Legally Blonde from film to stage

Saw Legally Blonde last night at the 5th Avenue Theater ins Seattle. I enjoyed it, although I was little distracted as I watched humorous scenes from the movie turned into big, flashy show tunes. It was a little like watching a movie made from one of your favorite books. You're extremely conscious of the adaptation.

But it was fun and I'd recommend it — especially if you're a fan of musicals and Legally Blonde.

This is the second time this season that a musical was adapted from a movie — the other being Catch Me if You Can. Not one I would have ever even thought to adapt into a musical, but it worked.

Be a Little Creative

As much as I liked both of those movies and musicals, I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed by the lack of creativity out there. It's bad enough to watch all the sequels at the movie theater. But now we get to watch remakes at the theater?

As writers we need to show them how it's done. Grab your pen, pencil or keyboard and knock out those novels, musicals and scripts. Lets show them how to be creative.

I definitely don't want to see Avatar the Musical.

How to Get Inexpensive and Professional Feedback on your Script

Hi,

Went to hear Tom Malloy speak last night. Wow! The guy is seriously high energy. I'm ready to write 1, 2, maybe 3 scripts . . . this morning.

I know he doesn't look high energy here in this photo, but that's because he was jumping around so much, this is the only picture that is relatively in focus.

Feedback On Your Script

Tom had some great advice for writers, but the piece I'm going to put to good use right away is how to get inexpensive and great feedback from professional readers on your script -- before you send it out there.

He said to go to Craiglist in LA and say you're looking for a reader to give you feedback on your script. You'll find plenty of folks who have read for studios and they will give you coverage inexpensively — like from $50 to $250.

Next, you send your script off to three different readers and see what you get back. The idea is to look for "trends". If they all tell you that your script needs stronger characters — your script needs stronger characters.

Reader Different From Writer

He has had great results with this process and it's helped him really hone his scripts. He's got the stats to prove it — he's sold or produced 5 of his last 9 scripts. (I think that's the stat, I don't have my notes in front of me right now. But it's something completely insane like that.)

He believes you should get feedback from readers versus writers. Readers know what studios are looking for. Plus, if the writer is your friend, you might be getting biased feedback.

I don't know if I'm explaining this well. But in short, if you find 3 readers at $50 a piece — for $150 you could get quality studio coverage and feedback to help you rewrite your script before sending out there for the world to read.

Sounds like a deal to me. :-) Can hardly wait to give it a try.

di

Plumbers are Keeping Me from Writing

We're are finishing up a new house and the last piece is the plumbing. Most of the sinks have been installed, toilets, and even the dishwasher. But what hasn't been installed is my BATHTUB!

I do most of my creative writing (well, the first draft) in the bathtub. For three weeks I've been walking past the beautiful bathtub, still wrapped in plastic, cursing the plumbers — who by the way are now missing in action.

Hijacking a Bathtub

Without access to my tub and Mr. Bubble, I'm going through a type of withdrawal. Last week I put together an emergency writing bag — towel, soap, bubble bath, pen and paper — and headed off to my mom and dad's. As soon as I hit the soapy water, I was writing like crazy, trying to catch up.

I'm sure our plumbers have no idea they are standing in the way of some great fiction. Maybe if I called and said, "Get over here! It's bad enough our washer machine and sinks aren't installed yet, but the bathtub is high priority. I've got script I want to get a producer."

At the very least, I might get their attention.

di

Tom Malloy speaks in Seattle February 19

If you're a screenwriter and looking for new ways to get your script(s) into the hands of the right people, you may want to come hear Tom Malloy speak this Friday.

Or if you've always wanted to produce your movie, but wondering how you go about finding the dollars, you'll also want to hear Tom speak.

The NWSG is hosting Mr. Malloy this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Clear Channel Building in Seattle. Doors open at 6:45.

Tom recently published a book entitled Bankroll: A New Approach to Financing Feature Films. He's raised over $15 million in four years to finance his films and his book covers how he did it — and how you can too. So you can expect he'll be talking about that on Friday.

Personally, I'm headed to hear him talk because if he has insight into any new avenue for getting your script produced, I'd love to hear it. It only takes one person to say "yes"!

Also, there's going to be some Q&A time with Tom and I'm putting together my list of questions. If you have some you want to ask while I'm there, just let me know.

Back to the keyboard

OK, it's back to the keyboard. I'm in the middle of a rewrite and found out I need to know a lot more about the prohibition era. THANK GOD for the internet. Or maybe not. I just typed "Prohibition" into Google and it came back with 22 million pages.

Have a GREAT day!

di

The Glamorous Life of Writing

When I was younger, I had this image of writers. It was a glamorous life. They wrote amazing things when they were inspired, made loads of dough and hung out with cool people.

Well, I do hang with cool people, but at the moment that's the only thing glamorous about my life.

The unglamorous side of writing

I'll give you the highlights of the week so far:

• Moved into my office before the plumber finished —NEVER do this. Now the plumber is missing in action and I'm running back and forth to my neighbors (luckily my parents) to use the restroom. I'm also planning terrible things to do to the plumber.

• Invested in barn boots. Since the move, I'm helping my folks with farm chores, which require early morning walks to the barn through a substantial amount of mud and cow pies. My plastic garden clogs weren't keeping out the muck, so I purchased knee-high barn boots.

After using them, they were filthy so I left them outside. Last night it rained and then froze, which I discovered when I tried to put them on.

• My latest assignment is a "manure" article. Yes, it's a theme this week. I'm writing not about what inspires me, but about manure safety equipment (very cool actually) that alerts professional manure pumpers when they are pumping out manure and the hydrogen sulphate levels get too high.

• Flooring is being put in and the dust is extreme. As I write, the dust is settling down on me and my computer, probably destroying my computer and making me look prematurely gray. Will have to schedule a shower with my next toilet run.

There you have it. A not-too-glamorous-writing-life. Even so, I'd still never give up the writing gig.

di

How a Rock can in Improve Your Writing

Now that I'm living next to my folks' farm, my new chores in the morning are to feed the cows hay, bottle feed a calf, and make sure a cow and her calf housed in a separate area are watered and fed.

While taking care of the cow and her calf, I got a glimpse of my dad's creativity. He doesn't have the chance to express his creativity in the obvious areas, like art or music, so it shows up in less obvious areas — like how he uses the enormous rocks on the property.

In this single cow pen, he'd used rocks to:

• shore up a shed as makeshift foundation

• as a fence

• as a water trough holder

• as stepping stones.

And if you looked across the field you'd see he'd also used them for pet tombstones, car blocks and, I think, art.

Thinking outside the box

I was impressed. He's like the MacGyver of rocks. You should see what the guy can do with barbed wire.

Seeing how my dad's mind works makes me realize that my characters don't necessarily see things the way I do. One character may see a rock and think it's a stone, another sees a tombstone, and another may see a piece of art.

Be MacGyver

My challenge, should you accept it, is to think of all uses for that ballpoint pen on your desk. Yes, be MacGyver. Go for it.

I'll get you started:

• a straw

• a weapon (dull knife)

• self-tattoo instrument

• . . .

Small Things Make for Big Stories

I was listening yesterday to an interview with Louis and Mary Leakey's granddaughter, Louise. She talked about how one goes about discovering fossils in Africa. It's pretty simple — you walk very slowly and look at the ground.

She also said that it's hard for those of us who look at computer screens to transition to fossil finding. In fact, it takes quite a while to learn how to look for little things in the dirt.

We used to have the skills when we were small. Little kids are fascinated with things in the dirt — partly because they are close to the ground and it's all right there. But we lose the fascination and the skills as we get older, taller, and purchase computers.

Don't miss the cool stuff

This got me to thinking. How many cool things am I missing as I walk past them? Probably quite a few. So, this February I'm going to try to get my "dirt looking" skills back. I'm going to notice things that are at my feet — kneeling down and checking the dirt out when I think of it and putting the iPhone away when I don't really need it.

Why? Because it's small details that make up great stories and there is a lot going on at foot level — flaking paint on a porch step, the crunch of the crushed rock under your feet, leaves decaying on a sidewalk and leaving a perfect imprint, or the rocks that work their way up to the surface on muddy days.

But besides adding more texture and color to my stories, I think noticing them will add more texture and color to my life.

Thank you Louise Leakey!

Writers Need Books

We're in the middle of finishing a new house and living under a nice roof, with an office, lots of boxes and a bed. We are quickly finishing floors, installing cabinets, hanging doors, painting, etc., etc., etc.

Dying for Basics

It's dusty and I'm dying to do a load of laundry. The washer and dryer are sitting in the middle of the laundry room waiting to wash clothes if only someone would come hook them up. But that comes after the counters on Friday.

I'm also dying to hang up my clothes, which are all in garbage bags sitting in my soon-to-be cool closet. I've found my sweaters, blouses, old coats and shoes. Have not found the bag with socks, underwear. (Foresee a trip to Fred Meyer in my future.)

Dying for Books

But you know what I'm really dying for — BOOKS!! The books I was reading when we packed were: Twitter for Dummies, the Donner Party expedition, and the Stephen King book, Under the Dome. Now I can't find them. My guess is they're with my underwear.

It's stressing me out. All the characters in the books are in limbo. The Donners are three-quarters of the way through their journey, stuck there until I can read more. The town folk in Stephen King's novel have just realized they are trapped and starting to panic. I need to rescue them!

Need to Read

I love reading and wish I liked to read more on a computer screen, but after working all day on one, my eyes are begging for a break. So, I prop my paper books up on my stair machine and peddle away as my characters struggle through their journeys. Right now though, I'm just peddling.

I had no idea how much I needed to read. I guess we writers like to surround ourselves in stories and words because that's a world we feel comfortable in. I'm off to Borders to buy some books.

di

Breaking Into Screenwriting — 8-week online course

I’ve talked about screenwriting in my blog, but I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that I’ve been teaching since 1997.

This quarter I thought I’d try teaching Breaking Into Screenwriting online. The first eight-week class will begin February 15.

What you’ll Get

This will be a hands-on course where writers will learn to weave a visual story and create tight plots and dynamic characters. You will learn not only the tools and skills necessary to write a script, but to market it as well.

Because there is no way to finish and rewrite a full-length script in 8 weeks, I have each student write a short script (15 to 30 pages) from concept through rewrite.

Online Structure
Here's a rough overview of how the class will be structured:

1. The course will be set up as a Yahoo Group, so students will have the benefit of reading other students questions and responses.

2. You will be given information on a topic each week (the virtual equivalent of a short lecture).

3. There will be weekly assignments: reading, watching movies and written tasks.

4. Students will be able to email me throughout the week, and I’ll be available to answer any questions and give feedback.

5. Each student will have a half hour telephone call each week (if they want to talk to me) about their progress.

Cost
Since this is first time I’ve taught this class on the web (and anticipating there may be a few bugs), the cost will be a VERY reasonable $75.

Credentials

If you’re wondering about my credentials, in addition to teaching for over 10 years, I’m a member of the Screenwriter's Guild (WGA), with a movie in post-production with Hallmark (due to air this fall) and have won or placed in numerous regional and national screenwriting contests.

If you're interested in taking the class, or have any questions about the class you can contact me directly at diane@spilledinkstudio.com.

Hope to hear from you!

di