The Blind Leading the Blind

Hank over at Write To Reel asked if I would give him a testimonial to use on his site, and after finishing it last night, I thought I’d put it here as well in case there are other writers out there looking for some great insight on their work.

How better to learn a new craft than to study it judiciously? To disassemble, remark upon, and appreciate the work of others who have labored over their craft as much as you have yours?

Step into any creative writing classroom, lecture, or seminar, and one of the first and lasting assignments you’ll be given will be to read. Read everything, as though the world is ending and the only way to spare it is by absorbing as much of its literature as you can.

It can be a daunting task, especially when all you want to do is sit down and write the next great American…whatever, but the importance of absorbing as much as you can from other artists cannot be stressed enough.

I didn’t care about reading when I was a kid. I liked it, sure, but only when it was able to hold my interest for more than two sentences. Unfortunately, that habit of skipping past great pieces of work carried on into adulthood, even when I was reaching the point when, ironically, I needed someone to sit down and read my work; to tell me whether or not I was kidding myself.

Hypocrisy notwithstanding, I sought out to find other writers who shared the same passion, but had the patience to guide me in the right direction. I knew I had something of value, even if it was buried beneath pages of unnecessary scenes and characters, and I just needed the right readers, who could see where I was taking the story, even if the draft they read wasn’t worth their time.

The Kids Stay in the Picture

Back in 2002, my good friend let me borrow two books that firmly placed the possibilities of true independent (see: no budget) filmmaking in my mind: Robert Rodriguez‘s Rebel Without a Crew, and Bruce Campbell‘s If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor. While Campbell’s autobiography was more about his entire career up to that point, he went into great (and hilarious) detail about the events and struggles involved in getting The Evil Dead made. Combined, these two icons of independent filmmaking not only explained their own experiences in great detail, they also showed how possible it was for a group of dedicated people, with very little or no money, to actually pull off producing a feature-length film.

The problem I had in 2002, though, was that I was only sixteen, and my friends and I (in spite of how talented they were — and, thankfully, still are) had even less money and experience that could go towards such an ambitious project. We tried, mind you, but not very hard. The technology at the time wasn’t anywhere close to where it is today, nor as cheap. Our only real options at the time were to shoot digitally (which we couldn’t afford), shoot on film (which we definitely couldn’t afford), or really go for broke and shoot on Hi-8. While I had very little experience then, even I had good enough sense not to go that route.

So we put those ambitions and ideas on the backburner, telling ourselves that one day we’d come back, though I don’t think most really believed that. Despite what we told ourselves, the entire process seemed too overwhelming that I really didn’t think it was possible for us until the cost and technology changed. Fortunately, however, I took away two very important things from that experience: one, that someday I’d come back and try again, and, two, if I was going to make another attempt, we’d better have something solid to shoot.

We’ve done crazier things…

Well, it’s been nearly a year since my last post. I’d like to say that I spent all of that time doing really interesting, inspiring things, but mostly it was spent working; you know, that time-sink that most of us have to do in order to go about with our lives.

However, that’s not to say some amazing things haven’t happened. In fact, in the past month or so, my friends and I have finally decided to jump into a project we’ve wanted to do for as long as any of us can remember: producing and filming a feature-length film.

While everything is still in an early phase, we are about to start principal photography in about a week, so I’ll keep this page updated as best I can!

Write What You Know

After a marathon, caffeine-and-tobacco-fueled writing session yesterday, I finally finished what I am now considering the final draft of The Days Never Know. Down the road, there may be a few changes necessary, but for all intents and purposes, I am considering it finished. Once I was done, and after finally eating, I began thinking about just how much the story grew and changed in only six months, so I went back to the old drafts to see those changes first-hand.

Those early drafts were exceptionally long-winded, and had far too many characters. So one of the first changes I made was dropping nearly every character, and starting from scratch. I either combined multiple aspects of characters into one, or just removed them altogether. As I began working on a new draft back in November, I noticed a major shift in the overall mood of the story. The earlier drafts were more about the events these characters shared, but this new version was focused more on the aftermath; on how each were was affected by this one event.

However, another important aspect of the story began taking shape as well. I had unintentionally started basing these characters, not on other people as before, but aspects of myself; the certain flaws and defects that I see. That’s not say each character is a thinly-veiled version of me, but that I infused one defining characteristic of myself into each character. As soon as I realized I was doing this, I had to stop and ask myself if this was the way to go; doing so could easily result in cut-and-paste characters that lack any kind of depth or personality. However, I decided to let this new development ride for the time being; I could change it in later drafts if need be.

“Just shut up and write”

This is just as much a message to me as it is to other writers out there. I spend a lot of time reading over comments, blog entries, and just about anything else on the subject or writing that I come across online. I’ve been noticing something lately that’s bothered me a bit, and this somewhat relates to my last entry: “I want to write X, but how do I do it?”

This is a seemingly innocent question, and, really, asking the question isn’t what bothers me. What bothers me is that people tend to get so caught up on the idea of “how” they’re supposed to write, that they completely ignore what should be obvious from the start: if you want to write this story of yours, then write it!

“But I’m not very good!” So? Do you think any writer was blasted from the womb with the ability to write a Pulitzer-worthy work? There are very few prodigies in the world, regardless of the field. Your first piece of work isn’t going to be good. And let me save you the anticipation and say that your second won’t be either. As Hemingway said, “The first draft of everything is shit.” Get out of your head and just write the damn thing.

“But I don’t know how to properly [insert verb]!” This is one of the biggest offenders I see, especially when it comes to screenwriting. Some newcomer who really wants to write the next great American film stops himself from doing so because he’s so caught up on ensuring every little formatting detail is absolutely correct that he gets about two pages in before calling it quits. Stop it. You’ll have plenty of time to edit it later.

“But I don’t have the time.” Yes you do. Even if you only write a page a day, there is always time. This is more an excuse writers tell themselves when they feel guilty for not having done any work that day, but I see it with newcomers as well. You don’t need to — and shouldn’t — quit your job to dedicate your time on writing. There’s always time to write.

I cannot stress just how thankful I am that I didn’t have internet access when I first started writing. I was good enough at convincing myself I sucked, that coming across such varied (and often contradictory) advice on the subject would have done me in. What’s difficult, though, is that even after all these years, I still struggle with these thoughts. I have told myself all three of those phrases above so many times I’ve lost count.

But if I’ve only learned one thing over the past decade, it’s that the experience I gain from just ignoring all of those thoughts and actually writing is unbelievably valuable. It’s important to remember just to shut up, sit down, and write. You can spend all your time wondering how things turn out when you eventually write that next great piece of fiction, or you could just write it and find out sooner than later.

People, me included, need to stop worrying about such details so early on in the development stage, because while they may be important down the line, the most important thing to do at this moment is actually write it. Until that happens, nothing else matters.

There is a method behind the madness

Every writer has their own process for taking their idea and putting it on paper, and you will often come across some writers who are damned determined to tell you that their process, and theirs alone, is the correct process.

First, there is no such thing as one correct writing process, no matter the medium. I often view the varied ways a writer prepares their project in the same way athletes psych themselves up prior to a game, each with their own, sometimes strange, “good luck” rituals.

The truth is, the only correct writing process is the one that works best for the individual. In the end, no one will care how you got the words down; a studio isn’t going to drop an option because the writer failed to follow a specific outlining process. Any time you come across a writer who insists that “such-and-such” is the correct way to plan and outline a script, you can be sure it’s because that process works best for them, but that doesn’t mean it will work best for you.

So, I thought I would take a bit of time to explain my own writing process, as I have been asked a few times recently what that exactly entails. While this applies mostly to screenwriting, I have followed something very similar when I was working on my novel, so some of the ideas can be crossed over.

Fade to Black

Coming in at 121 pages, the first draft of Backstop is finished. I feel both highly relieved, and incredibly strained, because now the real fun begins: attacking that draft with the Red Pen of Death™ (as my old English Lit professor called it). As it stands, Backstop is in definite need of that merciless editing, but I can say I’m glad to have gotten this far so quickly. Still haven’t beaten my old record, though — a decade ago, I wrote my second feature in six days.

Anyway, there’s much more to write on the subject, but my brain feels like mush, and I’ve got to spruce this draft up as much as possible before sending it off to an interested party (more to come on that later).

ScriptFrenzy 2012

After weeks of initial development, I began working on the first draft of Backstop to coincide with this year’s ScriptFrenzy competition, run by the awesome folks over at The Office of Letters and Light. For those who have never heard of ScriptFrenzy, it is an annual contest that invites writers everywhere to attempt to write a 100-page document (screenplay, graphic novel, play, etc.) during the thirty days of April. It’s a great way to motivate writers to finally get around to working on that one project that has seemingly eluded them for some time.

As of yesterday (April 21), I passed the 100 page mark for Backstop, finishing nine days shy of the thirty day time limit. While I’m glad to have gotten so far, so quickly, my work is far from finished. Backstop, itself, is still just a mess of written scenes and dialog that somewhat resembles a screenplay, and still about thirty pages shy of reaching a logical conclusion that I can consider the ending.

After the first draft is completed is where the real — and often painful — work begins: editing and revising. As I said above, my first drafts are almost always, and without question, a mess of inconsistent characters, gaping plot holes, and characters that serve no other purpose than to move the plot along. Despite these issues, I’m not actually bothered by their precesne. My first drafts are always rushed, done more to get the building blocks of the story and characters onto paper; it’s only the later drafts that I’ll come back to mold each aspect into something I can be proud to put my name on.

So, while the more taxing aspect of the writing process is coming to an end, another part is about to begin that involves me re-reading the entire first draft, wondering why I should even bother, and then re-reminding myself for the millionth time that the level of brilliance I am expecting of myself just does not happen in draft one.

Here come the fun times!

“I’ll create a GUI interface using Visual Basic…”

While I’m waiting to hear back from some readers about their thoughts on The Days Never Know, I’ve decided to hop right in to my next project.

No title, as of yet, but it’s one of those ideas that has been on my mind for quite a while; I’ve been wanting to write a realistic technological thriller for quite some time. After seeing so many god-awful clips from CSI and other media on the subject (Hackers, The Net, and who can forget Swordfish), I felt the time had come to write a film that deals with the world of cyber-crime. It won’t be a “explain it to me like I’m five” film on the subject, but it also won’t be confusing as hell to those who don’t know the subject…all while being not only interesting, but hopefully thrilling.

Basically, I want to do what Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, and Walter F. Parkes did with Sneakers twenty years ago (yikes, that was twenty years ago), but have it take place in a more…realistic world. I love that movie, and I know they worked hard on keeping it grounded in reality (technologically speaking), but it’s a little too lighthearted; I always wanted to see that same group of characters in a different setting.

So a few weeks ago, I began working on a very, very rough outline. It’s still in the outline stage, but I powered up Final Draft and decided to write out the first few pages just to see how it would play out. Here’s a sneak peak:

NOTE: This scene below is completely gone from the current draft. What I wrote below was just a rough idea of a scene I had in my head.

For the time being, this is probably all I’ll be doing in Final Draft. I’ve still got a lot of the plot to flesh out, but I wanted to throw this out just to see how it felt.

And as for The Days Never Know, several of the reviews I have received so far have been better than I hoped for. These two, in particular, made my day when I read them:

That, right there, is why I’ve always wanted to make movies!

Oh, and I can’t forget to thank Ashley Mimnaugh, Chelsy Ellsworth, and Kirby Ritter for taking the time to read The Days Never Know for me. You guys rock!

“Can’t I just get someone else to toot my own horn?”

Thanks to the advice and guidance of a few writer friends of mine, I have decided to come back to the blog and start the whole self-promotion engine once more. God, I do suck at this! I’ve always been awful at talking myself up, but I suppose if I want this to actually work out, I’m gonna have to bite the bullet and dive in.

Since completing the first (readable) draft of The Days Never Know back in December, I began to realize just how much I missed this process of creation. That is one of the most amazing aspects of writing any type of fiction: it’s pure creation.  One thing I am always amazed at is how the story and characters can evolve as the process moves on; a character you loved may turn out to be a character you hate; that “obviously logical conclusion” you were so sure of at the beginning is now looking like the worst idea you could possibly try. These aren’t bad realizations, mind you; it’s what (I believe) should happen in the process of creating a story.

When the latest draft of The Days Never Know was in the can, so to speak, I found myself itching to keep going, so I moved on to two other projects that have been rattling around in my mind these past few years. While they’re nowhere near in condition to be read by anyone yet, I am excited that this is even happening again. It has been almost a decade since I have had the energy and determination to tackle so many projects at once; that last experience was amazing, so I’m hoping for something similar.

The Days Never Know (the current draft) is in three screenwriting competitions as I write this, and while I’m not expecting anything grandiose to happen, I am absolutely thrilled by this experience alone. I’ve missed these days.

But I’m going to have to learn how to promote myself. Hell, only a handful of my friends even know that I’ve finished The Days Never Know; if I can’t even talk myself up to my friends, I’m going to be in trouble.