or if it's crap, say it's crap...

An idea is only as good as the writer. A poor writer will screw up a great idea and a great writer can make a poor idea work. If this is a story that you have passion for, that you want to spend the next several months (perhaps years) working on and promoting, then don't let people you don't know sway your decision to write it.

My personal opinion is I don't like it. But then I have no desire to write (or see) a movie about the 5 stages of grief, even if it's uplifting in the end. Does that change you mind? Because one person you don't know doesn't like the idea?

Maybe if you wrote a compelling script with interesting characters I'd love it. Who knows? Sorry for the "lecture", but writing depends on so many things and the personal passion and skill of the writer is number one. So I have two questions for you, indie snob; is this a story YOU have passion for? Can you turn this idea into a script you'll be proud of?

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

I wouldn't say it's a script where I am absolutely in love with the hook i previously described. To tell you the truth, I wish I had written Clerks instead of Kevin Smith, or Boogie Nights, or Pulp Fiction, or a million other movies that are just blatently raunchy and scoff in the face of being politically correct yet have lovable and relatable charecters. That is the type of writing that I want to do. But, I sometimes feel stuck with these ideas with elements that have been done before or seem like they fit too neatly into the package of "Typical Blockbusters"; movies that provoke some architypal responses in audiences and therefore will be universally appealing.

What I guess You were saying is that I should write what I think would be fun to see on screen. Model charecters after people I know and not people that I see in movies.

Basically: write what I want, wether the idea is crappy or not I have to write it well, and just hope that someone with the change can give me a hand in making it happen. Or shoot it to the best of my ability and pray the writing stands on its own.

The best way to get out a good script is to FIND a screenwriter. You can go over to the Done Deal message boards (as advertised in Career Screenwriting Magazine) and hook up with someone there. Screenwriting takes years to develop. When a filmmakers attempts to write a feature after dabbling in writing, that feature will feel like something written by a grade schooler.

Find a writer and brainstorm an idea, that's my take on it.

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Originally posted by Charli

The best way to get out a good script is to FIND a screenwriter.

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That's great advice for someone who doesn't have any ideas or doesn't want to write. What advice do you have for a writer who has a lot of ideas and is looking to build on them, to become a screenwriter - like indie snob here?

indie snob - since you wish you had written Clerks, why are you asking advice on a "5 stages of grief" story?

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Originally posted by indie snob
Basically: write what I want, wether the idea is crappy or not I have to write it well, and just hope that someone with the change can give me a hand in making it happen.

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No, that's not what I'm saying at all. Don't write a screenplay from a crappy idea. And don't just hope things will happen.

I'm saying write what you have the passion to write. If you have the passion to tell a story about a guy who loses his wife and job and works through the 5 stages of grief, then that's what you should write. If you want to write a comedy or a crime drama then that's what you should write.

Once you have written a script that you love, that you are proud of, then the hard work starts. You have MAKE things happen.

Everybody goes through the stages of thinking a script sucks at some point in the writing process. I usually work on several scripts at once...well I should say within the same month. I have a folder for each script idea and as I think of scenes, dialog, sequences, characters, etc., then I put those ideas inthe folder. As soon as I think have a script ready to be outlined I start. Somewhere in that writing of that script I lose interest...think of another idea, etc. So I move off of it to another...then I come back when that spark hits me again. I have small character films which I plan on shooting myself and I have large films that I know I cannot shoot and I will be willing to sell-out in a heartbeat. Write what is fun for you at the time then move over to something else, then come back again. We tend to go see a genre of film and then get the spark to write that genre. If you only have a certain type film you want to concentrate on then watch only those types of films to keep your mind in that frame of mind. Listen to the type of music that also keeps you in that frame of mind. It is very easy to manipulate your own mind...and those of others. Like a fine wine...great scripts need time to ferment. Rule number one...get those ideas out of your head and onto paper so they don't clog up your brain.

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Don't write a screenplay from a crappy idea.

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I've read a lot of crappy screenplays, but I don't think I've ever read one based on a crappy idea. I'm not even sure there is such a thing as an idea that's guaranteed to produce a bad movie, though obviously the more engaging the idea the easier it will be to write and sell.

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Originally posted by certified instigator

?quote?Originally posted by Charli

The best way to get out a good script is to FIND a screenwriter.

That's great advice for someone who doesn't have any ideas or doesn't want to write. What advice do you have for a writer who has a lot of ideas and is looking to build on them, to become a screenwriter - like indie snob here?

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I disagree with Certified here. Just becasue you cant put it on paper DOES NOT mean you dont have ideas or dont want to write. If you have a great story or just A story that you want told but don't know how to write a screenplay, can't manage to get the dialogue to sound right, or end up staring at that infamous white blank screen and are stuck, then by all means find another screenwriter to write your movie for you or better yet WITH you. Maybe you write the inital screenplay and the dialgoue is not very good but the plot rocks. Find a screenwriter, hand them the script you wrote and say "i want it to follow that story or plot but please make the dialgoue sound human and better". There are PLENTY of movies that were thought of by other people but htose people didn't write them. Thats why people get credited with "story by..." or "created by...". Case in point, Star Wars episdoe V or indian jones and the last crusade. Both were thought of by George lucas but niether were written by him. Hell, he didnt direct Episode V. But it was his story, he just handed it off to another writer.

So, if you are really struggiling to put your idea on paper then dont force it. hand it off to somebody else but make sure they know that you still want your story and voice heard. Now this could be a problem so you should find someone you trust or that has a good track record. If you do decide to take this route then it DOES NOT mean that you have failed as a writer or that you are not a writer. It just means that you (for god knows what reason) couldnt put these ideas on paper. While the best writers can put almost anything on paper it doesnt mean you should (as a writer) be able to do the same.

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

I'm not sure what you disagree with robi. I said Charli's advice was great. If someone doesn't want to or can't write a good script then bringing on a writer who can is a great solution.

My question is what advice would you give to a writer like indie snob, who wants to write a script and not hand it off to someone else?

i just disagree with your statement that if you want to have somebody else write it for you then you "dont have any ideas" and that handing it over means you can't "write a good script" are wrong assumptions. Maybe its just for that one idea they have problem putting it down in a tangible form. Maybe i misundstood the way you said it though.

As for advice for him on how to write it is to just start with his synopsis. Take sentence one and write that out as a scene. Then sentence two. While this may not be the best way to go abotu writing a script it will help you , indie snob, to get something down and help you to have a foundation on which you can build your story.

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

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Originally posted by robi8886

i just disagree with your statement that if you want to have somebody else write it for you then you "dont have any ideas" and that handing it over means you can't "write a good script" are wrong assumptions.

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Okay. I see. You missed the "or" in my statement.

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Originally posted by certified instigator
That's great advice for someone who doesn't have any ideas or doesn't want to write.

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I didn't mean to suggest that everyone who wants someone else to write the script has no ideas. And you took that quote "write a good script" out of context. Finding someone else to write a script (as Charli suggested) is great advice for someone who can't "for god knows what reason" (as you put it, robi) write it "or" for someone who doesn't have the ideas.

Many people have ideas and don't (for god knows what reason) want to write the script. I just didn't get the impression indie snob is in that situation. It seems like he is having trouble deciding which of his many ideas to concentrate on.

BTW - I'm the only one who has commented on indie snobs story idea. Anyone care to answer his question?

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

we did stray off topic a bit.

so lets get back on...i like the basic premise of teh idea but my only critique would be that it seems to be a bunch of short films tat are all tied togther because one character is teh same. I would try to create one main problem and an antagonist. Find another character that is involved in this plot besides the one man and the mulitple charcters he encounters in each seperate story (if that makes any sense). basically just try to create one underlying problem, bad guy, etc... instead of just a series of depressing events. you can also still have teh events you stated and the "5 stages of grief".

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

Going back on topic...

You indicated above that your original pitch - you said that you are not in love with this idea.

I believe that to make your story work you really have to be totally in love with the idea behind your story - otherwise you really won't want to spend every hour under the sun making it work, and if you think the idea is only good (not great) then what will others think about it.

My advice is to get one of your 'ideas' that you totally love and work with that - you'll find that you can't stop writing about it.

??Goofy Horace??

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My advice is to get one of your 'ideas' that you totally love and work with that - you'll find that you can't stop writing about it.

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But then you may find that you can't get far enough away from it to judge the script objectively.