EXT. GARAGE

That’s what I wrote…  The main character in my short screenplay leaves his house and enters the garage to talk to his father.  The scene takes place INSIDE the garage.

To be clear about my embarrassing mistake, it should be INT. GARAGE.  Ouch.

As you can see, I’m highly critical of myself and every writer should be to some extent but rookie mistakes make me crazy. Absolutely crazy.  Virtually every single book about screenwriting has a section on avoiding amateur mistakes.  These simple beginner errors cause your hard work to end up in the garbage or set on fire.

I’m both an aspiring screenwriter and a human so I’m no stranger to mistakes.  I’m not perfect.  It’s one thing to mess up their and there (so long as you catch it) but it’s quite another to mess up the simple things like SLUGS!

INT. GARAGE, INT. GARAGE, INT. GARAGE…

I think the reason I’m so hard on myself in this case is because I sent the draft containing my mistake to family and friends.  I had done my revisions for grammar, spelling and format and was confident it was typo free.  Then I spotted it.  To be fair, none of them read screenplays on a regular basis so the error won’t stick out but readers and producers will spot it just by glancing at the page.

It’s like my job as an editor in television.  Every element I cut and send to air HAS to be perfect.  Every so often, something sneaks by me and it drives me nuts.  9 times out of 10, audiences won’t catch these tiny blips but I do.  I catch them on other channels all the time.  I’m paid to be a perfectionist.

The point is, if your draft is good enough to send to family and friends it should be good enough for the pros as well.  It should be perfect.  You may not catch every single mistake you make but these types of errors can be avoided with proper patience and dedication to every single word.  Actually, I kind of like the sound of that.

DEDICATE YOURSELF TO EVERY WORD

Your screenplays are calling cards and should display every ounce of your talent.  Nobody wants to have a reader distracted by simple grammatical errors.  Those should be easy to spot but don’t stop there.  You never know where rookie mistakes like EXT. GARAGE are hiding.

Let your story shine through.  Don’t cloud it with mistakes.

READ THIS BOOK NOW!

How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make is one of my favorite books about screenwriting.  It holds nothing back and shows you countless rookie mistakes you can easily avoid.  It’s the most influential book I’ve read in terms of format and structure.

Check out my full review of the book here.

XTRA | Rookie Photoshop For Movie Nerds

Recently, I upgraded my copy of Final Draft to version 8. I came to the realization that I owed Final Draft an apology because I definitely waited too long to upgrade…

So I posted a review and soon after, Final Draft commented on the article…

Now, getting a comment from them is one thing but getting a link on their website? That’s pretty sweet.

Click here to check out the mention I got in their News & Events Section!

Click here to read the original article ‘I Owe Final Draft An Apology’.

Of course, don’t forget to check out their site and phenomenal software.

Thanks to Final Draft for the mention.

A SUNDAY IN THE LIFE OF AN
ASPIRING SCREENWRITER

I recently wrote about the influence that massive world events can have on your writing choices. Events like The Royal Wedding, The death of Osama Bin Laden or a federal election.  They may not affect you specifically but when the world changes, often your perception of it changes as well.

What about personal life experiences? They don’t have to be epic world altering events but they are crucial in order to evolve as a writer.  These events can range from life changing moments to seemingly insignificant personal encounters. Every moment affects your writing. Think about it this way:

How much would a story you wrote 10 years ago change if you started from scratch today?

Is each word you write influenced by your experiences?  I think so.

The following is the tale of a single and completely bizarre day in my life. How will these events shape my writing from now on? The answer remains to be seen but they are a part of me now.  Lets start at the beginning…

I WAS IN A CAR ACCIDENT

It’s amazing how a tiny decision leads you to a certain moment. Is it fate? Or coincidence? What you believe can affect your writing too…

My girlfriend woke up and told me she felt off… She hadn’t slept well.  Our plan for the day was to join some friends and head downtown to sell some DVDs and shop for the afternoon.  The DVD store opened at noon as opposed to the 10 o’clock start time promoted on it’s website so we had some time to kill.  We were left with a decision. Head to the east end, visit a kitchen store and grab some wings or wait.

It’s hard not to think about what might have been if we would have left then but we decided to stick around…

When we finally dropped off our movies we were told it would be another 2 hours before we got our cash. (Vendors have to check each disc for scratches and such.) We finally decided to head east.  After lunch the plan was to head back downtown, pick up our money and call it a day.

We weren’t prepared for busy Sunday traffic. We were stopped when a man in an old truck slammed into us like we were the concrete wall in a crash test.  My girlfriend was driving and was the only one who saw it coming. She shrieked a mere milliseconds before we were jolted forward.  All of the sudden, the fact that she felt ‘off’ took on a whole new meaning.  In a strange way, did she subconsciously know something like this would happen?  It’s an interesting thought isn’t it?

Thankfully everyone was okay but I could tell instantly that she was shaken up.  She had never been in a car accident before.  The full financial and psychological impact of an accident is hard to prepare for. When you’re shaken up you don’t think about things like whether spending the time to compare car insurance quotes was worth it, but we were certainly thankful we had coverage that day. 

We exited the vehicle half expecting a sincere apology but it wasn’t meant to be. Even now I can’t decide if the man was in shock or if he just didn’t really care.

“I hit you. There’s nothing we can do about it now so that’s that.”

I’m paraphrasing of course but if it were me, I would have apologized 38 million times before anyone else could utter a single word. He came across as smug and unsympathetic.  If I may quote a famous line from Seinfeld:

“Smugness is not a good quality.”

We distanced ourselves from him while we waited for the police to arrive.  Yet still,  I couldn’t help but try to get into his head. Did he feel bad? Couldn’t he tell how upset we were?

At this point, we were all sore from the effects of our muscles tensing up when he hit us.  We gave our statements to the police, hopped in a rental car and went home.

Little did I know, this bizarre afternoon was just getting started…

Once our nerves settled, the four of us decided to be cautious and find a medical clinic.  We learned quickly that it’s pretty difficult to find an open walk in clinic on a Sunday evening.  Fortunately, we found one that was right around the corner from the DVD store.  The plan was to finally pick up our cash and head to the doctors.

Who could have predicted we would find ourselves in the middle of a war over a parking space!

“F*$# THIS.  CALL THE COPS!”
THE PARKING WAR

When my friend and I emerged from the store we realized very quickly that someone was waiting for our parking spot.  As we began to pull away, the guy pulled in front of us and started backing in.

Before we knew it, another guy had pulled up behind us. (Which made us nervous enough considering we were rear ended earlier that day.)  Both of the men thought our space was theirs for the taking and a battle erupted.

We got out of the car and the shouting began.  Someone had to move or we weren’t going anywhere.  The guy behind us was furious and eventually made the following statement:

“F*&# this, call the cops because I’m not moving!”

Are you kidding me!  Over a parking space? We just wanted to go home…

All the yelling eventually attracted the attention of a nearby cop.  As he approached I became fascinated.  Which one will he focus on?  Who is wrong here? Who will have to move?  We supported the car in front of us because he had the spot first.  I’m not sure why he decided to pull up and back in when he was behind us already but it was his.

In the end, the car in front of us moved just enough for us to get out without giving up the space.  We got out of there before the situation was resolved.  Mainly because we just wanted to get checked out and go home.

Was the confusion finally over for us?  Nope.

A STRANGE VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL

Waiting rooms always make me nervous when I’m waiting for a check up.  You never know who is going to walk in.  I feel terrible when I see people in pain.  I wouldn’t wish pain on my worst enemy so you can imagine how I felt when an old woman wandered into the hospital in tears…

She looked lost.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so destroyed and inconsolable.  It sounds like I’m exaggerating but it’s true.  She was absolutely devastated.  Immediately, a nurse and a doctor rushed to her aid and she began to explain what was wrong.

“I haven’t seen my daughter in a long time.  She is a lawyer and she works really hard.”

Her words were difficult to hear as she was crying uncontrollably.  We were all thinking about what could have possibly happened.  The woman didn’t appear to be injured so was it her daughter?

“She came to visit me today after so many months…  And she has gained so much weight!  What do I do?!”

What!? Her daughter gained weight? I can’t even imagine what this woman’s reaction was when she was standing in front of her daughter.  Her daughter gains weight and this woman, her mother, is so upset that she goes to the hospital?

Then I started thinking about the mental stability of this woman and I felt even worse.  What must be going through her mind?  She was so upset.  To us, the situation was strange and sad.  I’ll never know if she even had a daughter or what type of help she received but I’ve been thinking about it every since.

This was right around the time I was called in to see the doctor.

X-RAYS X3

Still pondering the fate of the old woman, I waited patiently for the doctor to arrive.  When he finally did, I became nervous again.  I was stiff and sore but I was positive that all I needed was rest.  To tell you the truth, I was more worried about my girlfriend than anything.  Her neck was really bothering her.  Still, I have a history of neck problems so they decided to take some x-rays to be sure.  Fair enough.

I had to change into a gown, walk out of my room, across the lobby (where my friends were waiting), ascend one floor in an elevator and walk down a lengthy hallway.  The lady took 3 pictures and the entire time I was thinking about the evolution of x-ray technology.  I had no idea it was digital.  I still thought they took a day or two to process.  It’s been a while since I broke my nose years ago.

Back in my room, I waited nearly 20 minutes for the doctor to arrive.  When he did, I was instructed to go BACK up to the x-ray room for more pictures.  Clutching the back of my adorable little hospital gown, I walked back across the lobby where my friends snickered a second time and made my way up to the x-ray room.

More pictures.

After 10 MORE minutes in my room, there was a subtle knock at my door.  It was the nurse.  I had to go back again!  They forgot one final pose.  Of course this led to more snickers as I traveled all the way back for more x-rays.  More snickers.

Finally, they had everything they needed in order to determine that I was completely fine.  All I needed was rest.  Unfortunately, my girlfriend suffered whiplash.  We were finally free to go home for good.

FINALLY HOME

Our bizarre day ended 5 seconds after we got home as we passed out almost right away.  Our action packed day was full of encounters with interesting characters.  Each of them handled stress in different ways and each of them fascinated me.

• The smug man who felt no remorse after hitting us with his truck.
• The woman who couldn’t bare to see her daughter because she gained weight.
• The embarrassed technician who needed 3 attempts to get my x-rays right.
• One of those two men missed out on a prime parking spot.  I wonder who it was.

THE POINT?

Perhaps, one or more of these character traits will pop up in a screenplay someday… Each of them has been stored in my mind’s character files. You never know when a particular character will come in handy.  Like virtually every screenwriter out there, I collect stories.  We all do.

All in all, it was a crazy day.

XTRA | A Year In The Life Of An Aspiring Screenwriter

WRITE NOTES.  WRITE EMAILS.  WRITE SCREENPLAYS

I’m notorious for emailing myself updates on my screenplays.  My ’312′ folder is full of emails about stories I want to write, stories I’m writing, stories I need to rewrite and plans for stories I’ve completed.

XTRA: Click here to find out why I call my screenwriting folder ’312′.

Even though I can write screenplays almost anywhere these days thanks to my iPhone and apps like Celtx, it’s still difficult to truly get in the zone some days.  So what do you do when you can’t find a couple hours to fill up the blank pages?

THE SCREENWRITING EMAIL

Personally, I find these emails to myself invaluable when it comes to planning my writing schedule, solving story problems and brainstorming new ideas.  My emails usually fall into 1 of 3 categories.

1. Project Recaps
2. Story Trailers
3. Pitches/Summaries

I find each of these three types of emails inspire and keep me motivated in useful ways.

1. PROJECT RECAPS

These emails are basically lists of all the stories I’m currently working on.  These lists vary in size and detail but they give me a good idea of the work I have ahead and how much fun it will be. They are usually formatted like this:

Story Name | I use the word name instead of title because I sometimes hold off on titles in the early stages of development.
Genre | It’s nice to step back and see a little diversity in my writing.  I try to challenge myself to take on new genres often.
Stage | I have 4 stages. Idea, World, Development, Script

The ‘idea’ stage is straight forward.  At this point, I’ve got a concept I’m excited about but nothing more.  The ‘world’ stage is all about characters, setting and the major details of the story.  This is the stage where I try to find an overall tone and voice for the story.  The development stage is self explanatory.  I try to iron out every single detail of the story leading to my first outline in point form.  Stage 4 is screenwriter’s favorite.  Time to write the screenplay.

Target | I number my projects 1-5 with 1 being the top priority.  Ties are allowed.  This number is accompanied by a target completion date.  A date I normally never hit but it keeps me moving forward.

2. STORY TRAILERS

I actually adore writing these.  Once a script is deep in the development stage, I like to write trailers for my scripts.  They aren’t formatted in any particular way but I think it’s important to try and describe the exciting elements of a story.  I don’t necessarily write a trailer I intend to see someday but it’s my first real shot at selling the movie to myself.  If I don’t believe in it, why would anyone else?

3. PITCHES/SUMMARIES

These emails are made up of pitches, log lines and synopses.  (Synopsiseses?) These emails encompass all my undeveloped story ideas.  They are usually very brief and only serve as introductions to new material I may or may not develop someday.  These emails can lie dormant for many months before I return to them but it’s vital to make sure I don’t forget.

You never know when a story idea will come back and inspire you.

THE GIGANTIC SCREENWRITING EMAIL

Every once in a while, I write an enormous email to myself that covers all three categories and truly summarizes my writing adventures.  It’s my way of keeping track of my progress and making sure I’m constantly challenging myself.

I wrote one last week that included a few goals I’m hoping to reach soon.  Now all that’s lacking is the passion and dedication to reach those goals.

HOW LONG DO YOU HOLD BACK
BEFORE UNVEILING A BIG MOMENT?

I finished a short screenplay yesterday and I’m extremely happy with the story but there is something bothering me about the overall structure.  After reading the 10 page script, I questioned my decision to put off the big reveal until the very end.  It’s an easy decision if the story element in question is a killer twist ending or a character moment like a betrayal but mine is neither.

I think I sometimes fall into the trap of waiting TOO LONG before revealing something huge.

XTRA: All Time Best: Twist Ending

I’ll break it down without getting into specifics.  My big reveal is all about showing off something mysterious that the main character has built.  It’s a scene that I’m hoping a production designer will drool over someday.  It’s a visual moment that I originally thought would be a perfect ending.  However, my ‘big moment’ is the emotional connection between a father and a son and that connection HAS to end the story. Balancing the two felt clumsy and lessened the impact of both moments.  Not to mention I wanted to spend more time with this ‘creation’.  It just made sense to rethink things a bit.

So I broke down the story and decided I didn’t really have to hold back at all.  It is a short screenplay after all.  So right away, I establish my big reveal.  I don’t show you everything but the script now begins with a very direct hint as to what this item actually is.  That way, I was able to build the story around revealing more and more information.  In doing so, I was able to really take my time with the emotional storyline and the ending essentially wrote itself.  It felt natural.  It was better.

Establishing a brand new story structure AFTER it’s been written can be tough. It’s hard to break it down and rework the big reveal because you fall in love with certain elements.  But that’s why rewrites are difficult, challenging and fun.  You have to make tough decisions for the good of the script.  I still have to rewrite a couple scenes that aren’t fully functional yet but overall, the script is better off.  As for my original question?

XTRA: It’s Time For Another Awesome Twist Ending

There Is No Answer.

How long do you wait before unveiling a big moment?  It’s different for every story and it depends entirely on your instincts. When I first began my script, I was positive that my big reveal belonged at the end.  But the more I thought about it, the more the emotional story took over.  I was focusing on the wrong moment.

Not only that, it gave me an opportunity to truly build up my reveal which gave it more of an impact.  So now, I have a finished screenplay with a big reveal right in the middle and an incredibly tense and emotional scene at the end.

This new structure is definitely the best way to go but does it provide my script with a big enough ending?  You see how these questions can make your brain explode?  Now I have to make sure that final scene lives up to the way I imagined it.  There are tears but there is also forgiveness.  I plan to scrutinize every single word until it’s right.

Big decisions await.

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