Make Sure Your Characters have Flaws

I just read the start of a script. It had promise — lots of cool scenes, great writing, fast action — but it was missing one critical thing. The main character was perfect. He was bullet proof. I call it the "I'm cool and chicks dig me" syndrome.

James Bond could get away with it in the 1960 and 70s.  The women practically jumped into Sean Connery's lap. The gad guys were caught with ease. And I don't even think he got some of his suits dirty dirty a fight.

Even Super Heros has Flaws
But you can't get away with that if you want to sell your spec script. Your characters need to have dimension and that means they have to have flaws. Even Indiana Jones, who was practically a super hero without the powers, had has flaws. He couldn't stop following his artifacts, even at the cost of life and limb. He had to learn that maybe some people (namely Marion) were more important artifacts.

So while you're creating your characters, don't forget the main ingredient — flaws. They need them.

Screenwriting at the University of Washingotn

Hi,

Finally getting back to the blog. Sorry for the long delay, but among other things, I had eye surgery that got me off course, but now I'm happy to be back and writing (and teaching) like crazy.

Have some exciting news. I'm going to be one of the two individuals teaching the University of Washington certification course on screenwriting.  The first teacher will cover story and help you develop a treatment, and then I teach the 17-week course on screenwriting, where we will cover writing, rewriting and polishing your script.

In the 17 weeks with me you will write a full script (12 pages a day), and that will give us time to do a full rewrite and polish, and also allow some time for developing a marketing plan for after the course is finished.

The first class starts in October. So if you're interested in an intensive 8-month program, sign up now.  Or, if you're just interested in taking my course, you can do that too.

If you have any questions about the class, you can email me at diane@spilledinkmarketing.com.

Have fun writing!!

Three Reasons We Stall Out on Our Stories

I just read an article by writer and creativity coach Eric Maisel. In the article he says there are three ways we stall out on our stories.

1. We don't show up.
2. The story isn't there — you don't know what comes next.
3. The story doesn't work — the story is going nowhere.

I'm whole heartedly agree with him.  These are three biggies.

Sitting Down
The first just takes some discipline. Sit down, pick up your pen or turn on your computer and write.  It doesn't have to be great, but you don't get anywhere if you don't show up.

It helps it you make the experience something you look forward to. Maybe writing a coffee shop, in the park or out on your deck. I love writing my first drafts in a bathtub.

What Comes Next
This one is harder. You show up, pen in hand and try to write, but get stuck. What comes next? Stephen King once said that writer's block is  . . . not knowing your main character well enough.  (I'm paraphrasing by the way.)  If you know your main character, he says, you'll know what he'll do next.

So, if you're stuck, you might try some writing exercising that help you uncover more about your main character.  I.e. Put him or her in scenes that are unrelated to the story, or write about happened earlier in their life. Write a scene about the scariest moment in their life, or funniest, or most embarrassing. Or, you could just do an interview. Pretend you are in a room with them and start asking them questions.

At the very least, these exercises (for me anyway) get me thinking about new scenes and how to come at the story differently.

Story Doesn't Work
If you're story's not working it's hard to tell sometimes whether (a) there really isn't enough meat there for a story or (b) you need to dig in there and uncover more of the story.

I've had stories that fizzled after 30 pages. I had a great opening and first act, but that's all there was. There are a number of reasons, but usually (for me anyway) it's because the main character's goal wasn't enough to sustain an entire story.

For example, my character might need that PERFECT hair cut. They run into all kinds of obstacles in getting the hair cut, but there isn't meat there for  a full length novel or script. It's a better short story.

Or sometimes, 30 pages in, I discover, is really about someone else. It was never about the person getting their hair cut, but about the world behind the beauty parlor.

Eric's ideas
I could go on and on about the stalling stalling story, and finding ways to restart it. In short, you need to objectively look at your stories to find the issues. And if that doesn't work you can hit up your writer friends to help you noodle your way though.

Or, you can read Eric's newsletters coming up that will be addressing issues 2 and 3.  I know I'm going to be reading them to see if they help shed new light!

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

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

Writer vs. Sentence Maker

Just finished teaching a writing class. The students were fabulous and I'm happy to report none of them were savants.

The Dreaded SWS

I dread the Savant Writing Student (SWS). They are usually very nice, but overly optimistic and believe the first thing they write will be picked up by a publisher or producer and consequently make them millions. For the SWS, it's just a matter of getting their manuscript into the right hands.

I know the SWS well — I used to be one. It took me three or four scripts, and piles of rejections, before I realized how little I knew about my craft and that I would spend years (actually a lifetime) developing as a writer.

On the bright side, after three or four scripts, I had inadvertently learned a bit about writing and was several steps closer to being produced.

It Takes Time

I'm not saying you shouldn't try to sell your early manuscripts, but be prepared that learning how to write is like learning anything else. And it takes time and dedication.

In short, just because a person can put a sentence together doesn't make them a "writer". It just makes them a "sentence maker".

I think Turgenev put it best:

"It is a strange thing. A composer studies harmony and theory of musical forms; a painter doesn't paint a picture without knowing something about colors and design; architecture requires basic schooling. Only when somebody makes a decision to start writing, he believes that he doesn't need to learn anything and that anybody who has learned to put words on paper can be a writer."

Learn, learn, learn

If you've just started your journey as a writer, don't beat yourself up because that first story didn't sell . . . or the second, or the third.

Chances are you're not a savant — just like the rest of us. You're in the process of developing your skills like every other professional, from pianist to doctor.

And as a reformed SWS, I'd much rather be putting my hours in writing stories than going to med school.

Are We Shooting Yet?

I'm getting nervous. The movie I wrote the script for was supposed to start shooting in late August. Well, it's about as late into August as you can get and I haven't heard a word.

"Don't they keep the writer informed?" you might ask. No. It doesn't really work that way.

A Screenwriter is Like an Architect

Being a screenwriter I've found is much like being an architect. Your job is to design a story in the form a screenplay that an actor, director, producer, etc. can work from. You're just like an architect who designs plans for a house that a builder, plumber and electrician can all work from.

Once you buy the house plan, you don't want the architect around anymore — especially if every time you want to add a window or take out a door the architect stands there screaming, "You ruined my vision!"

It's the same with screenwriting.

You Will Lose Control

Screenwriting is commercial work. You're an architect of stories. What they do with your scripts is ultimately out of your control -- unless you never sell them. There it is. (But it beats working at WalMart!!)

But back to my original point -- they haven't told me when it's shooting. I'm nervous. I better call someone, because no one is going to call me.