Tom Benedek (Guest Post): Create, No Expectations, Build Community!
A guest post from screenwriter Tom Benedek (Cocoon) and co-founder of Screenwriting Master Class:
I heard about a proven formula” for happiness in a Yoga class… create, don’t have expectations, build community. The teacher said it was discovered through research done in the most contented, fulfilled community in the world.
It’s an alluring formula. For life. And for writing scripts.
Doing the creative work, forging the path of your vision on the page — you know what that is about.
Getting the outline, the script pages done, fully imagining your story in film form is an amazingly positive action.
Not having expectations doesn’t mean you can’t aspire or dream large. I suggest even writing down that dream result — how you want the movie or show you are writing to be shown. Lives changed. The festival reaction. The theaters it will play in. The career elevation. A dream is not an expectation.
Create because you must and those dreams may come true.
Taking it one step further, here’s my personal TO DO list:
• Aspire
• Seize my purpose
• Believe
• Create
• Don’t have expectations
• Build Community
• Do it again
And let the good things follow.
THE SITUATIONS MY CHARACTERS ARE IN…
Working on characters, we may recognize them in our heads and then not find the way immediately to frame them simply on the page so they resonate. Thinking of their angle of entry into the story can be a helpful tool. To ask — what is their situation right now? What are they dealing with in work, love, friendships, family. Life is complicated. So what are their complications, their contradictions. The big ones may be obvious. That’s the story. But it’s those little ones — the emotional itches they can’t scratch. The lifelong frustrations or concealed aspirations. Those things shape characters and help nuance story and plot. The personal details offer possibilities for subplot. I am starting a rewrite of an original I wrote last year. My next move is spend an hour a day sitting with my characters — envisioning them in detail, imagining the stuff they are struggling with on all fronts as the story unfolds. Right now, I know them well. But there are still too many things I don’t know about them. To understand them, I want to see a forced perspective of their minds — the big things drawn to scale from their brains — in the now of the opening pages.
I have 2 classes starting this week online at Screenwritingmasterclass.com
First Draft: Introduction to Screenwriting. It’s a 10 week idea to first draft workshop.
SPECIAL BONUSES THIS SESSION:
• You get the one week TV class free if you sign up for this First Draft workshop. Either next week or the Summer session.
• I am working on a video lecture version of the First Draft class and am looking for notes, suggestions on the current course. I will give a $100 discount to class members who give me thorough feedback. I will be adding some bonus study material to this workshop as well.
CRAFT TV: Writing the Original Pilot.
Tom is one of the most well-respected and long-standing members of the Hollywood screenwriting community. He knows what he’s talking about because he’s been there, having worked with some of the most important producers and directors in the business. And as good a writer as he is, he’s as equally as talented as a teacher.
So if you’re interested in writing movies or TV, here’s a great opportunity to work with Tom, and get a serious upgrade in your knowledge and understanding of the craft.