I hate story ideas...

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  • I hate story ideas...

    It sucks thinking of them. The worst aspect of screenwriting, lol. I enjoy writing scenes and thinking of ways to advance a storyline, but the original idea to get a story going is so difficult.

    Does anyone else agree? Or am I the only one that has difficulty finding (and often liking and settling) an idea to write?

    I've just backed out of the script I'm writing because the story, although somewhat there, was just eh and just didn't work or flow with the thing. It was flawed from the start. I kind of just wrote some scenes based off characters and didn't think about what I wanted to happen. Than randomly stuck a story in that didn't work and it was all too juxtapose. Plus I wasn't compelled to write the story anyway...

    So now it's back to the drawing board and I've gotten rid of my protagonist, lol. Not liking my protagonist was definitely a major problem, lol. Anyway... what do you guys do to get ideas? What if you already have three characters and there personalities set up?

    Right now I have:

    Guy 1 - good, stupid, outgoing, spontaneous, emotional
    Guy 2 - perceptive, smart, quiet, sarcastic, clever, witty
    Girl - dominant, smart, sexy, flirtatious, quick, clever

    Guy 1 and 2 are friends (don't have to be I guess... ) and girl could or could not be relative/friend/etc from the get go, could meet her along the way. In my original story I had her be a theif/con and guy 1 and 2 have a bit more depth, but I'm trying to start from scratch. I did have another character, who was my main guy, but he was boring and I can stick some of his traits into Guy 2 if I needed.

    What do you think I should do? How should I go about getting ideas of where the hell to go with this story?

    I could have the 2 friends meet the girl when going across country to move to LA because Guy 1 wants to be an actor. Guy 2 is going along for the ride and falls for a girl he sees. It'd be a typical rom-com. Maybe work in that she is a theif/con to add to the uniqueness? Who knows.

    I could have the girl be one of their sisters and be more of a sister to both of them. When she decides she's going to move away from them they try to get her to stay, but she won't. They try a lot fo different ways and try kidnapping her, but it goes wrong.

    Maybe Guy 2 is already with that girl and they run into Guy 1 and he messes with their life (somewhat of a You Me Dupree thing but doesn't have to live with 'em).

    I mean, I can think of some things, but I hate them all and eh... I feel like I'm so mentally blocked. Then I go ask my friends and family and they make it worse. They either can't think of anything or just give me ideas for scenes and stuff, which isn't what I want. I just want ideas for an actual story, you know? A goal for a certain protagonist. From there I can think of scenes and struggles and ways to build tension until the protag does or doesn't get what he wants.

    My problem is the damn story, that one sentence that would be covered in the logline. The spark to start it all... I dunno what to do!

    Oh and don't even get me started with throughline. I don't know if I'm suppose to go thinking of a theme/throughline first and then fashion a story around that or find a theme/throughline to work into a story idea.

    I need help.

    And I'm incredibly sorry for my very lengthy post.

    Thanks for all those who read. And even bigger thanks to all those who actually reply to my craziness!

    Phew, I'm done now. Rant over.

  • #2
    Re: I hate story ideas...

    Originally posted by JayKid
    It sucks thinking of them. Does anyone else agree?
    I'm partial to the whole process. Ideas come to me at the grocery story. walking down the stairs. pieced of conversation that I, um, overhear. the part I like the least is outlining act 2. bleh.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: I hate story ideas...

      Well, sometimes ideas come to me like that, but they are often just nonsense. Sometimes they are worth trying to remember and writing down though.

      However, when I sit down and try to think of something, it doesn't work. I can't force ideas to come to me, and when sometimes it seems the more I try, the worse it gets...

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: I hate story ideas...

        I hate Act 2, too!

        Anyway, I have too many ideas. The hard part is choosing which one to tackle next. I go with the one that occupies most of my daydreaming time (when I'm doing those mundane things that you can do your best thinking during).

        I don't understand this whole "I don't know what to write" thing.

        Sorry.

        "We're all immigrants now, man."
        - Zia (Patrick Fugit), "Wristcutters: A Love Story"

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        • #5
          Re: I hate story ideas...

          Originally posted by JayKid
          However, when I sit down and try to think of something, it doesn't work. I can't force ideas to come to me, and when sometimes it seems the more I try, the worse it gets...
          Maybe that's a clue?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: I hate story ideas...

            Yea, probably, but trying to work through it... lol.

            My thing is that I get halfway with ideas and can't get them to that finished state that actually makes them a complete solid story that I could, say, state in a short logline.

            I'll get the hang of this whole thing sooner or later... even if it kills me.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: I hate story ideas...

              Originally posted by velysai
              I hate Act 2, too!

              Anyway, I have too many ideas. The hard part is choosing which one to tackle next. I go with the one that occupies most of my daydreaming time (when I'm doing those mundane things that you can do your best thinking during).

              I don't understand this whole "I don't know what to write" thing.

              Sorry.
              Wish that were my problem. Although I think I have ideas, it's just... I am too quit to even think about most of them because I hate them the second they come in my head. I'm very critical I guess. I need to learn to loosen myself up and let whatever comes to mind, come to mind and go from there. I cut myself short being overcritical. It just makes it harder for me to think of ideas, but it's a subconscious thing. I don't try to be critical, it just happens.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: I hate story ideas...

                I certainly sympathize with the original posters dilemma. Most of us struggle to develop great concepts. It's definitely not easy. Coincidentally, neither is breaking into screenwriting.

                At the core of a story, lies the concept. It's not just a spark. It's everything. It is your story in it's most basic form.

                You're going to have a hard time telling interesting stories if you can't come up with interesting concepts.

                Better find a way to do it.

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                • #9
                  Re: I hate story ideas...

                  I find it less difficult to think of an idea than going from that idea into a feature length screenplay.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: I hate story ideas...

                    Come up with your seed idea, your fascination; your feeble must write it premise.

                    Create a balanced log line and play with it.

                    Then give it it's best chance to turn into a HC:

                    1. Take it to an extreme.
                    2. Put two opposites together.
                    3. Increase the stakes.
                    4. Create a unique environment/background.
                    5. Create a quentessential lead.
                    6. Create special character relationships.
                    7. Give them a unique dilemma.
                    8. Create a "what if?"
                    9. Give it a twist.
                    10. Change race, sex, age, species etc.
                    11. Reverse the norm.
                    12. Give them a unique plan or strategy.

                    And remember to push to envelope. It's easier to back your writing down, than it is to rev it up.

                    Always have in the back of your mind... surprise. Make your writing so full of invention, they can't put it down. Make each scene have something interesting (Save the cat... Pope in the pool.)

                    And that's Pope, not poop in the pool (Actually that was used in Caddy Shack). Which means have something really amazing going on to film, as you deliver necessary dramatic action via dialog.

                    Another tip: Title is important. Sometimes coming up with a catchy title first will be enough to bring an entire story to mind. That's a red flag for HC; if you see the whole movie just from a title, so might others. Hence, easy marketing and a big part of HC.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: I hate story ideas...

                      I think most of the writing is "story ideas". The dialogue, the scenes are all just story ideas on top of the original story idea.

                      I don't write comedies, so I have to believe in some way that the original story idea is "true" in a certain emotional sense. I have to believe in what I'm writing, and I have to make myself live up to my idea - or at least to aspire to that.

                      Story ideas are story problems. And yeah I sometimes sit staring the the computer screen for hours going - how the hell am I gonna solve this thing!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: I hate story ideas...

                        Originally posted by Gauchita
                        Another tip: Title is important. Sometimes coming up with a catchy title first will be enough to bring an entire story to mind. That's a red flag for HC; if you see the whole movie just from a title, so might others. Hence, easy marketing and a big part of HC.
                        I agree.

                        I try to pick interesting and relevant titles for my scripts, names for my characters, etc. It's sometimes a pain in the rear, but always a lot more interesting than reading about BOB WILLIAMS plodding around in FATAL DECEPTION, or JOE SMITH...you get the idea. I'd rather read about Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.

                        I'm not saying you have to give your characters exotic names and your scripts titles that over 90% of the audience will not understand it's meaning...just don't be ordinary. Ordinary is boring.

                        I actually have a text document on this here computer with a list of possible titles and character names to use in the future. Every time something cool pops into my head, I write it down. Luckily I see a lot of names at my job so there's never any shortage of those. There's some names that I want to use so bad, but I first need to think of an idea so I can actually use them in a story.

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                        • #13
                          Re: I hate story ideas...

                          A way to think of movie ideas:

                          Take one of your favorite movies from the last few years -- one that was very popular, and that isn't an adaptation of a book or a comic book. Think of one that began as a movie.

                          What is the set-up? Who has to solve what tough problem, why, or what bad thing will happen? Write a logline for it.

                          Now take that logline and start changing it. Make the occupations different. Try it with the sex and age of the characters different. Make the world of the story different. Make the reason the character has to do what he has to do different. What if the main character were Santa Claus instead of whoever it was in the original story?

                          The object of the exercise is, can you make a story that is different enough from the first one that no one will immediately think of the original story when you explain it, yet people will like yours for the same kinds of reasons they liked the first one?

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                          • #14
                            Re: I hate story ideas...

                            Originally posted by Joaneasley
                            The object of the exercise is, can you make a story that is different enough from the first one that no one will immediately think of the original story when you explain it, yet people will like yours for the same kinds of reasons they liked the first one?
                            Yup.
                            There are very few new stories, only new ways of telling them. It's that 'newness' you have to focus on.
                            http://wasitsomethingiwrote.blogspot.com/

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                            • #15
                              Re: I hate story ideas...

                              Originally posted by Joaneasley
                              What if the main character were Santa Claus instead of whoever it was in the original story?
                              What a coincidence! For my next movie I was thinking of making Santa Satan. Trust me, it all makes sense.
                              A lovely being, scarcely formed or moulded,
                              A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded.

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