Dispatch from The Quest: Scott Reynolds

Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the first week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Scott Reynolds makes a couple of confessions:

Nine weeks, no pages.

The first eight weeks of the Quest were core concepts. You saw us blog about them. Time. Character. Theme. Dialogue. Action. Time again, because I don’t plan well. All the building blocks of a movie. In that time we explored what we knew of the worlds of our stories, but we didn’t start writing them.

Now we’re working on prep work. We spent the week getting down and dirty with our protagonists. I took mine out for a walk and talk to see what she’s all about. It was nice. It ended like most of my recent dates: with me going home alone and writing. Only this time, that was the desired result.

Still. Nine weeks, no pages.

In the past I’ve just dived in to a new writing project with very little prep. I just start “feeling” the story, and start writing scenes, trusting that I’ll work my way through it.

On a couple of occasions I’ve finished with something I’m not thoroughly unhappy with, but that needs serious work. On more than a couple occasions, I’ve left the scattered remnants of screenplays, teleplays, novels, and even sketches scattered around my Dropbox folder. I’ve never put together a story that I feel super good about by just attacking it without a plan.

At first I was a little down on the idea of not writing any pages for a couple of months in the process. I thought “well, I’ll start writing pages on the sly”. But here’s what happened: I bought into the program Scott has us on in The Quest, and I just went with it. Good choice. I’m in much better shape than I would have been.

I’ll be honest: at least once a week since we started the Quest I’ve wished I didn’t enter. It’s just one of those things. Afraid of trying and failing maybe, a common character flaw. But at least once a week I’ve said to myself “oh shit, you’ve got nothing. This story has zero legs. You’re going to come out at the end with nothing more than a shoulder shrug and an apology.”

I mean, we all entered this thing with a log line. That’s ALL I had. So immediately, even before we started, this is where my head’s at: “I made this fucking thing up off the top of my head. And he PICKED IT?! Why did he do that to me? I didn’t have a story, just two sentences with a concept! I’m so screwed.”

Then, every week, I did that week’s exercise and really thought in earnest about what the material means for my story, and I had conversations with fellow Questers, and I got back on track, closer to something good than I thought. By taking the time to really lay a foundation and give myself room to think and ponder before pressuring myself into writing pages, I’ve gained a lot more confidence in the story. Hell, I’ve gained the story itself.

Every story comes from one idea. Anybody can have a great idea. But an idea alone can’t carry you through the story. An idea isn’t 100 pages long. You have to do the work. Ideas are worthless without execution. How you spend the time between finding the idea and writing the script is going to heavily influence execution.

Now, as we start to wrap up on the preamble and start digging in our heels to make our stories happen, I can say with 100% certainty that I would have abandoned this log line had it not been for the first eight weeks of work we’ve done. It would have been a shame, because I’m starting to think my story has legs. Putting in the time to prep the story before jumping in is the difference between me quitting on a good idea and me being excited to try to execute on it.

So if you’re going on your own Quest with us, stick to the plan. Do the prep work. I don’t care if you think you know what a Protagonist and a Nemesis are, read the posts, compile your notes, and really lay the foundation. I’ve pulled something useful out of each of the past eight weeks and am feeling pretty damn good about what’s coming next.

Good luck out there.

There are many takeaways from Scott’s post. Here are two:

* When you write a script, you will have to deal with The Voice. You know, the one that says things like, “I didn’t have a story, just two sentences with a concept! I’m so screwed.” It will always be there. My advice? Acknowledge it, let it go, take a deep breath, and remind yourself to trust the process. This is a first draft. There is nothing perfect about it. The whole point of a first draft is to get the damn thing done. It is a huge first step in finding your story along with all the prep-writing that goes into it. If you act in accordance with The Voice, you will never finish anything. So say, “Hi, Mr. Voice Of Negativity, Doubt And Fear. I understand you will always be hanging around, taunting me. Fine. Thanks for your thoughts. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some fucking writing to do. Oh, and this is me trusting the process!”

* Whatever approach to writing you take, you have to do the work. As I acknowledge frequently, there is no right way to write. Every writer is different. Every story is different. I don’t claim The Quest is the right way to write. I think it’s a damn good way to write, but it may not be for everyone. That said I am compelling the Quest writers to trust this process. I know they have been champing at the bit to type FADE IN, but I also know this: They have to get their shit together as writers — as we all do — to succeed in Hollywood. If you are going up for open writing assignments, you land one and it’s due in 10 weeks, you had better have a workable approach to prepping and writing a script. Believe me, I want each of these Quest writers to craft a killer spec script. But The Quest is equally about providing them with principles and practices that enable each participant to work well as a professional screenwriter. However they [or you] choose to approach the craft, the bottom line is you have to do the work. You have to engage your story. You have to immerse yourself in the story universe. You have to know your characters really well. You have to crack the story’s structure. You have to work through every single scene so it functions as a stand-alone moment and ties into the larger narrative.

So here we are in Prep. The rubber is hitting the road. I know you want to jam it into fourth gear and type FADE IN. But you have more work to do. Slip it into first. Brainstorm your story. Get to know your characters, get to know the story universe. If you’re zooming along at 70MPH, you’re going to miss it. You’ll get there, don’t worry. But there are treasures waiting you don’t want to skip.

Tomorrow: Another Dispatch from The Ques.

About Scott: Brooklyn based writer and comedian who bailed on software to focus on writing words that humans could read. Twitter: @scottadhoc.