Tips

Motivators: A list?
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=83474

Wants, needs and desires.


I don't think of death as motivator but more of a catalyst. What do characters do when confronted with death? What if a character and his wife are killed and the character is given a chance to come back to life? What does he do? Does he gets revenge?

I don't see death as just being a theme about life, I see it as the end of different events, it could be the death of a relationship, the end of a job, each of those are a death in a way and a catalyst for character change.


What they want
What they need

Usually what they want is not what they need, and what they need is not what they want. In fact, they're usually at odds with each other.


As far as developing good characters, you have to make them well rounded. Bring out their strengths. But at the same time, bring out their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. As an actor myself, I *always* try to focus on what makes a character vulnerable. It helps develop their strengths and, at the same time, what they're willing to go through to hide the vulnerabilities. Try and visualize the characters in every detail. Bring it to the point where you can almost sit down with each character and have a conversation with them.

Just my thoughts...


My response is that the nebulous and mysterious nature of the creative process doesn't give one the luxury of deciding a character versus concept/story starting point. It's in fact entirely possible that it might be a "Setting" that gets the ball rolling. I think it comes down to something a writer finds inspiring. It could be a character, a story idea, a setting, or an obscure scene





Well I think you'll find that the more you write, the less tempting it is to just sit down and try to type a draft out on the first shot.

You begin with structure. Notes. Note cards. Synopsis, treatment, character bios etc. Whatever gets your motor going. That's what structure does. It helps you build your first draft by planning ahead.



I remember in my first screenwriting class one of the mottos of my teacher would always impart upon us was "Make me care". If I learned nothing else from that class, I will always remember that statement.


A number of the scenes don't seem to have interesting endings. I like a scene that ends with a sort of 'cliffhanger' -- something that piques your interest, makes you wonder what's going to develop from it.

In screenwriting, usually if a scene doesn't work, it's because there's a problem with the scene that came before it. Change the catalyst and you change the reaction.

How old are you? Have you gone trough anything painful, extremely joyful, extremely sad? Or frustrating?

Base your script on that. It will be powerful, since you'll be expelling your demons. You can obviously say it with an analogy. Just make sure you know what you want the audience to feel.




What is the best way to start a screenplay
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=20025

Basically, I think there isn't one specific method for how to get your story out of you. It's a personal process. I tend to switch back and forth between writing a treatment and scenes. There are days when I have action and dialogue bubbling at the surface and I need to get them down. There are other days when the overall story may seem to need work, so I'll try to outline.

I think the most important thing to do is just start getting material on paper. What people say about 90% of writing is rewriting is absolutely true. I never expect to sit down, write a treatment and then hang it on the wall as the final map. The treatment and the script are always works in progress.

Again, what I've mentioned is my approach. But the universal rule is write, whether you know what you want to say or not, whether what you want to write is treatment or scene. Get it on paper.




I agree. There's no best way to write a screenplay. I try to outline, but I can never stick to an outline because once I start writing, the characters always take me in a different direction. I just keep writing and try to keep one or two scenes ahead in my mind, but I don't stick to any hard and fast rules. I let whatever flows from my mind hit the page and edit later. On my current screenplay, I've written about 280 pages, but I've cut that down to 115 in the second draft. So I write a lot and cut a lot. Some people see this as a waste of time, but I believe that if any of that cut material is any good, I'll end up using it down the road in a future screenplay or novel. I get both my best and worst material when I'm writing freely, without the restriction of a treatment or outline. So I'm happy to throw away the garbage to get the good stuff.


I recommend that you check out the book
Screenwriting from the Heart,
by James Ryan.
I've read tons of screenwriting books and this is by far the best in my opinion.

If you don't know how to start I recommend that you think of a question or topic that you want to explore, and then start writing characters. Write from their point of view. If you come up with some compelling characters they will write the story for you.

Acting classes are also VERY usefull to writers, since much of writing is ACTING!



Once you've got a good understanding of screenplay format and you've written a couple of shorts, a great book is "How to NOT Write a Screenplay" by Denny Martin Flinn.

I found that book to be most valuable out of all the ones I've read, because it filled in so many tiny little gaps in my knowledge, but would say it's only useful after you've explored screenwriting a good bit.



Remember when writing anything, a story is about things that happen and how characters deal with it. Know your characters well, and they will guide you.


[quote author=J_Barnes link=board=writing;num=1088293514;start=0#8 date=07/01/04 at 05:54:25]
You might also look into The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler. *
[/quote]

Excellent choice and I to reccomend this one.




I write five main plot points on a 3x5 index card. I put them in order then I make notes on how I can connect the cards. Once I have my notes I make an outline and then start with the character breakdown. From there I write a detailed treatment and then I start the first draft....






My approach is to daydream a story based on something that happened to you, you read about, your heard about, or maybe just came out of that mysterious subconscious of yours.

So, let it bounce around in your brain considering different twists and turns, letting it evolve at it's own pace. At some point, when you've let this process perk for a bit you'll be surprised what emerges from your creative imagination. Then you're ready to approach that blank screen on your computer. Your fingers will keep the keyboard hot as your accumulated thoughts tumble out.




Finally, when you put the story together, let your personality come through in the telling. If you're a sardonic, witty type guy, make sure there's someone like that in the story. If it's your voice, the story will ring true.



I also like the idea of a "starting over" end. *Two movies come to mind... Moulin Rouge and Chasing Amy. *With both movies, the ending was not happy or how it was "meant to be." *But you gathered a sense that a whole new story was about to begin due to the sad endings. *


Thelma & Louise is an example of showing what someone wants ("to get to Mexico") vs. what they "really want" (to never go back to their old lives), and there are a few others that I use when I'm trying to illustrate a point.

Things to stay away from: excessive description. You need to be a little more selective about your descriptions. Tell us what we need to know, and let anything else be figured out by the actors/art department etc. on set.


screenwriting book recommendations

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=76679

A book that Barry recommended in an old, but recently revived thread is "How to Write a Movie in 21 Days"

A great book to me was Denny Flinns HOW NOT TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY (which is must-do reading for the newbies).

In all fairness, for the first time scriptwriter, How to Write A Script in 21 Days will give you a basic script if you follow the instructions but don't fool yourself into thinking you can polish a finished product in 21 days.

For my current endeavor I'm also using Syd Field's The Screenwriter's Workbook. In doing all the excercises it's REALLY helping out. Got a very good structure in place now.

Your education curve of writing IMO will vastly increase if you decide to read scripts, instead of actually books on how to write them.

I'm not saying there is no content in reading how-to-books, but if the average writer read more actual scripts (they are free online) than how-to-books (which are not), their writing would improve.

www.dailyscript.com and www.simplyscript.com and www.screentalk.biz are all *excellent* places to pull pdf scripts and read them, in format, with page numbers, at your own pace.