Tuesdays with Tom Benedek: What to write, when to write it

A guest column from screenwriter Tom Benedek (Cocoon) and co-founder of Screenwriting Master Class:

What to write? When to write it? The short answer: What feels write when it feels right. There is a fascinating quote about The Silence of the Lambs attributed to Jody Foster by Ted Tally in an interview he did for the Austin Film Festival: “None of us were ever that good before and we’ve never been that good again.”
That was a rarified and wondrous group: Jodie Foster, Ted Tally, Thomas Harris, Jonathan Demme, Anthony Hopkins. Ted Tally seems to agree with her statement. Others may not.

It does reflect an important truth of the creative process. Brilliance is ephemeral. And how does that apply to my own humble pursuits on a day to day basis? I just take a deep breath and make myself keep going, keep writing, keep chasing the ideas I am trying to express. That is the job. If there is some brilliance there, I may have done everything possible to engineer its presence. Yet, I know there is something miraculous if it ever happens. I will take microscopic creative miracles — perhaps appreciated only by me — one day at a time — and just hope that it adds up to something on the page eventually.

I like being in flow on writing projects. I think of ideas all the time for projects. Sometimes they are no more than ideas about ideas for movies, or a variation on one or two existing stories. Other times they are unique on their own terms but not really dramatic stories at all. Occasionally, an idea will hold up. Characters will emerge in my head. I may hesitate though. I will wonder if I am the right person, if my sensibility is in the correct position, to write that project well. Passion for the vision trumps all. If I feel strongly about it, if I can’t get it out of my head and want to see this particular movie, I will write the script. Maybe it is the wrong time, maybe I am the wrong writer, but I will not know that until i complete a draft or two. Perhaps, this a project of destiny. Perhaps all the stars are aligned in the right places and the moon is where it ought to be in the sky and the writing project will turn out very well. It may not be a mystical event — it could be that I had a grip on what my intentions were, that I worked hard on it, and that the results were positive. That process, plus envisioning the film I intended, enunciating it successfully on the page, is its own reward. The writer’s calling. The job. Each time we go to bat with a project, we hope we will hit it out of the park. I know I probably won’t.

However, you can’t know until you try. We go into that writing flow and hope that what we are doing will be the best we have ever done and maybe the best we will ever do. It is the same thing for all creatives. Ask Jody Foster or Ted Tally.

Here is the interview with Ted Tally:

http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf

Tom is teaching a 6-week Prep: From Concept to Outline workshop beginning August 27. For more information, go here.
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