Questions to ask

[MFDub]

So, every so often my school brings in a guest speaker to sit down and chat with us writers, and more often than not these speakers are established writers in one way or the other.

We get a lot of information and some good advice from them, but I always leave feeling that I missed an opportunity to get more info. So, I've started thinking about questions I might want to ask the next guest, and figured some of you might be able to...well...offer advice on how to get good advice. What are some good questions I can ask during these meetings?

[ALLWritety]

Depends on what kind writer they are?

# TV Writer
# Screen writer
# Animation Writer
# Shorts writer
etc.

Yes there is some overlap but they are different sytles of writing THUS different Q's need to be asked.

Could you give us the low down on WHO & WHAT kind of writer is next. That way we can gear our Q's so that we are not wasting time!

Kev

[Plot Device]

I want to respond to your question, but before I do I'm going to take a huge detour before finally getting around to my answer.....




I have no idea what's going on in YOUR school, but when I was a kid

[imagine an old lady wearing a shawl, with a bun in her hair, sitting in a rocking chair, angrilly shaking her cane at you as she spits out her words between her toothless gums]

"I remember ... back in the OLD days..."

When I was a kid, schools rarely or never made ANY mention of writing for film/TV (or even radio). They emphasized novel writing and journalism. It wasn't until a) I had my own stint as a public school teacher for a few years (yes I have a degree in teaching) and then b) I actually began writing screenplays, that I figured out PART of the reason behind that. Screenplays require LOTS of white space on the printed page (stage plays do also). And if a publishing house like Scholastic or McGraw-Hill or Simon & Schuster or MacMillan were ever to include screenplays in their reading books for kids (which they sometimes do), one screenpay--even a SHORT screenplay--would suck up WAY too many pages. It's very cost-prohibitive to publish screenplays for the school systems. I have seen a compromise made by some school curriculums where they chose to reformat screenplays and telescripts for kids so that they take up a third as many pages--and THEN the kids quite sadly do NOT learn proper screenplay format.

Another reason screenplays are shunned is that the output of Hollywood writers isn't deemed to be "real" writing by the educational establishment.

And another reason is it's fine and dandy to READ a screenplay, but if the kids want to actually PRODUCE it, they'll break the school budget fer sher. So keeping screenplays out-of-sight-out-of-mind is one way to prevent the kiddies from wanting to engage in this costly art form.










And now to answer your question .......



My experiences with schools bringing in accomplished writers has always been that they'll only ever bring in novelists, journalists, and playwrights (and MAYBE poets, but poetry isn't deemed to be a realistic career choice in today's economy, so it's hit or miss for schools willing to being in a poet). I have NEVER known a school --either one of my own schools as a kid, or one of the schools I taught in as an adult, or the other schools where school teacher colleagues of mine taught-- to bring in a screenwriter. (I am from the East Coast, so this is probably a different story on the West Coast.) If you luck out and they DO bring in an actual screenwriter for one of your school chat sessions, there are loads of cool screenwriting questions you could ask. But if it's a novelist, journalist, or playwright they bring in, please be prepared for the regrettable possibility that such a writer might be utterly clueless, or indifferent, or even downright hostile to any questions about screenwriting. But even then, if you happen to find that the guest is very open and positive and affirming of screenwriting, you STILL need to brace yourself for the possibility that THE TEACHER IN CHARGE of that particular assembly will step in and try to squash any potential for the conversation vearing off toward screenwriting. Screenwriting is STILL somewhat of a stepchild vocation in the eyes of educators who feel it's culturally and artistically inferior to the more noble vocations of poet, novelist, and journalist. Teachers want to inspire kids to "be the best that they can be" and usually feel that screenwriting is far from "the best." So my advice to you is: tread carefully!






Okay, now that I've said that ... here are some suggested questions:




1) Ask about WORDS. How does the writer feel about words? think about words? respond to words? Any words the writer has a special fondness for? Any words they hate? (Tolkien said the most beautiful phrase in the English language was "cellar door" and the most hideous was "rat trap.")

2) Is this writer "ambidextrous" insofar as having the ability to swing back and forth between different mediums? (Such as) --Can this writer write novels AND screenplays? Has this writer TRIED to write in multiple mediums? How about radio and stage plays? Does the writer have any opinions on the differences between these mediums?

3) Does the writer ever travel to engage in research, or can he/she do it all via the local library and the internet? Please share any travel-research experiences.

4) How long (months? years?) does it take to write something from start to finish? And then, how long does it take to get a completed manuscript published or a completed script produced?

5) WHERE do you write? At home? In a coffee shop? In the library? In a park?

6) When do you write? At night? Early morning? Mid-day?

7) What kind of writing-related books do you have on your bookshelf? Which ones are must-haves for ALL writers?

8) What periodicals/magazines related to writing do you regularly read? (Sorry for the aliteration --not intentional.)

9) Do you show your initial writing projects to other people? Who? When? Do you ever "hide" your writing projects from other people, (for a little while at least)?

10) What do you HATE about writing? Is there any part of the writing process you find to be a chore?

11) What kind of rookie mistakes do you frequently see beginning writers make?

12) How does a person "know" if they are a writer?

13) Do you have a "special" desk at home JUST for writing? Separate from the desk for your bills, etc? How about a speical room just for writing, separate from the other rooms in the house?

14) Do you belong to a writing group?

[MFDub]

That is a comprehensive list Plot Device, thanks a lot. I do think I can get some good info with those questions.

And KCpotatohead, the writer coming in is a Screenwriter. I'm in a grad program, so it's easier to get people who are actually in the industry to come in and talk.

[NikeeGoddess]

if you know who the guest speaker is prior to the event - do some research and find out what they've done. then guide your questions to their experience with knowledge about what they've done in the past. vanity runs high in the business - they'll love you for it and talk more.