The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Ron Bass Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Soul Surfer, Amelia, Mozart and the Whale, Snow Falling on Cedars, Stepmom, My Best Friend’s Wedding Highly Aline Brosh McKenna We Bought a Zoo, I Don’t Know How She Does It, Morning Glory, 27 The Dresses, Devil Wears Prada, Laws of Attraction, Three to Tango Steven de Souza Blast, Lara Croft Cradle of Life, Knock Off, Beverly Hills Cop III, Die e v e r y s c r e e n w r I t e r ’ s Hard, The Running Man, 48 Hrs. Gerald DiPego Little Murder, The Forgotten, Angel Eyes, Instinct, Message in a Bottle, Phenomenon, Sharky’s Machine e s s e n t I a l c o m p a n I o n 101 10th Leslie Dixon Tower Heist, Limitless, Heartbreak Kid, Hairspray,Anniversary Freaky Friday, Pay It Forward, The Thomas Crown Affair, That Old Feeling, Overboard s You can struggle for years to get a foot in the door with Hollywood Habits of Tony Gilroy The Bourne Franchise, The Devil’s Advocate, Armageddon,Edition Bait, uccessful Proof of Life, Michael Clayton, Duplicity, State of Play, The Cutting producers—or you can take a page from the book that offers Edge, Dolores Claiborne, Extreme Measures proven advice from twenty-two of the industry’s best and Akiva Goldsman Angels & Demons, I Am Legend, The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella Man, I, Robot, A Beautiful Mind, Lost in Space, Batman & Robin, A Time to brightest! In this tenth anniversary edition, The 101 Habits of Kill, The Client Highly Successful Screenwriters, 2nd Edition peers into the lives Derek Haas & The Double, The Courier, Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma, Catch That Kid, Michael Brandt 2 Fast 2 Furious and workspaces of screenwriting greats—including Terry Rossio Amy Holden Jones The Relic, Indecent Proposal, Mystic Pizza, Love Letters (the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise), Aline Brosh McKenna (Morning Glory), Bill Marsilii (Déjà Vu), Derek Haas and The 101 Habits of Highly successful Michael Brandt (Wanted), and Tony Gilroy (the Bourne franchise). Screenwriter You will learn best practices to fire up your writing process and your career, such as: S c r e e n • Be comfortaBle wItH • Be aware of your muse’s solItude favorIte actIvItIes • CommIt to a career, not • Don’t work for free Just one screenplay • WrIte no matter What • WrIte terrible First drafts w r i t e r S 2nd edition This indispensable handbook will help you hone your craft by living, breathing, and scripting the life you want! Laeta Kalogridis Shutter Island, Pathfinder, Night Watch, Alexander Nicholas Kazan Enough, Bicentennial Man, Homegrown, Fallen, Matilda, Frances, At Close Range Jim Kouf Money for Nothing, National Treasure Franchise, Fork in the Road, I n s Taxi,I Snowd Dogs, e Rush r Hour, s Stakeout,e c Operation r Dumbo e t Drop, s Karl Iglesias is a screenwriter and sought-after script doctor specializing Disorganized Crime in the reader’s emotional response to the written page. He is the author Andrew W. Marlowe Manhunt, Hammer Down, Hollow Man, End of Days, Air Force One of Writing for Emotional Impact and a contributor to the anthology Bill Marsilii 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Wind in the Willows, Déjà Vu Now Write! Screenwriting. He teaches at the UCLA Extension Writers’ from Hollywoo d ’ s Scott Rosenberg Kangaroo Jack, Highway, Imposter, Con Air, High Fidelity, Gone in 60 Program, where he was named Outstanding Instructor in Screenwriting Seconds, Beautiful Girls, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead in 2010. He lives in Los Angeles. S Terry Rossio Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise, Lightspeed, National Treasure, t Doéjà Vu,p Treasure wPlanet, Shrek,r I Maskt of e Zorro, r Godzilla, s Aladdin Cover design by Frank Rivera Eric Roth Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Lucky You, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ali, The Good Shepherd, Munich, The Insider, $14.95 (CAN $15.99) Writing Forrest Gump, Memories of Me, Suspect ISBN-13: 978-1-4405-2789-0 Michael Schiffer The Four Feathers, The Peacemaker, Crimson Tide, Lean on Me, Colors ISBN-10: 1-4405-2789-X IglesIas Tom Schulman Welcome to Mooseport, Holy Man, 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, What About Bob?, Dead Poet’s Society, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Ed Solomon Imagine That, The In-Laws, Levity, Charlie’s Angels, What Planet Are www.adamsmedia.com You From?, Men in Black, Leaving Normal, Super Mario Bros, Bill & K aTed’s r Excellent l AdventureI g l e s I a s Robin Swicord The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jane Austen Book Club, Memoirs of a Geisha, Practical Magic, Matilda, Little Women, Shag The 101 Habits of Highly Successful S c r e e n w r i t e r S 2nd Edition I n s I d e r s e c r e t s f r o m H o l l y w o o d ’ s t o p w r I t e r s K a r l I g l esi a S Avon, Massachusetts DeDication to all aspiring screenwriters who sacrifice so much to share their souls through the screenplay. May these 101 habits be the seeds that inspire your next masterpiece. ••• Copyright © 2011, 2001 by Karl Iglesias All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc. 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A. www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 10: 1-4405-2789-X ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-2789-0 eISBN 10: 1-4405-2856-X eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-2856-9 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the publisher. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. —From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their product are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases. For information, please call 1-800-289-0963. acknowleDgments While most of the words in this book belong to the screenwriters interviewed for this project, it is clear where my appreciation lies. First and foremost, a heartfelt thank you and deep appreciation must go to those twenty-two screenwriters for granting me their time and energy despite their hectic Hollywood schedules, and for their willing- ness to share their knowledge and experience with the reader. They are, in alphabetical order: Ron Bass, Steven de Souza, Gerald DiPego, Leslie Dixon, Tony Gilroy, Akiva Goldsman, Derek Haas & Michael Brandt, Amy Holden Jones, Laeta Kalogridis, Nicholas Kazan, Jim Kouf, Andrew W. Marlowe, Bill Marsilii, Aline Brosh McKenna, Scott Rosenberg, Terry Rossio, Eric Roth, Michael Schiffer, Tom Schulman, Ed Solomon, and Robin Swicord. Your insightful comments are the soul of this book. Special thanks to Victoria Sandbrook and Jennifer Lawler for their helpful comments and editorial support. And to my friends and family, especially Tara, Allie, and Aaron, for their caring and support. contents IntroductIon Fade in / xi Screenwriters’ Panel / xv Part 1 Passion: the Urge to screenwrite chapter 1 Portrait oF a Screenwriter / 3 Habit 1. Be Creative and Original / 3 Habit 2. Be a Natural Storyteller / 5 Habit 3. Be Comfortable with Solitude / 6 Habit 4. Be a Natural Observer / 7 Habit 5. Be Collaborative / 8 chapter 2 DeSire / 11 Habit 6. Have a Driving Reason to Write / 11 chapter 3 BelieF / 15 Habit 7. Believe You’re Talented Enough / 15 chapter 4 Passion / 17 Habit 8. Be a Voracious Reader / 17 Habit 9. Be Passionate about the Craft / 18 Habit 10. Be Passionate about Movies / 20 Contents v chapter 5 CommitMent / 21 Habit 11. Understand the Downside of Being a Screenwriter in Hollywood / 21 Habit 12. Be Committed to a Career, Not Just One Screenplay / 26 Habit 13. Have Precise Goals, Not Just Wishes / 27 Habit 14. Don’t Let Self-Doubts Get in the Way / 28 Habit 15. Educate Yourself / 30 Habit 16. Be Willing to Make Sacrifices / 37 Habit 17. Set a High Standard of Excellence / 38 Part 2 Creativity: summoning the muse chapter 6 The creative Process / 43 Habit 18. Get Input as Often as Possible / 43 Habit 19. Don’t Worry about Finding Ideas / 45 Habit 20. Ask the Right Questions / 46 Habit 21. Research / 51 Habit 22. Become a Child / 52 Habit 23. Become Possessed by the Story / 53 Habit 24. Be Aware of Your Muse’s Favorite Activities / 55 Habit 25. Record Your Ideas as Soon as They Appear / 57 Habit 26. Outline Your Story / 58 Habit 27. Discover a Few Scenes at a Time / 62 chapter 7 Creating a writing environMent / 65 Habit 28. Have a Favorite Writing Space / 65 Habit 29. Be Comfortable with Your Writing Tools / 67 Habit 30. Have a Favorite Time to Write / 68 vi The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters Part 3 DisciPline: applying the seat of your Pants to the seat of the chair chapter 8 The writing haBit / 73 Habit 31.