Watch my web-series on Facebook!

A web-series I created and wrote--MY ROOMMATE SAM--hit Facebook last month and it's been racking up some nice views. Hope you'll check it out!

Visit the MY ROOMMATE SAM page on Facebook!

To watch a video montage of on-set photos I took during production, click here!

* * *



More from Jim Vines...

Read how 16 working screenwriters did it!

Q & A: The WorkingScreenwriter--An In-the-Trenches Perspective of Writing Movies in Today's Film Industry

* * *

No witches, no warlocks, no vampires. 
Just a sexy, rollicking story about a guy trying to hit it big in Hollywood.

"A great summer read!"

"A sexy Hollywood tale!"

"It's WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN for the 21st century!"

Check out LUIGI'S CHINESE DELICATESSEN!





Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional 
cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Your screenwriting questions answered! (#2)

Many thanks to those who have sent in their questions about screenwriting. This is the second batch of your questions and my answers. More to come!

Q: I’m always getting writer’s block! How do I get rid of it?

A: As far as I’m concerned, writer’s block is nothing more than a form of total, absolute and complete laziness. Face it, you’re just not willing to sit yourself down, put on your thinking cap and plumb the depths of your creativity. Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but that’s what screenwriting is all about. So get used to it.

Do whatever you have to do, but force yourself into your writing mode every day. Whatever it takes. And believe me, once you get rolling and ideas are flowing, you’ll wonder what all your apprehension was about. However, if you still find it near-impossible to park yourself in front of that keyboard, and/or if you continually have trouble coming up with ideas, and/or you’d prefer to watch Championship Knitting on C-SPAN rather than crank out script pages, then this might be the universe telling you, “Sorry, pal, you’re not a screenwriter.”

"There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write." - Terry Pratchett

A fellow writer posted the following on one of the screenwriting boards. I liked what I read (mainly cuz I wholeheartedly agree with every word of it).  Here it is...

I don't believe in writer's block. Most of the “serious” writers I've known don't, either. I agree with the one who says, “It's an indulgence of amateurs. When you've got a contract with a deadline, you either turn in a manuscript or return your advance. You may find writing difficult and your results unsatisfying, but you do it anyway, because that’s what professional writers do: they write.” However…

I do believe in the realization that if your current work is of poor quality it should be abandoned. (Don’t delete it—the idea may be worthwhile even if the execution isn’t.)

I believe in inadequate preparation.

I believe in inadequate organization, too.

I believe in writing yourself into a corner so tight that you either need to start over or abandon it.

I believe in lost enthusiasm for a particular work.

I believe in lack of focus, in not knowing what your story’s really about and why these characters should tell it.

I believe in increasing boredom with an entire genre that’s become too familiar.

I believe in well-crafted characters you don’t want to spend time with. (And if you don’t, nobody else will, either.)

I believe in stories that require a daunting amount of preliminary research before you can write. (“Sure, that’s it—a police procedural following a serial killer who’s targeting milliners in 1910 Belgium!”)

I believe in shyness and lack of confidence that makes seeking expert advice or background hideously difficult or impossible.

I believe in not knowing how to start, or where to start, or even if you should start.

I believe in finding the need to learn basic writing mechanics and screenplay format so boring or off-putting that you’d rather procrastinate than spend the time it takes (which isn’t much for format).

I believe in concluding that your whole concept is stupid, immature, derivative, impractical, embarrassing, too personal, legally actionable, or any of a host of other fatal flaws.

I believe in realizing that you're not as good as other people—the ones who ought to know, like teachers and fellow writers—think you are.

I believe in realizing that you're not as good as you think you are—or ought to be.

I believe in that “what’s-the-use” attitude after you learn that your first several screenplays are probably going to be pretty bad regardless of the blood, sweat, and tears you give them.

I believe in the inability of young writers to write characters well beyond their own age and, regardless of research, situations well beyond their experiences—and I believe in the incredible frustration of being young and bursting with ideas that you shouldn’t tackle yet.

Now, any of those can stop you dead in your tracks and keep you stopped. The question then becomes: How can you get started again?

Give yourself permission to write utter crap. Lousy ideas, poor grammar and spelling, stilted dialogue…Write it anyway. Nobody has to see it. Written things can be revised or rewritten to improve them. The blank pages of the “blocked” remain blank.

Change your writing environment. Try something radically different. If you write on your computer in a quiet room, try a spiral notebook in a park or coffee house, or ruled paper on your grandmother’s dining room table. (Not recommended: your blood on walls.)

Perform writing exercises. Writing something different may free you.

Move physically. Play a sport, go for a walk or run, swing on a playground, whatever you like, but get your blood pumping. When it's racing through your body, the brain gets plenty of oxygen—and ideas.

Give yourself blocks of unstructured time when you’re not likely to be sleepy. Find a quiet place, think about your current writing project, and let your mind wander. Rein it back to the subject as needed. This can be combined with physical movement—a long walk may be an idea wellspring!

Play What If…? with what you see. What if the kid cutting your sandwich suddenly plunged that knife into the woman at the cash register? What if he merely put caustic chemicals in the mayonnaise? What if the sandwich and kid are fine, but you choked, right here at your table? What if you gave half your sandwich to that lady over there who looks poor? What if she thanked you for it by giving you something valuable (that she didn't think was worth more than the sandwich)? What if you sold it and couldn’t find her to give her any of the money? What if she found you and demanded all of it? What if...

Write daily, every day, no exceptions, for a set amount of time. If you can't write, you must remain in your writing environment for the set amount of time anyway. Your choices are a) write, and b) don’t write. No games, no internet, no texting, no TV.

Stimulate your mind with new experiences. If you're a movie fan, see a play or watch a street performance. Hear live music rather than CDs, or listen to something in a genre you know nothing about. Eavesdrop on or observe people unlike most of the ones you know. People-watch (and invent lives for passers-by). Attend a sporting event (any kind, at any level) where you don't know anyone and watch the crowd rather than the players.

Upon waking, jot down the surrealistic snippets of whatever dreams you remember. They don't mean anything, in my opinion, but the odds are good that they're packed with drama.

Just do it. You don't want to be a self-indulgent amateur, right?

© 2011 by Maryn Blackburn.  Used with permission.

MORE Q & A TO COME--SOON!

Disclosure: The link below is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

No witches, no warlocks, no vampires. Just a sexy, rollicking story about a guy trying to hit it big in Hollywood.

"A great summer read!"

"A sexy Hollywood tale!"

"It's WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN for the 21st century!"

Learn from those who have done it! Interviews with 16 working screenwriters!

Your screenwriting questions answered! (#1)

Many thanks to those who have sent in their questions about screenwriting. This is the first batch of your questions and my answers. More to come!

Q: I want to write screenplays, but I don’t know where to begin. What’s the best way to get started?

A: My best advice would be to spend some time immersing yourself in studying the art, craft, and process of writing a screenplay. Read a few how-to books (yes, my book Q & A: The Working Screenwriter would be one excellent choice!), then read a handful of scripts that have been produced. (Google search “movie screenplays free” and a lot of great websites will come up.) Also, watch the movies that were made from these scripts. Then, re-read some (or all) of these scripts. But just don’t read them, study them. By this point in time, you should have absorbed enough information to give you a good push toward starting your first script. Finally, sit your rear end down in a chair—and write. No, I’m not going to tell you to write an outline (more on this later), and I’m not going to tell you to write on a computer, or with pen and pad. Some things you’ll have to figure out for yourself. Trial and error. Learn from your mistakes. Discover what works for you and what doesn’t for you.

DO THE WORK. It’s the only way you’ll truly learn.

Next, you need to slog your way through the first draft of a script. Any script. Any genre. Just get that first draft done. Don’t worry about getting it perfect. (As a famous writer once said, “Don’t get it right, just write.”)

When this draft is completed, give it to three or four trusted, intelligent friends and get some opinions. Find out what worked for them and what didn’t.

Did any scenes drag on too long?

Was the dialogue realistic?

Were any of the characters unrealistic or one-dimensional?

Were they involved in the story?

Armed with this feedback, slog your way through a rewrite. Again, how you do this is entirely up to you. Figure it out. Some writers work only on their computer. Some, as I do, always print a clean copy of their script and attack it with a red pen, then transfer the changes on the computer version. Maybe this process will work for you and maybe it won’t—but that’s for you to discover. That’s what screenwriting is all about—discovery. No two screenwriters have the exact same method. Whatever works. Don’t get it in your head that you’re writing your first script with the intent to sell it. The chances of selling any script ain’t high and the chances of selling the first script you ever write are...well, virtually nil. First scripts are for learning purposes only. It could take 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 scripts before you write one that’s saleable. Chances are pretty decent that you’ll NEVER write a saleable screenplay. Screenwriting is both an art and a craft and not everyone is equipped to be an artist or a craftsman. I wish I could draw pictures, but I can’t. I can barely scratch out a decent stick figure. But that’s life. Problem is, screenwriting has become the new sporting event and everyone’s jumping onto the field. Everyone’s got a computer, everyone can get a scriptwriting program, and everyone has seen a movie and said, “I could write a better movie than that!” Can you?

So, give this screenwriting thing your best shot—work your rear end off and write, write, write...and see where your journey takes you.

Q: How long should it take me to write a feature-length screenplay?

A: Somebody once said, "It takes as long as it takes—and not a moment longer." For the most part, I’d agree. But, if you're taking two years to complete just one screenplay, I think there's a problem. (However, if you've turned out something akin to Gone with the Wind or Raiders of the Lost Ark, at the end of those two years, then it was time very well spent!) Also, if you're writing a spec that nobody is actually waiting to read, then taking your sweet time is fine. But, if you get an assignment (i.e., work-for-hire) and if a producer gives you a deadline to meet ("I need the new draft by 5PM tomorrow!"), then the leisurely pace you've established for yourself will be unacceptable. So, the upshot here is that it’s good to be able to work quickly and efficiently.

Q: Should I outline my script before starting the actual screenplay?

A: I’m sure you’ve heard it a bazillion times before, but I’ll say it again here: It’s like going on a cross-country trip without a road map. You might—might—end up at the intended destination, but with the map, you’ll save yourself a lot of gas (not to mention headaches).

Over the last several years, I’ve had numerous conversations with first-time writers, and many have said, “I’m stuck on page thirty and don’t know where to go.” I’ll ask them, “You didn’t outline your script, did you?” Nope, not one of them did. That’s what happens. You get this great idea, you come up with a solid start, maybe a bit of the second act, then—BLURP—it just falls apart.

As far as I’m concerned, outlining is where the real work comes in. It’s where you test-drive the story and determine if it’ll all work. It’s where you work out all the pivotal details, where you track characters, where you plot the twists and turns. It’s where you work out the subplots and get a feel for timing and flow.

So, yeah, I feel outlining is an integral part of the screenwriting process and I wouldn’t start any script without some type of semi-detailed outline.

I always hear people say, “But if I write an outline, it stifles my creativity.” I’m not sure I understand this. The outline is where you’re supposed to explore your creativity! Go crazy, try things, see what’s gonna work. Believe me, it’s far less aggravating making those inevitable storyline changes and reworking those twists and turns in a 20-page outline, than in a 110-page screenplay.

But go ahead, write your script without the outline, and see if you can get across the finish line with a coherent story. It’s very possible that you can. However, if you get in the general vicinity of page 30 and say, “Um, now what do I do now?” you might want to consider an outline. (Search this blog for “The Outlining Process.”)

MORE Q & A TO COME...SOON!!

Disclosure: The links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

No witches, no warlocks, no vampires. Just a sexy, rollicking story about a guy trying to hit it big in Hollywood.

"A great summer read!"

"A sexy Hollywood tale!"

"It's WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN for the 21st century!"

Q & A: The Working Screenwriter by Jim Vines! Interviews with 16 working screenwriters! 

Questions about screenwriting??

Do you have questions about the art, craft and business of screenwriting? If so, let me know and I'll post my answers here on my blog. 

Should I accept a "dollar option" deal?

Are screenplay competitions "the" route to success?

My screenplay is 150 pages--can I still sell it?

Do I REALLY need an agent or manager to sell my script?

Pose questions in the comments section below or email me at TheWorkingScreenwriter(at)yahoo.com.

No witches, no warlocks, no vampires. Just a sexy, rollicking story about a guy trying to hit it big in Hollywood.

Some "Susie's Beast" news...

A short film I wrote recently won a nice little award at Film Slam. 

Congratulations to director Chris Williamson and his cast and crew!

# # #

No witches, warlocks or vampires...
just a sexy tale about a guy trying to live the Hollywood dream...

Luigi's Chinese Delicatessen by Jim Vines

BOOK REVIEW: Constructing a Story by Yves Lavandier

Constructing a Story

I sat down with Constructing a Story with a bit of trepidation. But days later, when I turned 

that final page and set the book down, my first thought was, “This is one humdinger of a book 

and no self-respecting screenwriter or novelist should fail to keep a copy within arm’s reach of 

their writing desk.” Seriously, this is a good one. Character arcs, inciting incidents, tropes, “Motivations, subgoals…,” The first/second act transition,” “Major dramatic ironies,” 

“Protagonist objective/obstacles,” and so much more…it’s all there. This isn’t a heavy, dryly 

written book that you slog through. No, it’s written in a breezy, conversational style and you’ll 

blaze through its pages. So before you write your next screenplay or novel or short story, 

whatever your level of experience, you’ll want to read Constructing a Story by Yves Lavandier.

Order your copy from the publisher's online shop!

You can also order from Amazon.com!

#

No witches, no warlocks, no vampires. Just a sexy, rollicking story about a guy trying to hit it big in Hollywood.

"A great summer read!"

"A sexy Hollywood tale!"

"It's WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN for the 21st century!"

Q&A with Screenwriter/Author Rich Whiteside...

Rich Whiteside

Q: So, Rich, tell us about yourself—and why you wrote The Screenwriting Quick Start.

A: The Screenwriting Quick Start is written for those new to screenwriting and is based on twenty-eight years of uniquely-broad Hollywood experiences. I’ve been a technical and journalistic writer for more than thirty-five years. I have written or co-written a couple dozen screenplays. In 1998, Penguin Putnam published my book The Screenwriting Life—a look at the world of screenwriting. I have written for Script magazine (when it was in print form), screenwriting newsletters and screenwriting websites. Industrywise, I have acted on Prime-Time television shows, contributed story elements to television shows as a subject matter expert, pitched episodic stories, pitched series concepts to network television development executives, pitched feature concepts to drama development executives at major studios, had a feature script optioned and moved to production, and interviewed more than a hundred writers, producers, directors, studio executives, agents, screenwriting professors, and authors of popular screenwriting how-to books. I worked for more than a decade at Paramount Pictures and CBS/Paramount in Network Television Business Affairs and Network Television Legal. As to formal screenwriting training, I completed three years in the UCLA Advanced Professional Program in Screenwriting and have introductory experience with the USC World Building approach. I’ve long been an avid screenwriting student.

Over the past twenty-eight years, I have also had a fascination with story structuring and storytelling. My office bookshelves are filled with screenwriting and storytelling how-to books—heavily underlined, I might add—including many lesser known books, some dating back to the start of filmmaking.

Q: Who best benefits from your book?

A: I wrote the book primarily for vast audience of writers who are new to screenwriting. However, there are insights that will absolutely benefit the experienced writer. In fact, one of my test readers is a highly successful actress-writer-producer with pages of credits. When she read the chapters on Politics and Development, she discovered insight about how TV development works that she never knew. And those insights helped her make sense about why several deals went south. She told me that had she known what she learned in my book before going into those negotiations, it would have helped her tremendously. What I cover in this book I have not found covered well in any other book or publication. For example, I don’t know anyone who has talked about the prime-time major network TV year. In network television, there is a distinct TV year that begins and ends with the Up Fronts in mid-May.

The major seasons are pitching season, pilot writing season, and pilot production season. Then for running TV shows, there is a period for season development (plotting out the overall arc for the year), staffing season (when the show rehires staff, replaces staff and brings on an entry-level staff writer), and then the episodic writing and producing. And within each of these seasons there are a lot of moving parts that overlap and are interdependent. Understanding the vagaries of all this helps those who are struggling to break in. Understanding the system helps eliminate some of the frustrations by informing the writer when it is ideal to expend certain effort and when not to waste your time. For example, if you try to pitch a new pilot idea during pilot producing season (January to May), you are wasting your time.

Q: Why aren’t they taking pitches during pilot producing season?

A: The simple answer is that each network has a designated pot of money to pay for a pilot to be written. Once they have expended that pot, there is no need to take any more pitches because there is no money to pay for the writing. In general, pilots are pitched starting as early as June; pilot script orders could be handed out as early as then, but generally not until a bit later. Then, usually, by November all the major networks have handed out their allotment of pilot writing monies. After that, unless a studio is willing to pay for a script to be written, pitching season is over. When I worked at Paramount Network Television Business Affairs, the studio rarely paid for a pilot script, but it did happen. So, if you are a struggling writer and you are out there pounding on doors from November to May, they’re not going to open. I’d recommend they put their effort into something else to further develop their skills.

Now, all this only applies to prime-time, major networks. Today, there are many other episodic platforms, such as, Netflix, Amazon, and all the non-major network channels. I can’t speak too much about development seasons in these avenues because I have little experience with them. But I can tell a writer to not go after pitching to major networks outside of their pitching season. Instead, maybe invest time into finding ways to reach out to the other venues.

Q: Is there anything unique or new to the world of screenwriting how-to books?

A: Yes. Since 1989, I have invested thousands upon thousands of hours into studying nearly all the major story structuring and storytelling how-to books and programs. I also completed three years in UCLA’s Advanced Professional Program in Screenwriting and have taken classes on USC’s World Building approach. Also, over the years, I have helped new writers get a screenwriting start. As I looked back through all this experience, I realized writers pretty much fit into one of three groups when it comes to a structuring approach that best suits them. I also posit that the greatest value of any structuring approach is its ability to motivate the writer to start writing and keep writing. The only way to grow as a writer is to write. Structure books have little value if they fail to help the new writer start and keep on writing. I think that what I have added that is new is my belief that writers can be divided into one of three groups and then directed to structuring approaches that best fits their writing style.

When I looked back through all that I had learned and experienced, I realized that writers tend to fall into one of three groups (what I refer to as the three lanes in the structuring road): those who want the least amount of handholding, those who want some handholding, and those who want a lot of handholding. I believe that those who want the least handholding work best when given the basics and then are left alone. For this group, I’d suggest an Aristotelian approach—basically, Aristotle’s beginning, middle and end teaching. For those who want a little more handholding, I’d recommend a scene sequencing approach. This is the concept that stories can be broken down into a sequence of small stories that build to tell a larger story. In that approach, the writer identifies the sequences and then writes each short story—and each sequence will have its own beginning, middle, and end. And for those who need the most handholding, I’d recommend a roadmap approach. And in my book, I describe the basics of each of these approaches and recommend some books that I like.

This is not to put down any one of these approaches because each approach has generated a major hit. Again, keep in mind that the greatest value of any of these approaches is its ability to get a writer writing and to keep them writing.

Q: I see you have a section on Commonly Debated Topics. What’s that about?

A: I’m sure you can relate to this. How many times have you weighed in on questions posted online about theme that led to endless arguments over definitions of theme, premise, moral and message? Probably more than you want to admit. I have a chapter that lays out the basic conflicting points of view in the most often posted questions. I tried to be more of a journalist in this section and present the different points of view. I suggest to my readers that they read this chapter and then skip over all those online posts because they all end up as nothing more than angry back-and-forth exchanges. I’m convinced that most of those posters don’t really care to learn, they merely want to start threads that bring out bickering. I have wasted too many hours on these arguments when I could’ve been working on productive writing.

Q: How important is goalsetting?

A: I think it’s critical. The people I’ve met who do not have short-term and long-term goals tend to wait for inspiration that rarely comes. Without a disciplined plan, too many aspiring writers fall into the trap of writing only when inspiration and free time hit them—which is not often enough to grow and turn out enough product to launch a career. Goalsetting is a critical element of accomplishment. I wrote this short chapter to recommend that writers craft a plan for education, writing, and networking. I believe that a disciplined routine is the best way to succeed.

Q: Do you need to understand Hollywood politics before venturing in—or can you wing it and succeed?

A: No, but understanding how the system works will very likely help avoid wasting time and running down rabbit trails. It can also give you a level of comfort to know how the system grinds. Most things are out of your control. Understand and accept this and do what has the potential to move the needle forward for you. Accept the fact that, compared to the numbers who are trying, exceedingly few will sell a script or get staffed. So don’t waste time worrying about what you can’t control. Learn what you can control and do all that you can to become one of those few. Have a day job and invest time into writing, networking, and everything else that has the potential to open doors.

Q: How does TV development differ from feature development?

A: In short, TV development last for that year only. At the end of the TV year, 99% of that year’s unproduced deals are dead and put in storage, and the TV year starts out afresh. At the top of the year, networks are deciding what pitches they are open to and what ideas they are not interested in hearing. That is passed to the studios and agencies and pitching season begins. When a pilot concept moves into development, the studio development exec works with the writer(s) on the pitch. If a network likes a pitch and places a script order, the writer must address notes from the studio development exec as well as network notes. Then you wait to see if it gets a pilot order. If it doesn’t, that’s pretty much the end of the line.

In feature development, scripts can flounder in development hell for years or decades as the production company works to get a draft that has the potential to reach the demographics they need to meet to realize the predicted sales necessary to justify production and turn a profit. In the mix are bean counters who estimate what revenues can be expected to come in and what markets the story will work well in and which markets will it not work well in. From that, the studio may choose to give notes to the writer to address market weaknesses. This is where scripts can be improved or, frankly, fall apart. We’ve all see movies after which you wonder how the hell something so convoluted got made. I blame the bean counters and production execs trying to force a round peg into a square hole.

Feature development seems to be more about finding a vision that the production company will get behind and fund producing. For big budget movies, it’s also about locking down A-list talent (directors, actors, producers, etc.). Feature production is more like a putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Again, you can make better decisions the better you understand how the system works. The Screenwriting Quick Start provides a foundational understanding for those just starting down the Hollywood rabbit trail.

Buy it on Amazon today!

# # #


No witches, no warlocks, no vampires. Just a sexy, rollicking story about a guy trying to hit it big in Hollywood.

"A great summer read!"
"A sexy Hollywood tale!"
"It's WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN for the 21st century!"

Check out my book, Q & A: The Working Screenwriter! Interviews with 16 working screenwriters!