John August

QandA

Choosing character names

QandA, Story and Plot

How do you develop and decide on names for characters?

–Lauren

First, decide if you’re usually going to refer to this character by their
first name, last name or some other nickname. In GO, Ronna and Claire are always
referred to by their first names, whereas Gaines and Singh are last names,
while Tiny and Junior are nicknames.

Once you’ve decided which part of the name is most important, pick one that
sounds appropriate to the character. How you choose that name is up to you.
Some people use baby names books or the telephone directory. For some reason,
I name a lot of characters after streets in my neighborhood. If you’re really
stuck, Final Draft has a names database that can be helpful in a pinch.
However you find the name, it should start with a different letter than any
other name in the script, just to avoid reader confusion.

Now pick a first or last name to go with it. Often, I’ll just pick a letter
at random and start sounding out names until I find one that seems to work.
As a final check, I always rack my brain to see if I remember anybody else
with that name. It’s creepy how often I’ll end up with somebody I already know.

Research

QandA, Writing Process

When you get a great idea for a story, but you don’t know much about the setting
of the story, like the medieval times, how do you go about writing it? How
do you gain enough information about a certain setting or place so that it
sounds genuine (like Fargo) and not fake or phony (the basketball scenes from
Finding Forrester)?

–Henry

You do research. Right now, I’m in the process of writing a show for ABC about
murder in Alaska. Before I started working on it, I knew very little about
State Troopers, the provincial government structure, the Russian Orthodox Church,
tribal corporations and bush planes. I’m certainly not an expert on any of
these subjects now, but I know enough to write the pilot.

In my case, I started by reading books and Googling a lot of different Alaska
websites. The second round of research involved a lot of time on the phone,
calling the various people who actually have the jobs I’m writing about. Finally,
I’ll be making a research trip up to Anchorage to interview these people in
person, and investigate a lot of intangible details. (Such as, do Alaskans
carry over any of the strange Canadian pronunciations, like "SO-ree" rather
than "SAR-ree"? When Alaskans refer to non-Alaskans, is there a term
they usually use?)

If you were researching Medieval times, you would obviously find a lot of
your information in books about the period. But it would also behoove you to
find some experts in the field, and even visit some authentic sites to get
the most possible verisimilitude.

Just remember that no amount of research can substitute for good writing.
Knowing the exact shade of ochre in the king’s bedroom is pointless unless
you have a fascinating scene taking place there.

And keep in mind that audiences carry with them certain misconceptions about
places and times that make certain details less than crucial. For instance,
most audiences think of horses having saddles, and saddles having stirrups.
So when we see Russell Crowe and his men charging in on horseback at the start
of GLADIATOR, sandals in stirrups, we think nothing of it. Yet as many historians
(and Internet nit-pickers have pointed out), stirrups were invented centuries
later. Maximus’s advice to "keep his heels down when riding" is impossible.

Also, in A KNIGHT’S TALE, the people wouldn’t have been singing along with
Queen’s "We Will Rock You."

Finding the structure

QandA, Writing Process

I’m a 28-year old writer with a very old problem. I do my best work when I’m
not consciously structuring a screenplay. I’ve found trying to shuffle scenes
around on note cards about as useful as trying to construct a meaningful sentence
out of syllables. So I’m reluctant to embrace a fully plotted mode of writing.

–Zackery West

First off, apologies to Zackery for editing his question down so much. The
original was filled with a lot of other good observations and side-questions,
but ran longer than my whole weekly column. And in cutting it down, I was doing
exactly the kind of work Zackery is struggling against.

Structure isn’t really about tacking notecards on a wall. It’s about organizing
ideas — sequences, scenes, and beats within those scenes — so that they can
have the most possible impact. You don’t just create structure before you write.
It happens inevitably with every character who walks in the door, or takes
an action that spins the story in a different direction.

I doubt there are any working screenwriters who would say they’ve adopted
a "fully plotted mode of writing." Whatever plan you’ve made for
the movie, be it notecards, an outline or just an idea in your head, it’s always
subject to change based on discoveries you make while you’re writing.

You’re beating yourself up over not plotting out your whole script beat-for-beat.
Guess what? You don’t have to. For now, just write the best scenes you can,
keeping in mind that they may need to be changed or cut to service the movie
as a whole.

The best thing about fighting with yourself is that when you give up, you
win.

A Go sequel?

Go, QandA

If someone offered you a lot of money to do a sequel to GO,
would you do it? Do you think a screenwriter has to take big money projects
whenever they come
along, just to survive in the business?

–L.M. Dix

First off, no one is going to offer me a lot of money to write a sequel to
GO, because barring a bizarre change of circumstances, there will never be
a sequel. While the movie was moderately successful given its small budget,
it was never the kind of breakout hit that merits a roman numeral after the
title.

Which is kind of a shame, because I had a sequel plotted out in my head while
we were still in production on the first one. It involved the Fourth of July,
Mexican fireworks, head trauma and Muppets. For a brief time after our debut
at Sundance, I was convinced I would be writing it. But alas no.

As for your second question, no. A screenwriter doesn’t have to take big money
projects to survive, any more than an actor has to take multi-million dollar
roles. It’s all about the choices you make for your career and your quality
of life.

Screenwriters can work three ways. The first is when you write "on spec." That’s
when you sit down and write a script all on your own, without any guarantee
of being paid by anyone. While that doesn’t make for much economic stability,
you have complete artistic freedom, because you answer only to yourself. GO
was written on spec.

The second way a writer can work is "on assignment." That’s where
a producer or a studio pays you a certain amount of money to write a script,
generally based upon a property they own, be it another script, a novel or
a TV series. CHARLIE’S ANGELS was written on assignment.

The third way for a writer to work is "on weekly." Usually, this
only occurs when a movie is coming close to production, and the writer is hired
to make smaller changes. The writer is paid every week, rather than every draft,
and is working mostly as a craftsman, fixing problems rather than reshaping
the story. It’s analogous to being a highly paid temp. Everyone’s nice to you,
but they know you’re going away soon, and don’t become very attached. I worked
on weekly for MINORITY REPORT.

To make a broad generalization, prominent screenwriters can make more more
working on weekly than on assignment or on spec. That’s because if a movie
is close enough to production to merit a writer working week-by-week, the studio
is often willing to pay a higher rate.

But working on a weekly basis is exhausting and ultimately a little unfulfilling,
because you don’t have a strong relationship with any of the scripts you work
on. That’s why a writer will often turn down a project despite the paycheck
attached.