Ernest Langston's Lounge Discussions

Mother Nature

Landscapes inspire me. Drinking coffee in a cafe, watching and listening to the people around me. "What if" conversations with colleagues, family and friends. Making up silly stories about ferrets in the fast lane with my girlfriend's 11 year old Star Wars obsessed son. Playing with my cat. Failing miserably at something. "Life, the universe, and everything" to quote Douglas Adams.

I've had ideas from bumper stickers, seeing a mushroom while mowing the yard, weird cliche sayings that popped into my head...in other words, the voices in my head be cuckoo. I'm a comedy writer, so people watching is golden.

Literature and life experience. I find the best ideas come from experiences or stories where I made an emotional connection.

personal experiences and family stories are my inspiration.

Craig - Yanks & Aussies; sometimes I have a hard time with the terminology. I think of a CRAWL as what takes place when the credits roll at a film's end. I think what you're suggesting is a MID CU to an ECU but we don't know the story through line, the scene's purpose or its placement. That makes it difficult to stage and block. I like a strong rhythm so I wouldn't use a FADE or an X FADE here - I suggest a JUMP CUT to a loud jostling Airport to make the audience wake up and pay attention. That's just my take.

I mean slug lines. Sorry.

Write it as a narrative. If you are writing a spec, which chances being that you are, try to avoid technical language. Normally, I only put a new location in if the character I am describing actually goes there.

Carter, If your character is meditating he really shouldn't be thinking at all visually. What I would do is give a few seconds of silence in his meditation and have it interrupted by a phone or a knock at the door. That way you can avoid this situation all the way around. Stock shots are archive footage, library pictures. Stock shots are film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers because it saves time shooting new material. What you are referring to are Dream Sequences. CUT TO: FADE IN: are the words I think you are looking for. Write to the library of congress or the Writers Guild East or West depending on where you are, and have them send you a screenplay formatting guide. It should be updated by now. You got the low down on shot descriptions and formatting for your script. You can also use Celtix at https://www.celtx.com/index.html

This is a great platform to write your screenplay. It automatically formats where your scene descriptions should be, and it sorts your characters and plots etc for you. Check it out and good luck.

Thanks a lot !!

I know I come back to this answer often, but I would use a part of every day to network. You want to win champions of you and your work. Getting an agent isn't easier, but it becomes easier when people are willing to speak on your behalf. But that all begins with curating and cultivating relationships.

Thank you guys so much! I will definitely use what you said and see what it does for me. I have been feeling so stuck, but maybe this will be a next big step. Thanks again everyone!

Get a copy of The Writer magazine, check the listings in the markets section (last several pages) and submit to the appropriate ones. Read short story journals & reviews. Most important suggestion here is, keep writing until someone accepts one of your stories.

Hi Katy. Several questions: How long is your story? What is the format (short story, script, or novel)? What is the genre? If this is literary fiction, there are several good resources online. QueryTracker and AgentQuery. These are great sites because you can search for specific genres, get feedback from other authors on these agents, and the best way to submit your query. Writer's Digest lists new agents looking for submissions. Always search Preditors & Editors for the list of shady literary agents. NEVER pay an 'agent' to read your work. A legitimate agent won't charge you a reading fee. Although not all agents are members in the AAR guild, it is good to check. Most literary agents accept e-queries. Some only take snail mail. Be prepared to send out lots and lots of queries. You might not get replies from a lot of them. Never BCC e-queries. The query you write needs to be error proof. Writer's Digest online has some examples of how to write a great query letter and how NOT to. If you choose to self-publish, avoid Print-on-Demand companies. They often charge excessive amounts of money for things you can do for FREE. Amazon KDP allows authors to upload digital books to sell on the Kindle format around the world. Draft2Digital is also good for digital formats. They place digital books on iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Tolino, and a couple others. Again, they don't charge you an upfront fee but get a small percentage for each sale. You can make print versions of novels via CreateSpace FREE of charge, if you format the book yourself. There are charges if you want them to format it, but the process isn't difficult to do. For self-publishing, hire an editor. For book covers, one of the best sites I've found is Selfpubbookcovers. The reason I prefer them is you're able to put the text on the cover, choose the fonts you want, and download both eBook and Paperback covers in 72dpi and 300dpi. Good luck to you and your work! Best to you!

I quite like 'Authors Publish Magazine' email alerts. They give Agent, publisher, magazine and others looking for submissions.

Just watched Love & Friendship, where the main character is really bad, she's cunning, and hypocrite, but we still want to know what "will happen next" hoping her plan won't succeed. I think it is very hard for a screenwriter to build up a story around a "bad" character, but it's a very good challenge, for, if the screenwriter manages to keep the viewer's attention, he will have done something special. It's about making the character somehow "likable" although he's bad, and building the story around in such a way that it will hook the viewer's attention. Jane Austen was a skilled writer, I didn't read the book, but studying the movie and the screenplay could be of great help. All the best for your writing!

Breaking Bad ran for five seasons without a single likeable character. I wouldn't take advice from randos based on a logline, either. As for the logline itself, it sounds more like a summary to me; punch it up and tell me less - I want to be intrigued, not necessarily informed, and I certainly don't want to know the ending before I've seen the show! :)

Walt and Jesse were likable. Dad trying to provide for his family, charismatic kid with addiction problems. And the brother in law and Saul. All likable.

Omg no likable characters on Breaking Bad? That's ridiculous. They were some of the most multi-faceted characters I've ever seen, and you couldn't help liking them even when they did bad things.

Judy: I have three words for you... Better call Saul.

William - Thanks for sharing your method. I'm going to try it. I imagine being able to see the entire story on one page is very helpful.

Allison, Pilar Alessandra has a podcast, "On the Page." You can find it on your phone. There's a specific one... #446. 'Return of The Coffee Break Screenwriter!' I think this is a fantastic approach to an explanation for (outlining) if you must search for a better way to do so. IMHO

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I use cards (the Celtx app). Once I have the story I select cards for a single character (by selecting categories) and make sure they have a complete story in their own right. Plus I can see if they are consistent, are they the hero of their own story. Simple method.

Try to limit it to one or two pages. Encapsulate all the main concepts, characters and key plot points. If it's for a 'selling document', don't draft less than ten times!

Hey man, you working on any projects??

I'm always reading, writing, outlining, and or conceptualizing projects. I'm approaching the start date for a new spec script. How about you?

I haven't been too serious about this app, as it shows. I'm in between semesters and working on music for an independent film.