Writers as Heroes

A guest post from screenwriter Tom Benedek whose movie credits include Cocoon:

Out there in the ether, that script you were thinking of writing may already be complete and fully realized. Even if you think it is still just a notion, an idea, and not even necessarily such a good one, it may be that you ought not judge. Better to surrender to it and be the transmitter.

Take it from the blank page to first draft. Bring some thought to the characters, the plot, the form, the way you are telling the story. Do some outlining, Make a beat sheet. Give yourself a road map to work from at each writing session. That outline is your treasure map. The adventure of writing, the process, your self-expression, creative flow is a part of the riches it offers. Surrender to your vision and write the script.

The creative elements you gather along the way to build out your script were waiting for you to identify them and set the in place, where they belong, in your story. The bits and pieces of real life, of your own experience and sensibility that end up in the mix are meant to be there, in your script.

The writer is powerless not to re-order life in story terms, to make sense of it, to celebrate it, to try to change the world a little bit or a lot. Bringing that creative vision, whether it is spark, flame, or giant fire, out of the unconscious world where it now resides and into the here and now is duty of the writer, serving this master — the story well told.

And now a word from our sponsor.

Write your script this summer. The Pages I: Writing the First Draft script workshop starts next Monday, June 20 at Screenwritingmasterclass.com.

NOTE: A 30% discount for writers working on projects dealing with social issues — rape, gun control, human rights, etc. Full scholarship available — contact me at tom@screenwritingmasterclass.com for further information.

Tom Benedek has written screenplays for Robert Zemeckis, Lawerence Kasdan, Lili Fini Zanuck and Richard Zanuck, David Brown, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Sydney Pollack, Richard Rush, Harold Ramis, Lauren Schuler Donner and Richard Donner, Ray Stark, Brian Grazer, Working Title, Jersey Film, Chris Blackwell and many others

For more information about Tom’s upcoming script workshop, go here.