Write, write, write

The single most important moment in my writing career was at the very beginning - the moment a professional writer told me that my writing had something.

Get into the labs, get the internships, apply everywhere, get on that journey and make something happen!

I've now been at it for 20 years and have been lucky to get commissions again and again. Looking back, two things mattered back then - 1) the passion to write no matter what and 2) the encouragement and empowerment from others. Let's face it, we can have all the stamina and discipline in the world - if no one ever gives us a pat on the back, if there's zero recognition along the way, that never-ending journey will, eventually, become too hard.

Recognition and empowerment was, for me, a semester at NYU where I meet that one professional writer, Dina Harris. She was there with clarity, expertise and encouragement. Another such external push was the first quarter-, semi- and finals at screenwriting competitions. Contests and labs - if you're start starting out on a career - look into them.

I've come across this excellent page at the UCLA Writer's Program - lots of good stuff there. From that page I've copied out the lab programs run by everyone from Disney to Sundance. This is your journey, apply. Whether you get in or not, it's part of your path. You'll learn along the way, you'll try again, things will happen. If I was at the newbie stage, if this was 20 years ago and I'd read this blog, I'd get my ass in gear and would apply to every single one of them.

Your career, your choice.

• Disney/ABC: http://www.abctalentdevelopment.com/
• CBS: http://diversity.cbscorporation.com/page.php?id=16
• FOX: http://www.fox.com/audiencestrategy/foxwritersintensive/
• NBC/Universal: http://www.nbcunicareers.com/writers-verge and http://www.nbcunicareers.com/late-night-writers-workshop
•  Nickelodeon: http://www.nickwriting.com/home/
•  Warner Bros.: http://writersworkshop.warnerbros.com/
•  Participant Media: http://www.participantmedia.com/fellowships/
•  Sundance Screenwriters Lab: http://www.sundance.org/programs/screenwriters-lab/
•  Film Independent: http://www.filmindependent.org/labs-and-programs/

Whether you've been at it for a few years or a few decades - you've had tons of ideas already. Big ones, little ones - never toss anything.

Your ideas, your treasure.

Seems obvious, right? But you'd be surprised how many writers are an unstructured bunch who leave WAY too much to chance. That final sale or commission won't ever be 100% assured - all the more you need to keep track and control the things we can. One such thing we can control is the stuff our brain spews on a daily basis. Keeping notebooks? I'd hope so! But whether it's your standard Moleskine or just scraps of paper here and there - you should type them out, store them digitally and put them where you can find them when you need them.

We all have drawers filled with ideas. Sometimes those ideas are pure gold, sometimes there closer to tin. Still, whether those ideas stand the test of time or feel dated at some point - never toss anything (did I mention to never toss anything?). The greatest idea you've ever had may end up being a little character quirk in for an entirely different story. And the weakest idea just may fuse with something else and turn into that perfect pitch. I'm writing about this because I see it working again and again. Right now I'm working on a pitch for a TV thriller. I've revisited my treasure chest, rummaged and found. An idea led to another and now I'm well on my way to a very cool piece of work.

We are our worst enemies. The little man/woman inside our head nagging: "That ain't good enough, that ain't original enough, that ain't special enough." Screw that voice. Never hit delete - just put it somewhere, forget about it, move on. I guarantee you, one find day that crappy idea will be exactly what you need to deliver the goods.

Never - toss - anything. 

The questions regarding the various stepping stones on the way to a finished script keep coming up - and understandably so because there's really no single correct answer - but that, in fact, is a positive in the collaboration game.

Deliver exactly what they want.

I've been at this for twenty years and have dealt with both US and European markets. Over time, I've come to realize that you should never simply go with what you've done the previous time. Always ask the network, the producer, whomever, what exactly it is that they expect. I've had times when they asked for a treatment when in fact they wanted an expose - then of course there are different types of treatments, too!

The way I've handled it these past years is this > logline > synopsis > exposé > treatment > script.

• A logline is a single sentence that describes your story. More about this here > 25 words to change your life
• A synopsis, in my experience, has always been a one-pager that gives the whole story.
• An exposé is the entire story in short - in my book that means anywhere between 3 and 10 pages
• A treatment can be anywhere from 10 to 40 pages. More about this here > The treatment and why you need it
• A script, especially from an unknown writer, should be somewhere between 100 and 110 pages long. Anything longer will diminish your chances of your script even getting read. More about this here > Your script's perfect length

All of the above are essentially supposed to shine because of the story to tell. So, ideally, don't try and hype anything - just tell the story, highlight the characters, their wants and needs, punch up the great twists and turns. The shorter forms, logline, synopsis and exposé are promises. Your promise to the reader that they'll get to read a very cool script.

In the end, remember that it's always a collaboration, and always a business. You want to avoid a) unnecessary work for yourself and b) an annoyed producer. So when they ask for something, confirm back to ensure you'll be sending them exactly what they expect. That way, assuming your story rocks, everybody's happy.

Great pic from the "Screenwriting in Iowa" blog. Honestly, as a screenwriter, don't you get a warm and fuzzy feeling looking at that? Doesn't it just make you want to be there?

The only thing better than being in that room full of stories is being in the thick of your own. So, enjoy reading everything from screenplays to novellas - then get back to writing.

Happy 2014 all - write, write, write!

How does art figure into the collaborative process of filmmaking in general and screenwriting in particular? What is art?

Here's a definition: "Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."

I've always argued that screenwriting is a craft, not an art. That what you craft in collaboration with others will one day stand on its own and will be seen on a big or small screen ... and then, one day, others may regard that crafted piece of work as art. I believe that Robert Bolt, David Lean and Sam Spiegel sat down to craft a film called Lawrence of Arabia, not to create a work of art. Did it end up being a work of art? I most certainly think so.

In a tweet, Ted Hope wrote "Cinema and art are all about the dialogue with the community. We must engage for it to come alive." His point's well taken from a filmmaker's point of view. Films are created for the sole purpose of getting people to experience the story on screen. And he's right to argue for engagement - films are far more likely to reach an audience if a strong level of engagement across the many available channels takes place ... all of that says "craft" to me. Craft is clear, craft is structured, craft is disciplined and organized - craft is what you need to become a long-distance working professional screenwriter.

So is there room for art in screenwriting? Isn't the very essence of collaboration art-squashing compromise? Don't common ground, audience expectations and budget considerations automatically push art into proven frames? We all know these dangers and we've all seen the formulas repeated time and time again. And yet, there is art in screenwriting. Art is core, art is creative spark, are is when you write with all the required discipline and then the muse takes you to unexpected places.

... and then, I guess, it is a director's and producer's art to recognize those moments and to courageously allow them to come alive on screen. Screenwriting is about the sheer power of creation, screenwriting is about the flights beyond anything anyone's ever dreamed of, screenwriting is about daring to go to all the darkest places, to live there and to return stronger to reveal the hidden truths. From those creative places it begins, with that material we craft our stories.

In the end - try not to think about art - it'll drive you nuts. Write with clarity and passion and think craft. Think about delivering your best work before the deadline hits you in the ass. That's all that matters.

Why? Because, as children, we lived them more than others did. We got sucked into those worlds, we became those worlds, those characters, those lives and those deaths.

How often does a screenwriter get to script a genre-defining piece? And how often does that happen to the same one writer in two different genres? Well, it did and the screenwriter, Daniel Mainwaring (1902-1977), is pretty much forgotten today.

Which two genre-defining movies, you may ask? He's responsible for the novel and adaptation of film noir classic Out of the Past (written under the pseudonym Geoffrey Homes and remade in 1984 as Against All Odds) and sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (written under his own name and directed by his pal Don Siegel - and remade twice by now).

Born in 1902 in Oakland, California, it seems writing was always in his heart. He started out as a newspaper reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. (Elsewhere I've seen written that he'd worked for the Los Angeles Examiner in the early twenties. Well, whether LA or Frisco (or both), he covered the city's crime beat, something he was particularly good it, it seems. I've read that he brought his experience as a former PI to the job. So how does a former PI turned reporter turn in two genre masterpieces? You move to Hollywood, of course!

At the age of 32 he published his first crime novel. And churned them out after that - several of them centered around a former reporter turned PI (write what you know and all that, I guess!). He said "In 1935 I got my first job in the industry as a publicity man at Warner Brothers. Working in publicity you got to see and learn more about picture making than the writers did. . . . I didn't escape from the publicity racket until 1943."

He says he started out writing screenplays for Paramount and was happy to forget all of them except for Big Town. After having focused solely on screenplays he took a break to write another novels - it was Build My Gallows High - the blueprint for Out of the Past. Bill Dozier, head of RKO read it, bought it and Daniel Mainwaring with it. One thing that apparently clinched the deal was the gimmick scene in the novel where the mute boy uses his fishing rod to cast a hook and pull the bad guy to his death - the producers loved that scene and could just picture it.

Mainwaring & Bogie

Out of the Past, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starred Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming. Initially, Mainwaring had actually personally taken the script to Humphrey Bogart. According to Mainwaring, Bogie wanted to do it, but Warner Brothers wouldn't let him. Possible that Warner Brothers was still pissed off because in 1945 they had bid for the not-yet-published Build The Gallows High, too - and lost to RKO. So, with Bogie out, RKO then considered Pat O'Brien, then John Garfield was connected with the project, later Dick Powell was announced as the film's star. And even Lex Barker was tested for the role ... Well, luckily things happened as they did and finally Mitchum came into the picture.

In an interview, Daniel Mainwaring was asked about other writers involved in the adaptation of Out of the Past: "I wrote the first draft, and Duff (producer Warren Duff) wasn't sure about it. All I had done were those pictures for Pine and Thomas (for Paramount). When I finished and went on to something else, Duff put Jim (James M.) Cain on it. Jim Cain threw my script away and wrote a completely new one. They paid him $20-30 thousand and it had nothing to do with the novel or anything. He took it out of the country and set the whole thing in the city. Duff didn't like it and called me back. Frank Fenton had worked on it for awhile. I made some changes and did the final. But that's the way things used to work. You'd turn around and spit and some other writer would be on your project."

In his take on Out of the Past, Roger Ebert has a bit more information. He refers to critic Jeff Schwager who read all the various drafts. Schwager agreed that the Cain was bad, but that Mainwaring's first draft wasn't that good either. He says that the great dialogue actually came from Frank Fenton. Well, be that as it may - movie making is collaborating!

Now about Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Mainwaring had met Don Siegel way back when he was still working as a publicist. At that point Siegel had been an aspiring director. Something you see again and again - a writer's career often grows as the network's career grows. Focus on people at your career stage - work with them and grow with them. It certainly worked for Daniel Mainwaring. He worked with Siegel on The Big Steal in 1949 (it was basically RKO trying to capitalize on the success of Out of the Past - same stars, same writer). Mainwaring and Siegel collaborated four more times and their biggest success was of course Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) was remade in 1978 and 1993 and when you look at it, it certainly brings together elements from Mainwaring's life. The whole "aliens taking over" aspect can certainly be seen as a play on the communism witch hunts, being outcast, losing one's identity. Mainwaring was right there during that dark time in screenwriting history. But Invasion of the Body Snatchers certainly also has a film noir feel - watch it again, you'll see what I mean.

So next time someone mentions either of these two films, you may remember Daniel Mainwaring ... as you should - know your world (screenwriting principle #6).

Jay Presson Allen died in 2006, aged 84. She once remarked: "The trick in adapting is not to throw out the baby with the bath water. You can change all kinds of things, but don't muck around with the essence."

She wrote the adaptations for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1966), "Marnie" (1964), "Cabaret" (1972) and "Prince of the City" (1981 - see picture with Sidney Lumet) among many other screenplays.

• A massively insightful interview with Jay Presson Allen (in Backstory 3, interview by Pat McGilligan)

• A great Jay Presson Allen summary by Scott Myers (Go Into The Story, 31 May 2011)

• Jay Presson Allen - Writer of screen adaptations true to the original's essence (The Guardian, 05 May 2006)

• Jay Presson Allen - Writer of adaptations for plays and movies, dies (New York Times, 02 May 2006)

• Jay Presson Allen on IMDB

• Jay Presson Allen on Wikipedia

• Jay Presson Allen in-depth profile article (The Paley Center for Media) 

Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine, Oblivion) is leaving the Star Wars VII world. Whether that's good or bad remains to be seen, but this publicly announced changes are good reminders for newbies and seasoned writers alike.

More often than not Hollywood is thought of as a bunch of executives focused solely on business. We all know stories of films where screenwriters were exchanged on a monthly basis, two, seven, ten - whatever. Where some are brought in for the action, some for the dialogue and executives just keep playing and paying that game in the hopes that the many chefs produce a scrumptious ten course menu... but that's the myth. The truth is that Hollywood is not a bunch of morons bent on minimizing risk (that does of course play a big role) but instead a melting pot of talent. When films go bust we blame the system (and the writers, of course) - but don't kid yourself, most of the time they don't go bust - they may not be smash box office bonanzas - but they do make money (unless of course the system goes nuts on the marketing side).

You see in the case of Michael Arndt you just need to read beyond the headline. Lucasfilm prez Kathleen Kennedy said "Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production". There may have been creative differences, but I don't think so. I really think this was the ground work. Now JJ Abrams and Lawrence "Silverado" Kasdan (yeah he did some Star Wars, too - and a little flick called Raiders of the Lost Ark - but, dudes, Silverado!) are taking the script to the next level.

High hopes! I wish Leigh Brackett was still around to add a bit of the magic she brought to The Empire Strikes Back to Star Wars VII. So far, I'm pretty happy about what I hear regarding the next gazillion in the Star Wars franchise. Here's another high hope - and that goes for all of Hollywood - may Michael Arndt retain a credit on the final film. Yes there's word counts, arbitration and all that. But screenplays evolve and films are the results of an evolution that started with a first draft. I wish more writers got the credit they deserve - feel free to be more restrictive with the financial distribution - but give credit where credit's due.

About that evolutionary process: I once delivered a 3rd draft that had taken a seriously wrong turn and ended up in Hack City. The network wasn't pleased ... and I went back to work - the 4th draft nailed it ... but only because of that trip to Hack City - everything is part of the evolutionary process of a screenplay. May Michael Arndt (and everybody else out there!) get the recognition they deserve for putting in the late nights, the blood, sweat and screenwriting tears.

I've come across these images in Backstory 2 and Backstory 3 (great interviews, read them all!) and post them here so that I can add them to the Pinterest Screenwriters board.

Take a look at the pictures below, take a look at the ever-growing board on Pinterest - the faces of those who have given us many of the most iconic movie memories. How many of these faces do people know - heck, most have never even heard of the names!

As screenwriters we should know our history, we have much to be proud of. For me, it forms part of my 12 screenwriting principles - #6 > Know your world.