GITS is Awesome!!!

Again, it's been quite awhile since I've offered a new post. I'm sure it's not relevant to anyone other than myself or family.But I'm still here writing and learning and living. Recently I was inclined to write a guest article or review of "The Getaway" for Scott Myers' site Go Into The Story: without a doubt the best source for all things "writing" be it screenplays, novels, whatever. The answer is still Just Write It!!! I know, it is difficult. But if this is what you choose, than just do it!!
I recently purchased "Ernest Hemingway on Writing" by Larry W. Phillips. Very good read. The real dope from someone with "modest success". Whether you like him or not, he was influential to the idea of the novel. He pretty much hated movies. Fitzgerald, Hammett, and Faulkner all got suckered into writing for the movies with varied results. Not him. But I did learn some things from him in the book. I read almost the whole thing in a morning over coffee! The entries are mainly from letters to people but some were from his days as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. Here's a few to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

"I am trying to make, before I get through, a picture of the whole world---or as much of it as I have seen. Boiling it down always, rather than spreading it out thin ."

" In truly good writing no matter how many times you read it you do not know how it is done. That is because there is a mystery in all great writing and that mystery does not dis-sect out. It continues and it is always valid. Each time you re-read you see or learn something new."

"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it."

This is the kind of stuff you get in Scott Myers' site, only filled with dozens of other insights, articles, facts, and current events. I do not know how the man finds time to DO all this and still write, but I know he does. It's like hanging out with other writers with out the bull shit. Anyway check it out!

Changing the View of the Gods

I was bored with the Olympics and chose two movies to watch this weekend. The first was Casino Royale which was the initial reboot of the Bond series with Daniel Craig, who is a force of an actor. The second was Star Trek, the reboot of that franchise. Both I thought had similarities and differences but it got me thinking of the studio tactic which is the franchise, and so often now, the reboot. Why do it?
Ian Fleming's character James Bond was always a man with chinks in his armor: that's what made him so accessible to everyone. It's always the weaknesses which allow even the young audience, which Fleming had from the outset,to identify with Bond.
It's not just that he was suave and had money which he always KNEW meant nothing if he was dead after an assignment for the Queen's Secret Service, so he used it on Aston-Martins or fine liquors or even fast WOMEN. Ah, the stuff of our youth. But after watching the reboot of Casino Royale I've noticed how even MORE accessible Bond has become.
Which brings me to an even more popular reboot: Star Trek.
Star Trek allowed the viewer to become young again. I truly believe that seeing young Kirk and Young Spock had a very real impact on older Male audiences. Without claiming energy in this flock, I do admit to being a member of it and this demographic kicked it over the top.
Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis wrote the Bond reboot.
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote the Star Trek reboot and had J.J. Abrams at the helm.
These writers took on the task of "changing the view of the gods" in that both scripts are from iconic sources deep,deep,deeply embedded in popular culture.Why would they do that? Obviously for the money but there must be other reasons. Whatever the reasons both films were very successful and will surely continue to be successful in future episodes. I guess what I'm trying to say is why does rebooting a successful franchise work? What is it about the stories that draws us into that world? I know it doesn't ALWAYS work, but in these two cases it did.
All of the writers mentioned above represent the new generation of screenwriters with the artistic clout and the guts to tackle such projects but they have several other resources. Most if not all were born when these franchises were in their infancy and because of this all bring a fresh perspective to the characters we know and have embedded in our collective psyche. But with this comes an opportunity to infuse a NEW perspective on the characters and at the same time, flesh them out more so we understand and connect with them even more than we believed.
I'm going to see Time To Kill this week. I've got a feeling Kevin is setting up for a franchise. He's been soooo out of the picture lately I think he used his head and found a great script and will run with it like Liam Neeson did with Taken. I'm anxious to see how this works out at the box office and for the audience.

Talk to you Later

Is it too Late?

     It's been almost 4 years since I last posted an entry. Why so long? It would be a waste of time to go over all the trials and tribulations I've been through during that time but just leave it at Life: that's all it is. Despite that, I've still been writing. With the coming of the New Year, I set specific goals: 10 short stories and 2 screenplays. Sounds easy enough but we'll see.

Getting Back in the Game

Since it's been almost six months since my last post I think it's time to either get back in the game or fold: I choose to get back in the game!!
It's not like I haven't been writing, but I haven't been FOCUSING on my writing. Distinction? Hmmm... difficult to say. Perhaps it's because my eighteen months of unemployment has made me a little...UNSTABLE? Nawwww, that can't be it.

Actually I've done more creative thinking just trying to earn little bits of money here and there to somehow make my rent payments, pay my car and insurance bills as well as the utilities. But there still lingers in me the desire to pursue this crazy craft and complete the specs I've got in my head! And with this desire I've continued, as I always have, to keep reading and researching a very wide variety of subjects. I also RELIGIOUSLY follow other blogs on the craft. ScriptShadow, Go Into The Story, and Just Effing Entertain Me, are my daily staples.

What do I get from them? Why do I take my coffee first thing and sit and anticipate and read what these people have to say?
I guess it's a feeling of involvement because these three writers all share an exorbitant amount of passion for what I and WE all do: write. Beyond that, they have all created a very eclectic group of followers which somehow grounds me back into the craft, no matter how depressed or worried I am about the daily dilemmas I have to endure, I know I can get back into "the vortex". That's a word from this New Age "thinker" my wife is getting into. I hate the method they use to make the idea of "thinking" your way into riches or prestige or what ever you want. Plus they charge a hefty fee for this "knowledge". But I guess just to placate my wife I've been using the phrase when something or someone isn't doing what is expected.Also I'm being sarcastic in a secretive way.I know, I'm an ass, but damn, I can't help it!!

So to continue, when things aren't going my way, getting involved in the discussions on these writing sites is therapeutic.It grounds me back into writing and THINKING in terms of writing screenplays.I learn from my peers.I get ideas and I get motivated. Which is what I'm attempting to do with this post: get back in the game.

If I publish a post tomorrow, I've succeeded.
Stay tuned and find out.

Components of Writing-Finding Voice

Many years ago I lived in a town, a small city actually, where there was a vibrant and healthy music scene. There were bars where Friday and Saturday nights you could find almost any kind of band you wanted to hear.I knew some members of one of them and as it wasn't a big city, I often found we knew the same people. Now I had been playing guitar at that time for about 15 years and although I wasn't overly confident in my abilities, I knew I loved the instrument and was willing to learn what I could and still could just play for hours for myself alone.One day the lead singer of this particular band was at a mutual friends house and I was playing. I never sing because I don't feel inclined and never thought my voice was remotely what someone would want to hear.Also it takes all the left-side of my brain to just concentrate on PLAYING. The lead singer came over out of the blue, looked at me and said, "You know what your problem is? Your guitar has no voice". I'm not a violent person and I didn't even hit the guy, but those words still sting me to this day and at the time I was devastated because I knew he was right.
He was also an arrogant asshole, but I knew he was right and that's a whole other story. So what I did was I practiced even more. I took classical guitar lessons in college after that which opened up a whole other world of scales, compositions, and harmonics.But I kept playing and I got better. I played slide guitar with open tunings and that expanded the scope of 8 bar blues. I don't play much anymore. Just when I FEEL like it and also it helps if I get stuck on a developing idea. I usually can use a song to get me in the time or place I need to be to get out of the hole. But this idea of my playing having no voice made me think about a screenplay I read this week. Well really I've read two so far this week, but it was William Monahan's "Edge of Darkness" which made me think about voice. Mostly because his voice is so unique on the page even when there is tons of tension and action involved!
But I still am wondering what is voice in a screenplay? I know it's what makes us unique as writers the way we create our characters, what they have done, are doing in the plot, and what they say and how they say it. It's also how we present our action lines and descriptions, the words we use and the ideas we inject into the theme-line. I also know it's what readers look to be unique and compelling to the point they want to HEAR what we have to say because they connect and like our voice. If this all still seems so formless and abstract an answer, I know and I think it is almost an intangible entity, yet when it's not there, it's blaring, which for me makes it fascinating.
Now where to go with this. Can I tell you HOW to find your voice? No. It's already there, and each of us must find it on there own. Also it's something which grows with experience. It's also NOT something you can imitate convincingly. I have no desire to SOUND like Monahan, Black, Bolt(well maybe) or anybody else. Why? Because I'm NOT any of those guys. I'm me an you are you and your voice in your writing is the sum total of all the knowledge you have accumulated in your life at this time, with more coming later.
A part of voice growing with experience into the one which is uniquely yours, is learning the craft and all it's tools. All the things we learn from Julie Gray, Scott Meyers, Carson Reeves, John August, or Jeff Kitchen, are like me learning classical guitar or 8 bar blues. They help us to develop and grow. And with that growth we find our voice.

Sorry it's taken so long to post here and I promise I'm going to keep on a more scheduled track because it's good for me and I hope it will be good for you. I read a lot of different blogs everyday and if you don't I'll try and steer you in the right direction.

Breaking the Ice and Other Random Thoughts

This is the first post of a would-be screenwriter, like most of you, I would guess, if you've found this site. I'm not an expert by any means but I've been writing for more years than I care to discuss. It's a compulsion, which is a good thing in this case because the more you write the better you should get at understanding the craft.

I hope to share thoughts on things going on in the business of filmmaking and screenwriting because I spend so much time searching for information about writing and film I think I can help you with what I find, and myself by writing about it. Two birds, as it were. One thing I've noticed over the last several months is the quality of many of the blogs and sites relating to film online now. I'll post a list with links of what I think are some of the best, but for now I just wanted to mention it.

When I was in film school there was no internet as we know it. Hollywood was really a closed system and trying to glean information about the film business outside of trade papers or unless you knew someone actually working in the business was costly and difficult. I went to Sherwood Oaks Experimental College, which is still a very good resource, but at the time it was too expensive for me to take classes all the time.

Jump cut to the '90s and everything really changed with technology. I was and still am working in IT and I used it as time went on to get more and more information about film. Now I have about 75 scripts on a flash drive and I can read them practically anywhere. So many barriers are gone except the blank page, which is probably the biggest for some writers. It really is a great time to be a writer.

Well back to work for now. Get back to you later...