What do you think about?

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  • What do you think about?

    We talk a lot about formulas and terms -- things we didn't invent, but learned about screenwriting as it went on.

    But as you write, what do you think about most?
    Do you think about joy?
    About selling?
    Do you just get lost in the story?

    So besides all the things that are obvious to say like structure, I'm just curious how your mind works?

    Maybe you never thought about this before.

    When I really get excited and just write -- I'm writing because I can't wait for someone else to read it -- because I want to bring a TV show or a feature film into the world. So I'm thinking about people reading it and saying "this is awesome."

  • #2
    Re: What do you think about?

    Well, I was heavily influenced by writing professors many moons ago in college who stressed asking ourselves: Why does this story need to be told?

    I've got journals and computer files chock full of story ideas that, once I dug a little deeper, didn't offer a valid reason as to "why" it needed to be told.

    This training may have f-ed me up a bit yet, alas, it's the first thing I think about.
    Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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    • #3
      Re: What do you think about?

      Originally posted by Bono View Post
      Maybe you never thought about this before.

      When I really get excited and just write -- I'm writing because I can't wait for someone else to read it -- because... I'm thinking about people reading it and saying "this is awesome."
      Originally posted by sc111 View Post
      Well, I was heavily influenced by writing professors many moons ago in college who stressed asking ourselves: Why does this story need to be told?

      I've got journals and computer files chock full of story ideas that, once I dug a little deeper, didn't offer a valid reason as to "why" it needed to be told.

      This training may have f-ed me up a bit yet, alas, it's the first thing I think about.
      Both of these sentiments apply to me and my writing. After arriving at a worthwhile story premise and blocking out its ending, beginning, and middle scenes, the first thing I think of is how to craft, layer, and present a story to make it interesting for the reader.
      Last edited by Clint Hill; 06-28-2020, 08:18 PM.
      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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      • #4
        Re: What do you think about?

        Truth is, I mostly think about giving up entirely.

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        • #5
          Re: What do you think about?

          For the first thirty pages I think, "Oh, man. This is gonna be a fun one to write."

          After that I think, "Oh, dear God. How am I going to finish this in under 109 pages? Somebody kill me! Kill me now!"

          Then I finish it in under 109 pages.

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          • #6
            Re: What do you think about?

            I've heard a few different folks recommend that aspiring writers should write the type of movies they'd love to see. I've dabbled in different things here and there but I'd say that's mostly what I'm thinking about. I try to write stuff that I'd love to watch as a fan. If I'm lucky then at some point other people will want to see these things as well. I think most writers that broke in did so that way, but I could be wrong. Still, focusing too much on the market and trying to appeal to everyone seems like a losing pursuit in the end. For anyone interested, there's a decent book - https://www.amazon.com/Hit-Makers-Sc.../dp/110198032X - that talks about this, among other things. To use an example, George R.R. Martin certainly wrote for himself first and foremost, and in the end what was a (sort of) niche product turned into pop culture. There's no guarantee that things will work out for us like they did for him, but it seems like a good guiding principle. Also, he didn't publish A Game of Thrones until he was in his 50's, and he was in his 70's when HBO adapted it and made him a multi-millionaire (and a superstar as far as authors go). So don't give up.

            Anyway, I have a habit of overthinking while writing (does this seem right? is this dumb?). I could never smoke weed and write, like someone mentioned a pro writer doing in another thread. It's not like that all the time though. Sometimes I get into it fairly easy and think "**** it, get it out" if it's a first draft. If it's later in the evening or night and I've been boozing I can certainly get lost the story, though there's often quite a bit of clean-up required later.

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            • #7
              Re: What do you think about?

              My most successful stories have been written because I got obsessed by an idea. The motivation behind the obsessions vary.

              A couple years ago I got out of a longterm relationship that ended badly and one of the traits of that ex is he would never "hear" me. (I have a male avatar but I'm a woman, btw.) As we were breaking up, it was clear to me that we were in two different relationships, i.e., two different movies. He was in a rom com and I was in a psychological horror movie. It got to the point where I'd say to him, "In the movie that plays in my head, when your ex-girlfriend came to visit, it was like she was trying to break us up. I know that in the movie that plays in your head, you think I was being overly sensitive. But in the movie that plays in my head, hanging out in her pajamas and getting drunk on white wine wasn't endearing behavior."

              This past year I've tried to write it out -- where two people in the same relationship are literally in two different movies (using highly fictionalized characters), but it turns out that it's hard to switch tones. (Hahahaha.) I've written a few drafts. I'm obsessed by it. I lose sleep over it. I don't know if the result will be something I can sell. It'll be done when I know the story I wanted to tell plays for someone that reads it cold.

              It's a revenge script. I don't usually write for revenge, but it does provide a certain hearty fuel for late nights. So why not?

              The only problem is sometimes I hear the voice of that studio executive in Stardust Memories. Who laments that artists "document their private suffering and fob it off as art."

              Also, this exchange from the same movie:

              Fan in Lobby: Can I talk to you about an idea for a film I have?
              Sandy Bates: This is not the place.
              Fan in Lobby: Do you have a moment, please? It's a comedy based on that whole Guyana mass suicide.

              I worry my idea is like a mass suicide comedy.

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              • #8
                Re: What do you think about?

                I think the best ideas come from real life in some way. Some more personal than others. I always wanted to write a movie that starts as a pure comedy and ends as horror movie, because that is real life. You're hanging out in a bar, with friends, having a great time, then something bad happens. Or vice versa. You're in a horror movie, then next day you're at the beach.

                Anyway -- I'd be excited to see those pages LostFootage. Sounds some interesting. And for the record, I don't listen to my wife either. It's a very male trait. Having the ex-gf stay with you guys... well how can that go wrong???

                So I like that you think about Revenge on your ex. nice.

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                • #9
                  Re: What do you think about?

                  Originally posted by Bono View Post
                  Anyway -- I'd be excited to see those pages LostFootage. Sounds some interesting. And for the record, I don't listen to my wife either. It's a very male trait. Having the ex-gf stay with you guys... well how can that go wrong???

                  So I like that you think about Revenge on your ex. nice.
                  Right, what could go wrong? Your ex stays in your apartment for a week and that's going to work out well. (He stayed at my place while his ex was in his place.) I realized towards the end that 80% of our fights were about this third person. It was time to extract myself. We were engaged, so it was hard because our mothers were so invested in us making it.

                  What's even worse is that I loved his family. I have had boyfriends in the past where I didn't totally click with the family. But this guy had really great siblings, funny parents and a whole extended family that knew how to cook. Darn it.

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                  • #10
                    Re: What do you think about?

                    Well, 'as I write', I'm mostly thinking about objectivity and gestalt entities - will the words that I'm writing tell a reader what I already know. Although, existentially, I'm often wondering when I might stop being such a self-indulgent waste of atoms.
                    Last edited by Crayon; 06-06-2020, 06:41 AM. Reason: self-loathing
                    Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
                    "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

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                    • #11
                      Re: What do you think about?

                      "My belief is: anything you're thinking about when you're not in the act of writing is probably useless.- -- David Milch

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                      • #12
                        Re: What do you think about?

                        That fails the what do YOU think about during writing part of the question on 2 levels. But he's great.

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                        • #13
                          Re: What do you think about?

                          As I write, I'm just thinking about the characters in the story and the sequence they're in, and how it will bridge to the next sequence. Not just the current scene, but its place in the current sequence, like a string of connected railway cars.

                          If I start thinking about something else then I'm not writing, I'm distracted, I'm goofing off on the internet.

                          I'm pretty sure I write just for me, because there have to be many readers like me out there, with similar tastes, who enjoy the same sh!t I do. In other words, a discerning audience. :)

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                          • #14
                            Re: What do you think about?

                            I meant the thoughts in between the writing. Maybe you go to a coffee shop -- you look at your script and can't wait to jump back in. Or maybe you're having a day when you're like "I hate this script and everyone" to me that's what writers really think about.

                            And I never believe writers when they say they get lost in their work -- all the time. Sure I get lost for an hour or two -- but most of the time I'm writing and also thinking about "oh crap I have to pick up the kids from school (back in the old days."

                            So anyway -- I think about how much time I'm wasting and how I wish I was already getting paid to do this job. Man I hate writing. I think I'm going to stop doing it to make the pain go away. But then the pain of not writing hurts too.

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                            • #15
                              Re: What do you think about?

                              I'm always half-thinking about my work, which other people always notice. My girlfriend gets mad at me because I'll randomly burst into laughter mid-conversation, and she knows I just thought of a funny joke for a script, which she inevitably says is stupid. I'm also known by my peers in the industry as somewhat of a space shot on set, but at least they like my jokes lol

                              I always just think, I might as well keep at it since I've put all the work in and made it this far. As frustrating as it gets, there's no sense in giving up now.

                              I also don't know how to have fun doing anything that's not film related, so that makes coming home and writing for a couple hours after a sixteen hour day a little bit easier for me than the average working stiff who isn't as high strung and knows how to actually relax.

                              I actually get more agitated when I'm not actively working on something, which is why that's probably extremely rare for me.

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