Interview (Part 4): Michael R. Perry

Michael R. Perry has had a long and productive career in Hollywood writing and producing 1-hour TV including such series as Millennium, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Guardian, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, and The River. He has also written movies including Paranormal Activity 2 and his latest The Voices, based on his 2009 Black List script. The movie rolls out in theaters and on VOD this weekend.

Today in Part 4, Michael answers some writing craft questions:

Scott: Some craft questions. How do you come up with story ideas?

Michael: They come to me all the time, by means I cannot explain; the work is in separating good ones from bad ones. I was talking about this with another writer the other day, saying that, basically, the best story ideas literally fall from the sky.

Scott: How important do you think the story concept is to the overall strength and commercial viability of a screenplay, specifically a spec script?

Michael: I’m the wrong guy to ask about commercial viability, I wrote The Voices. I would recommend instead to write a script that you love, that no one else other than you could possibly have written. I think if you threw The Voices script in the middle of the 101 Freeway (without a cover page) and someone who knew me found it, they’d be able to tell in two pages that I wrote it.

Scott: How much time do you spend in prep-writing (i.e., brainstorming, character development, plotting, research, outlining)? Which of the aspects of prep do you tend to devote the most time and focus to?

Michael: My whole lifetime of experiences goes into every script, and I think that’s true of most writers. Dancer Martha Graham said to Agnes DeMille:

There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.

And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you.

(by the way, Mr. Whiskers would say, “Martha Graham? Really? You pretentious fuck, who do you think you are, Johnny Academia? How about telling them something they can use?”)

I spend hours, days and weeks outlining, but probably even more character development.

My training in television has taught that every element of writing needs to be supported independently: i.e., you have to put a lot of work into the characters; a lot of work into the plot; a lot of work into the dialogue, etc. A failure in any of the interrelated elements will contribute to a failure of the whole.

You keep working on each of the different elements of a screenplay, testing it to see if it’s weak, and if it is, fix it or replace it.

Scott: How do you go about developing your characters? Any specific tips or tools you find yourself using regularly?

Michael: I observe people. If someone is fascinating, I try to capture on paper what it is that makes them interesting, often times by writing dialogue that they might say.

I also read broadly; there are writers who can capture everything about a character in a few sentences, and others whose dialogue is so good and so specific that you always know who’s talking without reading the name.

My favorite type of character is someone whom everyone knows in real life, but who rarely ever turns up on television or in a movie. Mike White is a genius at bringing those people onto the screen. His underrated “Enlightened” was populated with fresh-to-film but familiar-from-life people, especially Laura Dern’s character who imagined herself filled with light and love, but was actually destructive, selfish and passive-aggressive when she encountered opposition.

Scott: What about dialogue? How do you go about finding your characters’ voices?

Michael: I read the script aloud a zillion times and if it sounds right, I keep it. Early on it rarely ever sounds good enough.

Scott: Do you start with themes or do they arise in the context of developing and writing the story?

Michael: They emerge during the process.

Scott: What do you think about when writing a scene? What are your goals?

Michael: I just lose myself in the scene and try not to think about other stuff.

Scott: What is your actual writing process?

Michael: I type into a computer in my office from about 8 or 9 in the morning until 12:30; break for lunch; then go into a different room (or outside) and hand-edit a hard-copy with a pen. Then, type in those changes, and start again, usually knocking off at end of day. I usually take weekends off, but not always. When I’m on deadline, I don’t work late; I get up earlier and earlier, often times at 5 a.m. It’s a great time to write — no one calls, no one emails, no distractions at all.

Scott: What is your single best excuse not to write?

Michael: When one of my favorite authors releases a new novel.

Scott: What do you love most about writing?

Michael: You need no special equipment and you can do it anywhere. I’ve written scripts in hospital waiting rooms, at Jiffy Lube, in the back of trucks, on TV location shoots, in many, many hotel rooms, in bed, camping in the mountains, in other people’s offices, in half a dozen countries, by hand, by computer and via dictation.

Scott: Finally what advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters and TV writers about the learning the craft and breaking into Hollywood?

Michael: Write every day. Read a lot of scripts, with a critical eye. Watch strange movies and television shows. Take every class, read every book and try to assess your own work by the same standards you judge your favorite TV shows and movies. Don’t give a script to friends who have no idea how to read a script and let them praise you. If someone you respect, who knows what they’re talking about, gives you feedback, listen carefully, then thank them, then rewrite.

And, perhaps most important: NEVER DO WHAT YOUR CAT TELLS YOU TO DO!

For Part 1, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Michael is repped by UTA and Kaplan / Perrone Entertainment.

The Voices opens in theaters and on VOD on this weekend.