27 replies to this topic

[furrykef]

Somehow I get the feeling that my advice isn't being taken to heart.

[furrykef]

Which is pretty much the opposite of what I said.

[Cheezmatt]

This idea is going places!

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Write the story now how ever you want so you don't forget elements of the story or loose your passion for it.

Read the book.

Format the story in script format so you can pitch it to places.

[Velvet D'Coolette]

Write the story now how ever you want so you don't forget elements of the story or loose your passion for it.

Read the book.

Format the story in script format so you can pitch it to places.

This is your best bet, Korben.

[Vlad Yvhv]

Yeah... If you've got the story, go ahead and write it while you've got the drive to do so. You can always rewrite it to fit the formatting and any new insights you get later.

[Velvet D'Coolette]

From personal experience, the best thing you can do is to write it first, then go away and find out more about the technical know-how via this book. That way you get the sense of passion you're feeling for the project into the writing, something you might not get if you read the book first and then try to follow the rules it prescribes. If you read the book first you might find that you restrain yourself from writing bits that you previously would have thought would work. Best that you get your passion written down first rather than read the book first and end up with a novice's idea of what you think should be written.

Now that it comes to it, don't think you need to write the whole thing in order - if a particular scene halfway through appeals to you and you know how you want the dialogue to go and who to do what etc., just write it first. Get the bits you're passionate about onto paper (or a Notepad file, whatever). The book can't teach you passion, you've already got that. Passion, however, can have a shelf-life, so use it while it's fresh!

A few days or weeks after you've written the script you'll read through it again, and I can guarantee you'll want to change bits of it then. Best that you write what you think is right now, then use that revision period to check whether those bits are really as good as you thought they were. In some cases you'll change them; in others you'll go, 'hey, this is really good!.. That line wouldn't have occurred to me if I tried to write this now... this bit really flows...' When you get that feeling, you know you've got something right.

Trust me and trust the others who've said the same: passion first, tecnique second.