I hit a speedbump. Hopefully I can use this site to jog my brain into writing the best screenplay I can. I'm going through the list one by one to break down the most useful information.
Say all of your dialogue aloud to make sure it works and each character is distinguishable.
Okay. this helps somewhat. In my first draft simon couldn't distinguish who was who. So i've ensured that I speak out loud or in my head to ensure there is a difference in character and its not confusing who is who.
If you're stuck on a scene, close your eyes, open a completely new
document, and begin free associating without thinking about the words
you are typing
I actually tried this when I was thinking about the underpass scene. Imagine what I would do in that situation. Relating this back to steve coombes. It's always better to rewrite than write. As long as ive got something on the page I'm good. And I can work with it.
Start writing and reward yourself with snacks after a set period of time.
I sure do like food. Food is a good inscentive. I like to set myself deadlines in terms of what I want to achieve. Complete scenes one by one, eventually. I pumped out a draft within a day. Madness!
Set a deadline.
This was very helpful for me. If i managed to pump out a scene in an hour. I can work with it, decide what I actually want to get out of the scene instead of putting it in just because. Every scene has a revelant role to progress the plot, and I need to make sure I follow this.
Create an argument between characters if a scene feels flat and contains a lot of exposition.
This one got me hard. It was the biggest feedback flaw with my script. WAAAAAY to much exposition. It's hard to progress the story without it sometimes. Giving too much away to the audience is never good. So I toned it back, placed the exposition into the argument.
Get up out of your chair and go do anything else and come back to it.
Procrastination actually helps. Sometimes I'll actually be at the studios then BANG. Idea for a story comes to my head. writing it down.
Instead of watching a movie, listen to it.
Don't follow this.
Transcribe a few well-written screenplays to get a feel for the
writing if you are struggling. It's a technique F. Scott Fitzgerald used
with Charles Dickens novels
Never liked books. I tried this in the first year, but the screenplay was way too novelistic, I think I'll stick to screenplays for inspiration. A big one I followed was breaking bad. its gritty as hell, and I love it. Great descriptions and the series does speak for itself.
Write one page per day and after four months you've written an entire feature film.
Not relevant for me. Writing a short.
Altered states can help free your mind. If you're the clean-living,
non-alcoholic type, going for a run or meditating can produce the same
effect.
Again, as Simon once told me, you cant just sit down and write, it needs to be an indepth process. I like to go out and run. See the outside. It helps me focus.
Unplug your internet.
HELL NO.
Do anything that makes you extremely uncomfortable, like taking your
laptop into the freezing cold or writing immediately when you wake up
without doing anything else.
Links into my running.
If you already know how it's going to end, don't finish a scene from
the night before so that you can get your creativity flowing the next
day and push right into the next scene.
This is actually quite helpful. I like to smash a script out. I hate waiting, even though its a process that takes a long time, it's not something that I like to ponder on, once its done I can rewrite (Steve Coombes)
Make a collage of photos that relate to your story or resonate with you in some way.
This is a great tip. I like to watch videos on SBTV for inspiration. (SBTV is very ROADMAN related
)
The video fits the ROADMAN gimmick perfectly.
Put your script away and don't read it for two weeks after finishing the first draft.
Don't have the time! I wish!
If you're having trouble envisioning a character, imagine a famous actor in the role and write for that person.
This is sort of helpful, I like to picture maybe one of the guys from TOP BOY in my guys position. it helps.
Adopt a different writing persona by pretending you are someone else
while writing. This will help you approach problems in a different way
than you yourself normally would.
This sort of resonates, I do find it hard to mark my own work, or act lik its not my work, because it is, I'll always have the mental block.
Anyway, that's 17 tips to get out of my screenplay, I think I did well! Hopefully this helps in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment