Write Something REALLY Cool

"What should we be writing about?"

Writers inevitably asked this of agents, publishers, producers, managers, etc. We don't want to waste our time. We want to be writing stories that will sell and audiences will flock to.

What floors me is that most agents, publishers, producers, managers, etc. have an answer.

At a recent NWSG meeting, a producer said about scripts, "Just look at what's selling. That should give you an idea of what we're looking for." (And we were to gather, that was what we should be writing about.)

I disagree!

The producer's answer has been bugging me ever since I heard it. Those words are of no help — especially for a writer who is setting out to write a story.

Say it takes a year for you to write your story. If you're lucky and someone likes it, it could take another year to sell it. Then you've got to produce and/or publish the story.

More helpful, would have been the advice from an agent at this year Pacific NW Writer's Conference, "I'm looking for wonderful character-driven stories with a high concept plot." This may sound vague, but it's great, honest advice.

Taking a project from concept to product can take literally years, and there is NO way to know what is going to be in vogue then. The only thing you can probably bank on is that whatever is popular today will probably be old hat by then. People constantly want something different.

Keeping Tabs on the Market

You should definitely keep track of what's being purchased. It can save you some wasted time.

I was about three-quarters of the way through a spec script on a giant elf when I checked the trades and saw ELF with Will Ferrell had just gone into production. I moved on to another project, but gave myself points for at least coming up with a marketable idea.

You Decide

So what should writers write about? Whatever we decide to write about! We're the storytellers.

I truly believe that producers, agents, publishers, and mangers, just want to be blown out of the water.

You've heard agents say, "When I read it, I knew I had a winner." In other words, I never would have conceived of the story, but now that I've read it, I want to market it.

Blowing Them Away

What blows industry folks out of the water? Your imagination, creativity and talent!

Like us, and every other reader and movie goer, the industry wants to experience something original, fresh, compelling, moving . . . you fill in the adjective.

That doesn't mean recreating the wheel. Heck, I would have thought after Anne Rice, vampires had pretty much been done to to death . . . then comes Twilight and True Blood and we're off to the races again.

Choose Wisely

Pick the story that you are passionate about. One that keeps you up at night. Whose characters that speak to you and are more real than your Aunt Marie. If we tell the stories that resonate with us, they are likely to resonate with others.

It's hard enough to write a novel or script or nonfiction book. You don't want to get to the end of the project and if (god forbid) it didn't sell, say, "Man, I wasted a whole year on this!?"

We are the storytellers. We don't need to ask what to write, we need to write what needs to be told — and tell our stories like no one else has told them before.

Despite what they say, the industry will know a great story when it sees it.