aving only read one and half screen plays, it's hard to come to conclusions about what makes one. Fortunately, a friend has lent me three more. I should finish "Life Is Beautiful" Wednesday morning before starting the next four: "The Shawshank Redemption", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Thank You For Smoking" and "The Hurt Locker". I'm particularly interested in reading the last which I've never seen. The rest I can visualize because I've seen the films. "The Hurt Locker" will test that and really force me to think about how blank a canvas a screenplay is.
Showing posts with label Thank You For Smoking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thank You For Smoking. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Screenplays Galore
aving only read one and half screen plays, it's hard to come to conclusions about what makes one. Fortunately, a friend has lent me three more. I should finish "Life Is Beautiful" Wednesday morning before starting the next four: "The Shawshank Redemption", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Thank You For Smoking" and "The Hurt Locker". I'm particularly interested in reading the last which I've never seen. The rest I can visualize because I've seen the films. "The Hurt Locker" will test that and really force me to think about how blank a canvas a screenplay is.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Pointers from Thank You For Smoking
In an attempt to learn more about the genre (e.g., how to make fun of something without being an asshole), I just finished reading Christopher Buckley's Thank You For Smoking (1994) which takes on political correctness via the fight in the U.S. over smoking. My concern lately has been how to set a story in Dearborn without tearing the town to shreds. Here's what I learned from Buckley:
1) Ain't no shame in short (less than 10 page) chapters.
2) That it's important to give background info on characters so the reader can readily connect with them. I haven't been doing this. I need to become friends with my characters. Right now they're acquaintances.
3) The use of industry specific knowledge. What's the difference between an amateur and a professional? The amateur may know how to turn a phrase, but a pro can do that and be an expert on the subject at hand. While I do not want to bombard readers with minutaie, I do need to prove I'm a cut above an amateur.
4) The importance of historical context. Buckley does a nice job of letting his contemporary audience know that tobacco has been an issue for hundreds of years, not just since the 1950s. He does this by finding the more relevant and cool stories from history and bringing them to our attention. If I can find parallels to my story from history, it would ground it and perhaps make it more acceptable.
5) Women. Buckley's women in this particulary novel are sex objects and savvy in business, if not downright ruthless. While one of my main characters is a female, most are male and the female voice is marginalized. I need to work on this.
Most importantly, I've come to the conclusion that the joke isn't on Dearborn, it's on U.S. officials who continue to encourage a way of looking at our country that may no longer exist (or maybe shouldn't exist), ie, that we're #1 and that everything's fine. If anything, the people of Dearborn in my story fight this when they see it does them no good.
1) Ain't no shame in short (less than 10 page) chapters.
2) That it's important to give background info on characters so the reader can readily connect with them. I haven't been doing this. I need to become friends with my characters. Right now they're acquaintances.
3) The use of industry specific knowledge. What's the difference between an amateur and a professional? The amateur may know how to turn a phrase, but a pro can do that and be an expert on the subject at hand. While I do not want to bombard readers with minutaie, I do need to prove I'm a cut above an amateur.
4) The importance of historical context. Buckley does a nice job of letting his contemporary audience know that tobacco has been an issue for hundreds of years, not just since the 1950s. He does this by finding the more relevant and cool stories from history and bringing them to our attention. If I can find parallels to my story from history, it would ground it and perhaps make it more acceptable.
5) Women. Buckley's women in this particulary novel are sex objects and savvy in business, if not downright ruthless. While one of my main characters is a female, most are male and the female voice is marginalized. I need to work on this.
Most importantly, I've come to the conclusion that the joke isn't on Dearborn, it's on U.S. officials who continue to encourage a way of looking at our country that may no longer exist (or maybe shouldn't exist), ie, that we're #1 and that everything's fine. If anything, the people of Dearborn in my story fight this when they see it does them no good.
Monday, September 1, 2008
7 Complete; MI interviews; On Deck
I just finished chapter seven and moved bits of it into 8, so that's started. I'm happy how the story is moving and how intrigue/tension is building, but it's still a little thin and could use some fattening up.
I sat down with a friend from Michigan yesterday to pick her brain about her time growing up there. Her most specific memories of Dearborn pertained to their Arab pastries. As a pastry baker, I should have no problem working them into the story and into my tummy, hopefully in October. I have also promised myself to email the Dearborn reporter/blogger and to get that ball rolling. This is my chance to do a better job of putting my finger on the pulse of local affairs.
Lastly, I'm close to finishing Buckley's Thank You For Smoking which I will discuss in more depth next posting.
I sat down with a friend from Michigan yesterday to pick her brain about her time growing up there. Her most specific memories of Dearborn pertained to their Arab pastries. As a pastry baker, I should have no problem working them into the story and into my tummy, hopefully in October. I have also promised myself to email the Dearborn reporter/blogger and to get that ball rolling. This is my chance to do a better job of putting my finger on the pulse of local affairs.
Lastly, I'm close to finishing Buckley's Thank You For Smoking which I will discuss in more depth next posting.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
6 in the books; Writing On the Wall; Thank You For Lampooning
Just finished writing chapter six. Seven's on deck for this week.
In 2000 I visited a friend in Oxford, Mississippi. While there I toured the home of William Faulkner. What I remember most is that he'd drawn on the walls of his workroom the outline for a book. On my desk I have various mementos from trips to Dearborn and other articles and tidbits, but am getting closer to taking a page from Faulkner. Hell, I've already slapped a "The customer can have...any color that he wants so long as it is black" magnet on my fridge as a reminder. So, basically, I gotta get past Ford to get to either ice cream or vodka.
Since I got in touch with a local Dearborn reporter and blogger, the question, "How do you poke at an issue and a place cleverly?" has nagged me. And then, yesterday, I saw that Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You For Smoking among other works, will be speaking in NYC in October. I've requested TYFS from the library and look forward to picking his brain. Till then, I'll continue to bang away.
In 2000 I visited a friend in Oxford, Mississippi. While there I toured the home of William Faulkner. What I remember most is that he'd drawn on the walls of his workroom the outline for a book. On my desk I have various mementos from trips to Dearborn and other articles and tidbits, but am getting closer to taking a page from Faulkner. Hell, I've already slapped a "The customer can have...any color that he wants so long as it is black" magnet on my fridge as a reminder. So, basically, I gotta get past Ford to get to either ice cream or vodka.
Since I got in touch with a local Dearborn reporter and blogger, the question, "How do you poke at an issue and a place cleverly?" has nagged me. And then, yesterday, I saw that Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You For Smoking among other works, will be speaking in NYC in October. I've requested TYFS from the library and look forward to picking his brain. Till then, I'll continue to bang away.
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