Today I just wanted to briefly let you in on a tip that has been continually told to me, and one that I have found to be all too true:
WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN
This goes for every bit of an idea you may ever get. Which can be on several different levels, with several different methods and several different mediums. I'm going to discuss some of the more popular of them here, including my own process.
The reason why this is so important is because you will have ideas and inspirations for movies or tv shows or webshows or video games that could turn into something great someday. Maybe not now, maybe not in a few years, but some time down the line you will have the opportunity and will want to have a cavalcade of ideas to pitch or write. If you had the inspirations written down from the beginning you will be able to easily retrieve and/or remember them.
Many times I've had people tell me an idea* they have for a movie or show. They usually only have it in their head and nowhere else. I encourage them to write it down for two reasons: so you can remember it later, and so you can flesh it out more.
Levels and Methods
Let's talk about where to write all this stuff down. Hopefully you have a moleskin or planner that you can write things down on quickly. I prefer the Moleskin method, I have a particularly big one that I tote around with me everywhere. On good days I can write a few things down on it before I forget them.
I've heard index cards are a really great method and I would love to give it a go sometime. Just take out a bunch of index cards, write the scene heading at the top, then explain the scene. You can mix and match and move scenes around. A good way of coming up with fun scenes and then being able to change them around.
Eventually you are going to want to get everything written down in a word processing program. Remember to backup often! Because the digital medium is so fickle, it's nice to be saving often and to backup your files as much as possible. A good flash drive, external hard drive or CD-Roms are good ways of protecting your data. Another good way is to get it onto the internet somehow. If I am really worried about a file I will email it to myself. Then if something goes wrong it's on there forever.
My favorite programs are MS Word for treatments and outlines, and Final Draft for writing in script format. Here is a preview of the software:
It's nice to write with a program because it recognizes the required template and formatting issues. I can just tab over to get a character or dialogue box. If you have ever tried to do this on a word or notepad program you know how frustrating it is to get the right formatting.
Some other good programs are discussed on John August's (a great writer) blog. I don't like a lot of the programs out there. Movie Magic is okay, but I have my qualms with it too.
The ultimate thing you can do to keep a copy of your script available is to print it out. I know, I know, that's a lot of paper and ink. It's anywhere from 90 to 150 pages. Poor printer, having to work so hard. If needs be you can put it on a flash drive and print it out at kinkos (which is faster but more expensive). But there is nothing like a nice fresh copy of the script, printed out and fancy-like. Remember the cover pages (you can use cardstock) and Acco brads (always get the 1 1/4" size).
Now that you have the tools -- get working! It takes less than a few moments a day to write your ideas down. Then later, when you have more than a few moments, you can expand your idea and start working on the actual screenplay.
Good luck, and good writing!
The reason why this is so important is because you will have ideas and inspirations for movies or tv shows or webshows or video games that could turn into something great someday. Maybe not now, maybe not in a few years, but some time down the line you will have the opportunity and will want to have a cavalcade of ideas to pitch or write. If you had the inspirations written down from the beginning you will be able to easily retrieve and/or remember them.
Many times I've had people tell me an idea* they have for a movie or show. They usually only have it in their head and nowhere else. I encourage them to write it down for two reasons: so you can remember it later, and so you can flesh it out more.
*I must warn you now that there are certain things you can copyright and certain things you cannot. You cannot copyright an idea. If you think in your head that a movie involving a grocery store clerk stealing the Hope Diamond is a great idea and you write it down on a napkin, and then a studio makes that exact movie...you have no legs to stand on. It was an idea that could have been thought up by any number of people or written down after the movie was released. I plan to discuss this in more depth on a later post, but for now just know that the writing of the idea is not going to protect it.What better way to have all the emotions and visuals that you originally thought up on that fateful day than to have some sort of record to help bring it all back? Here are some helps:
Levels and Methods
- Word - they can bring up a quick thought or feeling that you want to portray somewhere.
- Comparisons - two or more existing ideas that you can easily compare your idea to, i.e. "The Bridges of Madison County meets Transformers."
- Loglines - quick summaries of your idea, i.e. "A small beach town is terrorized by a maniacal killer shark and it is up to the local sheriff to find a way to stop it."
- Bullets - this is my favorite because it's quick but gets my idea out. I usually just bullet the main points of the story from beginning to end. It isn't at all detailed or expansive, just something to get the ideas out.
- Treatment - this is much more involved and may take a while. Usually consisting of a few pages outlining the entire story and characters. It is best to break it up into four acts (Beginning, Middle A, Middle B, and End) and just fill in the details. A good treatment takes time and rewrites, but it can be used to pitch the idea more consistently.
- Outline - we're talking a massive list of every scene here, not just a paltry few lines. A typical film will be around 50-60 scenes, so you list them out one by one. You can include a quick synopsis of the scene too, but it eventually gets too long. This can bee one of the best ways to flesh out the story and structure. Very helpful, but a time commitment.
- First Draft - this is usually the goal and it takes time. You can't expect to have a perfect first draft. If you do, it either took too long or you're the perfect writer (who doesn't exist, therefore you're lying or stealing). Don't think too much about this, just get the feeling of the story out. If you don't know how a scene should go, just write it and eventually you can shape it into what you want.
- Final Draft - after many many drafts you can get to a point where you say to yourself you will no longer work on this project anymore. (At least not until you are being paid the big bucks to develop and write it further). There's no set amount of versions until you reach this state, but know that it still won't be perfect. Someone somewhere is not going to like it, but someone somewhere just might - and that's all you really need. One person to like it enough.
Let's talk about where to write all this stuff down. Hopefully you have a moleskin or planner that you can write things down on quickly. I prefer the Moleskin method, I have a particularly big one that I tote around with me everywhere. On good days I can write a few things down on it before I forget them.
I've heard index cards are a really great method and I would love to give it a go sometime. Just take out a bunch of index cards, write the scene heading at the top, then explain the scene. You can mix and match and move scenes around. A good way of coming up with fun scenes and then being able to change them around.Eventually you are going to want to get everything written down in a word processing program. Remember to backup often! Because the digital medium is so fickle, it's nice to be saving often and to backup your files as much as possible. A good flash drive, external hard drive or CD-Roms are good ways of protecting your data. Another good way is to get it onto the internet somehow. If I am really worried about a file I will email it to myself. Then if something goes wrong it's on there forever.
My favorite programs are MS Word for treatments and outlines, and Final Draft for writing in script format. Here is a preview of the software:
It's nice to write with a program because it recognizes the required template and formatting issues. I can just tab over to get a character or dialogue box. If you have ever tried to do this on a word or notepad program you know how frustrating it is to get the right formatting.Some other good programs are discussed on John August's (a great writer) blog. I don't like a lot of the programs out there. Movie Magic is okay, but I have my qualms with it too.
The ultimate thing you can do to keep a copy of your script available is to print it out. I know, I know, that's a lot of paper and ink. It's anywhere from 90 to 150 pages. Poor printer, having to work so hard. If needs be you can put it on a flash drive and print it out at kinkos (which is faster but more expensive). But there is nothing like a nice fresh copy of the script, printed out and fancy-like. Remember the cover pages (you can use cardstock) and Acco brads (always get the 1 1/4" size).
Now that you have the tools -- get working! It takes less than a few moments a day to write your ideas down. Then later, when you have more than a few moments, you can expand your idea and start working on the actual screenplay.
Good luck, and good writing!
4 comments:
You write so much it's crazy! It's good for you to always be writing though! You're getting better and more clear in your writing since you've been more consistent in your writing. Anyway, when do I get to see "Bridges of Madison County" meets "Transformers"? I want to see how that could work.
Good post. I always have ideas, and I need to write them down more. I'll tell Curt he should write his idea down, too, in case he decides one day that he's ready to share it.
Good advice. Particularly liked the Levels and Methods. I do that sort of thing, but it was nice to identify and catagorize it.
Also, I don't have a moleskin, so I just text myself ideas and then lock that received text. Later on I'll transfer those text ideas in to a notebook.
This made me think of Mad Men this past week. No spoilers, in case you haven't watched it, but this post is very relevant to something that goes down...
I'm getting better and writing things down. I find that if I want to expunge an idea from my head, the best way to do it is to write it down. Especially at night. Lack of sleep from too much thinking has caused me many an all-nighter, but if I write down what I'm thinking about, I tend to sleep better...
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