I have a new pilot I have to write this month as a part of a writing challenge. I even decided to put myself in charge of this writing challenge to make sure I got the work done. It was motivation. So I have a Dropbox that has a bunch of scripts in it. I have treatments that I've looked at. I have videos I have watched. I have written a treatment/ story bible that details this series idea through Season 3. I still have Seasons 4-6 that I can detail out. I wrote an outline. And now I'm ready to go.
Or am I?
I am taking a moment of reflection because this has been my year:
- Come up with an idea.
- Write an outline (TV/ Film) or a list of things that might happen (Plays)
- Write a draft in a month.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat…especially when I go back and rewrite. I usually only rewrite a couple of times because I try and lay out the story before hand. I have overworked scripts like mad, writing six or seven or eight or nine drafts. That's too much. Nothing needs to be overworked that much. And in both cases, I knew that I didn't have the series in mind. I had some characters, a story, but I didn't know what happened beyond or why someone would want to watch it as a series.
I just had that experience with the idea I thought I was going to write for this challenge. About two or three months ago, my best friend Alanna and I were coming up with ideas for a pilot I would write with her attached to it. I came up with nine ideas over the course of a weekend. Then we met and chatted about it. She picked the idea that she wanted. I had some ideas I liked, but we went with the one she liked. Now I realize that all nine of those ideas were great ideas, but I wasn't attached to them in any emotional way. It was just…churn out nine ideas and see what you come up with. I have no problem coming up with ideas. I'm an idea machine. And that is one very specific and useful skill set. But for an idea to become a pilot and a series proposal is a much longer road.
So when Alanna got cast in a series that shoots in Vancouver, I figured that was it for this idea. And then I just assumed I would write it during this writing challenge. I had the characters. I had the world of the series. But I didn't have any idea as to what the pilot story would be. I had some thoughts about places to focus with these characters. But nothing was sticking. I had a lot of options, which was good. But nothing was driving me. Then I picked up a book on the subject, as research. And the book was great. But the book was also taking me in a completely different direction.
Then I had a meeting with someone who suggested I write about a subject I've been obsessed with since childhood and suddenly the show popped in my head. First. I knew what the structure of the series was. I knew what the trajectory of the series was. I found a pilot story that worked. Then I expanded those thoughts into a series treatment/bible. The characters I already knew or knew I could figure out. It was clear to me right away.
That's how I know a series idea works. When the series comes to me. I can say that the other pilot I wrote this year came to me in a similar way. I had the idea for the show. Wrote that treatment up in a week along with the outline. Then I wrote the script in a week. That did seem to pop out of me really fast. But that's because it had a personal motivation. I was writing about loss and about father figures. Both of those subjects are really close to my heart. Even the pilot I wrote before that was about food and about family. Those are things I understand as well.
I now have the litmus test. I am not just writing a short film. I am writing something that is the first introduction to a series, a moment in the lives of the characters I am creating at a moment in time in their lives. This is not their entire life, but this is where we're entering for a really good reason.
I was listening to the other writers in my group share their ideas for their pilots. Some of those ideas were fully realized. Others were just sketches of ideas. I find it great to listen to others ideas because it lets me into their process. I have a part of my brain that analyzes these processes because of experience in writing pilots and in working with writers developing ideas. I try to turn that part of my brain off when I'm listening to these ideas in particular. I am not there to try and make them turn their idea into a series. I am not a buyer. They have to figure out what works for them just like I had to. And what works for one writer does not work for another.
I have a way of working that really feels right and it feels like my process. I have ownership over it. And that's all any of us can do. I think I did the count recently and I'm at about 10 or 11 scripts each of plays, pilots and TV specs. I'm only at 3 screenplays because I really haven't wanted to write anything in screenplay form until recently. When you have studied TV that much, both in school and on your own by taking a notepad and creating an outline for the show you're watching, you take some knowledge with you.
My friend Lisa recently said to me, "Wow, you work fast." And I didn't really think of it. All I know is that I have been working this muscle for years, but I have been upping my training and concentration this year. Not only am I on my fifth script of the year, but I have been coaching people on script writing in one form or another all year. I know what the fuck I'm talking about. And I know what I'm talking about because I read a lot of scripts. I watch TV. I watch films. I watch plays. I take info in.
But the real key for me is that I have decided what kind of scripts I want to write. And I have figured out how to do that. The craft is the vehicle for me to tell the stories I want to tell. No one would ever call any of these ideas great ideas upon hearing them:
- a chem teacher dying of cancer makes meth
- ad exec in the 1960s
- musical comedy about high school
- mobster who goes to therapy
Yes, these are truncated descriptions of what those shows eventually became. But at a dinner party, if you're a writer working on something, that's all you might say. Then someone can very easily shoot them down. But when you read those scripts, they're brilliantly constructed, wonderfully nuanced and immensely readable. They are readable. That's my job. Make it readable. And I do that through a great compelling story, a world I've painted and characters who leave their stain on you. Sure, easier said than done. But that I know I can do. So the subject doesn't matter. As long as I know my subject and know my world convincingly. Then I can bring you in. And my craft and how I structure my story is how you get transported into my world. And once you're there, you want to stay because that world is one worth spending time in. But I've got to transport you first.
I spent this year working on my vehicle. I made it faster, more efficient and a smoother ride. That's why I'm fast. That's why the ideas pop out of my head. That's why I'm good at what I do. Because I do it over and over and over. It's that old adage: Writers Write. That's the only way to be good. In the 30-plus scripts I have written over the past ten or so years, that has been the reason I'm better than I was before. And I'm only counting the scripts in grad school and afterwards. There were other things written before that. And those short stories, plays, novellas, journals and other things also contributed. So those 30-plus scripts are only the ones I've written once I knew I was serious about writing.
Here's the other reason it's important for writers to write: You're too distracted writing to pay attention to what every the hell anyone else is doing. There's less time to compare yourself. My typical work day:
- wake up
- shower
- meditation for 20 minutes
- drive to work
- work
- watching You Tube videos, interviews, documentaries, reports
- reading research material (books, articles)
- writing outlines, treatments, journals, blogs, scripts
- driving home
- watching TV (reality, scripted, movies, binge watching)
- sleep
I don't have time to worry about what someone else is doing. That's actually why I'm naturally limiting my Facebook time. I am not cutting it out. I am not giving it up. I am not going Cold Turkey. It doesn't work with cigarettes and booze and it doesn't work with any other distraction for me. I just need it less. So I use it less. But Facebook is one of those things that will make me solely focused on what everyone else is doing. It really distracts me and sometimes makes me feel bad about myself. So I try to limit it. There's useful information shared and it alerts me to certain play submission deadlines and job postings. And it lets me send condolences or congratulations. But that's all I try and use it for. If I'm on it too long, then I naturally start to feel bad about the things I'm not doing. Instead of doing the thing I want to do and being too busy to worry about what someone else might think about my productivity.
I don't care. It's nice when people say good things. It's not nice when people say bad things. I try not to invest too much in either. But I just make sure I say Thank You. To both. Because even the veiled insults are lessons.
I am grateful for friendships that keep me motivated.
I am grateful for a mental space as well as a physical space to write.
I am grateful for life.
I am grateful for the knowledge of what's really important.
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