Interview (Part 5): Joshua Golden

Joshua Golden wrote the spec script “Road to Oz” which was not only a finalist in the 2014 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, it sold in September to New Line. From THR:

New Line Cinema has preemptively scooped up spec script Road to Oz, written by hot rising talent Josh Golden.

Recently I interviewed Josh and learned how he had taken an interesting proactive approach to marketing “Road to Oz,” something from which all writers can learn.

Today in Part 5, Josh shares his thoughts on some key aspects of the screenwriting craft:

Scott: Let’s jump into some craft questions. The first one is a pretty obvious. How do you come up with story ideas?

Joshua: It’s a good question. You know what? Like how I stumbled onto the Oz thing, there are just little moments and little things that kind of jump out at you. Having worked with kids for so long, I think helps also because I’ve gotten little ideas just from conversations I’ve had with them.

Or I look at stories that I loved growing up, whether it’s finding this sort of the new twist on a classic story, or a fairy tale, or something like that. It’s really about kind of looking at things in a different way. I want to tell stories that remind me of the things that I loved growing up.

Scott: This whole thing about high concept, how important do you think the story concept is to the overall strength and commercial viability of a spec script?

Joshua: It’s important. You don’t want to recycle the same concept over and over again. I think it’s important. But ultimately, at least for me, I’m a big proponent of theme and character. That’s the place I usually start from. The concept, of course, has to be original. But if you have strong characters, the rest will follow.

Scott: How much time do you spend on prep writing? What do you focus on? Brainstorming, character development, plotting, research, outlining?

Joshua: It all depends on the story. For Oz, there was a pretty big period of research. But, ultimately, it’s usually, like I said, knowing my characters first, so whether that’s writing a paragraph on each of my characters, figuring out who they are, where they’re at, what they want, what they need.

That’s usually where I start from. Then, like I said, theme. Tying each character’s journey in a way to what the overall story is about, whether it’s the importance of imagination or identity, that’s where I’d start from. Then I will usually do a pretty thorough outline, beat by beat of what’s happening in the story.

When I first started, I would jump into a script without that. I don’t think staring at that blank page helped my anxiety. So, going forward, it’s a pretty thorough outlining process.

Scott: You mentioned characters several times. Are there any tips or tools you find yourself using regularly in developing your characters?

Joshua: Creating characters that are unique enough, but that we can relate to, in a way. Usually, it’s starting with a few basic questions. Who are they? Where are they in life right now? What are they looking for? What do they want? What do they need? Usually, those two will run in opposition to one another.

Then there’s small stuff, little details. Their backgrounds and how they speak or what they look like. I’ll sometimes just write scenes with a couple of characters kind of going back and forth just to kind of get an idea of how they would interact with one another.

Scott: You mentioned how they talk. How do you go about finding your characters’ voices?

Joshua: God, I wish there was an easy answer to that. [laughs] I don’t know. I mean, it’s just, I think you know if you hear them clearly enough. Other writers I’ve talked to have said it’s like a dozen people talking to you at the same time. That’s very true. Once one voice stands out to you enough from the other characters and has some sense of uniqueness and originality, and you can get an understanding of this person from the way that they talk, I think that’s when you know you’ve kind of found something. Yeah. I wish I could say it’s something very specific but I think it’s just kind of figuring out how they speak to you and how it comes through on the page.

Scott: Theme. How important is it to you? Are you one of those writers who start with theme or do themes emerge as you get into the story?

Joshua: No, I typically start from theme and character. I don’t want to start writing and halfway through, ultimately figure out what the story is about. I mean thematically, what it’s about. I need to know that going in. I don’t want to beat the audience over the head with it, though. I want everyone’s journey to be reflective of whatever the theme is. Some might argue that maybe it’s not as important or as necessary. But theme and character, for me, are my two starting points.

Scott: What do you think about when writing a scene? Do you have specific goals in mind?

Joshua: I’ve found this more and more recently. If you don’t have a goal in mind while writing a scene, then the scene probably doesn’t need to exist or be there. If each scene is accomplishing something and moving the story forward, then I think you’re on the right track.

There’s this other project that I’ve been working on, where I’ve had to trim a lot. I’ve kind of been just looking for the scenes that lack purpose or don’t accomplish anything, and I’ve just been slashing those.

Scott: We’ve all heard, “Writing is rewriting.” How do you do that? Are there some keys for you in terms of rewriting your script? If so, what are they?

Joshua: I’ve never had to, at least yet, do the page one rewrite. Usually, there are pretty thorough notes. If some of the big notes are — OK. Frank’s heart condition, for example. “We need to see more of this, and it needs to be more prevalent.” I’ll go through the script and address that note first.

I’ll look for places where that can be enhanced and where I can work on that. Then I’ll go to the next note and then do a pass on the script with that in mind. I’ll do the “Save as,” and I’ll create a new document. But I’ve rarely needed to start from a new blank page.

Scott: It’s like you take whatever the issue is and you deal with them one by one.

Joshua: Right. Exactly.

Scott: What’s your actual writing process like?

Joshua: It’s interesting. For the past year, I’ve been living on a couch. I did, however, just move. Literally a couple weeks ago. I don’t have any furniture, but I did just move. So I have had to go out and work at coffee shops, which is something I’ve always done.

I want to have a place I can work ‑‑ a good, open work space. Typically, I work in the morning. If I can work from seven to one or eight to one, then that’s a good day for me. The mornings for me are the most productive.

When I moved out here a year ago, I got a job at an elementary school, which is later in the afternoon. I’m still working that job. I typically like to write up until it’s time for me to go over there. Then I’ll close the laptop, head to work, and interact with actual, real life people.

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

Joshua: My single best excuse not to write is probably just having a bad day. Honestly, there are some days where I’ll go to write and I just won’t be feeling it. I won’t in the zone, so to speak. If I feel that initially, I can justify it by saying, “OK, it wasn’t meant to be today. So I’m just going to put it off until tomorrow or maybe give it a shot tonight or something.” I don’t want to force it. I think that’s an excuse. That’s the biggest one.

Scott: Conversely, what do you love most about writing?

Joshua: What do I love most about writing? Very often, I hear the “I don’t like writing but I love having written,” which I think is very true. God is that true. But I really like the feeling when you get into a scene and it’s just, you’re really feeling it and you don’t want to stop, and it’s very clear and you can see it and you can hear it and you can get into that rhythm. It’s almost a euphoric type of feeling. That’s something I think that makes it worth it for sure.

Scott: One last question and this is the obvious one that you’ll be getting hit up on from here on out: What advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft of breaking into Hollywood?

Joshua: God, I feel like I am still an aspiring screenwriter. You know, I think it’s just, don’t stop writing. Keep writing as much as you can. There’s a reason I didn’t go the assistant route and I didn’t get a job in the industry, because I knew I probably wouldn’t have time, as much time as I wanted to write. Find something where you can carve out time to write. I think that would be number one.

Then number two would just be don’t hesitate to reach out to people and to put yourself out there. The position that I’m in right now, I wouldn’t be in if I hadn’t sent out two query letters to my producers and to my agent. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that. Just be kind and be polite and reach out to people. Yeah, don’t be afraid to, I guess, take a chance.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Please stop by comments to ask any questions you may have for Josh.

Josh is repped by ICM and Heretic Literary Management.

Twitter: @joshmgolden.