And So, We Begin...
Well, it's official. I'm becoming one of those people who talks about her writing, rather than does it. But I hope not for long.
The shortish version is this: Despite the fact that I graduated from NYU with an MFA in Dramatic Writing, specializing in screenwriting, I haven't finished writing a screenplay in 21 years. I've helped lots of people finish their screenplays, in my jobs as script coach, development executive, and just plain pal...but other than a shortish "Sex and the City" spec episode I wrote for a class at Writers Boot Camp, nothing. This was not always so. In my two years at NYU, I wrote 2-1/2 screenplays while working almost full time, interning like a bastard, having a boyfriend, adjusting to being in New York, and getting the news that my father was dying of brain cancer.
Yes, there might be a clue there.
I've written lots of other things. I've published short stories and essays and I'm about to publish not one, but two books. I've developed content for a sign at Times Square, informational design for a library/theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina...
Okay, I'll stop writing about how smart I want you to think I am, and get to it.
Why this blog, amongst all the other blogs that are blogging away in the bloggy blogosphere? Because in her book about writing, "Bird by Bird," Anne Lamott talks about a necessary rite of passage in order to get to a finished manuscript. Before you write your beautiful book, she counsels, you have to write a Shitty First Draft. Until you have embraced how truly bad your first draft is going to be, Lamott warns that you may not ever finish anything. And I deeply believe that, and have written many, many Shitty First Drafts that have gone on to be...well, pretty okay. Published. Paid for. Enjoyed by others.
I just don't think I ever quite got there, after my initial attempts, with a screenplay. I wanted it too badly to be Fantastic, or, to quote one of my favorite books about improv comedy, Something Wonderful Right Away.
So this is my attempt to..well, narrate that process. To talk about my progress and defeats while I write my cinematic version of a Shitty First Draft: The Worst Screenplay in the History of the World. Sometimes I may summarize scenes. Sometimes I may link to inspiration. Sometimes I may bow before a terrific movie. (Currently, I am obsessed with "Stander," directed by Bronwen Hughes.) Sometimes I will definitely make fun of all the writing and creativity books I have read in the service of this process. Sometimes I will talk about some of my more successful writing projects.
But in the end, what I am trying to do is simple: write a 90-120-page screenplay that just...reeks. But is complete! Finished! Done! Because, to quote another movie I like, the Japanese film "Ping Pong Bath House" (not a porn movie, honest), "To continue is to succeed."
I think it's a noble goal. Please join me. Tell me your troubles. Write your own crummy screenplay! Let us stink together!
The shortish version is this: Despite the fact that I graduated from NYU with an MFA in Dramatic Writing, specializing in screenwriting, I haven't finished writing a screenplay in 21 years. I've helped lots of people finish their screenplays, in my jobs as script coach, development executive, and just plain pal...but other than a shortish "Sex and the City" spec episode I wrote for a class at Writers Boot Camp, nothing. This was not always so. In my two years at NYU, I wrote 2-1/2 screenplays while working almost full time, interning like a bastard, having a boyfriend, adjusting to being in New York, and getting the news that my father was dying of brain cancer.
Yes, there might be a clue there.
I've written lots of other things. I've published short stories and essays and I'm about to publish not one, but two books. I've developed content for a sign at Times Square, informational design for a library/theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina...
Okay, I'll stop writing about how smart I want you to think I am, and get to it.
Why this blog, amongst all the other blogs that are blogging away in the bloggy blogosphere? Because in her book about writing, "Bird by Bird," Anne Lamott talks about a necessary rite of passage in order to get to a finished manuscript. Before you write your beautiful book, she counsels, you have to write a Shitty First Draft. Until you have embraced how truly bad your first draft is going to be, Lamott warns that you may not ever finish anything. And I deeply believe that, and have written many, many Shitty First Drafts that have gone on to be...well, pretty okay. Published. Paid for. Enjoyed by others.
I just don't think I ever quite got there, after my initial attempts, with a screenplay. I wanted it too badly to be Fantastic, or, to quote one of my favorite books about improv comedy, Something Wonderful Right Away.
So this is my attempt to..well, narrate that process. To talk about my progress and defeats while I write my cinematic version of a Shitty First Draft: The Worst Screenplay in the History of the World. Sometimes I may summarize scenes. Sometimes I may link to inspiration. Sometimes I may bow before a terrific movie. (Currently, I am obsessed with "Stander," directed by Bronwen Hughes.) Sometimes I will definitely make fun of all the writing and creativity books I have read in the service of this process. Sometimes I will talk about some of my more successful writing projects.
But in the end, what I am trying to do is simple: write a 90-120-page screenplay that just...reeks. But is complete! Finished! Done! Because, to quote another movie I like, the Japanese film "Ping Pong Bath House" (not a porn movie, honest), "To continue is to succeed."
I think it's a noble goal. Please join me. Tell me your troubles. Write your own crummy screenplay! Let us stink together!
posted by Martha at 8:26 AM
1 Comments:
For the past few years, I've been looking for "Ping Pong Bath House" and found your post quoting it. Any chance you know where I can find a copy?
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