Feature Script Writing

To take up my time, now that football is over, I decided to get back into writing feature script. A great idea came into my head, which these days is pretty hard, since something is messing with my brains lately. So I've been writing a comedy. Actually I got two ideas. One I got sidetracked because I wrote myself into a corner. It's easy to get distracted if you watch a good movie. I have to finish that one. The point is to keep writing no matter what. Stephen J. Cannell, the writer of those 80's t.v. shows like "The Fall Guy" gave that great piece of advice. Whatever you start, just finish it. Good or bad, just get it done. No one has to read it, but at least you will feel a sense of accomplishment.

I'm always impressed by my friends who can write a 200 page script. No one in this business will read it. It's either the person doesn't understand the business, is full of themselves, or doesn't know format. The coverage on that will start with "this fucking asshole made me miss a bonfire in Malibu..."

Keep it under 100 pages if you can. BUT...nevertheless, I have no idea how someone can write that much. Sure I can vomit here on a blog. Daily. Have some chuckles. But I'm not exactly pulling ideas out of thin air. Most of it is my own outrage about life. The other is news stories I read or movie reviews. Writing screenplays is technique. Most great ones can break the mold. Reading Quentin Tarantino scripts are fun. Shane Black scripts are fun. The rest are depressing to get through. Hell, I sent a five page short to a friend to get an opinion on. Took them a week. For five pages. A WEEK! I don't as that is a favor. Pay someone to read it, you are hurting a lot of people. Mentally. It's good if you can find a voice. Much easier on people to get the tone of you as a person. I've abandoned a lot of decent ideas, because I've lost interest. That's a bad way to go.

The point is, this town has a lot of people who claim to be "idea people." They start out with "Hey, I got this great idea for a movie." My reaction is "okay, write it the fuck down and see how it goes." The grind is actually committing it to paper (or in this case typing). It's fucking hard, man. The best is if you can be lost in that world you start writing. The quicker you commit it to something solid, the more strong the idea actually is. Getting a screenplay DONE is 75% more than anyone in this town actually does. Doing it within the format completes the other 25%. You can get movies made from this. I've notice too many don't get this far.