Rewriting in a big way

I think when I was a newbie writer, rewrites were not really effective rewrites. I might have changed sentences here and there, rewritting sentences so they flowed better. I might have added a character but not one that really helped the story move forward better. Now I know that rewriting takes a whole lot more than just dotting more i's and crossing more t's. Rewriting is really tearing things apart and building stuff back up. It really takes a lot to get to the core of the story and sometimes that means rebuilding. A lot! Even in this rewrite that I'm working on, I have put a scene that was in the middle, as my opening scene. I thought, well, it's a comedy, and that comedic moment happens half way through my story. It's a very visual moment. And we all know that opening with a visual moment is a good idea. So I decided why not? The good thing is you save the other drafts, so if it doesn't work, you can always go back to the older version. I think that was key as a writer for me to learn. That it's okay to play around and try new things. Once I learned that as a writer things became and felt so much more freer. I even got rid of an entire character that I was sure I needed. But people had suggested I might not need him. So I thought, why not try it without him? And by introducing a whole new character, now I have more motivation for my inciting incident and the 2nd act. So ask yourself, what are you doing in your rewrite? Is each scene filled with conflict? Does each character help move the story forward? Do you have some characters that fill up the same spot and purpose that other characters do? Don't be afraid to cut out things and put entirely new stuff in. You just might surprise yourself and see your story flourish like never before.

Taking notes

So, you've written the best screenplay ever. And you're going to meet with your writing group or a producer and get feedback. Of course they'll agree it's brilliant and Oscar worthy. Sure, there might be a few changes, but they'll notice how brilliant you are, right? So...then come the REAL notes. And they're not as positive as you hoped! Of course you want to tell them that they don't know what they're talking about and they must be mistaken. But guess what? They're not wrong! At least not completely. The fact is, we writers are inside our head. And when we put words on the paper, we're sure that what's in our head is on the page. But that isn't always the case. So when you get notes, listen to the person giving them. Write down what people are saying. You don't have to agree inside. You can actually think they're completely way off base. But if you ever want notes again, which you need, you better listen! And get in the practice of just listening with your writer's group. Because when it comes time to get notes from a producer, you really better not argue. No producer wants to hear a writer tell them they're wrong. If they're hiring you, listen to what they have to say or you'll be known as a writer who's difficult. Before long no one will want to work with you again. I'm not saying you have to take every note people give you. In fact, don't. Take the notes and go home and sit on them for a couple days. Remind yourself the story you are trying to tell. Then read the notes and see which ones are helping you get there. If you don't take all the notes but use them to make your story the one you want to tell, then those notes will be very helpful. Sometimes people don't know what's not working, they just know it's not. So that's why arguing with the person giving the notes is a waste of time and truly downright rude. So listen up. I promise you, there's something there that will help your story become better than you ever imagined.

Why do we sabotage ourselves?

So today I banged my funny bone on my kitchen cupboard and it hurt like hell. So what do I say as it happens? "F*@k me!" Really? Why? Why on earth would I be offensive to myself after I hurt myself? I mean, I should be saying instead, "Hey there sweet, wonderful person, you're going to be okay." But nope. I cursed at myself instead, treated myself horribly. Because we aren't prone to being loving to ourselves, are we? We just pile on the pain. Pile on more insults. Like we believe we're deserving of more of them, instead of loving behavior. And as writers, if things aren't going our way, we just assume it's going to keep going like that too. Piling on more misery. For instance if we haven't been writing, then does that motivate us to write? Not usually. We usually just keep putting it off. Another TV show to watch that we heard was good, instead of writing. Another book to finish reading, instead of writing. Friends who want to meet for drinks, we can't possibly blow them off. And the longer we postpone our writing time, the more we figure, well, I haven't been writing, what's another day? It's a lot! It's our lives! It's our dreams! Why on earth do we think postponing going after our dreams is even an option? I mean when we put it that way, it seems like NOT writing is the complete foolish thing to do. But somewhere in our lives, we've been told following our dreams is a waste of time. And no matter how much we try to drown out that voice that said that, it's still there isn't it? Somewhere in the back of our minds. Slowly creeping into our subconscious like a black ooze from a horror movie that eventually engulfs the lead characters until no one's left to survive. Unless...! There's one strong hero! And he fights the evil ooze. Until Part Two of course. But, my whole point, is that we can be the hero of our lives and our dreams. We can be the one that fights off procrastinating when it's time to write, when it's been a while for us to put our dreams first. Because that's what we were put on this earth to do. Tell our stories. And we don't owe an apology to anyone who doesn't get that. Because the ones who truly love us, do get it. And the ones that don't, well, they probably would curse at us when we hit our funny bones any way. So be good to yourself. Be loving to yourself. And put your writing first. Because it's the least you deserve.

Where's the conflict?

I've noticed that in my writing group, we all seem to want to paint the world with beautiful scenes and beautiful descriptions. But we're a little less inclined to put our protags on a journey with obstacles. So, why is that? What in a writer makes us not want to put them through the pain they need to go through in order to grow? I'm guessing that perhaps it has to do with something with writers not wanting pain in their own lives and taking some sort of subconscious pity on their lead characters. But in order to tell a story people want to see, we have to add the conflict. There is no story without that! Plus, I think that we fall in love with our worlds we've created and the settings we put the protags in, that we forget we're actually telling a story and not just painting a vivid world. Because believe me, if you forget the conflict, it's not going to be so vivid in the end. So when you're writing your own story, be sure you know what your protag's goal is before you even start your outline. Be sure that each scene, or at least almost every scene, has that character going after the goal, and the antag keeping her from reaching that goal. Keep having the antag stopping her every single way he can. And no matter how many times he stops her, she keeps finding ways, new ways, to push towards that goal. If you can get all these things in your story, you will have a story worth reading. And worth making! Now, I'm off to go make sure I have conflict in my outline.

How to not go crazy waiting!

So if you get lucky enough to have a big producer actually interested in working with you, part of that means they are busy and you are NOT going to be the first thing on their list of things to do that day. Or that week! Or even that month. So, there's only one thing you can do. Pull your hair out! Okay, no, not really. That's what you may think of doing, but in order from yanking head hair on daily basis, there are a few things you can do while you wait to hear back from said big-time producer. Yes, we all know we should write another script. At least I think we all know that, right? That's kind of one of those things I heard early on in my writing career. But that only takes up part of the day. The rest of the day, in between when you're being brilliant, of course your mind is going to wander and get stuck on, "Why hasn't said producer called me yet?" So, you need more things to keep busy. For me, I'm a freelance ad writer. So I've decided to revamp my advertising website. In fact, why don't I share it here? www.denisesbook.com That might even give you something to look at instead of pulling your hair out while you're waiting for said producer. But for me, I used this week to work on my website and then once that was done, I contacted old ad contacts I hadn't contacted in years! It's a good time for me to get reconnected. As luck or hard work would have it, I've gotten really great response to my latest website and it looks like I'll be picking up a lot of promising freelance gigs. So that's definitely keeping me busy. So whatever your full time job is, I'd suggest doing the same. Find projects that can keep you busy, keep your mind off your scripts and your producer. For me, that's been pretty much enough. Or at least I think it has. Maybe it hasn't, and maybe that's why I have this sudden urge to replant my entire front and backyard gardens. Plus a real driving need to throw out anything unneeded in the garage. If I don't hear from the producer soon, my house is going to be probably the best I've seen it in years! Hmmm...maybe it's not such a bad thing he hasn't called to give me notes yet. Another thing that helped me get a grasp on why I haven't talked to him, was googling his name in Hollywood Reporter. Seeing all the big projects he's got going on as we speak, really helped me get an idea of how busy he really is. Of course I know he's busy. But until you really read it in black and white print, it's not as easy to really get a handle on it. It sure worked for me, so I suggest that to you. Now, if all those suggestions don't work for you, then I guess I'm at a loss. Because I think I got you pretty busy. And maybe by the time you actually finish all those things, you'll actually hear from him. Well, I better go. I think I have this hankering to clean out my entire fridge.

My pitch meeting!

So, it was finally here. I'd spent the whole weekend preparing for it. The pitch ended up being 7 pages long. I was told by industry friends I needed to show the beginning, middle and end of the story. Show the character arc. Tell the theme. Give the beats of end of Act 1, midpoint, Act 2, and Act 3. Explain who the main characters are. Give a basic idea on what I really hope to tell once I write it. Okay, I got all that. Not a problem. I'd been sick all weekend, so that wasn't really helpful. But at least I was well enough for the meeting. I had to hope I knew my story enough to be able to tell it. It's really the passion for your story that gets a producer excited. And since I love screenwriting more than anything, passion is just natural for me. And this story, super excited. So what else do I need? So I go to the meeting and he's super busy. I wait in the office for a few minutes while he fields calls for a movie he's producing in two weeks, with no final cast yet! Yikes! It was interesting sitting there waiting as call after call came through and important industry people tried to get a hold of him. You'd see his assistants write on these dry eraser boards of who was on the phone, go into his office and see who got the, "Yes, put the call through" Or "No, calling them back". So I finally got to go in to the meeting and the producer said, "Tell me what you got for me". I said I have everything! He was like, "Great! You just made my life easy." So I told him the whole story. And he loved it! I even added a different kind of twist to it that I wasn't sure if he'd like, and he loved that too! It just goes to show as a writer, we have to trust our talents and our style and go for it. That's why they're hiring us, for our writer's voice. If that's your style, don't hide from it! So he only made one minor change to the ending, which I really liked. He tells me he wants to see the outline by Friday. Friday?! But it's Monday! But I tell him, yep, no problem! No matter what deadline he wanted, I'd meet it! I'd written an outline for another producer in three days, so I could do it again. I'd have to hunker down, but I would do it. If I was organized, I could use every minute of my day to get this thing finished. I was not going to miss out on this amazing opportunity to work with this huge producer I respected. So, I divided each day by acts. Monday finish Act 1. Tuesday get to Midpoint. Wednesday end of Act 2. And Thursday Act 3. Sure enough, I stuck to my schedule. I even had time to go to writing group and meet a friend for lunch! Just goes to show if you're organized, you can do it! I decided to sleep on it Thursday night, in case anything else came to me. But by Friday, I still felt this was the story! And sent it. Yay! Haven't heard back yet. His production on his film should have started this week. So I know he's got a lot on his plate. If I don't hear from him this week, then next week a little "checking in" email might be just the thing.

Oh my gosh, it's a pitch!

So tomorrow is the big meeting I've been waiting, probably pretty much my whole life for. I feel like I've been working towards this moment most of my adult life, taking classes, learning the craft, writing, writing and more writing. The producer I'm meeting with is already sold on the idea, and all he wants to hear is the details and my take on it. So all my friends who know the situation and know the business tell me, "you're going to do fine! He loves the story, it's going to be easy!" But of course, it doesn't feel that way to me! It doesn't help that I was sick most of this weekend, so when I'm usually going over my pitch, I was either resting or too tired to even read over it and memorize it. But maybe that's better? Maybe it will seem more natural that I didn't memorize the whole darn thing. I sure hope so! But what I'm trying to do is remind myself, that this is my destiny. This is what I know I'm meant to be doing with my life. I write every day, so what's the difference with telling someone my story? There really isn't any. It seems like more of a big deal because now he can actually hire me to write the story. But that's why I've been writing specs all these years! And he's already told me he thinks I'm a talented writer. So it's not like I have to prove that to him. We were just looking for the right project to work on together. And now we've found it. And truthfully, as I was writing this pitch and this story, I felt that all the ideas just came pouring out of me. That the story really wrote itself. And really, I felt that it was sent to me from my muses, and I was just the conduit to get it on the paper. Even my husband, who's very critical of ideas of mine in an honest and truthful way, has told me "This idea is great. You're going to do great." And no, he's not like my mom who would say that about any old idea. So he is a really great sounding board. So I guess that's why I needed to write this post. I needed to validate that I know my craft. And I know the pitch enough to get the story across. I do like the story, a lot, in fact. I can't wait to see it as a script and get the chance to write it for this huge producer. So really, there's nothing I should worry about. It's all meant to be. I am meant to have this meeting. I feel like this is all happening as it should. I was listening to Wayne Dyer, one of my favorite authors, on Oprah's OWN today. And he said that when you want something to happen, you just say, "I am..." and answer with whatever you want. Like I am healthy. I am successful. I am debt-free. That when we say "I am" it tells the universe to bring you more of that, instead of saying what you don't want, because then it brings you more of what you don't want too! So, since tomorrow, is the day I've been waiting for my whole life. Then I will say, "I am a successful screenwriter." and I will believe it and keep repeating it. I think you should say it too, until you see it happen for you too.