Time to Write

500 Steps Too Many in the Hero's Journey

There is a website that says their research has "revealed more than 510 stages of the Hero's Journey that you need to know about..."

Five hundred and ten! That's an average of about five steps per script page for a feature film.

They say "Misconceptions about the Hero's Journey abound. We have met educators that have a frightening lack of understanding of it. It is likely that you suffer from similar misconceptions. Your best bet is to unlearn what you have learned; start over. You will not be able to write a successful screenplay unless you do. Because every successful movie and story we have encountered follows this pattern.:

Wait a minute.

Let's assume that the last statement is true (which I doubt--I must be one of those ignorant educators). To go from there to "you will not be able to write a successful screenplay unless you do" is a step too far.

First, there have been many screenwriters who have written great screenplays who never heard of The Hero's Journey. I suppose you could argue that they had an intuitive awareness of it, but I doubt that this would extend to 500 steps.

Second, being able to analyze something isn't the same as being able to create it. A doctor can identify all the organs in a dead body. That doesn't mean he can make it come to life.

I don't know about you, but if I tried to remember 510 stages my head would explode.

And if I tried to apply 510 stages I'd think I was creating a jigsaw puzzle, not a script that lives and breathes and makes people feel something.

(There are loads of screenwriting tips at my other blog: www.ScreenWritingSuccess.com.)

A film about bad writing

A man who realized that he was a bad writer made a short film about bad writing and put it on YouTube. It was noticed and mentioned on several influential sites including the USA Today blog. The short was in the form of a trailer for a feature documentary that he never actually intended to make. However, the amount of interest it generated convinced Vernon Lott and his co-writer, Jennifer Anderson (who is also his wife) they should go ahead and make the full-length film.

 They spent a year traveling the United States interviewing, among others, Margaret Atwood, poet Billy Collins, and agents, editors and booksellers about good writing, bad writing, and the future of books. 

 It cost them about $80,000--including $12,000 Anderson won on a sixty-cent bet at a casino.

Although the trailer might give the idea that they are trashing bad writers it's actually only his own writing (especially the poetry he wrote as a young man) that he ridicules. 

The film has had showings at various cinemas and you can buy the DVD or watch the film online if you are a paying member of indieflix.

 To be honest, the trailer doesn't make me want to rush to buy the DVD even though it's obviously a topic that I find very interesting. What is worth emulating, though, is their determination and cleverness in getting interest for their project.

Here's the link to the trailer, see what you think:

 http://www.badwritingthemovie.com/bw/Home.html

(For tips on GOOD writing, see my book, Your Writing Coach, and for support in setting and achieving your writing goals--that means actually finishing your book or screenplay--join my online Writing Breakthrough Strategy Program. You will find details at www.jurgenwolff.com)

If you're interested in writing screenplays, a free tool for you

I'll also post this on my screenwriting blog, http://www.screenwritingsuccess.com, but I thought it belongs here, too--people frequently ask me what screenwriting format software to use. The industry standard is Final Draft, but it's not cheap.

I've recently run across at a very simple to use free online tool at www.rawscripts.com. There's only one format (screenplays). It saves your script on their site, not on your computer (although of course you can download a copy and you should). You can import or export from other formats, including Final Draft.

I"m experimenting with it at the moment and my first impression is positive--if you're in the market, give it a try.

 

Aaron Sorkin on the theme of what you write

As quoted on the Screenwriting from Iowa blog, Aaron Sorkin talked in the Creative Screenwriting podcast about theme:

 “When you’re talking about things like theme you have to be really careful because that’s not what’s going to make the car go. Okay? It’s what’s going to be what makes the car be good and give you a good ride. But that’s not what’s going to make the car go—at least not for me. You know, everybody writes different. But for me I have to stick—really closely, like it’s a life raft— to intention and obstacles. Just the basics of somebody wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it. Make sure you have that cemented in place. Themes will then become apparent to you and you can hang a lantern on the ones you like. Bring them into relief, you can get rid of the ones that aren’t doing you any good and you can paint the car and make it look really nice. But the car isn’t going to turn over unless you see to the basics of drama, and drama is intention and obstacles, somebody wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it.”

You can hear the interview here: 
Creative Screenwriting podcast interview by Jeff Goldsmith

 

You want to write: which voice will you obey?

A newsletter from Steve Harrison reminded me of a story I'd read before, in the book, "Unstoppable: 45 Powerful Stories of Perseverance and Triumph from People Just Like You." In that book Olivia Goldsmith tells how a divorce promoted her to rethink her life and consider giving up a successful career as a marketing executive in order to become a writer.

She says, " As I thought about what I really wanted to do, a tiny inner voice said, 'You've always loved reading.' That's all it said. I was afraid to admit to myself that I wanted to write. Another voice asked, 'Who do you think you are?'"

She ignored the negative voice and worked on her book for four years or so, then sent the manuscript out to about a dozen publishers. All rejected it.

She found an agent who'd represent it--if she changed it. She did. It got rejections all the way around again.

But in the meantime a copy went to some producers, which led to it being bought by Paramount Pictures. The only part they didn't like were the changes she'd made at the behest of the agent. The movie starred Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton. Goldsmith shared the credit for the screenplay. 

The book was "The First Wives Club." It was a hit as a book and as a film, too.

 The moral of the story: You WILL hear that negative little voice. You do NOT have to heed it. Listen to the other one!

 (For support in your writing, join my online Writing Breakthrough Strategy Program. It mentors you through setting and achieving your writing goal. You'll find more information at www.JurgenWolff.com.)

 

 

Ray Cooney reveals the secret of comedy

In an interview in Playlist, Ray Cooney (who has written many hit comedy plays) recently revealed what he considers the key to great comedy plots:

"The plot in a good farce should be able to be transplanted into a stark tragedy. Most tragedies have as their theme the struggle of the individual against forces that are overwhelming and the individual's efforts to combat those forces as the tide runs stronger against him. Also, the individual is usually tortured because of his own character flaws and his inability to control those flaws under stress. Well, that sums up most of my farces."

My old writing mentor, Danny Simon, also thought this was the essence of great comedy: make it real. No matter how ridiculous things get, keep a link to the believable. Be sure that it is the audience that finds the events funny, never your characters.

You can prove the truth of this by considering "Hamlet." It's a great drama, and it would also make a great (early) Woody Allen comedy.

When I was story editing comedy scripts, I always found that the way to make a script funnier was to make it more real. Not more conventional, but more in tune with the characters and the situation that has been established. That surprised a lot of newer writers, who thought the way to a funnier script was more punchlines (and watching some comedies on TV, it's clear there are plenty who didn't get the memo).

(If you want to write sitcoms, get a copy of my book, "Successful Sitcom Writing," published by St. Martin's Press--it's out of print now, but there are used copies on Amazon. The examples may be older, but the principles haven't changed.)

David Hare: why so many stories fail

In his lecture at the British Film Institute, playwright and screenwriter David Hare offered some tips for screenwriting success. One was: make outcome movies rather than proposition movies.

A proposition movie or novel is one that sets up a great "what if" premise. For instance, what if a man wakes up one morning and discovers that everyone around him is a stranger--but they claim to be his friends and family? Interesting idea, right?

The problem is coming up with an equally great outcome. We've all seen lots of movies that start out really intriguing us, only to feel let down when the facts are revealed. The worst solution is "It was all a dream."

What Hare means by an outcome movie is one in which the ending is at least as amazing or interesting as the beginning. He said, "The end is what I think about first. If you get the ending right and you know where you're going, and that place is good, you can't go wrong."

Too bad the people behind "Lost" didn't do that. 

Not only do you have to have a good ending in mind, along the way you have to drop enough clues to keep people interested (rather than confused). "Lost" continually added weirdness to the mix, but not the feeling that we were heading toward a coherent conclusion.

The same fate befell "Flash Forward"--even more so, since it was cancelled long before reaching whatever ending they had in mind. As of this writing, it's too early to tell whether "The Event" will go the same route.

This doesn't apply only to science fiction stories, it is of equal concern when writing in other genres, especially romantic comedies, where usually we know the general outcome--boy gets girl or girl gets boy (or any other mix of genders)--so it had better have something extra if it's going to stand out.

Endings are difficult. You'll find any number of people who will tell you they have a great idea for a movie, when all they really have is a great idea for a beginning. It's the professionals who know how to grow that opening into a story that will be as good in its last five minutes as in its first thirty.

(For tips on building great stories, see my book, "Your Writing Coach," available from Amazon and other online and offline booksellers. There's more information at www.yourwritingcoach.com)

Is your protagonist a "yes, but" or a "yes,and" person? Which are you?

In improvisation, one of the first techniques you learn is that if you want a scene to come to a grinding halt, respond to your partner's statement with a "yes, but..."

For instance, you say, "We're trapped!" Your partner says, "Yes, but there's a hidden door over here." What they did was kill immediately any tension or drama that could have arisen out of the situation.

In literature, Scrooge is a "yes, but" person at the start. The poor are starving? Yes, but there are poorhouses and workhouses."

We encounter lots of "yes, but" people in real life, too. You say, "I sold a short story to a little magazine!" They say, "Yes, but nobody really reads those, do they?" Or, if they're more subtle, "Yes, but I'm sure one of these days you'll sell something to a bigger magazine!"

The alternative is "Yes, and..." In the improvisation example, the response could be, "Yes, and I hear something growling!" That ramps up the suspense and opens another line of drama. In the personal examples, it might be, "Yes [you sold a short story to a little magazine} and we must celebrate!" 

By the end of "A Christmas Carol" Scrooge has turned into a "yes, and" person. It's Christmas! Yes, and let's buy the biggest goose we can find for Christmas dinner!"

In "yes, but...", whatever comes after the "but" tends to negate or devalue or cancel out whatever was said. In "yes, and..." whatever comes after the "but" tends to enhance or add to whatever was said.

As you can tell, "yes, and..." people are much more fun to be around. We like them more than we like "yes, but..." people.

That can be a useful thing to keep in mind when you're creating characters and writing their dialogue.If you want to create someone annoying and unpopular, give them the "yes, but" attitude. If you want the reader or viewer to warm to them quickly, give them the "yes,and" attitude.

Hmm, might be worth checking whether we are "yes, but..." or "yes, and..." people ourselves!

(For more on creating fascinating characters, see my book, "Your Writing Coach," available from Amazon and other online and offline booksellers. Find out more at www.YourWritingCoach.com)

 

The secret of creating a good villain

SFX magazine asked Adam Green, director of "Hatchet," the secret of making a good slasher movie. I think what he said applies to creating any kind of villain:

"You need to be able to sum up where they came from in a few lines and it needs to be quick and easy to explain and also tragic. It's no good just saying, 'Ah, he was born evil, so he grew up and killed people.' That's boring. There needs to be a sympathetic reason for why you have a killer: Jason drowned as a little boy and Hatchet's Victor Crowley was killed by his father. So there's a sadness there. That's what gets people invested in a good slasher movie."

Of course as you move away from melodrama into drama, these reasons become more subtle and they don't necessarily drive someone to murder, but perhaps to emotional violence. And the farther you go along that spectrum, the less difference there is between your protagonist and your antagonist in terms of what drives them. I always find books and movies in which that difference is slight to be the most interesting--and realistic.

(What's the missing step that's going to get you writing what only you can write? Perhaps it's my online mentoring program. To find out more and get my free "Seven Things That are Stopping You From Writing and How to Overcome Them" report, go here: http://goo.gl/bWjb.

Books adapted into movies or plays - what works?

The Independent's Tom Sutcliffe wrote an excellent article about why it's difficult to turn a good novel into a stage play. He uses the new production of Sebastian Faulkes' "Birdsong" as an example:

 "...the odd truth is that the theatre can take qualities which are a virtue on the page and convert them into a vice. Take narrative structure, for example, which may find itself awkwardly exposed on stage. A novel – particularly a novel of literary ambition like Birdsong – may well be strengthened by a plot that draws on coincidence and melodramatic turns of fate. For one thing it can clothe that armature so skilfully that you forget that it's there at all. The duration of the novel and its density of texture mask the scaffolding that's holding it up.

Thomas Hardy, for example, used plots of almost embarrassing crudity, if boiled down to their skeleton. And yet you barely notice that in the books, because the bare bones are in their proper place – decently interred. On stage the bones have to be present and correct, or the loyalists moan, but there's little room left for what clothes them."

That was certainly the case with the West End stage production of "Gone With the Wind," which I had the pleasure of seeing. It wasn't a pleasure in the way they intended, but watching the poor actors race through their lines because the play was running an hour long, and seeing the impoverished special effects simulate what would have been called the scorching of Atlanta did have perverse entertainment value.

The moral may be: if you're going to adapt a novel for the stage, start with a bad one.

(To get my free report, "The seven things that are stopping you from writing--and how to overcome them," click here: http://goo.gl/bWjb)