As a published author who has sold more than a dozen copies of my books and made public appearances at libraries and book stores, I must confess that typically when skimming through the selections of screenplays I have come across, my most urgent and pressing question has been and continues to be, "WHY did you write that screenplay?"
For many writers, the answer to my question may simply be for that thrill of completing the chalenge and knowing that I wrote something of consistency and quality. Many feel compelled to complete that chqallenge of writing a manuscript of at least 120 pages. While that accomplishment is commendable, I always continue to wonder how many of these people are out there. Perhaps there are indivudals who can persuade and motivate others to join them and continue to write. Or perhaps those who completed their writing goals have more evolved ambitions and goals that extend beyond the page-to-screen objective.
Recently, I read the complete screenplay for the 1942 film Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. I can only imagine the original author hidden away in a room writing out those famous and iconic lines that continue to have viewers mesmerized by the atmosphere and the invisible chemistry between the actors on screen. In 1942, major events were happening worldwide-- world leaders were being transitioned due to war efforts, famous athletes were enlisting, and European fronts were being deployed and developed to end a war and stop a madman from achieving world domination. Yet, even in the midst of all of this a writer and a team of developers were secretly working on Casblanca which when you astutely study the concept and famous lines works pretty heavily and dynamically at counteracting the propaganda most of the Nazi Germans were working to instigate. Ingrid Bergman walks into an establishment and finds herself face-to-face with man she was engaged to be married to...and all while visiting with the man she is married to. As we watch Bergman and Bogart, we find ourselves transported to a whole new world filled with rebellion, allegiance, and espionage. More importantly, we find ourselves wrapped up in a universal love affair which will sweep through the eons. From out of the emotions projected from these actors on our screens, we are forever altered and some of us will even evolve into authors or more inspired and acculturarted authors.
Therefore, after writing seven screenplays and submitting many of them to writing compettions (and never hearing back), I must ask what is your motivation for writing that screenplay? From the vantage point of historians, teachers, authors, and intellectuals, what was your purpose or intended goal of completing and submitting that screenplay?
I'd tried to write a novel in the 1980s, but computer software was not quite up to par with how my creative side worked. I remember "saving" lots of individual chapters and "idea" pages to disk, but inevitably I started to write from a blank page one ("It was a dark and stormy night", or whatever the first line was) and in mere weeks was totally and irrevocably lost. I tried printing out the various bits and pieces but it didn't help. Then I got distracted, probably by a romantic endeavor.
So now that I've "not" answered your question, you can proceed to the next candidate!
Seriously, in my 50s I was inspired to "know more of the story" after watching my favorite film, and so I playfully got right downstairs to write that very tale.
Even with all of the writing I've done since, I don't think I've ever been quite as organically inspired as I was in writing was I soon learned to be "fan fiction".
But firstly I learned that any sequel to a film had to be in a screenplay format. What in the heck is that?! So I researched it, while I was poking and prodding my brain for the sequences and scenes that were to populate my story - whatever form it was to take.
Secondly, I found that by this time technology had caught up to the way my imagination worked, and the tools I used helped me to track and assemble the enormous quantity of half-cooked ideas that were flowing from my mind.
(Incidentally, this was on March 26th, 2008, so today is my 17th anniversary!)
Okay, I knew I was writing something that wasn't mine to sell. In the months that followed that early stage I was completely fine with "giving it to the rightsholders". What I didn't expect, as I wrote what turned out to be a trilogy of script sequels to this favorite film of mine, that the chore of getting one's work in front of the people who actually made films was near impossible. We all already know that, but when it's an unauthorized sequel you multiply that by 1000.
Alas, a few years later, after learning the screenwriting craft - literally the formatting and some of the basic business rules and etiquette in dealing with people in this biz - I realized that I could continue trying to sell "fan fiction" or get writing my own stories.
Luckily, the inspiration to create was still there, and the software was as well.
After nearly 60 total screenplays, I'm still trying to reach success: To me, that's simply seeing one of my finished films, and seeing them done properly ie. not "direct to DVD bin". But, I have all of those stories, protected by the copyright office, and am now operating exclusively as a so-far-unproduced producer. Yep, I haven't written an original word since 2018. It seems a shame, but I also know I'm lucky enough to have some interesting stuff that either will get discovered somehow (less and less unlikely) or I will get it made myself (more and more likely).
The initial "inspiration" I mentioned, writing that first fan fiction screenplay, was what was needed to get me started. For others, it could have turned them toward writing poetry, short stories, cooking recipes or novels; for me, it was this obscure medium of film writing. Luckily, too, I was fast at it, didn't fight modern computer technology due to the skills I developed over a couple of decades in the IT profession and, most of all, I enjoyed writing my stories.
And that's a final major point I'll make: I never got into this to writing scripts for other people, such as so-called OWAs for the next Marvel sequel. I have my own stories to tell and, fortunately, am my own biggest fan. Maybe that's the most important thing: Sure, I want it to turn into my profession, but while I'm working on these screenplays and turning them into movies, I'm a happy person. I'd feel truly discouraged to be a writer who is in it for any other reason.
Yep, Wednesday evening, March 26th, 2008: I remember it well, charging downstairs after watching this favored movie for probably the 6th or 7th time, and only then suddenly wondering "what happened next?!"
Maybe I should order in a pizza or something to commemorate, eh?
I had a specific story in mind and started writing to help me overcome the effects of a mild concussion. I enjoyed the process and continued to write for about ten years. I've been read, rejected, recommended and produced. Heck, I've even done some heavy petting, but I'm still not on the big screen. I have yet to make enough from my writing to pay for my Final Draft software. Why would I continue? Very good question. I remain in the failure to launch camp of peewee wannabes.
I've read a lot about art. Something that hit me hard during that reading was the concept that art is effectively a form of medicine. Consuming art makes people feel that their views on life are shared, good or bad, and there's tremendous comfort in that. So, simply put, I write to make others feel comfort.
Pretty simple, I want my works to be on the big screen.
Curiosity. Learning new ways how to approach a project, leads to testing it out.
Due to a brain injury and dyslexia I watched film, a lot of film. I never managed to read a book till I was 16 and that took me months. I still rarely read books. So film is my why of communicating and understanding the world.
Why do I write? Because I believe I have something of importance to say. Even my stories that are more simple, I explore aspects of humanity and pose questions. The more I write, the more I become comfortable and confident with my writing.
Sometimes I will write to explore a notion. I am creating a female vigilante. She was a victim of a crime. She is now using violence to fix her emotional state. Of course she is attacking bad people, standard fodder for these stories. But soon, the work becomes more important than the reason for the violence. Until she is will to betray her own morals. So what is the line? When and why do we support revenge?
I wrote my first screenplay because "the novel is dead" and I love films. Initially I thought I had a knack for it but quickly found I needed refinement. Lots of it. I do love the challenge of making a tight, cohesive story via the screenplay format.
I believe I’m getting close twenty plus years later.
Sometimes, I almost feel compelled to write... sometimes.
I have found that the stories I write bubble up in mind from a spark of an idea to the point that they begin to spill over. At that point, I want to get them out of my mind and onto "paper."
I believe writing is a never ending process of techniques and refinement, but to answer your question...
I write because I either want to see the movie, or as an artist, I feel the need to express myself and get it out of my head.
I am envious and sad and angry at the world I live in. I feel disconnected from most of the people in my life, but I am also endlessly curious about them and myself and the world around us. I write to try to make sense of it and to help communicate my confusion and awe.
I totally relate to these points about needing to get stuff out of my head and feeling disconnected and generally cynical about existence. This is where the rubber meets the road, in my opinion. Good art is often ugly, challenging, and made from a state of frustration. This is one of the reasons why I'm so sick of watching people chase mass approval. It's so cowardly.
I enjoy the research involved. The hunt for a catchy title and logline. Discussing it ad nauseum with my poor husband. Having a good old laugh at some of the absurdities I come up with. The hard part is the actual writing and I don't always love that so much.
I've always been creative since a young age. I liked writing short stories as a kid and when I discovered my love for cinema, I wanted to take part in having something made eventually. I've always had an active imagination and I feel most things I write contain a strong message audiences need to hear, along with an entertaining storyline that gets people excited and want to come back for more.
Tried everything but found out that:
I can't paint, model clay, make props, design sets/costumes, make/upcycle/repurpose furniture, write poetry/prose, sew/knit, act, speak confidentally in public, direct, etc...
Worked for 30 years in theatre, film, tv on the production side and eventuuuuaaallyy - had a go a screenwriting. Seemed a good fit for my ADHD brain.
I had written an episode of an episodic television show back in the early 90's and submitted it to Paramount. It did not sell, but apparently my writing caught someone's eye, as I was invited to fly to LA and pitch more of my ideas to the show's creative team. This resulted in multiple invites to return which inspired me to move to LA in 1993. I wrote a couple features on spec but got distracted by "coming out" in LA and lost my writing direction.
Flash forward to 2018. I had just returned to the States after 11 years working as an Associate Editor at the United Nations post in Bangkok, Thailand. I was going through something of "reverse culture shock" as I had made good friends and a wonderful life for myself in "the Land of Smiles." To combat my longing for Thailand, I began watching Thai dramas on YouTube. As a gay man, I got addicted to Thai BL "Boy Love" Dramas, a multi-million-dollar genre that generates loads of income for the country and has provided them with a certain degree of "soft power" around the world as these series are subtitled and streamed internationally... to a huge global fanbase.
When the pandemic hit, and we all got locked down, I needed something to do that would keep me happily ensconced in my home. Having watched dozens of these Thai series by then... and knowing what I liked and disliked about them, I decided I would write one. Keeping the good and discarding the not-so-good aspects of the genre. At this point, this was nothing more than a "pandemic past-time" and was never meant to be seen by anyone, let alone produced... the biggest reason being that I was not fluent in written Thai, and knew it would have to be translated... something I was not interested in having done.
After weeks coming up with my story and outlining the crap out of it, I started writing.... and I cranked out a 12-episode first draft in only 3 months! Since every writer wants feedback, I gave a few episodes to my closest friends (fellow writers.) I was surprised at the bombardment of positive feedback. This inspired me to re-write and tweak, as I started to think that maybe I was on to something, and that my story was worth telling. :-)
Since 2020, this series has gone through multiple drafts... at one time, it was a Jukebox Musical using the song catalog of Sir Elton John. It was my favorite version, but the royalty rights were frightening, and a "nobody writer" like me had no way to get to the man. That was a mountain I was unwilling to keep climbing.
So, here I am today... with a 10-episode series which I'm trying to sell as "the first English language BL drama, filmed entirely in the Kingdom of Thailand." A Thai drama with a Western Flair. These characters and their stories have become near and dear to my heart. I can't abandon the idea of bringing them to life.
AND... that little voice in my head that has always told me when to quit or continue a project, hasn't told me to give up yet!
So that's why I'm here. As I continue to work on a couple other scripts, True2U will always be my favorite... it made me fall in love with screenwriting again. :-)
Love that, CJ. Writing to make others feel comfortable. Brilliant.
Good luck, Stephen!