Speed Writing
From an old friend:
Q: What is the speed limit for writing a new spec by human beings? Think it can be broken???? I'm launching into a new script this weekend ... because I have nothing special to do, because I need to write or I will self-detonate, because because. Send power bars, red bulls and soft pillows!!!
God, I love that - he has to write or he will die. That's why you write.
But it made me think about how we are all fascinated with the disposable script. The one you can write in 21 days and dump on the market for big cash and prizes, and then head off into the hinterlands.
Why?
It's the only art form that has been turned into a dietetic regimen. Add 1/4 cup character, 4/5 dilemma, bake for only a short time, and viola! A masterpiece!
Movie structure has been analyzed and re-analyzed after it became big insane boffo business. The acts, the arcs, hell, in meetings people tell me the "poster" and the copy line before the script is written. It's almost like the script is an afterthought, taken for granted.
Yes, the screenplay is a long form story that can be hammered out with blood and guts, in limited time, because the structure is unusually uniform regardless of story content. But unlike television which only has two speed settings, fast and off, screenwriting most often has that one big setting. Slow. It's like a hot pot on your kitchen counter cooking a stew for two years. At the end of all that time, that's the best damned stew you've ever tasted in your life. But who wants to go to work in a hot pot and sit in stew all day for two years? I guess, only the person that feels they will otherwise die.
But I think that's why the immediate script was born - to literally take control back of our own lives from "the slow process". It was wonderfully liberating for all of us.
And some lucky bastards really did it, jammed it, and sold 'em, totally ruining it for the rest of us. Well, hell, I did it too. Cranked one out early on and sold it.
But then when I couldn't do it again it totally messed me up. Every script I've written for myself comes out at a different speed. Why couldn't I do it in three weeks again? I thought I had broken something inside. Well, I hadn't. The reality is - every piece has it's own nature, and it reveals itself in its own time.
On the other hand, every script I've written for a studio has to be delivered on time. But with the ones that needed slower cooking, I often delayed delivery until done.
As Billy Wilder was once quoted, "when people come up to the box office to buy their tickets for their movie, they don't ask:'Excuse me, was the script handed in on time?'"
Finish your work. But make sure your work is finished.
So what are you going to do? Sit at your desk every day, follow the energy of your story, finish your pages, and get to THE END.
Q: What is the speed limit for writing a new spec by human beings? Think it can be broken???? I'm launching into a new script this weekend ... because I have nothing special to do, because I need to write or I will self-detonate, because because. Send power bars, red bulls and soft pillows!!!
God, I love that - he has to write or he will die. That's why you write.
But it made me think about how we are all fascinated with the disposable script. The one you can write in 21 days and dump on the market for big cash and prizes, and then head off into the hinterlands.
Why?
It's the only art form that has been turned into a dietetic regimen. Add 1/4 cup character, 4/5 dilemma, bake for only a short time, and viola! A masterpiece!
Movie structure has been analyzed and re-analyzed after it became big insane boffo business. The acts, the arcs, hell, in meetings people tell me the "poster" and the copy line before the script is written. It's almost like the script is an afterthought, taken for granted.
Yes, the screenplay is a long form story that can be hammered out with blood and guts, in limited time, because the structure is unusually uniform regardless of story content. But unlike television which only has two speed settings, fast and off, screenwriting most often has that one big setting. Slow. It's like a hot pot on your kitchen counter cooking a stew for two years. At the end of all that time, that's the best damned stew you've ever tasted in your life. But who wants to go to work in a hot pot and sit in stew all day for two years? I guess, only the person that feels they will otherwise die.
But I think that's why the immediate script was born - to literally take control back of our own lives from "the slow process". It was wonderfully liberating for all of us.
And some lucky bastards really did it, jammed it, and sold 'em, totally ruining it for the rest of us. Well, hell, I did it too. Cranked one out early on and sold it.
But then when I couldn't do it again it totally messed me up. Every script I've written for myself comes out at a different speed. Why couldn't I do it in three weeks again? I thought I had broken something inside. Well, I hadn't. The reality is - every piece has it's own nature, and it reveals itself in its own time.
On the other hand, every script I've written for a studio has to be delivered on time. But with the ones that needed slower cooking, I often delayed delivery until done.
As Billy Wilder was once quoted, "when people come up to the box office to buy their tickets for their movie, they don't ask:'Excuse me, was the script handed in on time?'"
Finish your work. But make sure your work is finished.
So what are you going to do? Sit at your desk every day, follow the energy of your story, finish your pages, and get to THE END.
posted by Phil | 8:24 PM
1 Comments:
Spammy, what a fabulous post. Please do share your outline, as it may be helpful to others. And let us know how it goes!
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