Newsworthy?

Variety had an interesting article about screenplays that reflect the writer's life. It's always cool to read where stories come from, so it's a useful article to check out. But is it newsworthy? Who doesn't write something autobiographical when they write? I took a creative writing course in college called "The Autobiographical Imagination." I assumed we'd learn to write memoirs. But on the first day the professor announces that we could write whatever we wanted -- poems, fiction, essays -- anything. That whatever we wrote would be autobiographical because we'd be expressing ourselves.

'They" always say to write what you know. I don't believe it's possible to write anything else. I know you're thinking, "Well, I don't know about the Vietnam War and it's not autobiographical for me because I'm only 30!" You still will write a script about something you know. First off, you'll research the subject matter. But not too much. But you won't be writing a history special. Your script needs emotion and characters and specifics that take it from concept to story. And that stuff will be what you know. Even if you don't know the exact emotion of someone going to war, you know of a time when you've been frightened, and can transfer what you're feeling into the context of your story. The topic compels you for a reason, because you relate to something about it. Write about that. That's what you know.

I think it would be impossible to dedicate myself to several drafts of over 100 pages of screenplay without having an emotional connection to the material. Even a writing assignment needs that element of YOU. Every script is a reflection of its writer. So it's important to remember to tell your story, but kind of obvious at the same time. Why tell anything else?

The Black List

It's that time of year, when unproduced scripts get to shine. The full black list hasn't been released yet, to my knowledge (but I'll post when it does). But here's the top ten scripts on the list.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/the-black-list-to-be-posted-here-in-entirety/

I'm really excited for The Social Network -- though I was before it made the list. Cedar Rapids and Desperados will also be really cool, I think, if they do get released. Because really, who doesn't love something with the description "The Hangover meets the Sweetest Thing?" Two silly, amazingly fun movies come together? Gotta be good.

Anyway, congrats to the writers who made the list this year. As always, this list inspires me to work harder on my own projects so that someday, I can see my name on that list as well. Not that it's the be all and end all of everything, but it's good to have goals.

UPDATE: Nikki Finke has posted the complete roster of the black list. View it here.

Perfect Scene

*SPOILER ALERT*

I was blown away by the writing in a recent episode of Gossip Girl, "The Treasure of Serena Madre." It was the perfect example of creating tension in a scene, and it was beautiful to watch.

It was the Thanksgiving episode. The Humphreys and the van der Woodsens were celebrating their first Thanksgiving together - and boy did they have different opinions on the holiday! Rufus wanted something huge and holiday-like. Lily wanted small, maybe even just take out. She didn't even want to invite her mother. Meanwhile, Vanessa decided to crash at Dan's loft because her mother was driving her crazy. Except she didn't realize that ever since the threesome Dan's been madly in love with her. Blair's mother was hiding something, and Blair (who is obsessed with Thanksgiving) was determined to find out over the holiday -- and when she does, she thinks the big secret is that her mother's pregnant. Serena and Tripp were busy having a quasi-affair, which was driving Nate crazy because he's in love with Serena again. Oh, and you know, the whole political figure scandal. Jenny's discovered that Eric was secretly behind her sabotage at Cotillion.

After a turn of events, everyone winds up at the van der Woodsen/Humphrey Thanksgiving. EVERYONE. Including Lily's mother, Vanessa's mother, and Tripp and his wife. The table is buzzing with secrets and tension. Everyone has to be on their best behavior, because it is a holiday, and they don't want to embarrass themselves. So there are a lot of snide comments. A lot of subtext. And finally, a lot of storming off.

It's a great scene because the audience is aware of all the tension. The audience knows everyone's secrets, everyone's drama. So we're just waiting for the pot to boil over. Waiting. It comes slowly...what's going to happen...how will our characters react...and then it all erupts at once.

This is what they mean when they say you should make sure your scenes have tension. Make your characters uncomfortable. Surprise them. Take the day we're all supposed to be happy -- Thanksgiving -- and blow it up so that there's nothing to be thankful for.

Watch the scene here.

Welcome to LA!

I spent the last month in a whirlwind, planning a move to LA. I determined that it was the place to be for writing, especially TV, and that if not now, when? So here I am, in my new apartment between Culver City and Century City, knowing that not too far away are all the studios and agencies and places that are just waiting to hire me. Right now, it's a bit of settling in and job hunting. Since I know a lot of blog readers are interested in the job search, I'll try my best to keep everyone updated on how things are going.

So far...I have a couple informational interviews lined up, I keep meeting people who know people who are passing along contact info, and I've applied to practically every job on the UTA joblist. As expected, the cold call applications haven't done much for me -- but I've only applied to a few in the week I've actually lived here, and I get that no one wants to hire someone who isn't physically in the state yet.

I'm trying my best to jump right in. I attended a panel last night at 826LA about women TV writers. The panelists were FANTASTIC, just such warm people with good info and a good outlook. I'll post my notes on that a bit later. But I was delighted to have a great conversation with the lovely Amy Berg, formerly of Leverage, currently of Eureka. It's a little crazy moving into an apartment, figuring out LA traffic and crazy drivers (never thought I'd miss NYC driving), keeping up with script reading, looking for a job, and networking. But it's the hustle, and if I can juggle all of these things, certainly I'll be able to juggle a 14 hour a day schedule in a writer's room.

The Vampire Diaries

I finally caught up on last week's episode of The Vampire Diaries. I really didn't expect to watch this show at all, much less get caught up in it. I thought I'd check it out purely because I miss Buffy a lot, and I wanted to see how Nina Dobrev did outside of Degrassi. And what I found was a clever, dramatic, well-written show. So if you haven't checked out this show yet, I recommend it.

But that's not the point of this post. In this past episode, I started really noticing Bonnie (played by Katerina Graham). She's Elena's (the protagonist) best friend. Her relatives are witches (Salem witches, but don't get me started on that...I'm a self-proclaimed Salem semi-scholar, and the misuse of Salem witches irks me...but it is the CW), and she fears she might be a witch as well. At first I thought she was just a sidekick and her powers were just there for convenience and to give her something to do. I didn't expect much out of her. Certainly not depth. But I realize now that her character might be the most compelling. She's crafted very well, very subtely, and though her journey is very much a subplot, it is fully-thought out and engaging. There's a great deal about character building to learn by examining Bonnie.

And yes, the rest of this will be a spoiler. Mostly.

Since the first episode of the show, Bonnie's been freaked out by her strange premonitions and odd feelings that she sometimes gets from touching people. At first, she tried to convince herself it was all in her head. That she was perfectly normal. And while she believed that, the audience didn't really have any reason to care about her. In fact, I thought she was a bit whiny. Just accept your powers, you know? But come to think of it, if I started being psychic and witchy I don't think I'd just ease right into it. And neither does Bonnie. She has a vision of numbers, and something really horrible happening with those numbers. And it turns out the coach gets murdered and those numbers appear at the murder scene. So Bonnie's a bit more freaked than usual. She kinda sorta predicted it. What does that mean? What else will she predict? Is she responsible? Hey, maybe she is a witch, and isn't that kind of cool in a scary kind of way? So in this week's episode, she comes into it with all these wrapped up emotions and trepidations. And she doesn't talk about her fears with anyone much. She just comes to grips with her powers slowly and subtly. She realizes she can light a candle with her mind. She doesn't try this, it just happens. She's a little scared, a little proud. All silent emotions written on the actress' face. And later, when presented with the opportunity to try this again, she takes it. And at first it seems not to work. And we see disappointment. We see that she wanted to be a witch, even though she's terrified. And when she looks back at the candles, they're all lit. And she's excited. And terrified. Because even though she wants her powers, she is scared. It was easy to want them when she didn't have them. But now it's all real.

Watching Bonnie deal with this discovery of powers is compelling. We see an entire internal conflict, even she's in only a few scenes. We understand this girl. She's real. She's not just some sidekick built so that Elena can have someone to think aloud to.

That's what makes Bonnie so great. She's not the most important character in the show (yet...I have a feeling she will become important) but she's an actual character. Too often, side characters are faceless nobodies. They exist only for the protagonist. But a better story is told when all of the characters are developed and real. When they all have arcs. I heard a powerful quote once that I always keep in mind when writing: "We are the hero of our own story." That's how it should be for secondary and tertiary characters. (And especially antagonists). They are the heroes of their own stories. If someone wanted to tell a story from their perspective, they'd have all the tools. This emphasis on secondary characters makes The Vampire Diaries must see TV, and it will make your scripts must reads.

Pitching #3

So this post will be a bit more abstract. We've covered the types of pitches, as well as the elements of a pitch, and pitch materials. But even if you have all of that down pat, how do you really impress the execs?

Many writers get extremely nervous talking in front of people. Especially important people. Especially when their hearts and souls (not to mention hours and hours and even years of hard work) are on the line. But to have a successful pitch, the first thing you need is confidence.

Okay, but how do you get confidence?

• First, know your story inside and out. Love it. Believe in it. Your story and your execution of it are so fantastic that they're worth six figures or more from these executives. If you don't that walking into the room, you'll never convince anyone else of it. But, there's a fine line between confident and cocky. Maybe you wrote the next Juno. You will be laughed at if you say that. Your story is great. You're great. But you're not better than anyone else.
• Practice your pitch. In front of people. In front of a mirror. in front of your action figure collection. But it's best in front of people, because they can actually give you feedback. Maybe the first time you'll practice reading off your note cards. Hopefully, when you're ready to pitch, your note cards will have a bunch of chicken scratch on them that only you can sorta read, and you're not going to need to refer them. I hate pitching with notecards. It makes me nervous, makes me lose my focus, and inhibits my concentration on the pitchees expressions. I've always been a bit off-the-cuff, and I totally get that not everyone is. But try to memorize your pitch (or better yet, know your story well enough) that you can go off the cuff. This will help you pitch outside of formal pitch meetings, say, at a networking event.
• Don't get caught up in the wording of your pitch. Maybe you wrote something great on those note cards. Shakespearean even. If you sound like you are reciting a speech, you will lose interest. This isn't a speech, it's hopefully a conversation. If you fumble a word or two of your memorization, remember this: no one knows what's on your note cards. No one knows your script, so they won't know if you get something wrong. So don't get flustered. Because the only way anyone can possibly know if you got something wrong is if you show it all over your face, or if you correct yourself. However, if you've been calling your main character Jack, and then slip into his name from a previous draft, Steve, correct yourself so the execs don't get confused.
• SMILE! Even if you're shaking inside, a smile will make you come off as confident and enthusiastic. It will also relax you. You know that trick that if you're on the phone with someone you can't stand, you should smile, because it will make your voice sound happy? It works in real life too. Fake it til you feel it.

Next up, the difference between selling and a conversation, plus words you really shouldn't use.

Looking for Inspiration

Writing a good script involves tapping into your own life, your own stories and events that you've witnessed, and alchemizing (i know it's not a word) them into a powerful story for your characters that speaks to your audience.

Sometimes, it's the easiest thing in the world. More often, it's hard to find that line between the stories that inspire us and the story that would work for a script. So, I thought I'd share a great post from the Grey's Anatomy writers' blog about the inspiration for this past week's episode. So yeah, spoiler alert. So watch the show if you're into it. And if you aren't a Grey's fan, there's still something to be gained from reading how professional writers come up with their story ideas.