Blacklist Experience #1239932

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  • #76
    Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

    well, actually, the above i wrote is a bunch of crap. i tend to do that.

    i don't use the shift thing you can push because my nature is basically plain lazy. god made some of us like that...using the shift thing you could push would seem too much, the exertion of it all, etc.

    and like recently, there is something wrong with my 'k' key (it was hard to type that) as well, and from now on, i'm going to try to write words that don't have 'cay' in them, and i don't need the shift thing you push down with a finger also.

    beats having to taychte my computer to get fixed or having to buy a new one. i'm just gonna go forward like the letter 'cay' does not exist and shifting is...no longer cool, unless i really want it to be.

    it is important in writing to not take any crap from your ceyboard. let it know who is running the store and is ceeping the boochs.

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    • #77
      Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

      I think a large percentage of amateurs are script jumpers. I'm making this assumption based on my own experience plus what I have seen here. The advice I was trying to offer is to resist abandoning the script because things get difficult or you get harsh feedback. I think they are better off pushing forward, even if it did take two years, each one after you get shorter to complete and you can get yourself to the two specs per year.

      But if their writing habit is to constantly abandon and move on, how could they ever get to the end of the first script?

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      • #78
        Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

        Cyfress, you always offer great advice and excellent insights when you read someone's screenplay.

        Maybe on this particular issue you are off your game just a bit.

        I would agree with you a hundred percent that some people are prone to start one thing and then jump to something else and never get anything done. That is not good behavior. It leads nowhere. These people are examples of what we might call the "Flibbertigibbet Writer" (anyone who does not know the word should look it up).

        But likewise it is not good to keep stewing over the same material for months that extend into years, and to keep tinkering with it. The problem may be that the idea, as you have conceptualized it, does not have work. (Of course, when I say 'you', I mean anyone.) The concept is flawed or too weak. It would not work in the hands of another writer, either. It would only work with a total reconceptualization, one that is very different from what you have hopelessly been trying to mold into a story with dynamics that appeal to people.

        It seems to me that you (again, anyone) have two choices. You can finish the script, with all its problems. Or you can go on to something that is a better idea. It may even turn out, after the problem script is finished, that it was better than you thought, or at least you may be able to see some problems and try to fix them. Just do not get caught in the trap of always finding something to change, or you may always be going off in some more directions. Maybe we could call this the "Treadmill without a Stop Button" danger.

        "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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        • #79
          Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

          my thinking is that it would be very, very difficult to write two or three GOOD novels in a year (unless your last name happens to be King). it is hard to write one (good novel) in a year.

          so many scripts are adapted from novels. the source material took time and great care to come together and work as a story.

          it would seem to me that a spec from a screenwriter's imagination, etc, would need time and great care to turn out well, for the set-ups to pay off, etc. there has to be a lot of stuff in all of that white space in a screenplay for the thing to work.

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          • #80
            Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

            Comic, I think there is a fine line between what we are talking about. It seems you are talking about a script that was drafted, rewritten, polished, and the writer toils over it for two years. I'm talking about writers that lose steam half way into draft 1. It's better, IMO,for those writers to trudge through then start another script.

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            • #81
              Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

              If in two years, a writer has managed four unfinished scripts, and then uses the wisdom here to write one script in the next two years... I think that person maybe is not a screenwriter.

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              • #82
                Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

                interesting article in ESQUIRE about the songwriter Leonard Cohen. In the piece by Stephen Marche, it said that Bob Dylan asked Cohen how long it took for him to write the song "Hallelujah" and Cohen lied and said two years. It took him five years. Then Cohen asked Dylan how long it took him to write one of his songs and he said 15 minutes. Also, Cohen commented about Dylan being awarded the Nobel prize, that is was like pinning a medal on Mount Everest.

                I read somewhere else that at one point trying to write "Hallelujah" that Cohen would bang his head on the floor. i would guess that while trying to write that song, he was also working on other songs so he wouldn't bang his head so regularly...i would guess.

                Great song.
                Last edited by AnconRanger; 07-12-2017, 04:13 PM.

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                • #83
                  Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

                  The confusion on the notes lies in the misconception that the readers are writing the notes for you the writer when they are in fact writing them for the agents/producers. But since the Black List also makes those notes available to you, it may be giving you that impression. Which is why the Black List is a terrible place to get coverage for the purposes of improving your writing - because that’s not what it’s designed for.

                  In the end, a script must be engage the reader, and that engagement can be anything: amazing writing, unique concept, redeeming entertainment value, a franchise IP - whatever it is, it’s your job as the writer to make your writing undeniable.

                  Originally posted by Ryan Rodriguez View Post
                  Oh, man. I don’t know how to do the multi-quote thing so I’ll try my best with the following. I’ll respond as I read and hopefully you’ll know what I’m responding to?

                  First, thank you for taking the time to respond SundownInRetreat. Honestly. I don’t feel like you have bad intentions. I do feel a little misunderstood but I’m trying to understand where you’re coming from.

                  I don’t think I’m the finished article. I hoped for the 8s. After I swapped scripts with someone on here, I realized I was lucky to get the 6. I’m a little confused by the “never will be” comment but maybe that’s based on an assumption about my attitude. If a person think’s they’re already at a certain level, it’s hard to improve. Trust me. I think I have a lot to improve upon. A ton. This was my second screenplay.

                  As for the bitterness, I’ll reflect on that. I don’t think I have a fantastic script. I don’t think the readers didn’t “get it”. I just know that based on the coverage you get, it’s hard to tell what exactly the readers thought of it. The coverage is cursory. And I even had a hard time agreeing with some of the strengths. So it was a confusing experience for me.

                  I agree that my attitude about the scoring system is poor. I never paid for a competition and the only thing I put stock in was the lowest possible number I could get that would garner attention. I read a lot of reviews by people who scored lower and they said the script just sat there. I can’t really afford that. So my goal was 8.

                  My intent wasn’t to throw any shade on TBL. I think the scores were generous. I didn’t mean to take away from the victories of others or the overall usefulness of the site - what it offers.

                  I think the overall message of your reply is that I should always be looking to self-improve and make no excuses for my failures, especially at the cost of others.

                  Again, thanks for taking the time to read what I wrote, offer the criticism, and inspire me to be honest with myself.

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                  • #84
                    Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

                    Originally posted by Ryan Rodriguez View Post
                    The Blacklist is a road. You can take it or not. I took it.... I get it now. If you're starting out, it's likely you need more than one set of eyes.
                    You're in good company on this. Check your Private Messages.
                    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                    • #85
                      Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

                      Originally posted by nguyensquared View Post
                      The confusion on the notes lies in the misconception that the readers are writing the notes for you the writer when they are in fact writing them for the agents/producers..
                      I don't proclaim to know anything, but I tend to think this is not quite accurate.

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                      • #86
                        Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

                        Originally posted by SBdeb View Post
                        I don't proclaim to know anything, but I tend to think this is not quite accurate.
                        Referring to Blcklst notes? Well, there's notes and then there's coverage; different things.

                        I presume that the BL readers generate (up to) two reports: Coverage, which may be little more than a graphed matrix, for the enquiring reps and, where payment is received, notes for the writer's consumption. (Incidentally, I find it hard to imagine that the latter is kept under wraps from the reps who want to see it.)

                        The hosting fee must be what pays for the coverage report, because everyone knows that it doesn't cost $60 or whatever it is to store a screenplay file on a server, no matter what fancy graphical interface layer exists between the server and the user.

                        The entire system must pretty well self-maintain by now; if it doesn't, they need some new programmers.

                        And there's absolutely nothing wrong with this business model. It's successful, and the only way it will change is if/when those who provide the ongoing funding (writers) demand more, or launch a rebellion, or some severe competition arises.

                        Well, competition would mean "free" for the writers, or virtually so, yet continue to mean "excellent content" for the enquiring pros.

                        That's a tough combination, and it'll be some impressive entity that ever challenges the BL. In the closed market that is the movie business, it could be years away. The only thing that I see to shake things up is the continued growth of writer-producer entities utilizing crowd-funding and web distribution; in other words, DIY film making.

                        But back to the readers, I do feel sympathy for them at the BL and other places: Specifically, at BL, they're expected to produce two complex reports, requiring that they interpret, understand, and write one or two different analyses from a single read of a script. Tough job.

                        Frankly, I'm skeptical that it can be done, based on notes that I've received on my scripts over the years. It's why, except for a contest, once, I'd not pay for notes or coverage reports that are already being generated for enquiring reps or judges, any more than I'd pay somebody to read my script in the first place.

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                        • #87
                          Re: Blacklist Experience #1239932

                          The Black List has one primary objective, and they've made this very clear from the beginning: it's not a service designed to help writers improve. It's designed to help agents/producers find the best scripts via their rating system.

                          Those Black List notes you get are to give the latter a thumbnail assessment of the screenplay, which is why the notes and the categorical ratings often feel contradictory (i.e. the setting works well, Setting: 6/10), as many who've submitted to the Black List can attest to.

                          If they were writing the notes to help the writers improve, it would be a coverage service, which it is not. This is the bane of many DDP writers threads disparaging the Black List's notes to their script feeling like they "weren't helpful".

                          Originally posted by SBdeb View Post
                          I don't proclaim to know anything, but I tend to think this is not quite accurate.

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