A request for MR Roderick Usher

[Vodstok]

I, as many can attest to, am an aspiring screenwriter. i enjoy writing in general, and love making short stories, not to mention writing articles. I run Scared Yet .Net, and write for Planet Half-Life , but ultimately i would like to write movies.

I suppose i could PM this to you, but i figured it could benefit others as well . Plus i love abusing the fact that i have been here forever and get away with shit that would get others slapped around :D

My wife struck a deal with me recently. Basically, she would excuse me for 30 minutes daily, no matter what kind of stuff needs to be done around the house, to work on a screenplay, suggesting that if i was consistent, eventually i would finish something that i could sell.

On top of that, you commented in my story The Safe that you thought this was something i should consider (writing movies), so i figured i would pick you brain for any advice you might have for someone who wants to eventually quit "real work" for a career in screenwriting.

I have 2 plotlines i am going ot be workingon, one is a serious horror with a decent amount of action. the other is very non-serious action horror. thinkSnakes on a plane (which i havent seen, just the concept) with a healthy dose of critters, arachnaphobia, and maybe some gremlins in the mix.

Pretty please?

[Vodstok]

Ahem.:D

[Roderick Usher]

all right, Vod here goes.

You obviously have a solid grasp of literature, film etc and the desire to write, so I'll just get to the nuts and bolts of it.

Have you read any screenwriting books? Most of them are worthless, but you need to grab The Screenwriter's Bible by Dave Trottier. It is the most comprehensive guide to all the technical crap that makes a screenplay work. But don't take anyone's word as absolute Gospel, you'll find what works for you.

You should be accutely aware of a three-act structure to your story-telling. It is the language of film. I know it sounds formulaic, but it is actually quite liberating once you get it down.

You must be precise and simple in your action lines/charater descriptions. Break up big blocks of action into individual beats -- this keeps the reader's eye moving down the page at a rapid rate and gives the impression of "speed" - readers love a fast script.

I've come up with my own "rules" that I use to keep my writing on track.

they are:

1. Every scene must drive the story forward

2. Every scene must reveal or reinforce character

3. Mood and tone should be established early and reinforced often

4. Exposition should be handled through or during action

5. Drafts should work their way up the body:
- First draft from the gut (or lower)
- Second draft from the heart
- Subsequent drafts are headwork


Making Characters POP

The key to making a character leap off the page is to know him/her as a real person before you type FADE IN:

A handy tool to get to know your characters is to answer the following 10 questions in as much detail as possible:

1. What is the one thing your character loves most in this world? Why?
2. Where is he/she from? Is the character proud of it? Ashamed?
3. Was childhood happy? Boring? Traumatic?
4. When (if ever) was virginity lost – and in what way?
5. Was he/she raised with religion? Is it still a part of their life? How does religion affect his/her decisions?
6. What’s the character’s favorite food? Color? Movie? Book? Magazine? Sports team?
7. Under what circumstances would your character lie? Why?
8. How does he/she typically react to setbacks?
9. What is his/her greatest fear? Why? How does he/she react when frightened?
10. What is his/her deepest secret shame? (we all have one)

Even if we never use this information in the script, the connection you will form with the character will be dramatically enhanced by the process.

hope this helps!
:D

[Roderick Usher]

and you are going to need the proper software. Final Draft is the industry standard, but MovieMagic is good too.

It's a touch pricey, but if your work isn't formatted properly, no one will read it - harsh, but very true.

write every day - a half hour is pretty short, but we all deal with time constraints.

My partner and I put in 2-3 hours a day mon-fri and a little more when we're banging out rewrites (like we're doing right now - ugh.)

Kick ass
a writer writes

[Vodstok]

I would say you have no idea how much this helps, but I think you do :)

Thanks, I REALLY appreciate it.

[bwind22]

So Roderick is a writer too?

Nice pointers Rod. I've read 'Screenwriting for Dummies' and that's it so maybe I'll check out the book you mentioned as well. I'm basically about a step behind Vod in that screenwriting is something I would like to do eventually, but right now it's more in it's hobby phase. (I have yet to alot X amount of time per day for working on scripts. Although, I do have a few I'm working on, I just write on them when I feel the urge.)

[Vodstok]

Rod actually does it for a living, which is why i bugged him.

I knew it was a good idea :)

[bwind22]

Oh really..... Anything we might have seen Rod?


*Runs off to check imdb for roderick usher....*

[bwind22]

Well.... Frederick Usher was in Mystery Men.... *shrug*

Maybe that's his stage name.


;)



So, what type of writing do you do mainly, Rod?


Hey Vod... I seem to be in the dark here. If there's already a thread about all this, a kindly link in the right direction would be obliged. Thanks.

[newb]

Roderick Usher was a character in Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher".