John August

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Writing is hard

Psych 101, QandA, Writing Process

questionmarkI’ve been busy
writing a script, and I have the whole idea mapped out in my head. But for
some reason, my writing doesn’t seem to flow. I struggle to get from one point
to the next. Is this normal? If I go back through the script
again after I’ve jotted down my rough dialogue, will it flow then? Do you do
a quick rough draft before you get into the real writing?

–Bob

answer iconWell, are you a good writer? I ask because it sounds like this is your first
screenplay, and there’s every chance you’re a terrible writer. It’s my experience
that most people in Los Angeles feel like they could write a good movie. The
reason why most of them aren’t successful screenwriters is that they’re really
aren’t good writers.

It’s easy to see how they get mislead: If you read a script, you’d think any
monkey could do it. Most monkeys can’t.

I’m not picking on you, honestly. I hope you’re a terrific writer who’s just
realizing how incredibly difficult screenwriting can be. It’s great when the
writing flows, but most of the time, it doesn’t. You work your ass off to get
to the end of a sentence, then start another. You end up deleting scenes that
took you four hours to write, then rewriting entire scripts based on problems
you should have spotted before you even started writing.

It’s not grueling, back-breaking labor like building a road, but it is labor.
It’s exhausting. And while Final Draft might make formatting your script easier,
it’s still just as hard to write.

Often, when I approach a scene, I will do a quick rough draft, by which I
mean all of a scene’s crucial dialogue lines scribbled on the back of an envelope.
It’s mostly just to get the shape of the scene, but it is "real" writing
just as much as the endless tweaking that will inevitably be entailed.

Above all this, I would stress: Don’t wait for flow. It might come; it might
not. But it’s your job to keep writing anyway.

Male vs. Female lead

Film Industry, QandA

I am writing
a script that could have either a male or female lead. I need to make the decision
because it will either be the mother or father of the central figure. It is
a futuristic action script. I have outlined it and completed drafts both ways.
If all things are equal, is a Male or Female action lead easier to sell?

–David

Male. Which is stupid and wrong.

I’m currently working on an action script that has a male lead. Since I haven’t
pitched the story to anyone, I could easily change him to a her. I’ve thought
about it many times: it would be an interesting if somewhat arbitrary change.
Yet in the back of my mind, I know that having a female lead would cap the
budget at a lower level than the male equivalent, and since the nature of
the movie is hellaciously expensive, I worry it might not get made at all.

So he stays a man, and the stupid and wrong Hollywood system is perpetuated.
Although, in my defense, I wrote both CHARLIE’S ANGELS movies, so I might get
off the hook.

Getting rights to a concept album

QandA, Rights and Copyright

I’ve
been writing a screenplay that is based on a certain concept album. I
was wondering where, how, and any other information that I would need
to obtain permission to adapt the work.

–Aaron

Standard
advice applies here: If you’re basing your work on someone else’s
work, then copyright probably applies, and you’ll need to get their permission
in writing at some point.

(I say copyright “probably” applies. If what you’re writing
is clearly a parody, you may be able to slip through. For example, if your
movie pokes fun at “We Are the World” celebrity sing-alongs,
you would likely be safely in parody territory. You’d also be a decade
or two too late, but so be it.)

The question of when you need to get permission is more difficult to
answer. If you’re just writing this for the hell of it, keep typing. Don’t
worry about getting anyone’s permission. But if you’re convinced
this will be your magnum opus, then it’s a good idea to start the
process of tracking down the copyright-holders. You’ll want to see if they’re
at all interested in working with you.

In the case of a concept album, copyright almost certainly rests with
the songwriters, so start there. Figure out who they are, then try to
find
contact information. Start with Google (since you’re already on-line),
searching for both the songwriter and the record label. If you don’t
have any luck, my next stop would be to call ASCAP and BMI in Los Angeles
(or Nashville, if it’s a country/western album), and try to find
agency or other contact information.

If you strike out here, your next best bet is the record label that released
the album. Ask for the legal department, and be as nice as humanly possible
while they try to direct you to the proper people. Your final option would
be to enlist the help of an experienced entertainment attorney, both to
track down the copyright holders and to help you draft any agreements you
need.

Nominated screenplays

Film Industry, QandA

When a Golden Globe or an Oscar is awarded to a writer, is it based on just
a viewing of the movie, or do the judges actually read the screenplays?

–Robert Baker

Not only is that a really good question, but strangely, I’ve never even stopped
to think about it until now.

While studios sometimes do send out certain screenplays to Academy or WGA
voters (as Disney did with THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS this year), in the vast majority
of cases, voters are making their decision based only on the movie they saw,
rather than the script.

Anyone who’s been through the process of making a movie knows that a brilliant
script doesn’t necessarily translate into a brilliant movie. The screenplay
is a crucial first step, but the words get filtered through a director, actors,
editors and hundreds of other people who inevitably change the execution if
not the intention of the writer’s work.

If an actress improvises a horrible line of dialogue, the screenwriter inevitably
gets blamed. If the editor and director shuffle scenes so that logic falls
apart, it again looks like the writer’s mistake. So it’s no surprise that the
awards for screenwriting inevitably go to scripts that, for whatever reason,
turned out to be really good movies. That is, the movies where everyone else
didn’t screw up.

But should it really be that way? While I would hate to see forests decimated
just to send 30,000 unsolicited screenplays out to Academy or WGA voters, it
would be remarkably easy to post .pdf versions of nominated screenplays online
so that voters could actually read the material they’re judging. I’m calling
my WGA representative this afternoon.

Update: I called. It’s being considered. There’s some issue of possible fairness,
because some writers have "publication rights" on their scripts, and others
don’t for various reasons. But I strongly believe that making great screenplays
more widely available will boost the profile of screenwriters worldwide.