their breakthroughs.
It’s one of those weeks where I am extremely grateful for the experiences I’ve had in my career. Very few people have a chance to work the jobs I’ve had, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the best in the business. I got to know how their minds work, what they look for in material, and how important it is to be passionate while being business savvy. It helped shape our concept and Miranda and I are extremely proud of it. Coming off of last week, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This week took on a totally different vibe. I know not all weeks will be this easy (hellloooo prep weeks!), so going to enjoy it and appreciate it…..until next week.
Two things. First, I think we can all agree some stages of the writing process come easier than others. Each of us has certain strengths as writers, so this is only natural. I might be great at generating story concepts. You might have a knack at writing characters. Over there, she might be terrific at breaking a story. Him in the corner, dialogue is his thing.
Sandy and Miranda have a background working in Hollywood, so it’s easy for them to put on their ‘producers hat’ and think commercially. That’s probably why Week 2 of The Quest which focused on Concept came pretty smoothly to them: working on their logline and using some questions I posed to assess the commercial viability of their story is something the writing duo had pretty much been doing all along.
That’s great and we should certainly relish those aspects of writing that do come naturally to us.
But the second thing is this: When we look at the entire process of writing a story — from the origination of a concept to final edit — it is fundamentally hard work. Sometimes even the sheer act of depositing one’s derriere upon chair to write takes enormous effort, as in “Writing equals butt on chair.”
Each of the Questers has a strong high-concept marketable story. Heck, Miranda and Sandy’s story has a title that, I think, almost guarantees it would get a read. But the challenges that lie ahead for them and the rest of the group are substantial: How to take a story from concept to finished script so that it is entertaining, compelling, emotionally resonate, distinctive, and comes across as a ‘good read’? The Quest provides a structure within which a writer can do that… if they do the work.
This week, we are studying Character and I am immersing the group in character archetypes and character development — and there is nothing easy about that! They will have to spend the requisite time necessary to get to know their story’s characters on an intimate level because everything else from here on out flows from that. Indeed once we hit Prep in a few weeks, that’s where they will start that stage of the process with the very first question of many they will be asking to shape their story: Who is my Protagonist?
So some things about the writing may come easily. But we should not be fooled. Writing is hard work. As with almost any act of creation, we should expect that.
Which is a nice segue for me to pull out one of my favorite writing mantras: The only way out is through.
Tomorrow: Another Dispatch From The Quest.
About Sandy: Bostonian that learned how to pronounce “R’s” upon moving to LA. A lefty that loves the unusual. Dreams of owning a taxidermy dodo bird. @scriptchix & @lil_sjl
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