Somebody light a fire under me

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  • Somebody light a fire under me

    Ok, I've got my plot laid out with scene cards. I know my characters in and out. Basically I'm all set to start writing my first screenplay but I haven't been able to start yet. Maybe it's blankpageophobia or something, but I just can't seem to figure out how to get the first few scenes transferred from idea to page.

    Help!

  • #2
    Re: Somebody light a fire under me

    You said, "but I just can't seem to figure out how to get the first few scenes transferred from idea to page."

    You don't have to. You only have to get ONE scene on the page. Of course that's easy to conceptualize, but here's how to make it real for yourself:


    Take the first card, put it on your desk. . .

    Put the rest of the cards IN A DRAWER. (Of course, if they're all pinned to your board, you don't have to pull them down, just make sure the board is in a different room than where you type. Although during the drafting stage, I'd recommend you don't look at your board - just take all the cards down, and put them in a stack, in order. Only ONE card comes out of the drawer at a time - whatever scene you're working on.)

    The bottom line is - The rest of the cards don't exist right now.

    Only card number 1.

    Now read the card. Then, close your eyes and envision the scene like you're watching it on a movie screen. . .

    Open your eyes, push your chair to your keyboard, and type.

    "EXT. . . . . . "

    And remember - it's only ONE SCENE!!

    Hope it helps,

    Cutt-
    "I've got vision up the butt, so just go with it!" - Dewey Finn, School of Rock

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Somebody light a fire under me

      This may be a stupid question, but do you know how to write action and dialogue? Are the mechanics holding you up? Are you trying to write before you've read enough screenplays? No insult intended, just trying to narrow down the problem.

      -Derek

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      • #4
        Re: Somebody light a fire under me

        James, just started u ll figurate with the time. Write, as u write
        the book. I believe that u know something about the CARDS!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Somebody light a fire under me

          Just write. Don't worry about what comes out, just write. It will all make sense on the 2nd or 2rd draft.

          Don't expect your 1st draft to be a polished Oscar Nominee. Just write crap and fix it down the line until it is good enough to sell.
          @TerranceMulloy

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          • #6
            Re: Somebody light a fire under me

            Originally posted by James McMurray View Post
            Basically I'm all set to start writing my first screenplay
            Dp might be onto something, if not, then have you thought about the locations where your story physically takes place? I always have a rough idea of my locations before I start. And usually something hits me when thinking about my story's opening that tells me where my story must start and I'm off and runnin'. If you haven't already, try to nail down where your opening scene and last scene will physically take place, it might help. Just a thought.

            Corona
            I love you, Reyna . . .

            Brown-Balled by the Hollywood Clika

            Latino Heart Project's MEXICAN HEART...ATTACK!
            I ain't no punk b1tch...

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            • #7
              Re: Somebody light a fire under me

              Originally posted by sevoo View Post
              James, just started u ll figurate with the time. Write, as u write
              the book. I believe that u know something about the CARDS!
              See? Sevoo doesn't have a problem - although I don't quite know what he's suggesting you do with the cards. I hope it doesn't hurt.

              Seriously, I was a newspaper editor for long time. Some really talented reporters used to freeze when trying to write a lede - the first and usually the most important paragraph of a story. We'd be getting closer to deadline and they'd be sitting there looking at a blank screen. (This is not a job conducive to a good stomach lining.) In order to get the damn newspaper out every day, I told them to forget about the lede. Just start writing. We could always go back later and figure out the top, or in your case, the first scene. It always worked. Nobody ever said you had to write in chronological order.

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              • #8
                Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                Thanks everyone!

                CutteRug, I'll definitely do that.

                dpatereso, I'm pretty confident in the mechanics, and have read several screenplays and screenplay books. The issue is turning a couple of short phrases into enough description.

                sevoo, I'm confused by your post.

                Terrance, yeah, I definitely know it'll be crap. I've got no misconceptions of writing the next blockbuster hit on my first time out of the gate.

                Jcorona, I've got a good image in my mind of most of the locations. The opening scene takes place in a bathroom, which is pretty much where it has to take place. Some of the other scenes are flexible in location, but a lot of them, because of the nature of the serial killer, have to take place in specific locales.

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                • #9
                  Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                  Marine66, we cross posted, I didn't forget you. That's a good idea. If just doing it one card at a time doesn't help I'll jump to a scene that I have much more confidence about.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                    Originally posted by James McMurray View Post
                    Marine66, we cross posted, I didn't forget you. That's a good idea. If just doing it one card at a time doesn't help I'll jump to a scene that I have much more confidence about.
                    And just be glad that I'm not standing over your shoulder loudly reminding you that if you didn't light a fire under your sorry ass, the paper would be pubished without your damn story and you'd have to mail it to your family and friends. I wonder if that's what they do at that Screenwriters Boot Camp I heard about? Good luck. And remember, if you fail, you can always deliver pizzas for the rest of your life.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                      Mmmm... pizza...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                        I'm not sure what your process is, but I think (and this goes against my username which is intended to be sarcastic) that screenwriting is 100% craft. Creating the story is where all the art takes place....

                        So the more methodical your process the quicker your turnaround.

                        I like to work in a very iterative fashion. It works for game design, which is an area I've worked in professionally, and I find it works for screenwriting equally as well.

                        For any step, only decide on as many details as necessary to proceed, you can always come back later and re-tune, whether it's too fix a problem, add subplots etc.

                        The Idea
                        1) Decide what genre(s) you want to write in.
                        2) Come up with a "Controlling Idea" (theme) that interests you.

                        Outlining the plot
                        3) Create a logline that conveys genre and that exploits the "Controlling Idea". This is basically the master event of your story.
                        4) Split the master event of your story into sub-events by writing a logline for each act
                        5) Split the acts into even more sub-events by writing loglines for each sequence.
                        6) Split the sequences into sub-events by writing loglines for each scene.

                        At this point, break the scene into actions/reactions.
                        Then do a **** draft (of the scene) with your basic description.
                        Write inner-monologues for characters instead of dialogue.
                        Tighten up the description
                        Replace inner-monologues with dialog
                        Polish dialog

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                        • #13
                          Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                          Originally posted by James McMurray View Post
                          Thanks everyone!

                          CutteRug, I'll definitely do that.

                          dpatereso, I'm pretty confident in the mechanics, and have read several screenplays and screenplay books. The issue is turning a couple of short phrases into enough description.

                          sevoo, I'm confused by your post.

                          Terrance, yeah, I definitely know it'll be crap. I've got no misconceptions of writing the next blockbuster hit on my first time out of the gate.

                          Jcorona, I've got a good image in my mind of most of the locations. The opening scene takes place in a bathroom, which is pretty much where it has to take place. Some of the other scenes are flexible in location, but a lot of them, because of the nature of the serial killer, have to take place in specific locales.

                          what is wrong with me?

                          just start! they just make a big deal about writings... everybody
                          has a story...if u can't write a screenplay. write a book. found
                          some guy, pay him and he will covert it into screenplay... and u
                          got the 'screenplay'. you have so many options... man if don't
                          have guts to do it... fck' what about the cards?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                            or u can rent all movies about the poker, casino, cards.. and make
                            your on movie... that what usually pro do :-)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Somebody light a fire under me

                              WritingIsArt, I'm a software engineer too, so that iterative approach might work out great.

                              sevoo, I'm still somewhat confused by the comments about the cards. I can't tell if you like the idea, don't like it, have no idea what I'm talking about, or what. The rest makes sense though.

                              Is English your second language?

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