Picking Right Idea

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  • Re: Picking Right Idea

    Tarantino never thinks past the midpoint before writing.

    What I've learned is that the creative process differs greatly among writers.

    So to you an idea is a full fledged outline?

    To me an idea is a blurb of a character in some conflict. Die Hard on a train is an idea, to me. You're talking about fleshing out an entire concept. To me, that's way past the idea stage.

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    • Re: Picking Right Idea

      What Tarantino does is fine. My approach on a lot of scripts is pretty similar to his, in fact.

      An idea to me is not a full fledged outline, but it's more than Die Hard on a train.

      If you can't even picture the story or the characters somewhat yet, then it's not an idea, it's a thought.

      I don't know how that stuff couldn't come to someone before they sat down to write it.

      I had an idea the other day, and within ten minutes I knew what the protagonist and deuteragonist were like, what the general setup was, and what the second act conflict was.

      If you can't figure out those most basic things by the time you write something, then trying to figure all that as you go is going to be a mess because you don't really have an idea.

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      • Re: Picking Right Idea

        I call bullshit on Tarantino. He didn't know who the cop was when he started writing Reservoir Dogs? He wrote Pulp Fiction without a roadmap?

        I'd argue that if a writer tells someone he's writing a screenplay and they ask what it's about, and the writer can't answer that question... he's completely fucked.

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        • Re: Picking Right Idea

          I took what Tarantino said as he has a general idea of where it's going in the end, but he allows the pages up to the midway point to shape the specifics of how that end plays out in the second half.

          But maybe that's just me projecting.

          Although, his more recent works have been a little less focused than his earlier stuff. Maybe he changed his process and now just wings everything in the second half.

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          • Re: Picking Right Idea

            If I ever become a well known writer, I'm 100% going to make up some fake procress and see if other writers do it my way. I'll tell everyone I write naked and always have a hard boiled egg nearby as inspiration.

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            • Re: Picking Right Idea

              Wait. Other people don't write naked?

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              • Re: Picking Right Idea

                Originally posted by Bono View Post
                If I ever become a well known writer, I'm 100% going to make up some fake procress and see if other writers do it my way. I'll tell everyone I write naked and always have a hard boiled egg nearby as inspiration.
                Thanks a lot for that visual.
                “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                • Re: Picking Right Idea

                  Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                  I call bullshit on Tarantino. He didn't know who the cop was when he started writing Reservoir Dogs? He wrote Pulp Fiction without a roadmap?

                  I'd argue that if a writer tells someone he's writing a screenplay and they ask what it's about, and the writer can't answer that question... he's completely fucked.
                  I agree. I watched where he said he maps out to the center, but to think much beyond that doesn't help... until he gets to the center. He also admits that he writes genre pieces, so he has a good idea of where it's going to go in the third act, so even if you don't beat that out, you know where you're writing toward. I think he knows exactly where it's going.

                  Seems from other interviews that he does a lot of planning, at least that seems to be the case with Pulp Fiction. He knew what his three stories were. Fleshed those out, then disrupted the structure. Doesn't seem possible to outright write that structure without knowing those stories first.

                  Some writers can keep a lot of details in their head. Some need to beat it all out in an outline. I'm always trying to improve my efficiency-- get it done well, or as well as possible in the first draft, makes rewriting easier.

                  One opinion.
                  FA4
                  "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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                  • Re: Picking Right Idea

                    I've seen interviews from writers who say they do no outlining, no beat sheets, nothing. They just jump right in and go.

                    I don't know if Tarantino is lying or not, but what does he gain by lying in an interview about his process. I heard him say on a late night talk show once that he still writes the first draft of his scripts on a legal pad.

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                    • Re: Picking Right Idea

                      Unless you're a writer whose entire career is selling specs (yet to meet one), or a writer/director who is just writing for himself, that's not a viable way to proceed. You'll need to know the whole story before you write it to be able to pitch it, talk about how you'd rewrite it, etc, etc. You don't walk into Paramount and say "I've got an idea for a movie. A superficial blind man. How much do you want to pay me?"

                      What are you arguing for, Cyfress? That not knowing what you're writing before you start is as viable a method as having a plan?

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                      • Re: Picking Right Idea

                        I'm a militant outliner, to the point where it's inconceivable to me anyone would want to approach it differently. Now that's hardheaded and probably wrong of me to feel that way.

                        That said, I wrote some prose recently and literally only had a logline and the first line of the story. And I have to say it was a bit liberating. That said, it certainly won't change the way I approach screenwriting. But it was fun. Obviously the medium lends itself to this approach but I'd argue that having a well crafted logline where the stakes were inherent was a key driver here.

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                        • Re: Picking Right Idea

                          To be clear, I'm not saying every kind of writing has to be approached the same way. I don't have a logline before I sit down to write a poem.

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                          • Re: Picking Right Idea

                            HAVE A PLAN

                            If you're one the best writers of all time, you can do what you want. But for the other 95% of us who have to work hard to make it and break stories -- we should probably do it the way most pro writers do it.

                            If you've had success then whatever you do to write, must be working. But if you're still trying to make it and not finding success, maybe don't go the way you read in a magazine -- but go with the more boring, tedious, sit your ass down and logline - outline - treatment out the whole story before you write the screenplay.

                            ARGUE WITH MYSELF

                            By the way, I have just started writing and was happy with the writing. I've done both. I have plotted out the entire thing and the script itself was a dud. So there is probably some happy middle ground for some writers.

                            However, I think it's a lot different to "just go for it" when you've had enough success and practice at your craft, that you are not just a newbie. Because after writing so many scripts, we all develop this inner structure voice and how to put the parts together, so even when I don't write it out, it's in my head. Especially for TV scripts.

                            And if I think about it, the two specs that did the best for me, I 100% planned out, so just "going for it" didn't get me to the promised land...

                            BACK TO IDEA BEING KING

                            I developed what we thought was a great idea with big reps, wrote a treatment for months, approved, wrote script and they didn't like -- refused to take it out. It was dead. It took awhile to realize the issue was in the idea -- we picked the wrong main character. We had a famous football star (I think they floated we can get The Rock) when we should have had a "normal" guy like a firefighter that people could relate too more. That one decision made the script too broad and killed the specs chances for the time of what was selling. Things our huge reps should have pointed out -- but trust me -- a lot of this comes down to the writer to see the problems before they write.

                            So that all circles back to -- if you start with the wrong idea -- it doesn't matter your process as the end result won't work. And if you're Quentin who has some of the best most unique ideas -- well he's already ahead of the game before he writes one word.

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                            • Re: Picking Right Idea

                              I'm not arguing anything. I thought this was a discussion. I outline and think constantly about my characters wants and needs. I find it interesting that writers take lots of different approaches to get to the same place.

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                              • Re: Picking Right Idea

                                Originally posted by Bono View Post
                                If I ever become a well-known writer, I'm 100% going to make up some fake process and see if other writers do it my way. I'll tell everyone I write naked and always have a hard-boiled egg nearby as inspiration.
                                Wait... is the hard-boiled egg in its shell or not?
                                Last edited by Clint Hill; 08-03-2020, 11:50 AM.
                                “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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