Writing the screenplay may be the easiest part; how do screenwriters come up with story ideas?

One semester, Marc Norman came to talk to USC students in the Master of Professional Writing program. He told a charming story about how his children, when they were little, sensed that their daddy's job as a screenwriter wasn't stable or continuous. He said they were convinced that when one writing job ended, there might not be another for awhile.

So over the diner table they would try to help him, coming up with wild ideas for stories--"Daddy, write about a monster that attacks the city..."

And then Marc's son grew up and called him from college, excited. "Dad, why not write about the young Shakespeare." He did, and when Shakespeare in Love won the Academy Award, Marc presented his son with a handsome thank-you check.

Marc told our class of screenwriting students, playwrights, and novelists that it was so challenging for him to think up story ideas, that he had worked for someone else for most of his screenwriting career.

Nia Vardalos also spoke to our Master of Professional Writing class. Petite and charming, she graciously answered every question. She told us that when she crossed the border and entered California, that she would be given her own sitcom; a year or so later, her agent fired her. Because no one would hire her as an actress, she wrote a play that she would star in about what she knew best--her extended family. She said the lines in the film that people remember best were taken from conversations she'd had with family members. I'll write more about this later, but she and her husband scraped together the funds, rented a hall, staged the play, and overextended themselves financially spending retirement savings as I remember, buying an ad in the LA TIMES. Rita Wilson eventually saw the play, her husband, Tom, became involved...well there's much more to the story, enough for another post.

So how do you come up with a compelling idea for a story? Last semester in The Industry class we learned that Disney will not consider making a movie unless it can be made into a theme park ride. Mark Ross from Paradigm advised our small group that visited with him to do what he does--watch every movie that is released, see how they do in the trades (one week out; two weeks...what are audiences interested in); he told us that if we want to be artists, that to survive we should always be working on two projects, one for ourselves and one for the market.

The playwright Martin McDonagh wrote the story for In Bruges, which we studied in class this week, after he vacationed in Bruges, Belgium. He was enchanted by the town--for a few hours. And then he became bored. He thought it would be interesting to separate those feelings into two characters who are forced to stay in the town for two weeks. He had a fun challenge--why would they be stuck there? And he began to weave the story with the inciting incident, theme, tension, humor, and imagery.

Yes, this will be a life changing semester. I can hardly wait.