While Frank Wuliger only said these words one time to our business of writing class he assured us that the others could find work in the industry. He demonstrated this through his guest speakers who loved stories and storytelling: agents and attorneys and directors, studio executives and managers. It was an amazing class (I remember "amazing" was a word he used quite often).
Another one of Frank's comments continues to haunt me. After finishing our writing program he encouraged us to do work that would put a roof over our head but that wasn't too intense. He said that he had observed many talented writers who took jobs that were so challenging that they had nothing left at the end of the workday, and never became screenwriters.
Taking screenwriting classes at USC while working full-time has helped me continue to write outside of work. But this semester I'm not in class. Writing alone after work can sometimes feel like punishment and so I've been joking with friends and colleagues—"Let's cowrite a screenplay and enter the 2013 Nicholl Fellowship competition."
Finally someone said yes. While I'd told him that if we worked together I wanted the process to begin with writing a short story (7 to 15 pages) before writing any screenplay pages and that that would save weeks of work. Rewriting pages of dialogue is not fun.
When he came back from lunch yesterday excited to show me a few screenplay pages he'd written I glanced at the first few scenes and remembered my first attempts at screenwriting. After having read about 14 books about screenwriting my words were written with enthusiasm. The protagonist made a bland appearance talking about something that was on TV.
I remembered classmates in USC's master of professional writing program who were upset when Irvin Kershner stopped them from writing screenplay pages and made them stop and think when they were as excited as racehorses wanting to run!
I started talking to my friend about storytelling. While we both write every day, the work we do is different from the purest storytelling. As I talked about what a story can be I realized I was echoing words I'd heard from mentors who had taught classes, students in those classes with hundreds of years of combined experience. My friend agreed to meet the next day at lunch and talk about the story.
I've heard the story we're writing about over the years. It was in the headines for a few months in the early 1980s. During our first meeting we talked about
My friend is a musician who composes music and I told him that learning how to write a screenplay is as complex and takes as much practice as learning to play an instrument and then learning how to write a symphony. Though I'd read those 14 books about screenwriting I didn't feel confident writing a screenplay until after taking classes and working with mentors, while struggling to create on my own. I remember telling one professor that writing a screenplay is like struggling with an attacking octopus.
We debated every part of a multitude of events and people who came together to create a story that made headlines for a few weeks in the early 1980s. While we're still not ready to begin writing the short story, we began to discover and agree on elements that make the story dramatic vs. melodromatic.
Today was the first time since Kersh helped me with my thesis that I've gone through this creative process. I'd been afraid that without him or a professor the octopus would return. But it was amazingly satisfying. And it's pretty fun to blog about too.
Finally someone said yes. While I'd told him that if we worked together I wanted the process to begin with writing a short story (7 to 15 pages) before writing any screenplay pages and that that would save weeks of work. Rewriting pages of dialogue is not fun.
When he came back from lunch yesterday excited to show me a few screenplay pages he'd written I glanced at the first few scenes and remembered my first attempts at screenwriting. After having read about 14 books about screenwriting my words were written with enthusiasm. The protagonist made a bland appearance talking about something that was on TV.
I remembered classmates in USC's master of professional writing program who were upset when Irvin Kershner stopped them from writing screenplay pages and made them stop and think when they were as excited as racehorses wanting to run!
I started talking to my friend about storytelling. While we both write every day, the work we do is different from the purest storytelling. As I talked about what a story can be I realized I was echoing words I'd heard from mentors who had taught classes, students in those classes with hundreds of years of combined experience. My friend agreed to meet the next day at lunch and talk about the story.
I've heard the story we're writing about over the years. It was in the headines for a few months in the early 1980s. During our first meeting we talked about
- where the story should start (a topic which had come up many times in classes I'd taken).
- who the antagonist is (not the easy answer, oh this was getting fun)!
- controversial parts of the story that might have people talking by the water cooler after they had seen the movie.
My friend is a musician who composes music and I told him that learning how to write a screenplay is as complex and takes as much practice as learning to play an instrument and then learning how to write a symphony. Though I'd read those 14 books about screenwriting I didn't feel confident writing a screenplay until after taking classes and working with mentors, while struggling to create on my own. I remember telling one professor that writing a screenplay is like struggling with an attacking octopus.
We debated every part of a multitude of events and people who came together to create a story that made headlines for a few weeks in the early 1980s. While we're still not ready to begin writing the short story, we began to discover and agree on elements that make the story dramatic vs. melodromatic.
Today was the first time since Kersh helped me with my thesis that I've gone through this creative process. I'd been afraid that without him or a professor the octopus would return. But it was amazingly satisfying. And it's pretty fun to blog about too.
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