The rewrite has happened!

So the writer and I took the notes that the Exec Producer gave us. We were able to turn a rewrite around in under a week. So sent that to the director who's also creating the show with us. He liked it. So now it's on to the Exec Producer. If he likes it, and if he thinks he can pitch this along with his other shows, then, he'll pitch it with us. So we're waiting. Again. Half of the writing process right? But it sure would be exciting to have this Exec Producer team up with us. He has lots of connections in this biz.

So what do I do in the meantime? Well, what I'll say to you too. Work on other things! Luckily I'm working on a new TV script outline and another script for a feature. So I have enough things to keep my mind off that script. It's definitely why you want to work on more than one project at a time. Because the more you work on, the more you can throw out into the world. So if one thing doesn't happen, then you have plenty more options. Hopefully! Well, that's at least the plan.

So, I'm back to my outline now. I hope you're keeping busy on all your project too!

Ready for a script consultation with Pilar?

I've always wanted to use a script doctor or have a script consultation from someone professional in the industry. I've been in many writing groups and also have many trusted writer friends to give me feedback. But this time, I have a certain really great producer that's waiting on my current script. So even though my talented writer friends helped me get my script to where it is now, I just felt I needed one more special set of eyes to take me the final way.

So, I listen on a regular bases to On The Page, the podcast with Pilar Alessandra. If you don't know her podcast and you're a writer or anything in the business, you need to listen to her podcasts asap. I've been listening to them for a year or so now. She's had the podcast much longer than that. But I listen to them daily, sometimes a few a day. She records them weekly, so I'm slowly catching up! But what I can say is that everyone in the industry seems to have used her writing guidance at one point or another. Her guests and those that have used her services are professional TV writers, film writers, directors producers, and everything in-between. Every time I listen to her podcasts, I've learned something so invaluable.

So when it was time for me to decide who I would hire to look over my latest draft, I knew it had to be Pilar. You can either pay for rush feature notes at $500 or regular turnaround at $400. Sitcom notes are $350. I had a feature. You can also meet her at her office, on skype or on the phone. I wanted to meet in person because I've been a fan for so long that I wanted to meet the gal behind the podcast. And all I can say, is she's as sweet as she seems on the podcast. Not fair! lol No, really it was such a pleasure meeting her. Of course, then I was thinking, what if she rips my script apart? I'll be so excited to meet her and have my hopes dashed in the same instance. Luckily for all my hard work, even though she had notes throughout, there weren't any, "Start from page 1 rewrite" notes. Phew!

And all her notes were amazing and I agreed and saw how they were going to punch up and improve what I already had. That's exactly why I wanted to her hire. On one of her podcasts she even said how friends usually try to give notes based on what they want your script to be, not based on the script you already have. (By the way, I never do that). But, I will say, most writers I know do that. And so even with good intentions, you sometimes get lead astray. But with Pilar, she only gave me notes that I knew would improve my script.

I'm so super excited. I am half way done with my rewrite from her notes. And after the holidays I will get my script to the producer ready to read this. With her notes, I feel really confident to get my script to him. Before her notes, I'm not sure if I would have. Of course, as writers, we always hope we've turned out something great. But can we always be so certain? But Pilar really gave me a lot of confidence in what I wrote. And now I can't wait to finish my latest rewrite! I will definitely use her on future scripts.

Here's her website for classes and consultation if you're interested too. I highly recommend! http://www.onthepage.tv/script-consultations/script-consultations/

Wow! It's happening! Or is it?

I wrote a script for an indie producer maybe ten years ago. And now, it's finally getting made! It's here. That moment we all wait for! There are about four actors cast in roles on the imdb site. One really well known. Another that was in a very famous movie. And other really strong actors. So why am I scared out of my mind?! Because it's! Getting! Made! What if I don't like it? What if people have negative things to say about it? Of course as a writer, we know once we write it, then it's out of our hands. Sure, I've had some say in the many different rewrite phases. But even then, only sometimes was I listened to. The movie is 90% getting made out of the country, so I won't be there to help with any last minute changes. So what could go wrong? A lot!

I had a horror movie made by an indie director a few years back. I saw some of his previous films and thought they were pretty good. But once I saw the horror film made, there were things I think he could have done differently, that I think would have made it better. So as a writer, it's really scary when someone else takes your vision and doesn't do with it what you think they should.

Alas, I'm not a writer/director nor do I feel the need be just yet. So all I can do is hope for the best! It's at least getting made. Hopefully more doors will open for me once the movie comes out. Hopefully if it's not as good as I think it could be, people will know that wasn't up to me. So all I can do is enjoy this moment as the movie gets cast. And someday, I'll see my words up on the big screen, spoken by very talented and capable actors. and my name will be up on the screen too. That can't be too bad, right?

After the meeting

So I went it to meet with the producer on a script I was writing for him. I thought I'd have to pitch it to him, but turns out, he actually wants to read another script of mine now. He thinks that one might be closer to being ready. I'm on a 3rd rewrite. So I should be happy right? For some reason I'm feeling kind of panicked over the whole thing. Maybe because this whole script has been sort of tricky. It's a comedy, so you'd think it would be easy. But I guess if comedies were easy, everyone would be writing them. I'm at the midpoint and solved a huge issue I had with it. Now, to write it. The easy part. Not!

My writer friend gave me advice to go in to the meeting with ideas to pitch. So luckily I brought in a couple ideas with me. If he hadn't told me I don't know if I would have known to do that. So if you have a meeting, always bring in other ideas! The producer is interested in a new idea of mine that I pitched. So who knows, could end up working with him on other ideas. That's what these meetings are all about. Working with people you want to work with. And so far, he seems willing to work with me. And definitely, I him.

So there you have it. Always bring in other ideas to any meeting. Now, to finish my rewrite. Wish me luck!

Who reads the rewrite?

So I mentioned at some point that I was doing a  huge page 1 rewrite for a big production company. It's very exciting and with their ability to get it to anyone, this could be a great opportunity to see something produced with big names staring in it. So when I finished the rewrite, I was very happy with it. But then I realized, wait, no one else has seen it! So how do I know the producers will agree? I emailed my agent friend at ICM and said, what do I do? If I send it to writers for notes, they'll give me notes that could be completely opposite of what the producers want! That would be so counterproductive. He agreed with me and said only send it to someone that's checking to see if you missed anything and to give you an idea of the read. No notes! So that's what I did. I have two writer friends that I know can read it constructively but also are not looking to rip apart every thing I created. So if you have someone like that too, cherish them!

So I got my script to these two friends. They gave me raving thumbs ups, and then off to the producers it went. Now for the hard part, waiting! And here I thought the writing it would be the hard part! Guess it's good that I'm finishing up a rewrite with a writing partner to keep me busy!

The rewrite that can't beat you

So recently I was given the go ahead to start on a rewrite for a producer I'm working with. Great news! But, now I'm working with someone else in his department. Also a very talented producer. But the thing is, his notes were almost completely opposite of what the first producer had me do. So what's a writer to do? Hunker down and do that rewrite.

For some writers a rewrite this big can seem daunting and intimidating. See it was literally a page 1 rewrite. I've seen talented writers give up at this point. But this is what seperates the men from the boys and the gals from the, well, you get the picture. So instead of getting overwhelmed, I took the notes and made myself work on the rewrite every single day. I reminded myself, I love writing! This is what I want to be doing. So to have fun. I didn't let myself get overwhelmed and think of the, "What if I can't figure this out?" I put that out of my head and just did what I know how to do and love to do, write.

The important thing is to work on a new outline. I had to take apart a story I had already learned to love. That can be painful, sure. But instead of worrying about that. I had to focus on the fact that these talented producers see something worthwhile in this story. If I can deliver to them what they want to work on, then what could be better than that? So with a little hard work, a little sweat, a lot of writing, a lot of noodling, yesterday I finally found the story I wanted to tell. Tada! See, it can work out. And now I'm so inspired with my new story, I can barely take time to stop writing it. Okay, yes I did find time to write this post for you. But that's literally about it. Oh, and eating, and sleeping, But you get my point.

So if you're faced with a huge rewrite, just remember you can do it. It's just a piece of paper. It can't defeat you. You're the creator of your writing universe. It's up to you if you want to create some new magic. Even if it's a page 1 rewrite.

The nose knows

So for first time writers, or newbie writers, they will hear a lot of "it's on the nose" when people read their scripts. And when you're a new writer you're not always sure what that means. Recently, a new writer reached out to me in need of some explanation so I thought it might be a good post to help other new writers in this position.

I asked him to read as many articles on what "writing on the nose" meant. I also asked him to rewrite a scene of his once he thought he knew what it was to see if he had applied what he thought he learned. Even with that, it still turned out he was in the dark.

What I did notice is that he thought to fix writing on the nose meant to write everything shorter. Dialogue. Narration. Descriptions. Now sometimes yes, it can mean writing less. But not always. He cut out so much I no longer could tell what the characters were saying or meaning. So don't cut just to make things shorter. Cut to make things less obvious.

See, people in real life never say what they mean. So our jobs as writers is to not be so obvious. It's to play what is going on underneath what the characters are saying but leave things hidden and to let them come across in other ways. For instance, if a character has a bad day at work and that scene was written on the nose, we'd hear exactly what the writer intended. For instance, the character would come in from work and say it all, "I had a bad day at work! I don't like anyone right now." Wife, "Why do you have to yell at me for having a bad day at work?" Man, "I'm going to go sit at my computer and ignore you because I don't like myself or anyone right now". Yuck! Not a good scene is it? Now if it wasn't on the nose it could be written more like this...

He comes home but doesn't tell her, she kisses him but he just brushes past her, says he's not hungry for dinner and goes to hide at his laptop. Then when the wife asks if he's hungry after she's cleaned up the dishes, then he could snap at her so much that they get into a fight. But maybe he yells at her for the way she parked the car. And how she always parks the car that way and he can't fit in the garage. And then she's annoyed he keeps bringing that up so they fight over the car instead of what really happened at work. Then when going to bed, both ignoring each other it might finally come out, "Sorry I got yelled at by my boss for messing up. I guess I took it out on you." So that scene would be so much more interesting than the first. Don't you think?

If you need to write a scene really obvious the first time you write it, that's okay. But once it's on the page, ask yourself how else can I write this scene? Can I write it with no dialogue? What could I have that person do instead of what I actually intended him to do? Is there another character he could interact with that will show off the scene much better? Is there an object I can introduce to the scene that would make it less on the nose? There's many ways to hide what the character is thinking. But it's up to us, the writers, to figure out the best way it is to do that.

In honor of Syd Field

So there was news today of Syd Field passing this weekend at the age of 77. I never met the guy, but read his screenwrting books. And it wasn't till I heard he passed, that I realized I owe the man a lot. It was he and Robert McKee that taught me my very first steps in how to write a script. I remember sitting by my computer, with Syd Field's books open next to Robert McKee's as I typed what I thought would be the best thing ever written. LOL Okay, maybe I didn't. But I thought it might be worthy of something. Turns out it was only worthy of teaching me how to write a script. But we all have to start somewhere. And if it weren't for teachers like him, we never would have had something on the page to do our first rewrite, or to get comfortable enough in the craft to learn new styles, to learn our voice. So the news of Syd Field passing is a sad one for me. I wish I had thought of taking the time to thank him. I'm sure many will feel the same. RIP.

Writing visually for screenwriting

How many times do we hear "show don't tell", "don't write on the nose", "be more visual". But do we really know what that means? And are we able to do it 100% of the time? I know for me, sometimes I have scenes where I'm really good at doing that. But then other times, I seem to not. And then friends will suggest better alternatives and then I think, "Oh yes! That's so much more visual!"

I think the key is asking yourself once you've written a scene, "How many different ways can I write this scene by not using dialogue at all?" Or if you do use dialogue, see if the characters can get away with saying anything but what you're really trying to say.

Even when I think I'm using subtext, sometimes I'm still not using the most visual way to explore a scene. Stephen Duncan writes an article for The Writers Store's website and he writes this,

Pick one idea (or make up your own) and write it in three different ways:

1. The first approach is using only spoken dialogue. Keep it short, around two to three pages.

2. Next, write the same scene using only actions and non-verbal dialogue. You need to translate the spoken words to recognizable visual actions and reactions.

3. Finally, rewrite the same scene focusing on improving the visuals, but this time write a single line of dialogue to capture the subtext (theme) of the scene.

You can take this exercise to an advanced level by writing a six to eight page sequence based on the same idea. Each scene should use the seven elements and the overall sequence should use the seven elements. First, try it using only the spoken dialogue, then using a single theme-defining line of dialogue, and finally write a sequence combining spoken and non-spoken dialogue with visual action.

I think those are all great ideas. When it's time to do a rewrite, why not try these exercises and see what happens. I always remind myself, doing a "Save as" always keeps the old scene. So why not push yourself as a writer and see what you come up with? I bet, just bet, you'll like the new scenes even better.

Screenwriting: In honor of Valentine's Day

Why I love screenwriting. Let me count the ways.

I love creating characters that can sometimes take on a life of their own and tell me a story I didn't even know I had inside of me.

I love creating plots, that get so complicated that even I'm excited to see how the story ends.

I love the idea that some day, my words will be acted out by actors I admire on the big screen.

I love that when someone with talent reads my words, it sounds even better than I ever envisioned.

I love that when it's time to do a rewrite, even if I feel like there's no way I can fix the problems, with a lot of sweat and toil, I always do.

I love that at times I love screenwriting and times it drives me mad, and that's exactly why I love it.

I love the sound of hearing people laugh because I wrote something they thought was funny.

I love pushing the envelope to see how far I can go with humor.

I love when someone tells me I'm a really good writer. That never gets old and never will.

I love so much about screenwriting. What about you?

Soup's on!

So I met with the indie producer yesterday for lunch. But she wasn't hungry or thirsty, and I was only in the mood for soup and ice tea. So light lunch I guess! So she shared with me the notes on my script she wanted me to use for the final rewrite, and the notes on the other writer's script to use too. She was worried how in the heck I would combine these two scripts into one story as some of the ideas are so completely different. But I felt excited just talking about the story and seeing where it would go. But then when I sat down to write last night on it, yes, I did feel a tad overwhelmed. Not crazy, horrible, but a little. But I think only to the amount anyone feels when trying to unravel a story to do a rewrite. So I ended up writing about two hours and made some decent headway. And I can tell this story will definitely work out. I look forward to doing another pass after both scripts are put together. Just so I can cut what isn't needed and make sure there isn't anything in there that doesn't really need to be, and to really add my style to the script, which is what she's liking more over the other writer. I'm hoping to finish this script before the New Year, as I have a lot of exciting projects that are going to start in January. So I want to get this off my plate so I have the time to devote to the other projects heading my way. It will be an exciting time doing this rewrite, and an exciting New Year.