Input on Output

[zagoraz]

I know there have been threads about writing habits, behavior, etc... but I just thought I'd throw this two-part question out there for the hell of it.

How many screenplays have you completed this year? And how do you feel about them?

Coming up on the last quarter of the year (my first year at really focusing on screenwriting), I see that I have written three full-length screenplays and will likely finish the one I just started outlining by the end of November. I never set out to have a pattern, but it seems like I've formed one (a month of brainstorming/outlining followed by a month of writing, taking a week off and then spending three weeks polishing/tweaking. I've always been in the mindset of quality over quantity, and in my mind four finished scripts a year almost feels like too many. Maybe I just had a good year.

I read in an interview with Wes Anderson that it took him (and Noah Baumbach) a year to write 'The Life Aquatic'. I almost wish I had that kind of patience with a project. Maybe I just haven't found the right basket to throw all of my proverbial eggs into yet. Anyways...

[Joe Calabrese]

Lately, I have been doing two to three "completed" spec scripts per year. ( I keep busy with other things too, like rewrites for hire, consulting, moderating here and outlining other specs).

The ones I complete to a first draft or better, I feel good about. They are IMHO marketable and worthwhile tales. The ones that stay at the first act or outline, may be good, but something forced me to either lose interest or perspective. For instance, you guys here read my treasure hunting thriller script pages for "Oak Island." I have the 1st act done and I am waiting to see what "The Cave" does for underground specs. If the demand is there, I will continue, otherwise... Another spec I dropped after an outline just doesn't thrill me as much as when I started because I came up with something else that I felt really hot about. I'll keep it in the back room until I have more time.

Until you become self sufficient as a writer or other (Wes and Noah are after all working directors/producers/writers too), do as many specs as you can handle, because...

a) practice makes perfect and...

b) the more you have the more chances to sell.

[JenniferShay]

Ok this is along the lines of something I wanted to ask anyways. I have completed many outlines and have 3 unfinished scripts that I just let go because I am just not feeling that passion to complete it. So I keep plugging along hoping something will click. Being so green and not having much of a clue (but trying to grab one), I was wondering...

Does everyone go through these kinds of obstacles or do they take an idea (any, good or bad) and just flesh it until they get a completed draft or do they go with an idea they feel works for them?

[StephieM]

"Does everyone go through these kinds of obstacles or do they take an idea (any, good or bad) and just flesh it until they get a completed draft or do they go with an idea they feel works for them?"

I don't know about everyone. But I'm kind of in the same boat as you are. I'll get to a certain point in the script and I start to lose interest. Part of the problem is that I try to write these outrageous scripts that I'm just not experienced enough to write. I'm trying to write something that doesn't require too much thinking. :) Then maybe after I've written a few "easy" scripts, I'll go back and tackle the bigger ones. But no matter what you are writing you have to feel passionate about it, or it just isn't going to pan out.

Steph

[Joe Calabrese]

You have to ask yourself why do you lose interest?

There are no easy scripts vs. hard scripts. Sure, writing out of your genre is hard and maybe that is why you lose interest and find it difficult to complete.

I always loved horror and thought I could only write horror, but wanting to write that genre doesn't mean I could. I found after many experiments that I write best with the action genre with elements of scifi and dry humor. That's my zone. I can write some other genres that have similar stuff, but not well. I suck at straight out comedy, I can't sustain the funny for that many pages.

I suggest if you hit brick walls after brick walls to try another genre. Find the best elements of any of your scripts, whether it be great action lines (try Action) or funny lines (try Comedy) and so on.

I also find that many new writers lose interest with a script because it is not turning out the way they originally envisioned in their head. I say let the script take over and write itself the way it wants to. After all, you can always rewrite it later if it doesn't work.

You must knuckle down sometimes and finish it whether it sucks or not, whether you love it or not. Practice makes perfect and you need to have those completed scripts to learn from. You will never learn how to write a full length feature if all you have are a dozen first acts.

[Rainy Night]

When I first started writing screenplays I started writing shorts because I thought they would be good learning experiences. I started small; my first one had a fairly simple plot, two characters and ended up being only about 5 pages. I kept building on each one making them more complex each time. The last one I did was about 30 pages. What also really helped was that I had a friend with a digital camera and editing system. We spent a weekend and shot one of the shorts. While the film didn’t turn out very good it was fun seeing something I had written fleshed out.

For me setting small goals and working towards a larger one keeps me excited about writing

[StephieM]

See, I was under the impression you SHOULD write the genre you enjoy watching the most. Because that's the one you will know more about. I love action, thriller and sci-fi, but whenever I get into a script with these genres I find that I get all wrapped up in the technicalities. I'd spend most of my time worrying about what I should reveal and not reveal and wether or not it's worth revealing at all. Now in a drama, romance, or comedy I don't have to worry about how John Doe escaped from prison, how Mary Beth killed her husband while at the same time at a tupperware party conversing over the best microwave bowl she should buy, or how a car battery can be hooked up to a bycicle to create a time machine. I agree all scripts are difficult to write, but there are genres that are much harder to write. I'd love to someday finish the thriller script I started, but for now I want to beable to finish a script, learn from it, and work my way up. I think Rainy Night has a good program going on. Start out small, then move up to the bigger stuff.

Steph

[Chesher Cat]

It is really important to finish that first script. No matter how horrible it turns out, having those 110 pages bound together with a couple of shiny brass brads will give you such a feeling of accomplishment, you won't be able to wait to get another one done. It will also make it easier to go back and do the seemingly endless rewrites that it will need to be saleable.

But if you keep starting and not finishing, your psyche will be conditioned to do that every time and you may never get one done.

Trust me, once you get that first one out of the way, if you keep writing, it only gets easier.

[JenniferShay]

I really appreciate everyones input! It is always nice to know others are in the same boat. I have tried a couple of different genres so I am thinking that I might be trying to be too perfect, a disease I picked up during college.

I think that might be a good idea for me to make it a little more simple since I have been working on suspence thriller (mystery, or whatever they are calling it these days) and horror which I tend to get really nit picky with the twists. And then commit to just finishing it no matter how bad I think it is at least something will be completed!