Quid pro… que? or I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately – a variety of stories in different formats: an original science fiction script from a person I’ve never met who added me on Facebook; a novel from a friend (I swear, I’m getting to it Anna!) and a feature treatment from a local writer-director. Various other scripts, both produced and not, are waiting for my eyeballs (and hopefully brain). Then, of course, there’s the review of my own work as notes start to trickle in.

During the Treatment Workshop, when the writers bonded through adrenaline and a positive, shared experience ‘under fire’, everyone agreed to stay in touch and share their work. Deciding to forgo my Goldmanesque pit for once, I took this on board and offered to send out my treatment to anyone who was interested and, in return, read and give feedback on other people’s work.

The response was a little disappointing. To date I have exchanged treatments with the above mentioned writer-director (who was in the other group) and sent mine to two people from my group. There was one other person who expressed interest… when he finished his treatment!

Nevermind. The feedback I received from two of the three has been excellent (thank you Alex, thank you Helen) with little gems from perspectives I had not considered. Which is exactly what you’re after – an insight to how to make the work better. Is the story clear? Are the characters interesting? Is there conflict in every scene? Is the ending satisfying? Does the structure work?

I also enjoy reading other people’s work as it’s a way to hone your own craft skills. As Paul said during the workshop, we now share a common language for discussing and analysing scripts and treatments. So I was pleased when I pretty much hit the 7 structure points in Alex’s treatment correctly. He also seemed pleased with my notes and suggestions. A win-win outcome.

Why the reticence then from other writers?

I’ve been to writing groups and workshops before where people promise to stay in touch and, from my experience, it rarely happens. There are notable exceptions – I met the above parenthetically mentioned Anna in a workshop circa 2000 and we have been friends and occasional collaborators ever since.

Is it that writers are notoriously insular? Is it because we are all ultimately competitors for a finite slice of funding pie? Or is it simply that once you’re out of the cauldron of insane deadlines and intensive feedback, life and other things get in the way? Surely it’s not the old bugbear about people “stealing your ideas.”

One constraint I do have is where I don’t have ultimate control of a script – for example, with The Red Bride, the producers determine the readers it goes to which is perfectly fine. My natural inclination would be to send it to out wider.

With the In Total Unity treatment though, there is no producer as yet, so Tim (director) and I are keen to get feedback as the story is developing at a rapid rate.

Do you have a set of readers you always use? Do you circulate your work? Participate in writers’ groups?

Treatment Workshop, Part 2 or Keep it simple, stupid!

Ordinary world - A screenwriter prone to writing overcomplicated drafts tinkers with one of his feature creations. He knows there's a damn good story in there somewhere but procrastinates over how to tackle the next draft.

Inciting Incident - On the first day of a five day treatment workshop this writer, whose name may or may not start with *ahem* Richard Hyde, is told that he has "two big stories" and needs to simplify. Holy delete-itis, Batman!

1st Act Turning Point - Rejecting the simpler of the two "big stories", said writer decides to choose Option B(e obstinate then!) and impulsively makes his antagonist the protagonist in a completely new story... with only a few hours to submit a completely revised beat sheet. HELP!

Midpoint - After further comments on the radically revamped story, the writer agrees with the wise Mentor from far away lands that "writing is hard!" Time is short and the story mutates at a rapid rate. A shadowy government agency known only as ScreenWest might have to be called in to contain this sucker.

Low Point - Just when he thinks he's on the home stretch, the flaw returns to bite him on his left justified ass. Desperate cries of "pare down" and "cut twenty percent" ring in his ears. It seems hopeless - there are way too many "babies to kill".

Final Challenge - Armed only with a red pen, a backspace button and a demanding director, said writer wades into a ream of Courier 12 trouble. No minor character is safe from his wrath, no extraneous subplot immune to the eradication.

The Return - Having learnt his lesson, the writer composes one line platitudes for Hallmark cards... No, no, that's not it, damn it! The writer opens a blank word document and commences his latest project with a tried and true slogan in mind - Keep it simple, stupid!

Note:

No screenwriters were harmed in the duration of the workshop.

Advice and constructive commentary was, however, freely given and gladly accepted.

It's only a rumour that complaints were made to the Writers' Guild re the inhumane treatment of writers who were forced to stay up laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate to meet daily deadlines.

Everyone's project improved dramatically...

Thank you, Paul.

Nuts 'n' Bolts - Treatment Workshop

Next up on the March schedule is a 5 day workshop with Paul Chitlik who flies in to sunny Perth from LA tomorrow. Starting Wednesday there will be a total of 15 hours of seminars, time allocated for one on one meetings and very tight daily deadlines for treatment pages. Yes, in 5 days we will have completed a Hollywood style 25-35 page treatment of our feature film idea. There are two of these treatment workshops with 8 projects in each. I'm in the first wave with an older script of mine - a conspiracy thriller - that has recently found favour with a local director. I had sent it to him as a writing sample so good outcome all round.

Originally set on the docks and in the boardrooms of corporate Australia during a time of major industrial strife, we're now moving it to the mining industry (uranium no less) and a radical environmental group (instead of union). While this involves both research and a rethink of settings and mindset, I was happy to do this at the director's suggestion as really it is the story of two intertwined father-son relationships - one a complete fracture, the other a reconciliation - in a time of violent conflict and battle for dominance... over business, over ideology, over each other.

Already there has been preparatory work - breaking the story down into its seven key structure points: Ordinary world, inciting incident, First Act turning point, Midpoint, Low point, Climax and Resolution as well as identifying the premise. Then we had to write a full beat sheet using those structure points as signposts. This proved interesting as I had a full draft script plus notes from a development submission with proposed changes. I did the first cut based on the existing script, then incorporated the changes, then made adjustments from the director's feedback on the resultant beat sheet. The story is in a state of evolution so there are some placeholders in there, particularly the climax. I'm sure the details will get plenty of focus in the blowtorch of the workshop. Which is exactly what I'm after.

Another interesting aspect is that each team shares its project with everyone else. I therefore have the beat sheets of 7 other projects to read and what a diverse bunch they are - horror, satire, romantic-comedy, drama, period pieces, action, the full gamut! Having done an online course with Paul I suspect we will all have an opportunity to comment on each others work which will throw up different perspectives and informed discussion. The details of each project "stays in the room" but it's a good way to gain insight into your own story and also hone your craft skills when you have to give constructive feedback on stories in genres you may not normally gravitate to.

I am looking forward to the workshop, meeting Paul in person, working with other local writers, and adding to my writing 'toolkit'. These building blocks - structure points, premise, beat sheet, treatment - are a valuable way to get your story, characters and structure into shape before getting anywhere near opening your screenwriting software of choice. You would be surprised the amount of time this can save you in the long run!