Someone Hasn't Done Their Research

Earlier this week I got half-way through my current feature and realised I didn’t know what to write next. I knew what the plot was but wasn’t quite certain of the location. Was my 15yr old character going to Juvi for his crimes or would he be tried as an adult? In my outline he was going to juvi but I then realised that maybe that wasn’t the case. I hadn’t actually done my research.

That wasn’t the first time I got to a point in the script where I was uncertain of the details, but had previously felt that I could get away with lines such as “add more relevant description here” or during a dialogue “they talk about blah”. Open notes: do research.

So I found myself taking a break from writing and did some research. I came across some real life examples, some of which were heartbreaking - it's a Drama afterall, and suddenly my script had an extra supporting character. Oh and in case you are wondering, he’s going to be tried as an adult.

This small set-back and the fact that my script is full of holes made me realise that research before writing is important. The story itself of course supersedes this, but with a solid story and a good and detailed outline the need for research (if any) will present itself at this early stage. Needless to say, my outline was poor. 

I've done a common rookie mistake. I was so eager to jump in and start writing that I didn't do the necessary preparation. As much as outlines and treatments seem like a task, they exist for a reason, and will generally end up saving you time rather than being time consuming. Capiche?

Further research for my story (which again should have been made in advance) will be to watch certain movies and read some scripts and books that could help set the right tone and mood for the story. Spot the odd one out: 

Requiem for a Dream 

Curious to watch Arronofsky's vision on this adaptation

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Seen the movie, read the novel, will read again for the tone

The Shawshank Redemption

Interested in the script more than anything due to the continuous use of voice over

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I've only ever seen the play, with Christian Slatter, but I remember the very dark humour in it. Ken Kesey wrote this book whilst under the influence of mescaline.

The above list is purely for specific research. In general I make sure I always have a script and/or a book on the go. The most recent book I read was Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. He spent about 10years doing extensive research and consulting a historian for this book! Note to self: never write anything about World War I.

Working Title

Before embarking in the process of writing a new script, and even before having an outline or a more concrete idea of what the story is, I name it. By giving the next project a name, I’m able to file any research, notes, treatment under the same file name.

I don’t get too hooked on the title, as it generally is a working title and not set in stone. There is no reason why it can’t change; although from past experience at times the working title will still be the best fit.

Getting the script done is of course more important as you’ll have nothing if you have a cleverly thought of title but nothing actually written.

Even if the title is the last thing you think of, even if it changes many times, it is still a very important part of a script. People will form whole ideas of what your movie (or other) is about before they even watch it, and that could be bad if your movie does not meet the expectations created by its title.

The long running English soap, Coronation Street was originally pitched as Florizel Street, thankfully someone pointed out that it sounded like detergent and the name was changed. 

Screenwriter Don Coscarelli has a movie currently in post-production with the best title ever: John Dies at the End. Yes, it's giving the ending away, at least I sure do hope so, but I still want to watch it to find out the how and why. The fact that you know the ending only makes you expectant of it.

Don Coscarelli is best known as director and co-writer of Bubba Ho-Tep. Now that’s a mouthful! The name to me says comedy – which it is – and Ho-Tep tells me mummy, right again; but in a million years I could not have guessed from the title that it takes place in a retirement home where Elvis Presley and JFK (now dyed black) are both old and very much alive. Yet, the name is so odd it's memorable.

In keeping with the Bruce Campbell theme, the latest movie I watched with him in was called My Name is Bruce. I would have loved to be there when they came up with the title.

What's the film about? Bruce Campbell

Who's in it? Bruce Campbell

What's it called? Errr, Bruce Campbell?

Nah, too John Malkovich. Well, my name is Bruce.

Perfect! What?

We’ll call it My name is Bruce. Genius!

So that’s totally not how it happened, and the movie isn’t biographical, but is instead Bruce Campbell playing a fictitious version of himself. The title still works really well and is just as self-indulgent as Bruce Campbell’s character.

However, as much as we might put some thought into finding that perfect title, once the script is out of our hands, just like the spec can be re-written, the title could be changed, and this may be in fact more common than I might think.

Titles are also generally changed when a movie is sold to a different country; often to that country’s native language and will usually not be a direct translation. On occasions, even same language countries will change the titles, as was famously done with Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, known in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Nevertheless, I would still like to put some thought and care into the title of my scripts and know that I have tried to choose a name that best represents it and could possibly help spark interest and sales of said script.

For now, I have provisionally called my current spec “Dear Life”, but every once in a while I think of alternative titles. Unfortunately all that comes to mind are song titles such as:

• Who Will Save Your Soul - Jewel
• Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
• Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney (uhm yes, ok it is a James Bond movie too)

I then remember an article on Titles by scriptreader Lucy V Hay and realise that song titles aren’t such a great idea. In fact, it's a great piece on what does or doesn't work in general and within different genres. 

So at the moment I'm stuck with Dear Life, which to be honest I'm not thrilled about although I might end up never changing this title, just wasting a lot of writing time thinking about alternatives and creating this blog entry all about it.

I now leave you with a cool little montage on Titles by Art of the Title, some food for thought.

It would be interesting to see how other people come up with titles, at which stage of the project and how often, if at all, it gets changed. And whilst we’re on the subject of titles, what is your favourite and worst film title of all times?

Writing and Cupcakes

Last night I finally got a chance to pop by the NFT cafe on the London South Bank to meet a group of writers. This was the fourth time the group got together since Christmas. It's all an extension to what started as a script chatting group on Twitter,  known as #scriptchat. After virtually meeting and chatting for the last two years about writing and filmmaking, the group decided to meet in real life. There are already groups who meet in the US, so it was nice to finally have a London tweetup, organised by the Europe scriptchat host Mina Zaher; cupcakes included (courtesy of Alli Parker).

I was nicely surprised by the amount of people who showed up. There must have been about 20 of us at one point. Some who I already 'knew' through twitter, others that I got to meet, and unfortunately some that I didn't but hope to at a further meet. The group consisted of writers from different walks of life, working on different genres and formats; some get paid to write, some would pay to write. Then there was me. I suppose if I was there, then I must be a writer too, or at least anyone who was there might think so.

I have screenwriting books that I bought about ten years ago, a short that I wrote even longer ago, and an ancient notebook filled with script ideas. That was it really. I've wanted to be a screenwriter for a while, but all I ever did was jot down ideas, read books, but never really dare to just forget about all that and sit down and write. I always had brilliant excuses to not write.

Last year this all changed simply because it had to. I was always saying that I would focus on writing once I went on maternity leave and even though it didn't happen when I had my first child, I finally took that step just weeks after conceiving my second son. Since the middle of last year I have been writing more and more. Alone and in partnership I have written a couple of shorts, a couple of spec pilots, some other bits and pieces and as of today have started that one feature I've been pondering about for a while.

Even though there are writers out there who started their writing careers whilst quite young, I don't regret not having started sooner. I didn't just sit by and watch life happen, I was enjoying it, experimenting, inventing, creating and, well, making life. So I got derailed but found so much knowledge and richness that I am now ready to incorporate it all into what I hope will be a writing and film making career.

Without further ado, hi. My name is Teenie and I'm a screenwriter.


(Interested in screenwriting? Why not join #scriptchat online on Twitter and real life. Details here.)

What the Frenzy?

I've been staring at this screen for a while now. I wanted to write about competitions, deadlines, Scriptfrenzy, but just like the rest of my week, I'm struggling to find the motivation.

Scriptfrenzy is a challenge to write a 100 page script in 30days. The winner is anyone who completes the challenge, and the prize is oodles of satisfaction, or whatever you aim to get out of it. I just want to feel the sense of achievement.

It sets a timeframe and I work better to deadlines. I have dozens of ideas for scripts and other projects in my head but they get created faster and possibly better when I'm working under the pressure of a deadline. The first script I ever wrote was for a competition and the last script I've completed was also for a competition. I realise these are not the only way of getting a script out there and read, but to me they are a way of getting it done. Winning would of course be great, but having a completed draft that I can work on and improve in the long run is also a win.

When I therefore heard about Scriptfrenzy I signed up. This to me will hopefully be a great opportunity to get that one script I've been toying with for years done. The said script started off as a novel about 5yrs ago, I then decided that it would work best as a script, but have been adding and tweaking and messing with the outline for at least half a year now and it's going nowhere.

Earlier in the week I decided I no longer wanted to work on it and would do something completely different. Five days on and about 4 different ideas and genres later and I'm back to the original script, a drama. I've come to realise that no matter what I decide to go with, there will always be that part of me that will try to find an excuse not to do it, just like going to the gym. It's a struggle to get there, but the buzz and feel good factor during and after makes you wonder why it was so hard to get there in the first place.

I realise that I could simply give myself a time frame to complete a script, just like this challenge, but it just wouldn't be the same. With Scriptfrenzy I have buddies also taking part, all supposedly writing at the same time. We'll be able to motivate each other by doing it together, keeping an eye on each other's development and entering a healthy page count competition. And now that the word competition has become part of it, I'm game.

So with no more excuses, I have one week to go over the outline and then let the writing commence.

I'm in, are you?

Collaborating

Writing to me is a very personal and private matter. I cannot think of anything worse than having to write or type with someone else reading over my shoulder. My thoughts shy away immediately and I'm left staring at the screen.

When I was therefore asked if I wanted to write together, my answer was a very loose yes. To me it was a future possibility, but I had no idea what we could write together. I had many ideas for features and shorts, but they were all mine. I knew some of them inside out, how could I let someone else into that? Even if that person was my husband.

The reality is that our scripts are never really our scripts. Sure, we are the ones who give it life, create a whole new world with what we believe to be extraordinary characters. We open our minds and let it all pour out. This is our baby, we give birth to it, but as is the case with any child, you prepare them for the world and before you know it, they are influenced and moulded by others. Who they are to become won't be dictated by one person alone.

Every time someone gives us notes on a script, whether it be a friend, family or a professional, the final draft is becoming less 'ours'. It becomes a collaboration of thoughts and opinions, hopefully turning it into a better stronger piece. If it then becomes optioned, produced, directed, yet again there will be a series of re-writes influenced by other players. Never mind if it gets sold, then there is no telling how many different voices those pages will contain.

Considering all of the above, the idea of co-writing shouldn't be so absurd, unless like me, you are a control freak. I realise my way of doing things isn't the only way, and possibly not the best way either, but it's my way, so deal with it.

The first thing I had to do was learn to let go. It wasn't my script, it was our script. From the moment we agreed to write together, we had to write together. I confess having trouble understanding that. Before we even had a chance to talk about an outline I had a draft ready and would send it to him for a re-write. If he then gave me positive feedback, I would get upset that he wasn't taking it seriously, if he actually re-wrote it and replaced my words - how dare he. That was project one.

Next, we worked on our first pilot for a sitcom. This was a huge learning curve and it's taught us both, hopefully, how we work together best, and worse. I was still writing, and my partner re-writing, but I was a lot more open this time and welcomed the changes and opinions. We openly talked about what was working and what wasn't and together tried to work around the problems. We actually made the time to sit together and talk about it. After all, we did live together, why was it so hard to actually talk face to face about a script? 

Our current project is another pilot and we are doing things differently. Before putting anything to paper, we've talked about it, where we each see it going, what our thoughts are about it, the series potential, the focus and who are the main characters and their motivations. Next, we did a rough outline, also together.

I am now in the process of writing the first scenes and we have both realised that we need to sit down and talk further about the scenes and get a proper beat sheet done before we move any further. 

To me, it's a slower process than what I'm used to, but hopefully it will save us time in the long run and re-writes will be easier, if there is such a thing as an easy re-write.

The main benefit to me in co-writing is having someone else know the story inside out, together we are able to edit and re-write possibly faster than solo as one can spot different weaknesses than the other. If one has a writer's block, the other can offer suggestions. You get the gist. Two minds work better than one. I have also learned to let go, share, and well, work together.

Finally, co-writing doesn't mean you always have to co-write. I can and should have my own separate projects, which I can work on in-between the co-writes and can make it as me as I want and can be as selfish as I want about it. Even if these turn out to be not as good as the others, at least it's something that's my own voice.

Sit-down Comedy

I am one of six, not that there are six of me, that would have been unbearable. Seriously, who can imagine sharing a roof with six of me, all bossing each other around and always being right. Instead, I have five siblings, and thankfully I'm the only boss.

As one can imagine, in such a large household, there is bound to be some drama, but there is also a lot of silliness and laughter. Add to the mix a father who is constantly coming up with his own dad-like jokes and you have my family.

I like to think that I inherited my dad's silly sarcasm. One of my brother-in-law's calls me a liar, but to me it's humour. I merely give silly questions absurd replies, if he believes me, well then he just doesn't get it.

Inevitably I married someone who shares the same humour, oh and he's also always right too. I am however, still the boss. Besides the humour, we also share a love of film-making, which is how we met to start with. Fast forward nine years and we have now become writing partners.

Since the end of last year we have been writing comedy. This is all very new and strange to me as until that point I considered myself a drama writer and had never even thought of writing comedy. I could never imagine myself as a stand up comedian, I'm more of a sit-down comedian. My mind is too slow to come up with quick witty comments and comebacks, but with a pen in hand, no pressure to perform, it seems to come out; at least I laugh at my jokes, so that's one person.

We first started to write a sitcom purely because of the BBC writersroom Laughing Stock competition. I had so much fun writing it that I feel like we have a lot more where it came from. We submitted our first ever sitcom pilot after about 10 drafts and it's already been modified again since. There's a big chance that out of 1808 entries it will not be among the 25 shortlisted, although it would be so bloody amazing if we made the shortlist. It is funny, honest.

Ever since completing and submitting the sitcom pilot, we have already been brainstorming and outlining other comedy ideas. I am very excited about our projects and hope to keep it up.

This is definitely the year for comedy with an upcoming sitcom workshop and festival this April:

• Introduction to Sitcom Writing - April 2nd
• London Comedy Writers Festival - April 9th & 10th

Laugh with me or laugh at me, at least someone is laughing.

Composing a Script

Every once in a while when I find myself husband-less, I set off on a mission of my own. I get the front room spotless, put on a touch of make-up and slip on some nice clothes. With the kids fast asleep, I get the camera out. I place one of my many Singstar discs into the Playstation, pick up the microphone and sing to my heart's content.

Recording every moment, I sing over and over again. After a few renditions of the same 20 seconds of the same track, I finally choose one I'm happy with and put it online. That's what any talented singer should do - share their amazing talent with the world. So why the hell do I do it?

Last time I checked, I was only a slightly improved version of that same girl who at the age of eight could not tell how many notes were being played on a piano, failing to be accepted into violin classes, much to the relief of my parents and the world.

That's the beauty of Singstar. It doesn't matter if you can sing; just add a touch of make-up, regardless of gender, show as much cleavage as is acceptable for a mother, but most importantly, keep in time with the track so it's disguised by the original track.

So basically, I am tone deaf! I can't hold a tune, and most definitely cannot sing! Possibly a reason as to why I'm a writer and not a big superstar. So imagine my surprise when I suddenly realised that writing is in ways like composing. Seriously. It's all about the beats after all. Timing is everything and that is as true for music as it is for writing. Thankfully, and hopefully, with some practice, I can get the timing right. Phew.

Why am I telling you all this?

I had the pleasure of attending a Q&A session on Twitter last night. The session was part of #scriptchat, which happens every Sunday night, and was guested by the film, web and tv composer Rob Gokee (@robgokee). It was an eye opener session in which the importance of music in a script was highlighted.

If like me, you aspire not only to write, but also to produce or direct your own work, it is encouraged to get a composer onboard quite early in the writing process. We do afterall eat, sleep and even breathe to a certain rhythm, so why should it be any different to writing?

I will certainly be thinking a lot more about the music in my next re-writes. It will be interesting to see if the scripts sing back to me like a sweet melody or trip over every other word like a bad rap.


You can find the entire transcript for last night's scriptchat here.

I would be very interested to hear what your opinions are, whether you agree or disagree or simply have something interesting to say :-)