Update: “The Quest”
For those interested in the latest on “Go Into The Story: The Quest,” click continue.
For background, go here.
As of today, I have reviewed 2700 loglines out of a total of approximately 4000. I have put promising ones onto a list. Once I get through the entire set of submitted stories, I will go through the list and identify perhaps 20–25 writers who I will contact via email for additional information. Date: Monday, June 25.
That information will include a writing resume [basically your background and history as a writer], story synopsis [if you have fleshed out anything more of your logline], writing sample [screenplay or screenplay excerpt, short story, novel excerpt], bio, plus a brief questionnaire.
From that group I will arrange to speak on the phone with several of them, eventually whittling the total down to what I hope will be four writers.
At this point, I am thinking we will push back the start date of “The Quest” to Monday, July 16.
As far as free classes are concerned, those will begin with the Core I: Plot course that begins on Monday, July 23. I hope to have a webinar up and running by that date or soon thereafter to help accommodate the massive number of Quest entrants and make good on my pledge offering a free screenwriting class to everyone who submitted loglines. Plus people always have the option to request lectures for Core or Craft classes in lieu of an actual class to expedite the process. For those Screenwriting Master Class courses, you can go here to see the schedule and learn more.
Let me spend the rest of this post talking about “Go On Your On Quest” (GOYOQ). Here is what I proposed:
What I thought I could do is track the same schedule here on GITS. That is when they start week 1 [Core I: Plot], we would focus at least one post per day on that same subject. Obviously I’m not going to provide all the information included in “The Quest” proper, but there’s no reason we can’t engage in a conversation during the week about Plot, and make it a learning opportunity.
Then continue the process: A full 8 weeks for the Core subjects [Plot, Concept, Character, Style, Dialogue, Scene, Theme, Time], each week with a focus on the subject, mimicking what the actual “Quest” participants are working on.
Now here comes the really great part: When “The Quest” writers move into Prep, a six week period during which they take their story idea from concept to outline, you can do the same thing yourself. Again I can’t provide all the information I’m doing on “The Quest” proper, but I can help steer you through a similar process which you can use to develop your own story on your own time, hopefully with you breaking your story and ending up with a complete outline.
Then when “The Quest” writers move into Pages, a ten week period where every week, they are churning out 10–15 script pages, you can do the same thing, too. In effect, you would be using the 24-week time frame as a structure within which to deepen your understanding of screenplay theory through discussions here on GITS and develop, then write your story as the first draft of a screenplay.
All for free. All on your own time.
Which means if you don’t get selected for “The Quest,” you can still use the structure of that workshop as a motivational tool for you to crank out your script.
Many people have responded to this idea including a suggestion there be some sort of message boards / forums in which GOYOQ participants can share thoughts and conversation with other participants, even to the point of posting pages for critiques. Here are my questions and concerns:
* I would love nothing more than to support any/all of you who decide to commit to writing a script using “The Quest” as a motivational tool. My inclination is to host the forums here on the GITS site. However this must be a writer supporting writer effort as I simply can not be expected to be much involved in what goes on there. Perhaps I can take a question per week and respond to it, but between everything else I have going on, I just don’t have the time to take on any responsibility for what might go on there. So my question to you is this: How do you propose we ensure these boards are writers supporting writers, not a “ask Scott to read my pages” dynamic?
* That raises the question of moderators. The last thing I want is for some sort of flame war to break out. I have seen this happen all too often online going all the way back to the original WGABBS which was shut down by the Guild due to inflammatory comments and legal threats. I have set a tone on this site and been as consistent as I can for four years: Be honest about the business and the odds against success, but generally create a positive, nurturing environment. I not only saw a need for an online community like that, but also it just reflects my personal philosophy and attitude toward life. Therefore I do not want to let anything happen to corrupt the tone of this blog. I suppose the best thing is to solicit moderators who would be in charge of making sure the flow of content on the GOYOQ boards doesn’t get out of hand. So my question to you is this: How should I go about determining who would be moderators on these boards? Or is there another way to handle this issue?
* And that raises legal concerns. I know I have taken a risk with “The Quest” in not requiring entrants to sign a waiver release form, but (A) that is so not in the spirit of this initiative, which is to try to open up an alternate route into Hollywood for outside writers, (B) that would have proved to be a bureaucratic hassle, and © that would have cut down the number of people submitting loglines. I took that risk because I can control the choices I make in terms of who I select for the 24 week workshop. But since I would not be in charge of what transpires on the proposed GOYOQ boards, I do have concerns. What if someone wrote a script while frequenting the GOYOQ boards, it sold as a spec, then someone else who was on the boards decided to sue claiming it was their idea? They could sue the writer, me, and Lord knows who else. So my question to you is this: How to handle legal issues that might arise re these proposed boards? Obviously I could emphasize the spirit of this initiative, the value of free-sharing ideas, karma and all the rest, but from a purely legal standpoint, perhaps some sort of blanket waiver release that by using the GOYOQ boards indemnifies me and users from legal action. Thoughts?
Finally should there be a public aspect of the proposed boards for general discussion, but then a private forum where participants can share their script ideas and pages for review so they aren’t made available to the general public? That has been one of the reason why the workshops I’ve run have been successful: Participants are able to share their creativity freely knowing the identity of a small, core group of fellow writers and that we are in a closed, private loop. Perhaps there should be an number of self-initiated and moderated private forums for small groups of participants. But then see how this starts to get complicated…
Again I would love to do whatever I can to support the entire GITS community in their writing. I know how important a support system can be for writers, so the idea of these boards is a good one on the face of it. But what about these other issues?
If you have advice or ideas, please post in comments.
Thanks for your support, patience and understanding. We’re all trying to make this initiative work. Let’s see what we can do to ensure that.
Remember: Emails to those who made it to the second round go out next Monday, June 25!
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