Not my title but it is an attention getter isn’t it? Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 ways to make it great is a fairly new book by screenwriter William M. Akers. I finally picked up a copy this week and have been enjoying it. It’s hard to say new stuff on screenwriting— or present proven thoughts from a new perspective— but Akers is able to do both.
Akers’ book was up to the task of ending my 10 day Coppolablogfest. I won’t cover all the reason your screenplay sucks (you can buy the book for that), but I’ll toss a few your way this week beginning with:
#19. You worried about structure when you came up with your story.
Screw Structure. Have fun.
Structure is for later. For now, just let your incredibly creative mind run free. Make notes about character and plot and story and funny moments and locations you’d like to visit. Tape record dialogue for your characters…Free assoicate…Make stuff up. Make more stuff up. Steal from real life and make it your own. Steal from other people’s lives….Make more notes. Enjoy this part of the process. It’s easier to think up cool material if you don’t have to worry if it fits…Creativity sells. Worrying about rules and page numbers will only cloud your mind.
William M. Akers
Your Screenplay Sucks!
pages 43-44
Of course, structure is important. Some would put it at or near the top of screenwriting importance. I wouldn’t disagree, but it has been hammered home so much in books, blogs, and seminars that many writers feel like they can’t take step one unless they have their plot points in place. Akers says just put it later in the process. (Eventually they more you read and write the more intuitive and organic structure will become .)
Akers also has a website at www.yourscreenplaysucks.com
Related post: Screenwriting and Structure (tip#5)
[...] Not my title but it is an attention getter isn’t it? Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 ways to make it great is a fairly new book by screenwriter William M. Akers. I finally picked up a copy this week and have been enjoying it. It’s hard to say new stuff on screenwriting— or present proven thoughts from a [...] Original Source… [...]
Interesting that I just finished this book last week and wondered if it had made it to your library yet. As I was reading, I was thinking, “There are all kinds of great quotes in here!:
It has been one of the more helpful books on screenwriting that I’ve read. Lots of useful advice, complete with both good and bad examples. And I definitely had taken my yellow highlighter to the one you used above. I have my little notebook in my purse where I document life. When I go back and re-read it, it makes me laugh as I remember where each little bit came from. In the book, I also appreciated the section on “research.” Both under-researching and over-researching.
Fresh off that “screw structure” quote, I woke up early this morning at wrote a full two page sweeping overview outline of new script idea. Not trying to over think/over develop it…just writing the ideas down as they come.
Some stuff fell into place naturally into a three act structure, but in general I just let the ideas flow and ended up with an entire script outline. Not all writing is fun…but that was like skiing down a Colorado mountain on a perfect winter day. (And it took just about the same amount of time as a back bowl run in Vail.)
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s any good…
Wow! That’s awesome! It is so fun when that happens! So does this mean you put other things aside and focus on this new stroke of inspiration? I always wonder about what to do with those enthusiastic moments when you’re currently working on something else (and usually something you’re struggling with). I had an idea that I made an outline about (ironically stemming from the “C” movies I hadn’t seen – it really has nothing to do with the plot but gave me an idea about a character which led to a story that pulled from something else I had thought about way back – How’s that for convoluted?). ANYWAY, the creative juices are flowing there… However, I’m in the middle of this “little” rewrite right now and I don’t think I’m at a good “let this rest while I start something else” point. I’ve written copious notes to myself so I won’t forget story “B,” but to me, the writing and inspiration comes with the frame of mind, more than remembering where I was headed. Make sense?
Of course, it may not be very good anyway…:)