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EIGHT WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING
My Fellow Writers,
Someone asked me a question a few weeks ago that I answered in an e-mail. But I've been getting the question in different forms from others - and it hasn't really been answered on the FAQ section, so I'm going to cover it.
The basic question is, how do you take a script from good to great (to paraphrase the title from Linda Seger's book)? There's also the related question -- how does you improve your writing?
For those of you who have been reading my column from the beginning (yes, way back in, um, January!), you'll note that it's taken me exactly five, no, wait, six weeks to start talking about how to write. I'm not going to make this a lecture on screenwriting. I just wanted to get some basics out of the way so that we're all on the same page. Besides, I've got to write tonight.
So here's my first brainstorm on how to improve your writing:
(1) Just to start things off on the most obvious note possible: take a screenwriting class. Intermediate screenwriters are often hesitant to take classes, but this is a great way to get your script read by someone with a bit of experience - and also a good way to meet writers at your level. If you're intermediate, then take a class that requires you to submit a sample - this will ensure that you're not going into a class that's only covering the basics. It's absolutely true what you've heard - even working writers sometimes head into a class to get a new perspective on a project, or to jolt themselves forward. Writing be not proud. Do what you have to.
(2) Read the scripts of movies that have already been made. Read lots of them. Read them before you see the movies, after you see the movies. Read the scripts of your favorite movies, your favorite writers, and of Academy Award winning scripts (this will strike some of you as ironic, given that I just lambasted an Academy-Award winner last week). You can find lots of movie scripts at www.script-o-rama.com. This will train you to have a better eye for what greatness looks like - or at least what you subjectively think is greatness.
(3) Pick a premise that is truly close to your heart. The more you think about a script as one of your children, the more time you'll put in to making it perfect. You should be sick and exhausted and at the edge of sanity when it comes to your script. (If you're already at the edge of sanity anyway, I suggest you pick an easier way to make a living . . . like working for the bomb squad.) But if you're otherwise fairly sane and you find yourself about to go crazy, you know you're getting close. The truth is, you'll never get it perfect (i.e., it'll never be the movie that you see in your head), but you'll give up too early on a script if you don't absolutely love it. This is closely related to:
(4) Pick a premise that you can write better than anyone. We all have interests, hobbies, obsessions, and talents. There are scripts out there that we can simply do better than others. Don't fight that -- write scripts that take advantage of your interests and hobbies. I love caving and I'm fascinated by militias -- I wrote an action-thriller script that takes place in a cave. I'm obsessed with fighting ritual abuse -- my one-hour sample is about fake exorcisms -- and it was my best script up until that time. People are scared and moved by it. I feel I know more about the subject than most people, and I think that comes out in the script. (Not to mention the fact that my strong feelings on the subject always find their way into the mouths of characters.)
(5) Find and train better readers. This can be complicated if you're not in Los Angeles, but writer's groups, local universities, screenwriters clubs, and online groups are available to everyone. Don't just settle on the first one you find - or the friendliest. Finding good readers is often a long and frustrating process. When I do find one, I guard them and coddle them with my life. And I try to be a good reader in return (which goes back to (2) above - as well as a column I wrote a couple of weeks ago on how to read scripts like a professional).
(6) Learn how to critique your own scripts. Reading lots of professional scripts is a good start, but you also have to train your inner critic to apply those standards to your own scripts. You have to be sensitive to every line and scene -- and how they're contributing to the greater whole. If you're even slightly in doubt about a scene, then it probably needs to be rewritten. If you need to take time away from a script to get distance, do it. Research it, read it aloud, read books on scriptwriting -- do whatever it takes to help you pick apart the story.
(7) Start making contacts in the business. Smaller agencies and production companies will often read your script if you contact them, especially if it's something that is right up their alley. Make friends with the assistants and lower-level executives over the phone. Don't be afraid to be yourself and be daring and bold. Soon, you'll find that you have some readers that are more closely connected to the business. A stern warning, however - don't do this until you've done many of the other things and made sure your script is better-than-average. Otherwise, you're just going to get a parade of "pass" responses, and that's no good for anyone.
(8) Most importantly, write a lot.
If anyone has any other suggestions, send them in (I'm at EmailGrady@aol.com) and I'll share them in a future column - with proper crediting, of course. In the meantime, I'm off to write. Not to kick you off the internet or anything, but you should be, too.
Carpally Yours,
Grady
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