I use the term lightly. More accurately, I am oft quoted as saying "Tim Kring does not watch his own show". I say this, having watched almost every torturous episode of the show, listened to every ridiculous plot hole, and listened as the ran the show into the ground. I hope, god i hope, that this new "reset" is a new beginning for the show.
Being home this week due to Turkey day with no scripts to work on forced me to watched the huge stack of shows I own. and, after going through 2 seasons of bones, and exhausting 30 Rock and Arrested Development, I decided to unseal the first season of Heroes, which has not been opened in over a year. And, having watched this week's episode AND just finishing the pilot, here are some things I've noticed.
1. The abilities did NOT start during the eclipse. Even though the first episode ends with the eclipse, Issac (remember him, the painter) was painting the future weeks before the eclipse, and it would stand to reason that Angela and Arthur Petrelli had powers for years. Also, Claire Bennett had eight death attempts BEFORE the eclipse. In addition, since Sylar killed Mohinder's father, and Mohinder knew of the death before the eclipse, Sylar had power before the eclipse. And, if we think of a few episodes back, we know that Elle met Sylar prior to the eclipse, when she had her power. AND in addition, everyone Sylar killed with powers, had powers before the eclipse. So, their claim that the Eclipse started their powers is ridiculous.
2. In the second episode, Angela tells Peter that her father was found in the bathroom, but several episodes ago, we saw Angela "kill" Arthur by poisoning his soup.
3. Something that's been bugging me. In the first episode, when Nathan flies, he is truly surprised that he flew. However, in the flashback episode, Nathan flies out of the car before his wife and the car are thrown into the guardrail. So, yeah, he's got that going for him. And, how does NO ONE see that he is flying?
4. In the pilot, Mohinder comes to look for his father's formula and finish what his father started, whether it's finding the special people, or creating a formula to make everyone special. We, the audience, then learn that Arthur and PineHurst not only have a formula already, but they used it on Nathan, Peter, and several other people to give them abilities. Not really a glitch, just a rouse played on the audience which I'm angry about.
5. If Peter's ability is to absorb other abilities, and Angela has a power, and hospice care patient had an ability. Why doesn't he absorb those abilities once he gets his abilities? It's clear in the second episode he has absorbed Nathan's ability. It's clear that he absorbed Issac's ability. So, why doesn't he absorb the abilities of the others?
6. 9th Wonders. It was written by Issac because of his gift. The only other people who have the gift are Arthur, Peter, and Sylar. Peter didn't write the comic after Issac dies, neither does Sylar, and Arthur was largely in a coma. So, WHO writes this comic?
7. Nikki has sex with Nathan. Jessica tries to kill Nathan. How does the 3rd triplet end up with Nathan as well? I initially thought that this WAS Nikki, but since it isn't, how would Nathan let such a person in his life after what the others have done to him?
8. Not a linear gaff, but in episode 4, the Haitian and HRG are chasing Nathan. As we all know, the Haitian prevents people from using powers. They corner Nathan, and Nathan, well, flies! how does something like that happen around a person who's ability is STOPPING ABILITIES?
Okay, that's enough for now. I desperately want this show to be good. But every week, I come to the conclusion that "Tim Kring does NOT watch his own show". I know you need to suspend disbelief, and it's impossible to keep everything consistent in the show, but COME ON!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Shield
t=I love TV. I'm not afraid to say it. I LOOOOVE TV. I don't really watch movies, go to theater, or buy cds, but I LOOOOVE tv. So, I wanted to talk about a great show, that I hope with RIP.
If you follow tv, you know one of the greatest shows in tv history ended last night. Not only was it excellent, It was also historically relevant. It was really responsible for the landscape of cable television as it is today. Without it, another show would have broken through, but cable would be very different today. I'm talking, of course, about The SHIELD.
****WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE SERIES FINALE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*****
The Shield-
I'm on the fence about this season finale. I always loved Ronnie, the most underrated player on the Strike Team. I felt that the only satisfying ending would be that Ronnie shoots Vic, Shane kills himself, and Ronnie gets away. However, the more I read reviews about the last episode, the more I've come to accept that it was a great way to end the season. I mean, nobody liked desk jobs, and to force Vic into the life of a desk jockey is brilliant. Shane, he had to die. There was no other way to end that storyline. However, the fact that he took his son and wife with him was sick.
The only thing that irritates me is that Ronnie was arrested. It would have taken no time at all for Vic to call Ronnie before he takes his deal and tell Ronnie to get out of town. Even though Ronnie would be pissed, I think he would have understood. And, since Vic was getting full immunity, and telling Ronnie to run would have been covered in his immunity.
I'm still on the fence about it for several reasons. First, I hate Shane and I hate Mara more. She's the reason that everything bad happened to the strike team. She used the Armenian money, she told Corinne what was going on. Basically, she fucked the strike team up. Also, I HATED the scenes between Shane and Mara in the final episodes. I realized that's probably why I stopped watching the show. After Lem died, and certainly after Vic found out, it became too much about Mara and Shane, and I found them boring.
Second, I didn't understand why ICE didn't arrest Ronnie right after the bust. They just let him stew for hours after the bust, until Vic was forced to watch his friend get arrested, and his other friend kill himself.
Third, there was absolutely no pay-off for Tina celebrating her one year anniversary on the force. He's a clue, that USUALLY means, in film, that chick is going to be killed. Why? Because without a pay-off, why even set the storyline up? There's NO reason. It pays off in no way. Far be it for me to criticize Shawn Ryan.
Fourth, there was NO pay-off to the Lloyd-Rita storyline. I know that AV Club said there was, but I don't think they were watching the same episode as me. Yes, Dutch and Claudette said it's only a matter of time, but there was no confession, there was no end.
However, there are some things that I loved as well.
First, Vic ending up in a suit and tie, typing reports, was such sweet, sweet justice. Watching this raw, powerful animal, caged. It must be how a tiger feels in captivity. He's stuck, with no one. And he's trapped.
Second, Corinne going into witness protection, leaving Vic, and ending up in a new town. Leaving Vic without the one thing he loved, his family.
Third, the final conversation between Vic and Shane. That was some powerful TV, when Shane asks for a favor, and Vic says no. Shane cries, and makes his final decision to end his family's life. That is sick shit, but it was great tv.
Fourth, Olivia is a badass. She was fucked over, and stuck with this beast, but she basically castrated him effectively and took away everything that he loved.
Overall, while all the storylines were not super well concluded, the acting in the show, from the leads to the lowest supporting actors have always been amazing. It's a show I'm going to miss, but a show that I bow to as well. We should all be so lucky to be a small part of a show that wonderful.
If you follow tv, you know one of the greatest shows in tv history ended last night. Not only was it excellent, It was also historically relevant. It was really responsible for the landscape of cable television as it is today. Without it, another show would have broken through, but cable would be very different today. I'm talking, of course, about The SHIELD.
****WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE SERIES FINALE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*****
The Shield-
I'm on the fence about this season finale. I always loved Ronnie, the most underrated player on the Strike Team. I felt that the only satisfying ending would be that Ronnie shoots Vic, Shane kills himself, and Ronnie gets away. However, the more I read reviews about the last episode, the more I've come to accept that it was a great way to end the season. I mean, nobody liked desk jobs, and to force Vic into the life of a desk jockey is brilliant. Shane, he had to die. There was no other way to end that storyline. However, the fact that he took his son and wife with him was sick.
The only thing that irritates me is that Ronnie was arrested. It would have taken no time at all for Vic to call Ronnie before he takes his deal and tell Ronnie to get out of town. Even though Ronnie would be pissed, I think he would have understood. And, since Vic was getting full immunity, and telling Ronnie to run would have been covered in his immunity.
I'm still on the fence about it for several reasons. First, I hate Shane and I hate Mara more. She's the reason that everything bad happened to the strike team. She used the Armenian money, she told Corinne what was going on. Basically, she fucked the strike team up. Also, I HATED the scenes between Shane and Mara in the final episodes. I realized that's probably why I stopped watching the show. After Lem died, and certainly after Vic found out, it became too much about Mara and Shane, and I found them boring.
Second, I didn't understand why ICE didn't arrest Ronnie right after the bust. They just let him stew for hours after the bust, until Vic was forced to watch his friend get arrested, and his other friend kill himself.
Third, there was absolutely no pay-off for Tina celebrating her one year anniversary on the force. He's a clue, that USUALLY means, in film, that chick is going to be killed. Why? Because without a pay-off, why even set the storyline up? There's NO reason. It pays off in no way. Far be it for me to criticize Shawn Ryan.
Fourth, there was NO pay-off to the Lloyd-Rita storyline. I know that AV Club said there was, but I don't think they were watching the same episode as me. Yes, Dutch and Claudette said it's only a matter of time, but there was no confession, there was no end.
However, there are some things that I loved as well.
First, Vic ending up in a suit and tie, typing reports, was such sweet, sweet justice. Watching this raw, powerful animal, caged. It must be how a tiger feels in captivity. He's stuck, with no one. And he's trapped.
Second, Corinne going into witness protection, leaving Vic, and ending up in a new town. Leaving Vic without the one thing he loved, his family.
Third, the final conversation between Vic and Shane. That was some powerful TV, when Shane asks for a favor, and Vic says no. Shane cries, and makes his final decision to end his family's life. That is sick shit, but it was great tv.
Fourth, Olivia is a badass. She was fucked over, and stuck with this beast, but she basically castrated him effectively and took away everything that he loved.
Overall, while all the storylines were not super well concluded, the acting in the show, from the leads to the lowest supporting actors have always been amazing. It's a show I'm going to miss, but a show that I bow to as well. We should all be so lucky to be a small part of a show that wonderful.
Monday, November 24, 2008
When a script just doesn't work...
As you know if you've read my blog, I like to get right into a script, barreling through if I like an idea until it's done, a nice, neat garbage draft.
However, every once and a while, during a re-write, I find that the idea doesn't work, like at all. I'll give you the logline of a spec I'm working on:
"After her father commits suicide, a young girl decides to kill herself, and sets off along a journey to do all of the things she wants to do before she dies".
Now, here's the issue. I love the main character, I love to B story, and I love to scenes. However, I can't wrap my brain about how anyone would find the story palatable, or identify with the main character. And, after so many weeks of thinking about it, I've decided it's time to kill my entire baby. While it kills me in a way, it has to be done. And, I just wanted to send it out into the ether that if you've had to do the same, I feel your pain. So, how did I come up with that conclusion? I want take a moment to discuss some things that may or may not be necessary to think about when killing an idea/script.
1-Does the STRUCTURE make sense?
Many times, character, even dialog, are great in a script, but the actual structure that drives the story doesn't work at ALL. For instance, you have a suicidal girl who is cracking jokes as she attempts different ways to kill himself, but she is not truly searching for anything. Or your B story is about a guy who's parents are dug up and sent home with him, but he doesn't actively seek out anything, your structure is wack and needs to be re-examined.
ANSWER: No. not at all, it is impossible to identify with the main protagonist, and equally impossible to identify with any of the other characters.
2- is it worth taking the script and doing a page 1 rewrite?
When you think of your story, and you decide you need to restructure the story from the beginning, is it worth it? Mainly, is your script marketable in the first place? Have you sunk enough time in to make it necessary to start again from the beginning? Do you have another idea that is better or equally good that you could adapt your current script?
ANSWER: No. the script must be gutted to the point that it is unrecognizable, and a new skeleton must be added to make the story work.
3- How badly do you want to write this movie?
Luckily for myself, I write a lot of scripts, and this was my "labor of love". So, while I loved the script, I don't NEED to make it. It was my kooky script, just for fun. If this is your masterwork, I would suggest you work on it more.
ANSWER: While I like it, I don't love it, and I don't need to have more of it.
So, my short answer is, as my business partner mentioned, to shelve it, and see if maybe in the next few years I can make something of it. Now, I need a new project to work on, any ideas?
However, every once and a while, during a re-write, I find that the idea doesn't work, like at all. I'll give you the logline of a spec I'm working on:
"After her father commits suicide, a young girl decides to kill herself, and sets off along a journey to do all of the things she wants to do before she dies".
Now, here's the issue. I love the main character, I love to B story, and I love to scenes. However, I can't wrap my brain about how anyone would find the story palatable, or identify with the main character. And, after so many weeks of thinking about it, I've decided it's time to kill my entire baby. While it kills me in a way, it has to be done. And, I just wanted to send it out into the ether that if you've had to do the same, I feel your pain. So, how did I come up with that conclusion? I want take a moment to discuss some things that may or may not be necessary to think about when killing an idea/script.
1-Does the STRUCTURE make sense?
Many times, character, even dialog, are great in a script, but the actual structure that drives the story doesn't work at ALL. For instance, you have a suicidal girl who is cracking jokes as she attempts different ways to kill himself, but she is not truly searching for anything. Or your B story is about a guy who's parents are dug up and sent home with him, but he doesn't actively seek out anything, your structure is wack and needs to be re-examined.
ANSWER: No. not at all, it is impossible to identify with the main protagonist, and equally impossible to identify with any of the other characters.
2- is it worth taking the script and doing a page 1 rewrite?
When you think of your story, and you decide you need to restructure the story from the beginning, is it worth it? Mainly, is your script marketable in the first place? Have you sunk enough time in to make it necessary to start again from the beginning? Do you have another idea that is better or equally good that you could adapt your current script?
ANSWER: No. the script must be gutted to the point that it is unrecognizable, and a new skeleton must be added to make the story work.
3- How badly do you want to write this movie?
Luckily for myself, I write a lot of scripts, and this was my "labor of love". So, while I loved the script, I don't NEED to make it. It was my kooky script, just for fun. If this is your masterwork, I would suggest you work on it more.
ANSWER: While I like it, I don't love it, and I don't need to have more of it.
So, my short answer is, as my business partner mentioned, to shelve it, and see if maybe in the next few years I can make something of it. Now, I need a new project to work on, any ideas?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Sending out bad scripts...
Once you are read by a company, for the most part, they will give your script on two different criteria. First, let me tell you that if you don't know what coverage is, go to www.scriptcoverage.com and you will be able to see basically the format of what coverage looks like. Disregard the synopsis and the development comments, and look at second grid at the pop of the page. Each script and reader is given a pass, consider, or recommend.
1- Script
They will give a pass, consider, recommend to the script. A script getting passed at a company means very little, except that that specific company doesn't think that script would be a good fit for their company. Possibly you sent a good quality romantic comedy script to a horror company or a slasher flick to an arthouse producer. Many times even if a script is amazing, a producer can't use it, even if they enjoy it. The real important grade they give you is-
2-Writer
The reader will also give a pass, consider, recommend to you, the writer. This is incredibly important because if you get a PASS, they will NOT read you again. Basically, the bad script burns a future bridge.
So, if you send out a great script to 50 companies and it doesn't sell, but all the companies thought it was well-written, you can submit other material to the company. But, if you send out a terrible script, you will be shooting yourself in the foot. Which is why it's incredibly important to VET your scripts with friends, writer's groups, mentors, proteges, and everyone who can give you accurate opinions on your scripts, before you send it out to people. Because whether someone buys your script of not, if they think you're a good writer, the door becomes a little easier to kick in the next time.
1- Script
They will give a pass, consider, recommend to the script. A script getting passed at a company means very little, except that that specific company doesn't think that script would be a good fit for their company. Possibly you sent a good quality romantic comedy script to a horror company or a slasher flick to an arthouse producer. Many times even if a script is amazing, a producer can't use it, even if they enjoy it. The real important grade they give you is-
2-Writer
The reader will also give a pass, consider, recommend to you, the writer. This is incredibly important because if you get a PASS, they will NOT read you again. Basically, the bad script burns a future bridge.
So, if you send out a great script to 50 companies and it doesn't sell, but all the companies thought it was well-written, you can submit other material to the company. But, if you send out a terrible script, you will be shooting yourself in the foot. Which is why it's incredibly important to VET your scripts with friends, writer's groups, mentors, proteges, and everyone who can give you accurate opinions on your scripts, before you send it out to people. Because whether someone buys your script of not, if they think you're a good writer, the door becomes a little easier to kick in the next time.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The other crap
Because I'm not just a writer, or director, or director of development, but also run my company, I am often called upon to do OTHER CRAP besides being a creative. I hate the other crap, but it allows me to be more marketable to my business partners and the outside world.
And it got me to thinking about all the junk that needs to be done OUTSIDE of being creative and writing a script/directing a project in order to be successful. So I decided to run down a few for you, since I've once again neglected you for so long.
Pre/post-writing
This is all of the materials that are required to get your script ready to be shown to people. It includes summaries, treatments, and loglines. I can't tell you how many writers I run in to that have a script and don't have the pitch material to get it read. Most of the time, there is a structure to getting a story read.
1-A producer wants to hear a logline. If the logline is compelling, go to step 2, if it's not, the story dies here. This is currently happening with a story i wrote at the beginning of the year. Because it's not "high concept", can't be pitched in 1 sentence, people don't want to read it. In the meantime, my high concept work gets read all the time.
2-Then they want to see a summary/treatment. This is a 1 page document in the case of a summary, or a 3-5 page document for a treatment, that gives the details on structure, plot twists, and how the story plays out. If the story is compelling and up the producer's alley, they will read your script. Doesn't mean they'll like it. In fact, most of the time the execution is terrible, but they are reading it. Scripts on the shelf don't get sold!
Pitch Material
In this ever expanding world of converging media, it's often required, or recommended, to get together other pitch material. This can be a comic book, concept art, or other information that will show the visual style of the show/movie. Why? Because producers are dumb...j/k...but they are very busy, and read tons of scripts a week, and if they can't visualize your noir story, it's never gonna get made.
The Business/Legal Stuff
Thank god for my business partner being a lawyer. Otherwise I would pull my hair out every day. THIS is the stuff I really hate, and the thing that is most important. No investor will give you dime one without this material, even if the script is great. This is the business plan, budget, schedule, cast list, LOIs, PPMs, distributor information, etc. All of the materials that make the package exciting for investors. For a creative, this is a nightmare because it's breaking down all of your scenes and putting a numeric value on them.
However, as a creative, it's also a very important skill to have, because most movies are made either below 20 million, or over 80 million. There are movies in the gooey middle, but the most successful movies fall in those ranges. And, as a baby writer, you'll be writing, or should be writing for the former. And if you know the costs of that 120 call pile-up, you will be able to justify whether it is necessary.
The bottom line is, you are a creative, but you are ALSO a business. You are selling yourself, and these are the materials, outside of the business stuff if you're not a producer as well, that will sell you to a producer, and get your script bought, if not made.
So, before you go wide with a script, make sure that you have all the material to back it up, and when someone asks you about it, you can pitch like the wind and get people interested.
And it got me to thinking about all the junk that needs to be done OUTSIDE of being creative and writing a script/directing a project in order to be successful. So I decided to run down a few for you, since I've once again neglected you for so long.
Pre/post-writing
This is all of the materials that are required to get your script ready to be shown to people. It includes summaries, treatments, and loglines. I can't tell you how many writers I run in to that have a script and don't have the pitch material to get it read. Most of the time, there is a structure to getting a story read.
1-A producer wants to hear a logline. If the logline is compelling, go to step 2, if it's not, the story dies here. This is currently happening with a story i wrote at the beginning of the year. Because it's not "high concept", can't be pitched in 1 sentence, people don't want to read it. In the meantime, my high concept work gets read all the time.
2-Then they want to see a summary/treatment. This is a 1 page document in the case of a summary, or a 3-5 page document for a treatment, that gives the details on structure, plot twists, and how the story plays out. If the story is compelling and up the producer's alley, they will read your script. Doesn't mean they'll like it. In fact, most of the time the execution is terrible, but they are reading it. Scripts on the shelf don't get sold!
Pitch Material
In this ever expanding world of converging media, it's often required, or recommended, to get together other pitch material. This can be a comic book, concept art, or other information that will show the visual style of the show/movie. Why? Because producers are dumb...j/k...but they are very busy, and read tons of scripts a week, and if they can't visualize your noir story, it's never gonna get made.
The Business/Legal Stuff
Thank god for my business partner being a lawyer. Otherwise I would pull my hair out every day. THIS is the stuff I really hate, and the thing that is most important. No investor will give you dime one without this material, even if the script is great. This is the business plan, budget, schedule, cast list, LOIs, PPMs, distributor information, etc. All of the materials that make the package exciting for investors. For a creative, this is a nightmare because it's breaking down all of your scenes and putting a numeric value on them.
However, as a creative, it's also a very important skill to have, because most movies are made either below 20 million, or over 80 million. There are movies in the gooey middle, but the most successful movies fall in those ranges. And, as a baby writer, you'll be writing, or should be writing for the former. And if you know the costs of that 120 call pile-up, you will be able to justify whether it is necessary.
The bottom line is, you are a creative, but you are ALSO a business. You are selling yourself, and these are the materials, outside of the business stuff if you're not a producer as well, that will sell you to a producer, and get your script bought, if not made.
So, before you go wide with a script, make sure that you have all the material to back it up, and when someone asks you about it, you can pitch like the wind and get people interested.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Rewriting, ganked from bang2write
Because all of the Grinders out there have been engrossed in a rewrite debate all week, and because I happened to come across this blog posting from one of my favorite bloggers, Lucy Vee, I decided to repost it for all your enjoyment. Read it here.
Approaching Rewrites
from Write Here, Write Now by Lucy
For the lovely H who asked last week for my thoughts on rewrites. If you have a query for the blog, leave a comment or send me an email and I'll get to it as soon as I can.
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The thing to remember with your spec scripts is: it's a work in progress. It's never finished. You may do three billion drafts of a spec before it gets an option, but chances are you'll end up doing a billion more AFTER the option. I have never heard of a writer optioning a script and a producer or director making it the way it is (if it isn't a collaboration, that is).
Even if your spec ends up languishing on your desktop, chances are you will go back to it at some point in your lifetime. I had a spec I thought completely, hopelessly dead; I hadn't so much as thought about it in years (except in "Aaah, that was so crap, how sweet" kind of way) until someone phoned me up and said "I need a pitch for something to do with space pirates." I said (somewhat foolishly I might add), "Oh, I have one of those." Then freaked out when I remembered how crap my original draft was. Luckily they only wanted a one page pitch, not an actual draft, so I was able to think about how I might approach the crap execution I did all those years ago now I'm a little more experienced. So I redid the premise. And lo and behold, it works. As a pitch, anyway!
But how do you approach a redraft once you've got that all-important, actual first-first, words-on-paper draft?
Well, as in all things scriptwriting-related, it's entirely personal. I know writers who write a first draft and then workshop it with actors before attempting a second draft. Others print out said first-first draft, put in a drawer, then come back and hack at it with a red pen. Some stare at their drafts on a PC screen like madmen and ring people up to complain about how shit their work is and how they're going to give up screenwriting. I know writers who send their first-first drafts to readers and friends in the first instance; some only allow their agents to look at their stuff when it's in a bit of a state (as all first-first drafts are). Others do a combo of all of this.
If I was giving general advice on approaching a redraft, the first thing I would look at in a second draft is structure and plot. I've said before that dialogue is the last thing I look at, but even character comes after structure and plot for me. Why? Because characters can always be re-aligned around plot in my eyes, but a good plot can't be drawn OUT of a character. I read too many scripts that have interesting characters that don't do anything much to think plotting is subordinate.
It's easy to get sidetracked by the likes of character and dialogue when you really should be looking at how your story works as a whole; otherwise it's like you're moving around the tiles in one of those annoying puzzles where you have to make a picture, yet one tile is always out of sync. By investing in plot and structure in the second draft, you can really work on your characters' arcs and make us care about them in the third. However a plotless or badly structured script can mean messing around with the incidental scenes and moments, hitting your head against a brick wall in my experience.
Way I see it, the first-first draft is a throwaway draft. You might feel a sense of achievement for getting the thing finished, but don't let that euphoria fool you and make you believe for one second this draft is anywhere near finished. It isn't. Yes there will be some good stuff in there - stuff that might even make it into the final version of the first draft you send out. But nine times out of ten, you can do better. Scrub that: you MUST do better. There will be incoherent chunks, woolly characterisation, on-the-nose dialogue. There will plot opportunities wasted; there will be moments that can be realigned, leaner, cooler.
In short: even if your first-first draft is good, it's not as good as it CAN be. And writers that come through Bang2write generally get this. What they don't appear to always get is that drafts AFTER the first-first draft won't be perfect either. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard something along the lines of:
"Thanks for your notes, I agree with your points... It's a shame I still haven't written a shootable draft".
A shootable draft?? There's no such thing. Even when your drafts ARE shot, there's a good chance you will see things you *should have* written, even if people tell you they love your work. What's more, with filmmaking being a collaborative effort, you may not agree with a director's choices or a producer's demands in a rewrite - yet you will have to do it. It's the way that is, hence the back-handed compliment I've heard writers sometimes give each other: "Hey, congratulations on getting a prodco to fuck up your script!"
So if you're striving for perfection in your rewrite second time around (or even four, five, six times around and more!), you're setting yourself up for disappointment. You won't get perfection. Your reader won't come back to you and say, "Hey, this is fine now, send it out", they'll hopefully say something along the lines of: "You've worked out [these issues], now you need to concentrate on [these issues]." This is a GOOD thing, it's a sign you're making progress, not a failure - because your second first draft will be what it is: a slightly better first-first draft.
But there is one other thing when considering rewrites: don't be afraid of returning to page one. It's not a sign of failure or even weakness and you can still use your original draft(s) as a foundation for the new script. When I wrote Thy Will Be Done, I wrote nine drafts of my first draft and three of them (a third!) went back to page one. Each time it was needed and each time it got stronger as a result. Now I have a script in my portfolio that I am confident with and that I know is good - even when people have told me they didn't like it. I know it's story preference, rather than craft. And that counts for so much.
How do you approach rewriting?
Approaching Rewrites
from Write Here, Write Now by Lucy
For the lovely H who asked last week for my thoughts on rewrites. If you have a query for the blog, leave a comment or send me an email and I'll get to it as soon as I can.
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The thing to remember with your spec scripts is: it's a work in progress. It's never finished. You may do three billion drafts of a spec before it gets an option, but chances are you'll end up doing a billion more AFTER the option. I have never heard of a writer optioning a script and a producer or director making it the way it is (if it isn't a collaboration, that is).
Even if your spec ends up languishing on your desktop, chances are you will go back to it at some point in your lifetime. I had a spec I thought completely, hopelessly dead; I hadn't so much as thought about it in years (except in "Aaah, that was so crap, how sweet" kind of way) until someone phoned me up and said "I need a pitch for something to do with space pirates." I said (somewhat foolishly I might add), "Oh, I have one of those." Then freaked out when I remembered how crap my original draft was. Luckily they only wanted a one page pitch, not an actual draft, so I was able to think about how I might approach the crap execution I did all those years ago now I'm a little more experienced. So I redid the premise. And lo and behold, it works. As a pitch, anyway!
But how do you approach a redraft once you've got that all-important, actual first-first, words-on-paper draft?
Well, as in all things scriptwriting-related, it's entirely personal. I know writers who write a first draft and then workshop it with actors before attempting a second draft. Others print out said first-first draft, put in a drawer, then come back and hack at it with a red pen. Some stare at their drafts on a PC screen like madmen and ring people up to complain about how shit their work is and how they're going to give up screenwriting. I know writers who send their first-first drafts to readers and friends in the first instance; some only allow their agents to look at their stuff when it's in a bit of a state (as all first-first drafts are). Others do a combo of all of this.
If I was giving general advice on approaching a redraft, the first thing I would look at in a second draft is structure and plot. I've said before that dialogue is the last thing I look at, but even character comes after structure and plot for me. Why? Because characters can always be re-aligned around plot in my eyes, but a good plot can't be drawn OUT of a character. I read too many scripts that have interesting characters that don't do anything much to think plotting is subordinate.
It's easy to get sidetracked by the likes of character and dialogue when you really should be looking at how your story works as a whole; otherwise it's like you're moving around the tiles in one of those annoying puzzles where you have to make a picture, yet one tile is always out of sync. By investing in plot and structure in the second draft, you can really work on your characters' arcs and make us care about them in the third. However a plotless or badly structured script can mean messing around with the incidental scenes and moments, hitting your head against a brick wall in my experience.
Way I see it, the first-first draft is a throwaway draft. You might feel a sense of achievement for getting the thing finished, but don't let that euphoria fool you and make you believe for one second this draft is anywhere near finished. It isn't. Yes there will be some good stuff in there - stuff that might even make it into the final version of the first draft you send out. But nine times out of ten, you can do better. Scrub that: you MUST do better. There will be incoherent chunks, woolly characterisation, on-the-nose dialogue. There will plot opportunities wasted; there will be moments that can be realigned, leaner, cooler.
In short: even if your first-first draft is good, it's not as good as it CAN be. And writers that come through Bang2write generally get this. What they don't appear to always get is that drafts AFTER the first-first draft won't be perfect either. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard something along the lines of:
"Thanks for your notes, I agree with your points... It's a shame I still haven't written a shootable draft".
A shootable draft?? There's no such thing. Even when your drafts ARE shot, there's a good chance you will see things you *should have* written, even if people tell you they love your work. What's more, with filmmaking being a collaborative effort, you may not agree with a director's choices or a producer's demands in a rewrite - yet you will have to do it. It's the way that is, hence the back-handed compliment I've heard writers sometimes give each other: "Hey, congratulations on getting a prodco to fuck up your script!"
So if you're striving for perfection in your rewrite second time around (or even four, five, six times around and more!), you're setting yourself up for disappointment. You won't get perfection. Your reader won't come back to you and say, "Hey, this is fine now, send it out", they'll hopefully say something along the lines of: "You've worked out [these issues], now you need to concentrate on [these issues]." This is a GOOD thing, it's a sign you're making progress, not a failure - because your second first draft will be what it is: a slightly better first-first draft.
But there is one other thing when considering rewrites: don't be afraid of returning to page one. It's not a sign of failure or even weakness and you can still use your original draft(s) as a foundation for the new script. When I wrote Thy Will Be Done, I wrote nine drafts of my first draft and three of them (a third!) went back to page one. Each time it was needed and each time it got stronger as a result. Now I have a script in my portfolio that I am confident with and that I know is good - even when people have told me they didn't like it. I know it's story preference, rather than craft. And that counts for so much.
How do you approach rewriting?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Another word about deadlines
As we at the Grind, by which I mean me at the Grind, often do, I'd like to clarify the previous blog entry, as I have been getting a couple of questions about it.
While I think that imposing a deadline can be a very good thing for a first draft, I do NOT recommend imposing deadlines for final drafts, unless you've found that it works for you.
I like to work in a world where I will do 1-2 drafts in a day for x number of days until the project is done. Then, I will vet that script with a select group of people whose opinions I trust. Then, I will do the same thing, over and over. For every x number of drafts I do, I will ask for an opinion, sometimes from the same person, sometimes from another person. For me, I know that usually by the 10th draft, a script is solid enough to stand on it's own and after 20 drafts I've cleared out all the bugs down to the smallest typos. But, that doesn't work for everyone, or possibly anyone else.
It's not always a good idea to give a time limit for a final draft because yes, it does, or could, lower what you would consider your best work. Only after mulling things over, stewing on them, and kicking them around in your brain will you be able to see if there is a clear reason for what you are doing. On the other hand, professional writers work on deadlines constantly, and if might be good to get in the habit of learning a skill like that, if it works for you.
An exercise I like to do is AFTER writing a first draft of a script, step away from it for a month and start a new project, then, come back to in 2 weeks-1 month later. After that amount of time, you'll be able to have a new perspective on your script. Then, take your time molding and crafting your story, your characters, and your dialogue. Whenever I do one of my "cycles", I try to step away from the script for a couple of days until I get notes so I can see the script with a clear head. I recommend this to everyone, because having good friend to tell you what sucks or what doesn't in your script is invaluable. Not your mother, either. They love everything you do, even the horse manure.
The only deadline that should be imposed is if an outside force (i.e. contest, fellowship, or, god willing, client) put an outside deadline on you. But then again, that's how my mind work. It's all about what works for you to create the best product in the end. And even after it's a finished product, who knows in a year you might think of a brilliant piece you want to add, and I encourage that too, if it works for you.
P.S.-Part of the joy of writing comes in finding what methodology works for you. If you're a chronic procrastinator, or work really well on a deadline, consider setting a deadline up...who knows, it might work for you.
While I think that imposing a deadline can be a very good thing for a first draft, I do NOT recommend imposing deadlines for final drafts, unless you've found that it works for you.
I like to work in a world where I will do 1-2 drafts in a day for x number of days until the project is done. Then, I will vet that script with a select group of people whose opinions I trust. Then, I will do the same thing, over and over. For every x number of drafts I do, I will ask for an opinion, sometimes from the same person, sometimes from another person. For me, I know that usually by the 10th draft, a script is solid enough to stand on it's own and after 20 drafts I've cleared out all the bugs down to the smallest typos. But, that doesn't work for everyone, or possibly anyone else.
It's not always a good idea to give a time limit for a final draft because yes, it does, or could, lower what you would consider your best work. Only after mulling things over, stewing on them, and kicking them around in your brain will you be able to see if there is a clear reason for what you are doing. On the other hand, professional writers work on deadlines constantly, and if might be good to get in the habit of learning a skill like that, if it works for you.
An exercise I like to do is AFTER writing a first draft of a script, step away from it for a month and start a new project, then, come back to in 2 weeks-1 month later. After that amount of time, you'll be able to have a new perspective on your script. Then, take your time molding and crafting your story, your characters, and your dialogue. Whenever I do one of my "cycles", I try to step away from the script for a couple of days until I get notes so I can see the script with a clear head. I recommend this to everyone, because having good friend to tell you what sucks or what doesn't in your script is invaluable. Not your mother, either. They love everything you do, even the horse manure.
The only deadline that should be imposed is if an outside force (i.e. contest, fellowship, or, god willing, client) put an outside deadline on you. But then again, that's how my mind work. It's all about what works for you to create the best product in the end. And even after it's a finished product, who knows in a year you might think of a brilliant piece you want to add, and I encourage that too, if it works for you.
P.S.-Part of the joy of writing comes in finding what methodology works for you. If you're a chronic procrastinator, or work really well on a deadline, consider setting a deadline up...who knows, it might work for you.
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