A Screenwriter’s Survival Guide To Hollywood - Part Seven

Photo Credit: Public Domain

If you missed the first 6 parts:

https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-one
https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-two
https://steemit.com/screenwriting/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood
https://steemit.com/screenwriting/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-four
https://steemit.com/screenwriting/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-five
https://steemit.com/writing/@thegridzom/a-screenwriter-s-survival-guide-to-hollywood-part-six

Screenwriting Help

Except for a few online courses, I am basically self-taught when it comes to screenwriting. I have attended many lectures and have read practically every book, I could get my hands on, but there is only one book on feature film, screenwriting that I can honestly recommend. “Save The Cat” by the late Blake Snyder is the best, easiest to understand book out there on the subject. I read it every time I begin a new feature film outline and also whenever I get stuck in the middle of a script (yeah, usually somewhere in act two). Blake’s 15-point beat sheet, outline system is thoroughly explained using examples from well-known films.

His third and final book, “Save The Cat Strikes Back” makes writing loglines easy. I can attest to this after changing all of my loglines after using his templates, which are based on his 15-point beat sheet. It actually made my screenplay sound much more interesting and accurate. I’ve already tried a couple of them out and got immediate results.

Outlines

The next big piece of prep work is some sort of an outline, and I know there are a lot of writers, who just want to let it flow and hope that somehow when they are done writing, they have a script that somehow resembles a properly structured movie script.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it happens but even if you think it’s going to just pour out of you it’s always good to have some sort of outline to use as a blueprint. And it will come in super handy if you get interrupted for any long period of time and lose that inspired flow and the outline is also a great way to structure the longer version of your pitch. What better way to tell your story than to throw out a few of the plot points? And again try it out on family, friends and co-workers for feedback, so that you can adjust your storyline before you take on the task of writing the whole movie.
What I usually do is to make a working outline in Excel. I type in my plot points and then I break down the sections into scenes. I even ballpark how many pages are in the scenes and then put in formulas so that I can tally up how many pages they will all add up to.

Doing the outline as a spreadsheet works great because you can easily amend scene ideas and even change the sequence by copying and pasting.

I also highlight scenes that have been written and many times write them out of order because sometimes it’s hard to write something that you’re just not in the mood to write.

Quite often I’ll find that the scenes that are seeming harder to write don’t really belong or they’re over-rated and there won’t actually end up being four pages but more like one page and that’s probably why my brain gets hung up and I’m not able to write that section.

So some of you are probably reading this and saying to yourself that there is no way you’re going to be able to map out an entire screenplay and then start writing it. Well, you may be right. A lot of times, I will get an idea and begin writing several scenes. I’ll figure out the big stuff and come up with an ending. Sometimes I’ll do this until I get stuck and then go back and write my outline. This method is a really good way to get to know your characters and sort of have a “first date” with them before you make the full commitment and go live with them in the new world you’ve begun to create.
Before long, you’ll be sitting somewhere, maybe in your pick-up truck under a shade tree writing scenes on your lunch hour.

You know I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I had a place to park here in LA and work on my scripts during my lunch hour. But, you can’t just park your car in any old parking lot without someone watching you and ready to write you a ticket for being somewhere where you’re not actually shopping.

Co-writers and Collaboration

It’s like being in a band. Once you’ve decided to produce your own project it’s like you’ve put together a band that will only be performing together just long enough to get that one song recorded.

Because unless you’re shooting an episodic, it’s a one-night stand type of situation and you’re either going to totally be in love with your cast and crew or you’ll do your jobs and just be so damn happy when it’s over with.
Writing with a partner can be interesting and it should be something that every screenwriter should try at least once. I’ve done it with two other people, and when it comes down to trying to knock out a project in a hurry, it’s great for me to work with another writer who is also motivated to finish the project.

My co-writer and I were able to knock out a very sharp first draft within a month. This included coming up with three storyline ideas, several arguments, but finally a script that could’ve been shot with just a few tweaks. Of course it has since been rewritten and polished again several more times.

Now, if I’m not in a hurry, I prefer to write alone. I come up with the ideas and really enjoy the challenge of figuring everything out myself. I also find it to be difficult to have my ideas flow freely onto paper if I have a co-writer, who wants to shift the storyline before I’ve had the opportunity to completely channel and flesh out my ideas. And those scripts don’t fully carry the energy that they once had when I conceived the idea, because the stories tend to evolve before they were really ready. Are they better or worse because of the collaboration? Who knows?

Copyright 2018 Linda Andersson/The Grid Zom, LLC