The last person who took Corbett’s screenwriting advice.

101 responses so far ↓

• 1 Fortis on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:09 pm

  First of all thanks for doing this. I have three questions…

  1. Do you have any special tips of tricks that help you when adapting a Screenplay format?

  2. Do you have any favorite websites/Books that an amateur can use to learn basic/in depth screenwriting…er “skills”

  3. What movie do you think has the best writing? (It doesn’t have to be your favorite movie)

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• 2 Fortis on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:10 pm

  I meant the first question to read “Do you have any special tips or tricks that help you when adapting a story or idea into a screenplay format?”

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hi Fortis.

  1) I don’t think I have any special tips that haven’t been discussed in most stuff about script writing. But the main thing I look for, after getting the basic story idea, is for the beats of the story in succession. Even if you just scribble them down on index cards, and re-arrange them, you’re getting them out of your head and into SOME kind of tangible form.

  2) There are SO many screenwriting books out there. Caveat emptor. I’d say look at the credits of the person writing them first. Lots of screenwriters who are having a hard time writing, or getting work writing, write books on writing instead. (cont.d)

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  2) (cont’d) The grandaddy of the screenplay books is SYD FIELD’s “SCREENPLAY.” It has its ridiculous elements, but I think it was the first book (that I heard of, anyway) to lay out the 3-Act structure which everyone in Hollywood uses as a point of reference. So it’s not a bad idea to get it.

  I’d also recommend John Sayles’ book THINKING IN PICTURES, which talks not only about screenwriting but directing and producing. And it’s a good idea not to think of all these things in isolation, because in the end they won’t be.

  A good magazine: CREATIVE SCREENWRITING. Comes out monthly or every other month. Lots of interviews with screenwriters, consideration of the craft AND the biz part.

  Reply from Jacobi on March 5, 2008:

  Hey, sorry I’m not Bill Corbett, but I thought I might have a good suggestion for your second question. The website http://www.celtx.com has a great FREE program for the screenplay format. I’ve found it to be very helpful.

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  Thanks Bill and Jacobi, I’ll have to check those out

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Favorite writing (getting to this quite a bit later, sorry — just saw # 3)

  Like I said below, the movies of Preston Sturges have great writing.

  Other, more or less random thoughts…I like the screenplays to:

  – Waking Ned Devine
  – Dr. Strangelove
  – The Godfathers I & II
  – The Princess Bride.
  – The Last Detail.

  These are all pretty well regarded movies, of course… Haven’t thought of any more obscure ones just yet.

  Reply from SaucyRossy on March 6, 2008:

  I love Waking Ned Devine, reminds me of my grandparents. Great movie.

• 3 Beautiful Houndstooth on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:12 pm

  I got a head full of stories and, to be honest, I have never even thought about adapting any of em for the screen. Would be fun to get my hands on a “how to” book and give it a try though. Realistically, what’s the job market like if I discover I’m some sort of screen writing savant?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hi BH,

  Re the book — see my answer to Fortis, above. If I have time, I’l try to suggest more titles for everyone. (cont.d)

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Realistically — the job market is brutal and ridiculous. Like just about anything in the arts and show biz. It seems everyone is writing a screenplay in Hollywood, and increasingly — everywhere. It’s the new version of the Great American Novel.

  However — talent will out. And so will hard work and perseverance. It’s a horrible cliche, I’m sorry, but it’s true. A combination of talent and hard work will put you ahead of about 99% of the aspiring writers out there.

  How do you know if you have talent? Tricky. You can only learn by doing, I think. And giving yourself a lot of license for not getting it exactly right at first. Perfectionism can be your worst enemy, because it can smother your creativity. And your endurance!

• 4 SaucyRossy on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:13 pm

  Hey bill thanks for doing this. Kind offer from a gentelman such as yourself.

  I am having trouble with the structure of when to write. What is your process do you set up a 9-5 schedule, write when the moment feels good (eww), or lock yourself into a room and work until you have a first draft?

  Thanks again, and I am sure I will have more questions as the night goes on.

  Ross

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hi SR,

  I guess it depends on the other obligations in your life. When I’ve had 9-5 jobs to make my $$$, I took whatever chance I could.

  Honestly, I think some kind of regular schedule is pretty essential. If you wait for inspiration, you may just keep waiting. I think inspiration comes in the middle of working, as often as not.

  Even if you have limited time, setting up a couple of regular hours — or heck, even ONE hour if that’s all you can manage right now — is a good idea, I think. (contd)

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  You can actually get a lot done in a small amount of time, if you get into the discipline of writing often.

  But don’t wait for the moment to feel good — sometimes it will, sometimes it won’t. Like working out. But I’ve written some of my best stuff when I’ve gone to my office kicking, screaming, and whining. Ya never know.

• 5 Courtney on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:16 pm

  Bill thank you SO much for doing this!

  My question: I’m writing a screenplay that’s very visual. It will rely a lot on imagery, not as much on dialogue. Now is it off-putting to agents or other “Hollywood people” to see paragraphs and paragraphs of description? That’s one of my biggest worries right now.

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hey Courtney,

  It’s funny that while film is (obviously) a very visual medium, I have had Hollywood producers confess that they do skip over a lot of the stage directions… which can be the bulk of a screenplay. (contd)

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  So I guess I’d recommend finding the sparest way possible to describe your imagery. It will make it easier to read for the Tinseltown folks, true.

  But it’s probably not a bad idea anyway. I actually heard a surprisingly wise thing from a H-wood guy once, who said that he likes the pages to feel like they’re moving at roughly the rate you’d see them onscreen. So if big blocks of description fill the page, it does seem more like an essay than a blueprint for a dramatic experience.

  Hope that makes sense. I’ll come back to this later, time permitting.

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  A final thought on this —

  Remember that whatever your imagery is, someone will have to think of a way to film it. It’s certainly not your job to have to figure out how that gets done, but… it may help to think in terms of what you want to be seen onscreen, then figure out how to describe it gracefully and vividly — but economically, too. Watch out for those adverbs!!

  A screenplay isn’t really a literary work, it’s a blueprint for an experience. So it does have to be kind of spare, and decipherable to a reader.

• 6 Rude on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:21 pm

  …

  Hey Bill!

  We often adapt vintage Old Time Radio plays and perform them live… in front of an audience, on the radio and streaming online.

  The format lets us play with two-dimensional characters, which is actually very fun in a cheezy old-timey radio kinda’ way.

  However, our next production is an original play, and we’ve developed some interesting characters. But we’ve come to a point in the script where, in order to move the story forward in the direction we originally intended, a character must do something completely out-of-character… or we’ll have to introduce some sort of deus ex machina.

  So after that mega-huge set-up, my question is:

  Have you ever written yourself into a corner? If so, how did you eventually deal with it? How much of your script were you forced to rewrite… or did you just bite the bullet and go for the easy out, hoping no one would notice the sloppy writing?

  -Rude

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hi Rude,

  I’ve have written myself into many a corner. Oh Lordy, yes.

  And wow, it’s frustrating when you discover that your best laid plans for your story have a fatal flaw.

  I’d always recommend trying to find a way of fixing it, if you can. Audiences usually notice this stuff, even if unconsciously.

  To be a bit more encouraging, though — it’s often at those momets of seeming checkmate for a story when some of the best, most original notes are found.

  More later if possible — this is a pretty fundamental subject for writers. And being as its ultimately an art and not a science, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But I’d usually err on the side of trying to solve the problem, even if it is a silly comedy.

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  A bit later… Just to add a point:

  “a character must do something completely out-of-character… or we’ll have to introduce some sort of deus ex machina.”

  In this case, maybe consider — is there anyone else who can do this thing which moves the story forward?

  Minor characters are great for that sort of stuff! Then again - not knowing anything about your play, that might be an unusable suggestion.

  Good luck.

• 7 Courtney on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:24 pm

  To expand somewhat upon Rude’s question, I’ve found I have a real problem knowing when to let a piece end. This is true of books and screenplays alike for me. Do you ever have to just force yourself to end something, or do you think it’s best to just let yourself keep going until it ends organically, then edit later? I fear if I do this, I will be writing the same thing until I’m 90.

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Good question. I struggle with the same stuff. And I sometimes think that’s why I got myself into kinds of writing that involves collaborating with other people, and has deadlines. It takes the issue out of my hands somewhat. (A very wimpy solution, ultimately.)

  (contd)

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Yes, I do think you have to decide — almost arbitrarily sometimes — “I’m done with this.”

  To focus on screenwriting, one of the biggest challenges of the whole weird profession is that when you’re most successful — selling the thing — you start to face some of your most gut-wrenching moments with a script. Because then everyone — EVERYONE — gives you notes.

  Mutually contradictory, insane, flowing-like-cheap-wine-cooler, NOTES.

  That’s when you really get dizzy. And too often, sick of your own script.

  So it gets back to the basic story you really want to tell, and why you want to tell it. (This includes making people laugh — one of the noblest goals, I think.) This can be your touchstone in the wild tides of writing, rewriting, taking notes, and moving onto another script.

  Thus endeth today’s sermon.

  Reply from Beautiful Houndstooth on March 5, 2008:

  All this talk of the endless streams of NOTES people give writers sort of makes me wonder if movies like Waterworld and Battlefield Earth would have been better if they’d had a bit less script intervention.

• 8 Samtaco on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:27 pm

  Bill, has any of the events of Barton Fink happen to you?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  All of them.

• 9 SaucyRossy on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:35 pm

  Bill another question. My cousin and I finished a script. It’s a low budget comedy that could conceivably be done on a very limited budget, it basically takes place in one location (apartment).

  So my question is, should we go ahead and shoot it and try and hope it gets picked up or should we pitch the script?

  If so what is your advice on even how to get a meeting to pitch your script? I’ve been told NOT to send copies to agents and studios. So how exactly does one get some one to read their script?

  You are the best and I love bacon.

  Saucy

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  Reply from Rude on March 5, 2008:

  …

  Hey Saucy!

  I know you were writing to Bill, but i thought i’d chime in here real quick. I’m sure he’ll have something more to offer later anyway.

  One of the things that i learned from film school was that, if you don’t do it yourself… it probably won’t get done.

  If you have the means to actually film your own script, then i say: Go For It!

  I can’t imagine doing so would take anything away from the script if you intend to sell it later. In fact, you might find ways to actually improve your story while trying to film it yourself.

  But that’s just my opinion, of course.

  -Rude

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  SR, just getting to this a bit late –

  Thanks for the kind words. I, and bacon, appreciate it.

  I agree with Rude, above. I think he says it well. DIY if you can.

  Pitch meetings are a bit of a thing of the past, unless you have a Hollywood track record. A pitch meeting really means that you’re trying to sell your idea before you write it. There just aren’t many sales made that way anymore, in my understanding. You’re better off writing your script, and making it great. Then at least you have something solid for people to read. That’s the real test anyway, frankly — workable ideas are a dime a dozen, in pitch form. The devil’s in the details.

  Hollywood is designed to have almost absurd walls of defense against people who are trying to break in. And yet they (collectively) realize that in the end, they need SOMEONE to write all this stuff, and new people have to be found as old ones croak, or disappear to a fishing village somewhere, never to return to an exec’s office again.

  The best advice I have is to follow the rules of engagement scrupulously. They can be found in any of 9000 screenwriting books. It usually involves sending a brief letter of inquiry to agents or producers, seeing if they’re interested. Most won’t be, but all you need is a few positive responses.

  All that said — if and when you can make a good end run around the rules, do it!! Just don’t make it your quest. Too many people make it their work to find the formula for gaming the system, instead of doing their creative work. The creative stuff is really should be what you’re engaged with most of the time, I think. The rest finds its way better when that’s the case. Believe!

  Better yet, become a professional stripper first, THEN a screenwriter.

• 10 daltysmilth on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:37 pm

  Hey Bill, are you at all worried about changes a director might make to your script in the process of making the movie? How much control do you have over that?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Sure, I’m worried. The good and the bad for writers in Hollywood is —

  1) you get paid quite well for your work. (good!)

  2) ultimately, it’s not yours anymore. You sold it. And therefore the people you sold it to can require changes. (bad!) (<— much of the time, anyway. To be honest, I’ve gotten some GOOD notes too — useful, I mean. Stuff that made my script better.)

  Really, the writer doesn’t have much power in the movies, unless that writer also starts directing his/her own work. Lots of writers make that their goal — some writers are terrified by the prospect.

  Writers have a good deal more power in TV. It’s a saner world in many ways, and the main reason I haven’t gone for more work there is that you have to live in L.A., and the hours can be BRUTAL for a lazy sod like me. (I really do like seeing my kids, too.)

  Reply from mrbasehart on March 5, 2008:

  So have you ever thought about directing one of your own screenplays?

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Yes, I actually would like to direct something I’ve written. Something small-ish and modest, and (hopefully) funny.

  I’m kind of setting a vague course to that goal, in addition to the riffing duties. We’ll see if it works.

• 11 mrbasehart on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:38 pm

  Hello Bill,

  How much story and character preparation do you do before you write a screenplay? Do you have a definite goal in mind for the story and the characters, or is it something that grows with the actual writing of the first draft?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Mr. B –

  Great question. Well, I’m naturally a pretty impulsive writer, and love to just dive in. BUT I’ve tried to train myself to outline as much as possible first. It really does pay off.

  You can charge into a short piece, or a skit, without taking extensive notes. But when you’re writing a 100-120 page script, I’ve learned (through lots of error) that you do need a plan.

  If the idea is a viable one, and has dramatic / comedic life to it, there’s usually plenty of room within that for inspired moments, scene to scene.

  I struggle with this, though. It’s something my partner Rob is better at, and I’ve learned from him. On the other hand, he seems to think I’m able to bang out a piece of funny writing faster than he is, without too much deliberation. We all have our relative strengths and weaknesses, I s’pose.

• 12 Jacobi on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:41 pm

  Hello Bill thanks for taking this time to answer some questions. There’s nothing more encouraging to someone trying to make it in the entertainment business than hearing advice from someone who has had some measure of success.

  Now, enough with the ass-kissing, on to the question! I am currently in the process of writing a script for my first independent feature. However, I always have trouble writing believable dialogue. I’ve tried recording conversations and listening intently to the way people talk, and even speaking the dialogue myself to try and hear if anything’s amiss. Still though, when I read a page of dialogue, it sometimes just feels stilted. Any pointers?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Dear Jacobi,

  Thanks for smooching my backside. Ah, dialogue. Yup yup yup.

  Let me ask you this, then come back to you in a minute — have you actually heard actors read your dialogue? If so, what did the problem seem to be?

  Reply from Jacobi on March 5, 2008:

  I haven’t heard actors read the dialogue, mostly because I’m shy about showing my work until I think it’s “finished”. I have let a couple friends do a reading of some preliminary pages, but nothing extensive.

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  I think it’ll help to hear actors read your stuff, for several reasons:

  1) It may not be nearly as bad as you think, once it’s invested in by a decent actor. In fact, it might work brilliantly!

  2) If it does need work, it might become a lot clearer to you after hearing actors try to make sense of it. Could just be a matter of editing; maybe you need to make the dialogue more “speakable”… then again, it might work very well.

  Try to get over the shyness if you can… it won’t be your friend as someone who writes scripts. Too much collaboration needed. Too many damned people!

  Novelists and poets can afford a tad more shyness, I think.

  Reply from Jacobi on March 5, 2008:

  Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely going to get a group of actors together for a reading now. Good thing I put in the hours and got a few contacts in the local community theatres. It almost makes it worth sitting through endless hours of listening to “actors” mutilate Mame.

  Reply from Jacobi on March 5, 2008:

  Not that it takes too much to make Mame unbearable, though.

• 13 Rob III on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:41 pm

  Hello Bill.

  What is you threshold for a story to be “based on actual events”?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hi Rob the Third,

  I’m not sure what the legal threshhold is. When I see that, what I usually see is more of a PR campaign tactic — it’s supposed to entice you into wanting to know how this bizarre / hilarious / touching / or horrible thing could have happened in this reality we all share.

  Ultimately, it doesn’t mean much, I think. If you’re asking what you need to do legally to clear a possible story based on actual events, I can’t be of much help there, since I’ve nevber written anything like that.

  It depends on your motive, to some degree (or your producer’s, etc). If you hope to tell THE REAL TRUTH about a situation by making a movie of it, well… it’s always going to involve some artifice, and lots of aesthetic decisions. It just has to, even with the best of intentions. Sometimes especially with the best of intentions.

  But if you’re just using a real-life event or events as a springboard for something with a life of its own, then its a lot freer anyway.

  Tricky subject,but fascinating. Wish I could do it more justice here.

  (I like you better than Rob I and Rob II, by the way.)

  Reply from Rob III on March 6, 2008:

  You are not just A man, you are THE man.

  Thanks a lot!

• 14 Beautiful Houndstooth on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:42 pm

  Who edits screenplays? Are there editors working at studios like there are for book publishers?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  When you’re writing the first draft, and assuming you’re not working for hire, you and you alone edit it.

  But for a script in development or production, I guess the real answer is that everyone edits them. There are a lot more chefs than in the book world.

  That is to say, all the producers give notes, and the studio guys give notes, and the director gives notes. Some of these are mandatory, some of these are (ahem) “suggestions,” and some are just throw-aways. It’s hard to know which is which, at times, and that is the source of a lot of silly politics.

  But ultimately it’s the writer who executes them, for better or worse.

  Reply from Beautiful Houndstooth on March 5, 2008:

  Thanks so much for your patient responses. Clearly I know little to nothing about screen writing but I love learning from people in the know. I’ll be quiet now and listen to people who know what they’re talking about.

• 15 Take5 on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:45 pm

  Hey Bill,

  Sorry to add on to the pileup of questions here, so I’ll try to make mine a quickie:

  What is your personal cure for writers’ block? Or at least, what’s your favorite way to pass time while it gnaws away at you? I’ve got a nice case of it right now…

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hello Take5,

  For writers’ block, just write. Don’t worry if it isn’t brilliant, or even particularly coherent. Just write - a memory, a list of some sort, anything. Sometimes it primes the pump.

  Personally, there’s nothing like stepping away from the desk and getting outside of the house when I think everything’s suckariffic. Walking, running, swinging from trees — anything to get the blood circulating, and let the brain rest a bit.

  The above is very subjective, though. Maybe booze is the way for you. (You wouldn’t be the first writer…)

  Reply from Rude on March 5, 2008:

  …

  I’ll second booze. Most of our brainstorming sessions begin at the local bar!

  -Rude

  Reply from MonkeyCheezPants on March 5, 2008:

  I’ve struggled with writer’s block a lot, and I find talking to other writerly folks helps a lot - simply by bouncing ideas off of each other.

  Reply from Take5 on March 5, 2008:

  Thanks a lot, Bill!

• 16 doggans on Mar 5, 2008 at 6:53 pm

  I guess I’ll be the one to ask the annoying “where-do-your-ideas-come-from”-type question.

  More specifically, I was curious: which usually comes first to you, the character or the plot? That is to say, does an idea for a great character pop into your head, and you then try to come up with a story for the character, or does a situation come to you, and you later try to think of a character to put in the situation?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hey doggans,

  This is a great question, and a pretty fundamental one, eh?

  I don’t think I’ve ever answered it satisfactorily, to myself or anyone who has asked me. So take my answer with many grains of salt.

  I actually think that ALL points of entry have been a starting place for me, at various times. Sometimes it’s along the lines of — “I’d like to write about a guy like HIM…” Other times the story seems to come a little more fully developed.

  Even setting has been a start for me… in college I worked in London for a semester, washing dishes in a restaurant. When I came back I knew I wanted to write something set there. That’s all I knew, but it was a decent start.

  I’d say whatever keeps calling your interest back, let it speak to you a bit. There’s no magic formula. Damn it!!

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  To expand on what Bill said, I’ve often found with the novels I’m writing that an idea will come to me while listening to a song, or watching a movie trailer, or listening to somebody…or whatever.

  It could be a character, a plot, whatever. But I often find that a story will evolve into really cool ways, if you take two previous ideas for stories, or two characters and make it into one story, or one character…This makes for more complex characters, and can help a lot in giving a push when stuck with writers block.

  Just my input.

  Reply from Beautiful Houndstooth on March 5, 2008:

  With the novels I write, settings and scenarios often occur to me first.

  Reply from Courtney on March 5, 2008:

  To add, everything I’ve ever written has started with a very small idea or notion, usally within my own mind (as completely pretentious as that sounds). I’ll notice myself disconnecting with reality, and write about a character who disconnects from reality in a different sense. I’ll be pissed at my boyfriend and write about a conflict similar to that. They say “write what you know” and I’ve definitely followed that.

  There’s my unsolicited advice for the evening.

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  I’m similar in that regard to Courtney, the novel I’m trying to finish started out as a creepy love story I thought I should write to impress a girl when I was a freshman in High School.

  Well, it has evolved a lot as a story, and the female protagonist isn’t even remotely like her anymore. It was actually that little story that has evolved into a 100,000 word novel that made me decide to be a writer.

  Hmm, I should call that girl

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  Well, it wasn’t creepy…It could just be viewed as creepy since she was one of the cool kids, and I was just a geeky loser writing stories.

  There is nothing creepy in the story, I was just worried about context

  Reply from Rude on March 5, 2008:

  …

  Strange as it sounds… we decide on a genre before choosing a script. Horror, Noir, Sci-Fi, etc.

  Producing OTR means that we have an odd set of circumstances that most writers don’t. The focus of our group is on classic radio rather than individual plays.

  People like to come see how we perform these plays for the radio. Unfortunately… or maybe fortunately, the story almost comes secondary sometimes.

  Anyway, i think starting with an idea of what genre you want to work in can really be a great starting point!

  -Rude

• 17 SEISMIC on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:07 pm

  Who-if anyone is your “writing” idol?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hi Seismic,

  Not sure I have just one, specifically. But a lot of writers I admire greatly, for all sorts of reasons.

  One writing / directing hero of mine is Preston Sturges, who made a lot of great movies in the 30s and 40s. They’re smart and very funny, and full of life in a way that was rare at the time. Plus he had sort of a stock company of actors he worked with, and I really like that idea.

  Other screenwriters I like for various reasons…

  John Sayles. (great career model)

  David Mamet. ( a f***ing cartoon of himself at his worst, which is an increasing arc over time… but still brilliant at his best)

  Woody Allen. (again, kind of a sad decline, but he really did blaze a trail in his wackier days)

  I’m sure I could think of many more, and even better ones! Yeah.

  I should add that I’ve been lucky to work with some of the funniest writers of this time, I think… both on Rifftrax and the puppety days. (Don’t tell them, though. They’ll be impossible after hearing that.)

  Reply from SEISMIC on March 5, 2008:

  Thanks Bill-I won’t tell them, promise!!

• 18 mrbasehart on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:08 pm

  Endings. I know William Goldman talks about them quite well in his books (about how they should finish the movie as quickly as possible), but how do you construct one that doesn’t feel either pat or contrived?

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  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Endings are hard. It’s where SO many movies just dissolve into dumbness. For instance, I really admire the Coen brothers — love some of their stuff — but more often than not, their endings just go for apocalyptic violence, even where it’s completely off the plot (i.e. BARTON FINK, which turned out to be about John Goodman being a psycho…huh?).

  I think that Goldman is wise about a lot of screenwriting things, and this is a good example. It’s tempting to hang around, explain, and tie up loose ends, but once the big finish has happened, it just feels weird to linger. (Got that, you hobbits?)

  “Pat” and “contrived” are traps for every aspect of screenwriting, but probably none more than the third act.

  I don’t have an easy solution, but it helps to be flexible, and be willing to turn around some ideas, with “what-if” questions. I.E. what if this ending I have were to turn out almost exactly the opposite?

  Also helps, I think, to be aware of what you’re trying to leave the audience / reader with… Think less in terms of pleasing a producer, or writing a standard “movie.” There will be plenty of time for that later.

  In your first, more private drafts, try to get a sense of the feeling your movie would leave someone with… the storm of ideas, themes, plot, and emotion… then set your sights there. If it feels cliche or pat, it probably is. Try something else!

• 19 Maul on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:19 pm

  Do you have a tips on how to make expository dialogue sound more natural and not like the character is stopping the film to speak directly to audience?

  Also what is the best way to get work in the industry before you have had the chance to break into it? I’m sure producers don’t have a open door policy to all aspiring writers, so how can we get them to see our work beyond pestering them in a coffee a shop?

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hey Maul,

  Writing exposition is tricky, huh? You really do have to try and bury it in some semblance of credible speech / interaction.

  It’s why screenwriters are so drawn to voiceover narratives, and why dramas that have built-in exposition — like detective stories, medical & courtroom dramas — are forms that writers keep going back to again and again.

  No magic formula, of course — the best I can advise is to remember that ALL of the exposition doesn’t have to come out at once. In fact, it’s usually better if it’s more of a striptease (with apologies to Ms. D. Cody), where you want the audience to retain their curiosity. That makes the exposition less block-y — less prone to the feeling of stopping the movement of the story to lay out the data.

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Ah…regarding getting work. It’s an age old question.

  I can only answer very generally that your time is FAR better spent learning to write, and writing a lot, than trying to engineer the best place to be found / to place your script in someone’s hands.

  Yes, eventually you have to get your material out there. But if you have written a brilliant script, it’s much better to have it take a little longer getting into a few hands, than making a crusade of finding contacts. That’s like a disease in Hollywood, for writers no less than actors.

• 20 Darth Chimay on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:27 pm

  Hi Bill,

  Thank you for taking time to answer these questions. I appreciate it.

  My question is this: Who do you find are the best critics for unfinished work? Do you have a core group of friends and/or family that you give something to? Or do you try to find people who are more aquaintances and less familiar with you?

  Also, how do you deal with the often contradictory feedback? I read once that, if at least 3 people make the same comment, then you should definitely pay attention. Is this good advice?

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Hey D.C.,

  Best critics for unfinished work, in my experience, are people who are smart and honest. They don’t have to be brutal — really, who needs to be abused? — but they can’t be worried about hurting your feelings with an honest reaction. And the onus of making that kind of conversation possible is mostly on you, the writer, who has to make it clear that you’re interested in honest, useful feedback. Easier said than done, I grant…

  I’m lucky enough to have a group of people who I like to test material on, if they’re availabel and I haven’t tried their patience recently. It doesn’t hurt to know the tastes of the people you’re asking, though — like, if you have a smart friend, but she LOATHES detective stories…. for the love of God don’t ask her to read your detective story. Self-preservation is important, too.

  (Fer instance — I have a good friend who is actually a wonderful guy and a serious writer, but i’d never ask him to look over some of my sillier comic writing. It would just plain be awkward.)

• 21 Fortis on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:43 pm

  This isn’t a question just an inquiry…well okay, its a question. But it is a question for everybody not just Bill…

  I don’t know if you have ever heard of the author David Farland, but he is a new york times bestseller for a bunch of novels he has written. But everyday (almost) he sends out an email he calls David Wolverton’s Daily Kick in the Pants…(his penname is David Farland), he makes it mainly for amateur writers, but he says a lot of agents, editors, publisher people, well known authors, screenwriters and all kinds of people you can think of get it.

  I find it to be a very interesting read, he gives writers advice on everything, ie. format, characters, setting, etc. Even how to sell your book, and how to find an agent.

  For any of those interested just click on my name to get sent to my blog where I have posted instructions on how to get these emails.

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Beautiful Houndstooth on March 5, 2008:

  Cool! Thanks Fortis!

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Fortis, that sounds great. You have a URL, perchance, for your fellow posters here?

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  Yeah, http://foreverlost-howitshouldbe.blogspot.com/
  is where I posted the instructions for getting his emails. I didn’t want to put his email (even though it is a public email) out onto a public blog when mine is sorta private.

• 22 Mike Nelson on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:57 pm

  Bill,

  Is it okay if we have the Chili Cheese instead of the Loaded Baked Potato flavor Pringles in studio for our next recording?

  But I crack myself up. (Myself and literally no one else. I’ve focus grouped that previous sentence and truly, not a single person gave it any positive remarks. So back to development it goes and then we’ll re-test it. If it scores low again, I’ll develop it for TV and we’ll air it mid-summer as a replacement, see if it has any legs, and if not, then I guess I’ll just have to turn it into a log line and see if I can turn the studios upside down and shake out some development $.)

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Mr. Slick on March 5, 2008:

  Mike! this is America! Have BOTH!!!!!! Make them use those toliets you bought them all for X-mas!

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  I pity whoever has to edit out all of the crunching noises from you guys snacking…or is there a special anti-pringles-crunch program for your audio editor?

  Reply from Jacobi on March 5, 2008:

  I’d watch a show based on that sentence. Hell, it’s gotta be better than “Reba”.

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Mike, are those all the Pringles flavor possibilities we get?!

  Didn’t you see the new rider in my contract: “No fewer than thirteen salty snack options within reach at any given moment.”

  Come on!!!!

  Reply from Seismic on March 6, 2008:

  What about funyuns? honestly!!

• 23 Mr. Slick on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:58 pm

  If you have a story what do you need to do to make it a “screen play?” I have an outline for a story and I’ve always wondered how to make it into a screen play.

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Mr. Slick,

  Buy a few basic books on screenwriting — available at any Barnes and Noble, etc. And /or buy a few screenplays, to get familiar with the form. If you read enough of ‘em. you’ll get the gist.

  There’s also some great software out there — i.e., FINAL DRAFT. Has all your templates, macros, and doohickeys for making your screenplay look like a screenplay.

  As for making your story work like a movie, see some of the comments above. My quick 2 cents: keep picturing it as a movie, as you go. That will keep you from veering into novel territory, which is much denser.

• 24 Dan Noutko-Kennedy on Mar 5, 2008 at 8:18 pm

  Bill,
  Not to be too suckupitty but I believe the best primers for screenwriting are MST and Rifftrax. The scenarios and characters that you and your fellow writers have created for so many awful films, where those things are so clearly lacking, perfectly illustrate their importance. The best lines are those woven from the often whole cloth rewriting of bad scripts.

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Aw Dan, you’re too kind.

  But it’s funny how you do get an overall sense of where many movies jump the tracks after riffing so many of them.

  On the other hand — it’s hard to write a good screenplay, or any kind of good story. Especially with our self-conscious, self-referential pop culture. The stars really have to align for a truly good movie.

• 25 Bill Corbett on Mar 5, 2008 at 8:21 pm

  Friends and countrymen,

  I have to leave it here, after Dan N-K’s comment.

  Thanks for stopping by. Sorry for the typos. Good night!

  (OK, where the &$%$%^ is that deep-voiced announcer guy who says “RRrrrrifffftraxxx!!!”)

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  I’ll be posting the trascript of this on the Rifftrax forums when all is said and done.

  http://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php/topic,7760.60.html

  Thanks for doing this Bill, this has been awesome. I think we have all learned a lot.

  Reply from Bill Corbett on March 5, 2008:

  Thanks Fortis.

  Please fix my egregious typos. Also, make me sound smarter. And friendlier.

  (…Oh, and better-looking. OK?)

  Reply from Fortis on March 5, 2008:

  Done and done, and done (…and done)

  Reply from Beautiful Houndstooth on March 5, 2008:

  Everyone in chorus now “THANK YOU MR. CORBETT”

  Reply from Jacobi on March 5, 2008:

  A thousand thanks yet again. I love these Q & A sessions.

  Reply from SaucyRossy on March 6, 2008:

  Thanks so much Bill. This was a huge help for me and I am sure everyone else.

  joo rawkzorszzz!!

  thanks,
  ross

• 26 Natalie on Mar 5, 2008 at 9:05 pm

  This was a lot of fun to read through. Thanks, Bill!

  [Reply to this]

• 27 Kevin Murphy on Mar 5, 2008 at 9:16 pm

  Am I too late to…Aw, Hell.

  [Reply to this]

  Reply from Seismic on March 6, 2008:

  It’s okay servo-just sing the Canada song and all will once again be right w/ the world!

  Reply from Daniel on March 6, 2008:

  I know that this discussion has ended long ago, and probably no one will read this, but my question isn’t about screenwriting and it isn’t for Bill Corbett. It’s for you, Seismac. What the HELL is wrong with you?

  Seriously, you say you actually like Adam Sandler movies and now you tell Kevin Murphy to sing the Canada song? HUH?? And you’re confusing Mr. Murphy with the puppet character he played on TV for years.
  Once again: HUH??

  Reply from Seismic on March 6, 2008:

  And I also read old blogs!
  No-that was actually my evil twin who used my user name! I can’t take any responsibility for what that evil B1tch has said or done. My apologies you ahd to endure that!

• 28 deep-voiced announcer guy on Mar 5, 2008 at 9:17 pm

  RRrrrrifffftraxxx!!!

  [Reply to this]

• 29 Alan Smithee on Mar 5, 2008 at 10:55 pm

  Question: I know working with rifftrax you are blessed with the presence of at least 2 other talented individuals who don’t give you the urge to strangle after hours in the same room.

  However, what advice would you give to someone who tends to conceptualize ideas alone, without all the dialogue seeming like a back and forth strand of schizophrenic voice coming from a single mind?

  I’ll try not to name certain oscar winning stripper bloggers who are guilty of such flagrant violations…

  [Reply to this]

• 30 Tim D on Mar 6, 2008 at 6:58 am

  Wow! Eddie Murphy! Did he ask to touch your feet?

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• 31 R.A. Roth on Mar 6, 2008 at 1:32 pm

  I know this is long after the fact but I’ll chip my little niblets of experience. I’ve written two books (a third in the works) and two screen plays without once outlining a damn thing. I just start with an idea and let it fly. If I, the writer, do not know where the story is going then my audience won’t know either. It’ll feel fresh and unpredictable. If you are worried the finished produce will be too off the beaten path or too cryptic, that’s where the rewrite comes in. Editing is your friend. An abusive, petulant friend. Still, a friend.

  In the realm of screen writing: my advice is to pick a TV show, old or new, that you are familiar with and write a screen play for that show. The drawback is the screen play is useless, if it’s for a defunct show. But on the plus side of the ledger, it’s pressure free, and a lot of fun. I got a lot out of writing episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The mix of comedy and drama was a challenge. A friend of a friend, who regularly submits screen plays to HBO (one of which is in the dreaded “optioning” phase), read my first Buffy script and said I should get an agent immediately. To that I said: flattery will get you everywhere.

  Above all remember this: enjoy what you write. Hunter Thomson called writing “hateful work”. It was writing articles for Rolling Stone which elicited his hatred. Penning “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” was another matter. Fiction, or in this case pseudo-fiction, was his escape from the grind, a labor of love. And it shows, it shows.

  Randy

  [Reply to this]

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