Interview (Part 6): John Gary

There are several reasons I have wanted to interview John Gary for some time. First and foremost, he’s a talented screenwriter. Second, he has a unique vantage point about the craft as it exists in today’s Hollywood. John has been outside the system, worked inside it, achieved some success, then hit a rough patch, made some key personal decisions and acted on them, which has led to his current situation in which he’s writing two studio projects, one for Lionsgate, one for Paramount. He’s also smart and has a keen understanding of the business side of screenwriting. Finally, John is the person who coined the phrase The Hope Machine as it relates to the whole cottage industry of screenwriting ‘gurus’ and consultants. So I was pleased to be able to grab an hour or so of John’s time recently for what turned out to be an insightful conversation.

Today in Part 6, John offers advice for screenwriters trying to break into the business:

Scott: I want to jump into just your action writing is always quite strong.

John: Thank you.

Scott: There’re a lot of action sequences in “Sarah.” What are some keys to writing good action?

John: People always say, “Good action is character‑based.” That’s totally true. You want your character to start someplace and then, by the time they get through the action sequence, they need to have discovered something or figured something out. Something else needs to have happened in the plot.

You can’t just have shit blow up, then end of scene, and then we have some dialog or the plot advances. That’s always important, but for me it’s about thinking, “What’s interesting? What’s different? What’s unique about where we are and who the characters are and what they’re going through and what is happening right now? Then, how can I convey that in an interesting way?”

Scott: That’s the part that I’m interested in. I think the character stuff is great, that you’re talking like that. Like Frazier. Doesn’t he have some board, where he’s got things up?

John: Yes.

Scott: I don’t do action movies. I’m like, “Where do they come up with these ideas to do helicopter this?”

John: I approach it from a much more story‑specific kind of way. I am much more interested in where the characters are in the plot and just location‑wise. If there needs to some kind of tension action here, I’m not just going to drop them into a parking garage because I have a cool action set piece in a parking garage.

Sarah’s at the mall because she needs to go to the mall to disguise herself, and there are people there. Someone’s going to recognize her and try to catch her. I’m always looking for where the character is in the story and in the location. Then, just like, “What can I do that’s interesting in that locale?” Then, “How can I write it so that it feels energetic?”

That’s the thing that I always focus on is when I’m writing, I want it to feel like it should feel when you’re watching it. There’s some stretches in Sarah where I am not very economical with my scene description, and I’m OK with that.

People can read. If they want to read that stuff, then I’m going to give them good words to read. If I want it to feel a little more, not languid, but want it to feel a little more rich and interesting.

Scott: Immersive?

John: Immersive, yeah. Then I’m going to give them that. But when I’m getting into an action sequence, I want it to start to feel quick and fast. If there’s an explosion, and the main character gets knocked down, I want the words on the page to reflect that. I want you to slow down, stop when you’re reading it. The words on the page should make you feel like you’re watching it.

Scott: What’s your actual writing process like?

John: I write at a cafe every day.

Scott: Headphones on or off?

John: Sometimes on, sometimes off. Sometimes, I like the world around me. Sometimes, I shut it out. I have never been a good at‑home writer. I’ve just always have worked better around a lot of people.

Scott: Is this the same place you go every day?

John: Same place, every day.

Scott: Obviously, they know you.

John: They all know me very well. I know them very well.

Scott: You walk in, they know exactly what you want.

John: Yes, always.

Scott: Same table?

John: No, not necessarily. I try not to take up too much space. Sometimes, I’ll sit on the bench. Sometimes, I’ll take a chair and put it against the wall. I don’t want to be a hog. At the same time, I also know that I’m furniture there. People are disappointed when I’m not there, or at least they say they are. There are probably a few people who are disappointed when I am there. Who knows.

Scott: Is this a place that other writers frequent?

John: There are a few. There’s one guy who’s been writing for years, he and I are both cafe writers in the neighborhood. We have both been through three or four cafes in the area over the course of like 15 years. He’s written a bunch of great movies, he’s a great writer.

Scott: Cafe writers.

John: Yes, exactly. Exactly.

Scott: The moments when you disappoint the people by not showing there ‑‑ I like to ask this question ‑‑ what’s your single best excuse not to write?

John: Right now the best excuse is other projects, looking for the next thing I’ll work on. Developing a pitch. Brainstorming on a potential job. Tweaking a pilot so it’ll be ready to go out next week. Reading a script a production company sent over for an assignment. But really though, I don’t like not writing. I like to write. I’m happiest when I’m writing. Sometimes, I’m not very good at it, which you just accept, because that’s just the way the world works, sometimes. But I enjoy it.

Scott: That leads to the next question. What do you love most about writing?

John: I love writing. I know people say, “I love having written.” I actually like thinking up the words to write. I love when I’m good at it. I’m not always good at it. I’m really feeling that right now with the draft I’m currently writing, not being good at it.

But I do love the actual act of thinking up the words. “Does this word convey the feeling that I want it to convey? Does this word work in the sentence? Does the sentence need to change, move and come over here? What happens if I move this line of dialog? How does that change the course of the scene? Where can I find more conflict? How do I need to draw out the characters more?”

Scott: Here’s the question that I always end with, which is what advice can you offer aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft and at least attempting to break into Hollywood?

John: Move here, and write more, which are the obvious pieces of advice. But more than that, the best piece of advice for young writers I have is to write with intent.

Have a purpose with your words, have a reason for writing the things you write. I don’t mean “I want to tell the world about my experience” or something like that. I mean make choices in your work for specific reasons. Know what those reasons are.

“Why does this character go do this thing? Why does that character feel the way she feels about this? Why are these two characters in the scene at that moment, together? Why did you pick that word? Why did you start a new paragraph there? Why did you capitalize that word instead of that one?” Have a reason. When I was young, that was the thing my writing lacked most.

The second script I’d ever written got a lot of attention. I was 24. This was back when the spec market was still very hot. I’d just signed with William Morris and a manager, and they sent the spec out the week after I signed with William Morris. The next morning, I started getting phone calls, producers who wanted to talk to me, so excited about the script, but they had some questions. It was a twisty-turny script, a complicated mystery, and they just wanted to talk through some things before they took it in to studios.

And I’ll never forget sitting on the phone with them as they each asked the same questions — “What does this part mean? Why does that character go there? What really happened here?”

And I didn’t know. I hadn’t written with intent. I hadn’t made choices with purpose. I couldn’t advocate for the script I’d written. I didn’t have an answer. Ever since then, I have done everything I could to make sure I have an answer. Have an answer.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

John is repped by ICM Partners and The Gotham Group.

Twitter: @johngary.

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