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)
