Just back from the new Writer's Store location in Burbank. One can now buy brads in the Valley. Proof miracles happen!
Today's lament: Borographers. You know who you are. You take a perfectly good dead person and try to pull a Frankenstein, only you adore them so much you can't bear to flesh them out. So instead they stumble around half-fleshed, scare the villagers, and leave bits of foot and arm on the floor where they smack into things.
Real people were once real people. Science tells us this. Yes, it's hard to get a full arc going when the end result is obvious (like William Wallace *wasn't* going to open a can of Iron Bru on the English) but it's still important to take a swing at one.
This isn't The Simpsons. "It's just a bunch of stuff that happened" is not good enough, even if it's historically accurate.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Conflicting Emotions
The three most common ways to FUBAR conflict.
1. Conflict missing, presumed icky
Sure we identify with our characters. How else would we know what they're about to say? Maybe that means conflict makes you uncomfortable.
Tough. Strap on a helmet and get in there.
2. Under-conflicted
See season two Numb3rs. The conflict would involve one character making a guess about another then being proved wrong - all without that problematic 'confrontation' stuff. A potential disagreement would be hinted at and apologized for... all without the trouble of actually happening.
3. DID YOU JUST CALL ME CONFLICTED???
Season 3 Veronica Mars has a great example of this. The victims of a serial date-rapist on campus think their perp may be a member of a frat. The titular PI is hired by the frat to exonerate them and in so doing gets a photo of the elusive criminal. Naturally the victims on a desperate hunt for justice are... pissed as all heck? What?
Veronica Mars was a good show with great dialogue but they passed out at the switch here. I'm sure if cornered a rep for the show would say something like 'The women believed the frat contributed to a culture of ra-'
Sorry, I can't write b.s. that thick without pausing for air. It was a classic example of 'We want a conflict so, uh, you guys. Yeah, you're totally pissed' writing.
When I come across this in scripts I assume the writer has few social skills and doesn't grasp why people get mad at them.
That's the generous estimate. The other is they're lazy.
Write conflicts. Make them believable. I know it sounds like a waste of good cyberspace to say this but you'd be stunned how often it's missed.
1. Conflict missing, presumed icky
Sure we identify with our characters. How else would we know what they're about to say? Maybe that means conflict makes you uncomfortable.
Tough. Strap on a helmet and get in there.
2. Under-conflicted
See season two Numb3rs. The conflict would involve one character making a guess about another then being proved wrong - all without that problematic 'confrontation' stuff. A potential disagreement would be hinted at and apologized for... all without the trouble of actually happening.
3. DID YOU JUST CALL ME CONFLICTED???
Season 3 Veronica Mars has a great example of this. The victims of a serial date-rapist on campus think their perp may be a member of a frat. The titular PI is hired by the frat to exonerate them and in so doing gets a photo of the elusive criminal. Naturally the victims on a desperate hunt for justice are... pissed as all heck? What?
Veronica Mars was a good show with great dialogue but they passed out at the switch here. I'm sure if cornered a rep for the show would say something like 'The women believed the frat contributed to a culture of ra-'
Sorry, I can't write b.s. that thick without pausing for air. It was a classic example of 'We want a conflict so, uh, you guys. Yeah, you're totally pissed' writing.
When I come across this in scripts I assume the writer has few social skills and doesn't grasp why people get mad at them.
That's the generous estimate. The other is they're lazy.
Write conflicts. Make them believable. I know it sounds like a waste of good cyberspace to say this but you'd be stunned how often it's missed.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Eyesore
First rule of Screenwrite Club: If we don't need to know, we don't need to know.
I'm looking at you, 'deep, hazel eyes' writers! Unless it relates to a plot point (like a sign of infection in 28 Days Later) we don't need to know eye color. You're just making yourself sound unprofessional.
And no one's eyes are cerulean. Stop right now. Back away from the thesaurus.
I'm looking at you, 'deep, hazel eyes' writers! Unless it relates to a plot point (like a sign of infection in 28 Days Later) we don't need to know eye color. You're just making yourself sound unprofessional.
And no one's eyes are cerulean. Stop right now. Back away from the thesaurus.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Entitlement Issues
Entitlement is a problem in the industry. Using 'entitled' instead of 'titled' makes me suspect you think you're writing the next great American whatever.
Not everyone is bothered by this, but many are. If you think you're hitting my read pile soon, save yourself some letters in the description and just 'title' the thing.
Not everyone is bothered by this, but many are. If you think you're hitting my read pile soon, save yourself some letters in the description and just 'title' the thing.
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