Scriptlitchick's Blog

Tomorrow my BFF is moving to Atlanta to be a producer on a new TV show. Wow. I’m really kind of numb. And very sad. Not to mention, today is day #2 of my rewrite and I have to write with all of these uncontrollable emotions running around inside me. As I was doing my morning routine, I started remember what an acting coach once told me.

Let me digress for a moment. Yes, I am an actor. Before I became a writer, I was a commercial brat, a vocalist and studied method acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Hollywood as a teen. I started out as a Theater Arts major at UCLA before I switched to English Literature. So… yes, I am a writer who grabs tricks from my “acting bag.” One of them is using LIFE.

You see, sometimes as writers we can get to “into our heads” and not enough “into our our hearts.” We make characters do things to move the plot forward, but it’s not honest. We may stomp and puff and pout like spoiled children, but that still doesn’t change the reality. This is a great plot point, but it’s not what that character would do. If we can take a break from our tantrum long enough to realize that the scene with the speeding train and the little old lady and the dog isn’t going to work, then we have an opening. We can climb inside our character’s skin. What do they want more desperately than anything in life? How is life (another person, force, etc) going against that desperate want? And how are they going to fight with all they’ve got to obtain that want? As we ask questions like these, we must look at our own lives– our own wants and fears. What tugs at us? What makes us cry? What makes us bellyache laugh? What makes us want to kill someone? What do we love enough to die for?

Try this exercise: take a specific major turning point in your life and pour ALL of your most visceral emotions into one of your characters. Use your story map (see previous blog) to plot out all of the twists and turns that will happen as this character’s emotions fuel his/her choices. Each choice your character makes will creates an equal and opposite reaction from another character. It’s action-reaction, action-reaction, action-reaction… And before you know it, you are racing, racing, racing– hardly able to wait to get to the end! And you’re the one writing it! Lol!

As we write, our life breathes into the lives of our characters, and questions like these can cause us to make adjustments when story points just don’t ring true. A new choice can be born. A new plot can be formed. Something completely unexpected and fresh can emerge. And so, now we are “Writing Life.” Alas… (said dramatically) I must go to write my chick flick… and pour all of my emotion into a scene where a girl “loses” her best friend.

For screenwriting consulting, ghost writing, script coaching, come to http://www.thescriptrighter.com

One day I my former writing partner and I walked into the office of the VP of 1 HOUR Development of Fox TV and we sold a 1-hour TV pilot based on a pitch. Tune in Wednesday when I share my experiences and insight on “The Hollywood Pitch.” Once we left the meeting, I was shocked to get a call from my agent on my cell phone saying, “They bought the pitch!” What an exciting moment. I can’t really explain the feeling to know that you entered a room, TALKED, and your talking actually convinced someone to buy your product. And I’m not talking about $3.99 Girl Scout Cookies. It’s very rewarding to know the preparation and passion can come together to make a sale.

Now that you know the backdrop, I want to say a few things about Pitching.

• First, selling pitches is much more rare than, say, 10 years ago. But—all serious screenwriters must know that sometimes a pitch meeting is the Step 1 to a two-step process of selling your script. These days, many studios and production companies want to meet a writer, hear their idea/s in preparation for reading their script/s. Wowing them in the room is the extra push to that “all-important read.”

• This brings up my next point. As Michael Hauge says in his “Secrets of the 3-Minute Pitch,” you must ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BUYER. Prepare for your pitch by thoroughly researching the people you’re approaching. Using Imdb on the web, your contacts, the HOLLYWOOD CREATIVE DIRECTORY and the SPEC SCREENPLAY SALES DIRECTORY to learn as much about the people you are pitching to. Make sure to drop one or two facts about the person or company you’re pitching to, to let them know you’ve done your research. You know what kinds of movies they make, etc.

• In addition to research, learn to ACT. This is an important technique I’ve developed since I come from an acting background. Learn your pitch as if you were an actor learning lines for a play. You don’t want to bore your audience and be “on script.” You need to “rock the house” by being animated, able to improvise, and able to passionately convey your story/pitch in a way that is creative and energetic.

• This brings up the next point. Most industry insiders know that your pitch should be from 3-5 minutes long. What I did in the pitch I sold was memorize my lines, but then I had “talking points” for after the pitch.  Don’t try to cram the whole story into a half-hour. After you’ve WOWED ‘EM you can field questions and add details. Remember, you want them to fall in love with the idea.

• This leads up to my next point – give them the major turning points of your story. There are key elements that Hollywood insiders look for. You don’t have to tell the whole story, but you do have to tell them—who is your protagonist? What is your theme? How will this grab an audience? And so on.

• Last but not least, close with a statement that will get them to read your script! One thing I always do in a pitch is leave them with what I call a “scene sparkler” – a key scene that will dazzle them and leaving them wanting more. Looking back, it was clear we were going to sell the TV Pilot to FOX TV, when the execs were in stitches over a scene sparkler that was both outrageously funny and endearingly sweet.

For more about me, my classes and consulting come to–www.thescriptrighter.com

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A graduate of UCLA with a degree in English/Creative Writing, Camille Tucker entered the Entertainment Biz as a runner at Walt Disney Studios. In 1992, along with her former writing/producing partner, Kim Greene-Williams, Camille co-wrote and produced “Sweet Potato Ride,” a short film Executive Produced by Bill Duke (PREDATOR, SISTER ACT II). Camille then met Robert DeNiro, who was so impressed with the short that he became the producer her first film deal.

In all, Camille has optioned four screenplays and a TV Pilot to the major studios: Sony, Universal, Fox TV, and New Line Cinema; and has been a writer-for-hire for Touchstone Pictures and countless other clients. Camille busies herself as Head Consultant at The Script Righter, a screenwriting-consulting firm. She is currently penning a romantic comedy, while also getting her master’s degree. In her free time she runs, shops, travels, does pilates and keeps promising to take up golf.

Does anyone else besides me get panicked when it’s time to REWRITE? Who here (don’t raise your hands all at once – lol) gets this feeling in the pit of their stomach after they have stepped away from their draft and know it’s time to roll up their sleeves, put their hands in deep and dig out the perfection in their piece? I say this because I have just finished a very very cool script, a romantic comedy, and I let it sit for a few days and now I know what I must do.

The funny thing is, I always get this way when it comes to rewriting. Why? Because rewriting takes patience and focus. Most of you on here know what I’m talking about. We wish that we could bang out a first draft of something and have Picasso, Rembrandt, Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway. But, alas, when was or is that the case?

Most times when I look back at my work, I’m like– that was a little clunky. Wow, that’s not quite how I envisioned it. And then I remember, HEY, I LOVE WRITING. This is what I was made to do.

It reminds me of a dentist. Sometimes when you get a filling, it might not have been put in quite right and you have to go back. Or, a lawyer. They could write up a contract or legal argument, only to have a colleague correct a few points. So is the case for writers. We must have a few trusted mentors or fellow writers (NOT MOM– mom unless your mom is a fabulous professional writer like my mom! lol). The point is mom, or hubby, or wifey, if they do not have that training will just say, “I love this.”

But what we need is a trained eye. That trained eye will be able to look at the inner-workings of the piece to see if we (the writer) have fulfilled what a reader/audience wants and needs. Then, we must also be our own trained eye. Leave your script or manuscript alone for a few days and print it. Go to a coffee shop, or sit uninterrupted on your couch with a cup of tea and read. Read. Make notes. Pretend your are not you! LOL. Do you like it? Do you love it? This is like a mother going to her daughter’s dance recital, or son’s soccer game. A gentle balance is needed between critiquing your own work and beating up on yourself. Don’t. Just make sure you get through the whole thing, then let it sit for a few more days then come back at it fresh. After that it’s…

Time for the REWRITE.

And no matter how much you love your masterpiece, I would suggest you should rewrite at least once and polish at least once before your ever send it out to anyone, or before you publish it.

We are all here together to be Premiere Writers. And that means the best.

So as I tackle my rewrite, wish me luck!

Camille

For more about me, my classes and consulting come to–www.thescriptrighter.com

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A graduate of UCLA with a degree in English/Creative Writing, Camille Tucker entered the Entertainment Biz as a runner at Walt Disney Studios. In 1992, along with her former writing/producing partner, Kim Greene-Williams, Camille co-wrote and produced “Sweet Potato Ride,” a short film Executive Produced by Bill Duke (PREDATOR, SISTER ACT II). Camille then met Robert DeNiro, who was so impressed with the short that he became the producer her first film deal.

In all, Camille has optioned four screenplays and a TV Pilot to the major studios: Sony, Universal, Fox TV, and New Line Cinema; and has been a writer-for-hire for Touchstone Pictures and countless other clients. Camille busies herself as Head Consultant at The Script Righter, a screenwriting-consulting firm. She is currently penning a romantic comedy, while also getting her master’s degree. In her free time she runs, shops, travels, does pilates and keeps promising to take up golf.

I was thinking this morning about all the days I toiled at Walt Disney Studios as a runner and then secretary before I sold my first screenplay. During those times, I would do anything just to try to get somebody to read my script and get noticed. One thing I learned at Disney (which some of us lovingly referred to as “Mouschwitz” – LOL) was that it’s really important to read screenplays. Can you imagine?– One day my boss had me sit in his office with the door closed and read 3 screenplays in a row. I then had to give him verbal notes on character, structure, plot, etc. Let me give you a tip – my boss at that time was a Development Executive at Disney. Every studio and production company has them. They are the ones who read tons of scripts and make recommendations to the heads of Development on what scripts to pump or dump (buy or pass up on).

Through this process, I learned how tough readers and Development Execs are. As they read and read, they are looking for certain key components that every great screenplay has. As I transitioned from wanting to be a “D Girl” (development exec) to a professional writer, I came away with this– reading is part of writing. Why? A screenwriter who just studies movies will not understand the fabric of the written word. Because when we watch, we are seeing images that have already been acted, translated, directed, and edited.

However, we are screenwriters. We need to see how these words were written on the page before they become a movie. How long are most scenes? How much description? What is too much? Too little? How do other writers take us from one scene to another? How do they write character description? Read, digest, and then put all reading materials down for a few days before you begin to write so your own unique thoughts can percolate. Screenplay writing is so much about rhythm. When we read other screenplays, we gain an intuitive sense of the natural rhythms that professional writers employ. Are you writing a drama? Your prose should be poetic and almost lyrical. Are you writing a comedy? Your writing should be punchy—hard and fast. Are you writing an action piece? You better come out rocking with a high octane pace and hard-hitting action verbs. There’s a great site http://www.script-o-rama.com where you can download lots of free scripts to read. Just remember, screenwriting is a craft that takes time and energy to develop. Have I ever pitched and sold? Yes. I sold a 1-hour TV pilot to Fox TV based on a pitch. Tune in Wednesday when I share my experiences and insight on “The Hollywood Pitch.”

For more about me, my classes and consulting come to–

http://www.thescriptrighter.com

***********************************************************
A graduate of UCLA with a degree in English/Creative Writing, Camille Tucker entered the Entertainment Biz as a runner at Walt Disney Studios. In 1992, along with her former writing and producing partner, Kim Greene-Williams, Camille co-wrote and produced “Sweet Potato Ride,” a short film Executive Produced by Bill Duke (PREDATOR, SISTER ACT II). Camille then met Robert DeNiro, who was so impressed with the short that he became the producer her first film deal.

In all, Camille has optioned four screenplays and a TV Pilot to the major studios: Sony, Universal, Fox TV, and New Line Cinema; and has been a writer-for-hire for Touchstone Pictures and countless other clients. Camille busies herself as Head Consultant at The Script Righter, screenwriting-consulting firm. She is currently penning a romantic comedy, while also getting her master’s degree in Theology and Film Studies. In her free time she runs, does pilates and keeps promising to take up golf.