Screenwriting : Writing from experience by Adam Harper

I do all of the things you cited and what ever it takes to get the story down. For me I let characters take over, whomever they are, a psycho, a rapist, a cop, a Priest, their voices come through once i enter their world, which of course I created, as well as their conflict. Remember every scene must have a conflict, a purpose. I personaly write mostly Dramas, but have written horrors and even a crime-thriller where the Antogonist is a socialpath, so I had to do extensive research on the behavior of such persons plus also on police crime procedures as evidence collection etcetera. I wrote a short about an alcoholic who attends AA meetings, so I visited an AA meeting with the groups permission. You gotta do what ever it takes to get the story right and most importantly do it with passion and enjoyment. I cry, I laugth, I suffer with my characters and I become them only when I'm typing, then I try to get some sleep and many times they (my characters) pop in and keep me, so I get back and write the scene they are speaking to me about.

I know this all sounds crazy, my friend, but believe it's what we writers and artist in general are compelled to do. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thank you Jorge for taking the time to answer, your words are hugely reassuring and helpful. I love being in the world of my characters as their words and actions present themselves (seemingly without effort). I'm riddled with self-doubt so I always worry that what comes to me isn't genuine and that my characters won't appear as three-dimensional as I feel they are. I will keep making progress and use the methods available to tell the best version of my story. Thanks again

This is a very good question. I guess it's a case of, write what you know or get to know what you're writing about. Jorge sums the latter part perfectly, so I won't add to that.

I things I take from sci-fi and horror is that they (the good ones) represent universal truths. The main thing that you write about is something that's real to you, or you can depict with authenticity.

When I've gone back to my older scripts to see where they might have fallen short, apart from some more obvious structure and plot issues, the characters are good but they're still underdeveloped. They were prone to cliche that I didn't even notice, which in turn, made the story feel less authentic.

I eventually realised that I needed to go back further to see where I might have issues, and when I tried to redraft one short script it soon became obvious. My entire writing process wasn't working. I was writing pages and pages of character work and notes that didn't translate well to the page. And even worse, it was so difficult to do any redrafting from my notes.

I spent a lot of time reading up on ways to organically create characters, the world they occupy, and things like premise and genre. I'm still working on my writing process, but everything feels far more organic now.

Building relationships with people who have the experience you are writing about helps tremendously. Writing about a single Mom? Make friends with one. Writing about a Priest? Make friends with one. Writing "what" you know is often writing about "who" you know. (I can't tell you how many times I have gone to costume a project and said "they would have NEVER worn this", and it was because they did not do any research into the character.)

I know a lot of people and every character is somewhat based on people I know. Am I friends with serial killers? NO- At least, I hope not, but talking to many people with many different personalities and histories helps you have a closet full of material. Do I know what a racist would say? Yes. Do I know what a thug would say? Yes. Do I know what an elderly grandma would say ? Yes. Then you just get in their head and say and do what they would say and do. It's a wonderful thing actually! Creating life!

One of my favorite screenwriting stories is the time I was writing a gangster drama and a character had to die and I wanted the death to be perfection, so I gave it a lot of thought. Then my phone rang and a friend asked what I was doing- I said- in all complete honesty and seriousness- "I'm trying to figure out how to kill this guy..." The dead silence on the other end of the phone was pretty funny.

Thanks Martyn, I wrote a lengthy response but it seems to have disappeared! Your comment is really helpful. The faults you found in your early work are the same mistakes I feel I am making. I love my story and characters but on the page they don't feel as fleshed out as in my mind.

If you have any recommended reading I'm always looking to study more. Either way your advice has alerted me to aspects of my work that need attention. thanks again, I appreciate it.

Hi Casey, you're right. I should definitely try immerse myself more and get a feel for the types of characters I want to write about. I feel I can talk at length about my characters, I know them so well but I need to get that on the page in a natural way that doesn't jolt the reader out of the reading experience.

Hi Constance, your reply made me smile, I'm not sure how I would react if someone told me that over the phone either! I am enjoying the process of getting into the mind of my characters. I often surprise myself which is all part of the fun. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement with it though.

I work in a factory type setting so I get to see all of the standard personality types and a few of the non-standard ones. It's like being in a giant high school with clicks and people sticking to their own kind. I just model my characters from the people I see everyday. I exaggerate their traits and model my character's speech from conversations on how they would react to any number of situations. If you want your characters to feel real, watch people, give your characters their feelings and reactions. If you've ever dated, (hopefully) you've learned what will made them happy or sad or mad. People are people no matter where ever you go.

Adam; I'll only say this - It's fiction, write it however you wan't.

Thanks everyone, feeling pumped up to get this script finished now!

First off - Dan Guardino, that's insane! Definitely worthy of being on the screen :)

Adam - I remember reading some insightful advice in a screenwriting textbook I have but I can't find it. There are probably some decent online examples about how to organically develop characters.

This might seem to swerve off the subject, but Michael Tabb wrote an excellent article about the Premise of your story - http://www.scriptmag.com/features/script-notes-where-story-begins-premise

He goes into a lot of detail about why the premise is vital to the entire story, and how it links to every aspect.

For me, this relates directly to the protagonist, and as such, the story's antagonist and supporting characters.

If your screenplay's premise is about overcoming apathy and then being rewarded with closure to a past tragic event, the protagonist is instantly shown as someone who has potentially suffered a tragic loss of someone, has grown brittle and lacks empathy for others. This is where I would I would use the premise to develop the character's mannerisms, belief system, morals (or lack of), and other things like possible substance abuse, etc

Awesome, thank you Martyn, I'll read the article as soon as possible. I'm always searching for online articles/blogs to read (whilst supposedly doing my day job).

Once I read this: 'Write what you know' works, but it's limiting. Write what fascinates you. Write what you can't stop thinking about.

Thanks Dan and thanks Roberto. There are varying answers but the through-line appears to be to write with passion. All of the replies have been insightful for me, thank you.

TO play off what Adam said, "...write with passion," which I totally agree with, you do your research, which is even easier if you are passionate about the material. Elmore Leonard had a researcher - Gregg Sutter - for 33 years. He researched Get Shorty - and the Chili Palmer character was based on a real former shylock turned private eye named .... you guessed it, Chili Palmer! (He actually has a small cameo in the movie.) Since, I'm involved in an Elmore Leonard-type property, and have met both him and Gregg, I feel I learned a lot from just talking to them. (Sad, when Elmore passed - he was a hero of mine from a writing perspective.) He once said in regards to how he writes his GREAT dialogue, "You have ears, don't you?" The same can be said for the research. Consider this: Elmore was never in the mob - he wasn't a degenerate criminal, BUT, you'd be hard-pressed to find a writer that captured that element, dialogue or type of story better than him. (Get Shorty, Be Cool, Out of Sight and Jackie Brown were ALL based on Elmore Leonard novels. Have PASSION for the material. Do your RESEARCH and you can get to know that subject matter very well. Read up on it. Interview people who do that job or work in that field or who have children, etc, etc, etc. YOU CAN DO IT! GOD BLESS and STAY FRESH! ;)

Let me start by saying this: I PUT NO LIMITS ON MY IMAGINATION.

I've tackled pretty much every genre and just completed my 33rd screenplay this week. Last year, I wrote a screenplay about a talking fire hydrant to prove a point. For that one I let my imagination run wild and had a great time writing it.

I always chuckle when I see someone advertising for some esoteric topic or person that they want a screenplay about. I see those kinds of ads frequently at Inktip and ISA. I've also seen people say things like:

"I need an expert on the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion to write a adventure screenplay the against the backdrop of this historical event."

Requests like this are absolutely unrealistic. In fact, I pitched to a guy last week looking for a script about a historical event that took place in America during the 1830's. I pitched him something else as a sample and he loved it. He also optioned it.

My larger point is you don't have to be an expert on any subject to write a script that involves elements of that topic. You merely have to do enough research until you feel comfortable writing about the topic. And then are able to formulate the story you're looking to tell. Personally, I've never spent more than three days doing this with the exception of a few scripts; and for those exceptions, never more than two weeks.

A few years back, I had a producer friend ask me to write a story that involved alien abduction and his very personal experience he claimed to have involving that topic. To prepare for that, I took notes from my friend about his experience, performed a few days of research about alien sightings, abductions and types of aliens like Greys and Nordics. I built a road adventure story around my friend's story about two 50-something men that reunite on a vacation to travel by motorcycle from LA to Sturges. Of course, they have a sci-fi adventure along the way.

The second step is let your imagination run wild and grasp the concept the possibilities are endless, if you say "I can" instead of "I can't." This philosophy has rarely failed me.

I don’t think any writer in today’s time can imagine what it was to live in the oldn west wilderness - so there would be no westerns? Research is key - then as Uncle Phil says - let your imagination rule - then cur LOL

Wow! Thanks Sam and Phil. I've only been on here a few days and already I'm overwhelmed with the advice and insight available.

I remember being blown away reading Swag by Elmore Leonard, loved it. Would have loved to have met him and shook his hand for that story alone.

I'm certainly finding that when I'm involved in a story I'm passionate about the words can't get out of my fingertips fast enough.

All of the above replies have been very reassuring

Write what you know is really helpful while working on your first script. Otherwise, I´d say that stories will come to you if you really want to do this. Study, research, make an effort to interest your mind in whatever makes you grow as a person. Knowledge and experience never come for free. As it is with everything in life, you have to give in order to recieve. Always be prepared to work. Work work and do some more work.

I never really abide by "write what you know". I find it exciting to try and write about what you don't know. You can do research and everything but at the end of the day you're always going to rely on your imagination, so just let it take you where it takes you. If it's a good character, then it doesn't matter what you do or don't "know".

Research. Not diggin deep enough, doing research, etc, for a project is a classic sign we're not passionate enough about our project. The desire is not there. Move on.

I remember Carroll O'Connor once saying that they had a problem the writing of the series "In the Heat of the Night." Paraphrasing ( I lost a couple brain cells since, so don't expect 100% accuracy.) that their writers only knowledge of the South was from movies of the South, not from experience. Sometimes you can write stereotype and not people.

So research, research. I spent four hours learning what happens to an astronaut's blood pressure in space, to reduce it to two lines in a scene.

Thanks everyone. So, write what I know and if I don't know but have a story to tell then research it until I do know, right? :-)

Adam, don´t take anything anyone says too literally. I mean, ultimately it´s your writing, your vision on a page. It comes down to who you are and what you want to say and what story you want to tell.