Talking and Not Talking

I’M ON THE TRAIN! I feel I should start with that as everyone else around me has made a point about it to anyone they call. I have also been invited to a BBC workshop next month in honour of getting a sketch (my longest ever) on NewsJack.

I haven’t heard from the BBC about whether my one-liners will be on Laura Solon’s Talking Not Talking show which starts tonight. The last I heard was in July when they say I had some stuff recorded for it.

So the BBC are Talking and Not Talking to me!

Is Cheltenham SWF Worth A Return?

Chris Regan asked a very interesting question about whether I would try and go to Cheltenham SWF 2010 having been this year. I thought the answer was worth a post as its a good question and I have nothing interesting to say about anything else (and this might not be that interesting anyway, I’m working out my answer as I type this post. I am a rebel.)

The SWF is definitely something you should be going to with the intention of getting something out of it writing-wise. The socialising with other writers is great fun, but don’t get sucked in to going there for a jolly – unless you have money to burn, which not a lot of writers do.

The ticket cost me approx £300 as I managed to get in a ‘group of ten’ to make it cheaper. Then you need a hotel (£19 per night @ Travelodge as I got a special deal), food and drink money and you need to get to Cheltenham and back.

One of my aims was to meet other screenwriters and I certainly did that, but that alone wouldn’t justify the trip and certainly wouldn’t be the sole aim of returning next year. The seminars were a mixed bag. Some good ones clashed with each other or the speed dating, some contradicted others, some were just Q&A’s about certain films, but some gave interesting insights or at worst reiterated important messages that some of us writers ignore (know the industry better, write a script that will sell, don’t tell Armando Iannucci that he’s beginning to look like Alexis Sayle).

Was this worth the fee? Well, if you were being really picky you could argue that you could get most of this information by knowing the industry better (podcasts, trades, internet). There were some screenwriting masterclasses, I guess for the really new people, but I wouldn’t recommend going to the SWF as a writer if you haven’t got the theory. There simply isn’t enough time to go over it in the one hour seminars anyway.

Then there is the speed-dating. I can tell you right now that the thirty minutes (5 mins per date) were probably the most valuable part of the festival for me. The reasons being that I had projects near completion that I wanted to pitch and that I hadn’t pitched to anyone ‘in the industry’ before. At worst it was a great validation that the ideas were good enough to look into and I now have the contacts of people/companies that will do that. People that can make these projects happen.

So really I have to ask myself, ‘How could I get what I did if I didn’t go to the SWF?’ Networking – probably could go to a few writing groups, but wouldn’t meet as many. Seminars – possibly get similar info from the internet and reading the trades in a crowded WH Smith. Producers/Agents – well I certainly wouldn’t have got to speak to the ones I did as they don’t listen to unsolicited calls.

So I am certainly glad I went this year as overall it was worth it. But what about next year? Again, it depends what I need in a year’s time. If I have loads of writing work on then I probably wouldn’t go, the same if I had no new project ideas and no work on. If I had some new ideas/projects that I felt I didn’t have the right contacts for then I probably would go. It depends on the need to speak to Producers/Agents I guess. Also, if I have the money to spend on the whole thing.

It was noticeable that so many people were there for the first time, which suggests that not many people return and so that might mean that those people have adopted the same attitude as I have. In a way I hope I don’t HAVE to go back, but I would certainly like to if I can justify it.

Cheltenham SWF

So I spent most of last week in a Ladies College – Awuga! However, it was for the rather more serious reason of attending the Cheltenham Screenwriters’ Festival – No-woo-girl!

I had no idea what to expect but dragged myself away at the end of it absolutely exhausted but quite pleased with a number of situations. First of all, one of the main aims of the event was to network and boy did I do that! Actually, everyone was pretty shameless in this field and there were so many business cards frantically exchanging hands that I’m surprised that no fires broke out. So I now know A LOT of screenwriters. Which is lovely. It was like being at Uni for days 3 and 4 as you could go off in most directions and bump into someone you ‘knew’ (by that I mean exchanged paper with).

The seminars were more of a mixed bag. I went to a few screenwriting ones to make sure I wasn’t missing any theories from my armory, and I was satisfied that I wasn’t. The problem lies when you go to two different seminars on the same subject and they completely contradict each other. Also, I went to one that had  ‘porn’ in the title and they didn’t show any clips.

The weirdest bit was the number of people that thought I was a ‘proper’ writer. I explained I had a few  radio sketch credits and felt like a newbie but they weren’t having it. Brilliant.

But probably the best thing about the festival was the meeting the agents and producers or as they labelled it ‘Speed Dating’, which is great when you are talking about in a pub full of locals. I was fortunate enough to have ‘dates’ with both agents and producers and, although I didn’t get to first base with any of them, they all liked my ideas and five out of seven of them requested me to send them scripts directly. I must point out (brag) that the producer that didn’t ask me to send him stuff was from Screen Wales and I’m not Welsh so that was always going to be a tricky relationship, and the agent that didn’t ask for stuff did say I should definitely get an agent whilst just staring at me. Weird.

So overall, good. If I didn’t meet those agents/producers it might have been a bit of a waste of money, especially as there weren’t many of them visible throughout the four days. I also got to meet some other bloggers too which was good. My new goals are to finish my comedy pilots and a synopsis for a comedy feature which all have proper interest from actual people.

For that, I thank Cheltenham SWF.

Out of Focus

My brain is as much my enemy as my friend when it comes writing (and probably life!).

For example, when I know I should be writing a particular sitcom script, it will start saying ‘Ooh, by the way, I’ve got a good idea for that OTHER sitcom script you’ve got but are not working on today,’ or ‘Hey, how about this for a NEW sitcom pilot…’ or even ‘FILM! I’ve got an idea for a film!’

Yeah, thanks. I really need you to be thinking about other projects when I’ve set my self targets and deadlines for this sitcom that you had a great idea for whilst trying to write topical sketches an hour before deadline!

I thought I had some sort of compromise for this as I’m trying to work on both sitcom and film ideas in preparation for the Cheltenham Screenwriter’s Festival. That was until this morning when I heard ‘Oh my God, I have an amazing idea for a play.’

Bloggers Block

What to write about on here now? I’m preparing for the Screenwriters Festival in Cheltenham and working through my planned scripts. By the way, I dropped a planned rewrite of a pilot I had drafted a while back so I’m down to two pilots a feature treatment and its first ten pages. I might lose more as the sands of time leak on. In fact I’m pretty sure I will.

I’ve got meetings with agents and producers for only three minutes each and I’m terrified that three minutes will be too long! OK, so better focus. I’ve also got to get some business cards and a website (lets call it a web page for accuracy) ready. So the question shouldn’t be what to write on here now, it should be why am I writing here now???

Focusing on the SWF

So there’s a month to go before the Screenwriters’ Festival in Cheltenham and I’ve adjusted my original targets to having three comedy scripts and a feature treatment (with first 10 pages) ready in time for it. Mainly because I have secured agent/producer speed-dating sessions so I need something ‘pullable’.

Also because having a full feature script ready got put-off due to the fact that I got stuck with part of the story. To date, I have two advanced drafts of comedy scripts, a very detailed outline for the other and an outline for the feature, so I should be able to pull it off (or them off, if we keep to the dating analogy – yeah let’s not).

I’m excited about the event for many reasons and not just because I’ll be travelling on a train (woo woo!). I know of a few people who blog, post on forums that it would be nice to actually meet in person but its also given me a deadline to get my longer projects finished (abandoned?) and shown to ‘real’ people. I really hope I come away from it with some decent contacts and direction.

Anyway, I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona last night. A fantastic film in my eyes. I’ve decided to only talk about films I like as so many other bloggers cover bad ones (and do it better than me). Woody Allen found the perfect character balance in this one and having a fiery Spaniard (Penelope Cruz’s best performance IMO) must have been a dream for Allen to channel drama and comedy through. Everyone was likeable too, despite Cruz’s madness and Javier Bardem’s serial womanising. The story was good too, with plenty of unpredictable twists and quirks too. Anne Hall worshippers will probably hang me but I reckon this was Allen’s best work to date. For me anyway.

First Rule of Write Club: There Are No Rules

There are a number of well-established books out there that promise to have the ‘not so secret’ rules of writing a successful screenplay. Basically someone, who usually has no screenplay credits of note, tries to come with some rules of their own, based on films they like (and vaguely fit the theory), and then continue to force any film they can into their rigid structure.

The problem with all these different approaches is that they obviously reflect the fact that films are made in different ways. So no one’s golden guidelines are going to be represented in every successful film, although its amazing how many of these gurus insist they do. Which of course means any film that doesn’t meet these precious commandments, that sell a gazillion books a year, automatically become their enemy. These films are saying, ‘actually, there is more than one way to skin a cat. (Blake Synder pun intended) Your book isn’t the definitive guide it claims to be.’

So the author has a few choices: still try and claim it fits hoping the wool covers the entire head, ignore the film and hope no one asks about it (most common), criticise the film.

It’s the final one that inspired this post. I’ve read most of the top screenplay books over the years: Save The Cat (Snyder), Story (McKee – as well as been on his course), Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (Field) and Writer’s Journey (Vogler) to name a few. I’m happy with what I’ve learned from them, I feel I know enough to go ahead and write a feature (which I’m doing) but there was school of thought that I knew I was missing from my collection and that was John Truby’s 22-Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller – who coincidentally is running a course in London soon.

The main reasons for not getting this book were because I felt I had spent enough time and money on courses and books but also because I know he is strongly against the three act structure which all the other books, and my own observations/analysis, lean towards. It’s not definitive, but prolific and advised for a new writer.

So anyway, Truby’s take on screenwriting is the most different of them all and therefore the likelihood of finding films that don’t meet his structure are possibly high. I’ve been reading his blog as he boldly reviews movies on it. I say boldly because these movies are obviously rated for how they fit to his rules. I say boldly because he watched Frost/Nixon, a hugely successful and acclaimed film and one that doesn’t fit his 22-steps, and out of the three choices mentioned earlier he chose the last one. In fact he ripped it apart.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with criticising a film – we all have different tastes. But when you pin your argument of how to make a successful screenplay in opposition to a film that was an award-winning, five times Oscar-nominated (including screenplay), publically admired (8/10 on IMDB) hit, then you’ve lost a lot of credibility in my book (Titled ‘Save The Story – A Writer’s Foundation Journey’).

The point is that all these books are limited to their own (sometimes too rigid) guidelines and the truth is that it is rare that any two successful writers write the same way. Listen to the many podcasts with writers for proof. I bet that not one successful writer has stuck 100% to any set of rules in any of these books. The books are useful as they are all theories and can give you ideas to help you on your way. Just don’t stick to them rigidly as they don’t tell the whole picture. Do what you feel is right, don’t be fooled by the limits these authors have to live by.

I might well buy John Truby’s book in the future just to see his views on things, but won’t be going on the course as that’s almost commiting to his thoery. And as one of many Frost/Nixon fans, if he doesn’t think people should write like that then it’s not really for me. (Dragon’s Den Impression) And for that reason I’m out.

(500) Ideas This Summer

Every now and then I get to go to a free preview of a film at the cinema. One of my main reasons for doing this is because the cinema is in danger of becoming obsolete. It usually costs £7.50 per person (so £15 for a couple) to go to, while my movie rental costs roughly £1.20  per film and I can have all of my friends over – all three of them. OK, I may have to a wait few months for it to become a rental but I also benefit from it being in HD (Blu-ray) which my cinema isn’t. So going to the cinema is a bit like going to the Natural History museum – its nice to see how people lived.

I had enjoyed watching The Proposal a few weeks back which was a funny, if still a template, movie. But last week my expectations were surpassed by (500) Days of Summer, which was an original and very funny movie. Without SPOILING the plot I can say I was impressed with the structure the writers adopted – certainly not templated. The dialogue and scenes also seemed refreshingly enjoyable, it really felt like the writers put their own personal thumb-print on this film. Listening to a podcast interview with one of them confirmed this and made me look at the ideas I had for films to see how personal they were. The answer: 99% weren’t.

They were ideas I thought Hollywood or low-budget Indies would like. They meant nothing to me. Of course plenty of writers write like this but my favourite films aren’t done like this and when I looked at my own experiences and life I found some ideas that are quite original and, more importantly,  interesting to me. Basically, I was inspired to tell the stories I want to tell rather than ones I thought of after seeing other people’s films. To not to try and adopt a ‘Hollywood voice’.

Anyway, (500) was quite inspiring without blowing my mind. It reminded me that originality starts from within, not from thinking like someone else.

This post has taught me that the above short paragraph sums up the whole post without the need of the rest. Sorry.

Funny old day

Yesterday, I tried and failed to get back into the full swing of writing again after a couple of weeks away. Well, away from actual writing that is as I was doing research and outlining on other projects. It was horrible. I genuine thought I had lost what little ability I thought I had before the break. Nothing was coming out, nothing was funny (and yes, I’m working on a comedy). I got depressed and nearly stalled my car on the way to Sainsbury’s – that’s how bad it got.

Today I woke-up (this post is proof) and suddenly things are flowing again, I even made myself laugh. Of course the trick is to make other people laugh but the main thing is I’m back on it. The thought of ’shit, I’ve rearranged my whole life to be a writer. What the hell am I going to do now that I KNOW I can’t do it?’ is put off for another day. Probably until tomorrow. Perseverance and a decent sleep work wonders.

I also watched Margot at the Wedding yesterday and had one of those WTF? moments. In fact I had a few during the film and more after. There was no wedding and it was quite gripping but it was like you’d just started watching the film half way through and then left before the ending. At bit like this post minus the ‘gripping’ bit.

RIP Blake Snyder

Two posts in two days, I’m spoiling you. No seriously, I am. If you haven’t read the latest breaking news a.k.a Phill Barron’s blog. Then you won’t know that screenwriting teacher Blake Snyder passed away from Cardiac Arrest on August 4th. Phill pays a better tribute to him than I can and I echo (or link to) his comments on the man’s work.

It all brings me to a common topic that seems endless and unresolved. Can you learn how to write? My answer is: yes. If you’ve never watched a film or read a script you won’t be able to write a decent one at first attempt. We’re humans, we learn 99% of everything we can do.

Can you guarantee a decent script through learning? No. Not if you had all the lessons in the world from the best teachers, writers that ever existed.

So there we go, solved. Thanks for reading bye…

Oh ok… I’ll digress more. John Cleese says he wasn’t schooled in comedy when he started but spent all of his childhood watching comedy, he even said that he didn’t realise it at the time but it was his training. Now, lots of people watched comedy growing up but what Cleese did was unconsciously pick up how it works and later on produce some of the best stuff ever seen on YouTube. So he was self-taught, but also naturally analytical, creative and had a sense of humour that was shared with millions. He had other qualities too, ones that you can’t really learn and some that you have to be blessed with.

I know some smart, high-flying  people who’s sense of humour and tastes are comically bad. Yet they think there is genuinely nothing wrong with them. And there isn’t. We all have different tastes but some just won’t cut it on screen – I mean really bad taste here.

Its a very general post here, I’m deliberately being so as its a long argument, but my view is that you need to learn (by what ever means: life/books/tv/courses) how to write YOUR way. What ever works for YOU. You might already know how to create characters. Why learn how McKee does it, if you already have a method? But the books and lessons are good if you need guidance in an area you’re not so hot on. You can take bits from this book, bits from that lesson, a little seasoning from that post – whatever works. You might not need any of this, you might have already picked it up from watching shit loads of tv and from life itself.

Snyder gave me a great starting point in outlining a feature film. The beats I should aim for to get me started. It helped me get stuff on the page and then I went in and changed it using ideas of my own. No one book has taught me how to write but a few have helped me get my stuff broadcast and seen. Snyder’s Save The Cat was one of them and I’m grateful.

RIP Blake Snyder.