Screenwriting: Secrets Revealed
I really want to write a screen play but I’m way too chicken to give it a go yet. So I asked my friend, Laron Glover, for some advice.Laron is a wonderful writer, Golden Heart winner, very witty, gorgeous, and a genuinely nice person, too.
Here’s what she sent back:
My good writer-friend Jacquie Rogers asked me to come up with some pearls of wisdom I could pass on to other screenwriters. Between website fiascos and the holiday rush I came up with—well, nothing.
Thinking I could be as resourceful as Jacquie, I thought I’d hit up a friend who owed ME a favor. He’s a hot-shot in the story department at a large studio down in LA. What advice do they give newbies coming in the door? Not the writers, but the readers. Thought it might be interesting for us on the other side of the fence. It was. Here’s his response. Six easy ways to reject a screenplay, yes, but if you’re savvy, six easy ways to make sure your screenplay gets read!
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXX [mailto:XXXXXXXXXXstudios.com]
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 3:21 AM
To: Laron Glover
Subject: You asked . . .
Hey, Laron—
Good to hear from you!! I’ll give you this if you promise NOT to forward it with my name attached (or my you-know-what is grass). It’s what we send to the new kids on the block while the rest of us are out having a Corona with a spear of lime. But if it helps the submissions coming across our desk, more power to you!
Speaking of which, let’s get together the next time you’re down in “HollyHood,” okay? What’s new in Seattle? You guys survive the snowstorm?
-BXXXXX XXXXX
THE BOOTLEGGER’S* GUIDE TO REJECTING A SCREENPLAY
*distilled knowledge you can carry around in your boot.
Welcome to XXXXXXXXXXXX. You’re new to Hollywood. Piled on your desk are two hundred screenplays that need to be read by the end of the week . . . or no Tahoe trip for you. What’s a script-reader to do? You don’t want to reject the next BIG THING and risk your job. Not to worry . . . we’re here to help. In thirty-five minutes (or less), you can whittle down your entire stack (of two hundred) to the one screenplay that actually deserves to be read (if that). Translation: Tahoe, here I come!
How to execute: Simply pop the script open. Anyplace—it doesn’t matter. If you’re feeling bad about spending only ten seconds on a writer’s work, dog ear the script a little, stamp a coffee-ring or two on the top. (Helpful hint: You can buy rubber stamps to look like coffee rings or wine rings, depending on the color of ink). Make ‘em think you worked at it. Or not. Trust us: After reading a thousand bad scripts, you won’t feel bad for the writer anymore and will start feeling sorry for little old you.
Bootlegger’s 2-second rejects:
x Not formatted correctly? If the writer can’t take the time to pick up a simple formatting book and follow it, why bother? PASS.
x Too long/too short: A screenplay for a feature film should be 120 pages. 110 or 130 pages? Maybe. Outside of that range? PASS.
x Stepping on toes: Does the writer provide casting lists? Camera angles? Or (god-forbid) a musical soundtrack? Not the writer’s job. PASS.
x Flag dialogue: We’re not referring to patriotism, but talking heads. Blah, blah, blah. The screen is huge; the writer’s job it to fill it—with images, not words. Are people chatting each other up? Does the scene take place in a coffee shop or bar? An easy way to tell if you have talking heads is to flip through the script and visually scan the page. Non-stop pages of one-line “flag” dialogue? PASS.
Bootlegger’s 10-second rejects:
x No subtext: Are characters simply “parroting” what happens on the screen? Dialogue needs to add depth. If it doesn’t, the film lacks subtext, and scripts without it will become a cat-box liner. As McKee puts it, “if what happens on the page is what the scene is about, you’re in deep shit.” If you, dear reader, pass this up the food chain, you’ll be in deep shit too. No subtext? PASS.
x Backstory that can’t be filmed. This goes for location as well as characters. Does the script provide notes to the reader that there is no way on God’s Green Earth to portray this to the viewer on film? (e.g. Joan stares at Jake with despair—after all, she’s filed for bankruptcy twice, once with the Claymore deal and the other as executive of Enron.) Uh, PASS.
Script make it this far? Pop open that can of Diet Coke and READ ON!!!
Laron Glover, besides being a terrific writer, is also owner of Ninth Moon, where you can purchase fabulous gifts for your author friends, editors, or agents. After all, who knows better what a writer needs than another writer? And all items are beautifully gift-wrapped. Tell her Jacquie sent you.
How many of you have considered or are writing screenplays? What advice do you have for us? I’d love to hear your experiences.
Have a Magical Monday!
Jacquie
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Tags: laron glover, rejection, screenwriting
good tips, I wrote a play when I was 12 for the church I went to for Christmas.
Wow! Great stuff here. And I thought getting a NY pub editor to read my stuff was tough.
I like writing screenplays. One of my shorts even won 2nd place in a contest. The restrictive structure is actually freeing once one realizes its advantages.
I’ve read books or watched videos by Syd Field, John Truby, Robert McKee, Michael Hauge and, most recently, Blake Snyder. Save the Cat! is great! I’m using it to plot my latest screenplay idea.
That said, it may seem hard to get a screenplay read, but if one follows the above advice from the unnamed gentleman (and realizes that many script readers are also writers), his/her chances are good that the script will get read. I saw an article online in which the writer bemoaned the fact that most screenplays were not written in the proper format and therefore stood no chance of being read. And that’s advantageous for you.
If you want to write screenplays, there are any number of books and classes, including those taught by the people mentioned above. You also need to read screenplays. Drew’s Script-O-Rama and Simply Scripts are just a couple of places where you can download scripts for free. Be aware, though, that these are production scripts and you should not follow their format. You’re writing a spec script, a way to get your foot in the proverbial door if you ever decide to venture forth and write FADE IN.
Excellent advice, Jacquie, Laron, B and Pamela! I’m bookmarking this for when I give scriptwriting a whirl. Thank you.