As a self-proclaimed “idea guy” l love my notebooks. I love to work ‘em, to play with words and images. And yet it’s often a painful truth with a bad idea that the line of least resistance is giving up on it!

This past weekend for our beats class (which if you don’t know by now is my favorite thing on earth to conduct) we heard great ideas, but in some cases it took a while to convince the creator! Many participants pitched at least two or three ideas at the start of class Saturday morning, and sure enough, often the ones they came in with which they were sure they wanted to work on, turned out to be the ones that did not stick.

We nurture these little ideas that don’t work for odd reasons. Something catches in our minds about it that we like and we are determined to make it live. It could be a mood it evokes or a statement we want to make, but when we tell others, we can see by the glaze in their eyes we might be the only ones who care. 

I have a pile of these ideas in my quiver that I am still trying to beat into submission. Whenever the chance comes to pitch them again in a new circumstance, I am always surprised when it still doesn’t catch! Maybe it will someday, in another form, or with another piece attached to it, but for now it’s Instant Ambien.

The ones that work are easy. The ones that work don’t take salesmanship. The ones that work you don’t have to make sure everyone is awake or in a good mood to “get.” The good ideas you can catch in the middle of a hurricane, yelled across a crowded bus, or while jogging through traffic. The good ones are good because the combination of irony, mental image, target audience, and the punch of a great title is compelling.

No amount of banging on a bad idea will help. But the good ideas are like a good joke: you can’t wait to tell someone else — because you know it will light up their eyes and will do so every time!

If you are working on an idea that is too plain, too complicated, or too hard to explain… stop. Throw it away. If it doesn’t catch, there’s a reason.  If you find yourself in this situation and are bummed about this — we always are! —  try these exercises for idea generation this holiday weekend and see what happens:

1. The Fish out of Water T bar — Draw a big T on a piece of paper. Label one side “Fish” and make a list of types of characters; on the other side send that “fish” to a place that is the opposite of who he is. Example: Tomboy FBI agent - Beauty Pagent = Miss Congeniality. There is no difference between comedy or drama in these exercises. Example: Simpleton isolated from life for 40 years - World of Big Money Politics = Being There.  

2. The Institutionalized Dilemma — In the middle of a piece of paper write an institution. Now draw lines out from that center and add types of characters found in an Institutionalized story. (see Chapter 9 of STC!GTTM) Who is the rebel? The mind-numbed robot? The innocent who’s new to the company? Now ask: how does this institution have 30 days to live? Which of the characters will save it or help to bring it down? Example: Law Firm - On the verge of being sued by a client - veteran lawyer sick of the lies = Michael Clayton.

3. New Type of Magic — Again, take a piece of paper and draw two vertical lines making three equal columns.  Column 1 = Type of hero.  Column 2 = Type of magic spell, wish, power. Column 3 = +/- Is this magic power a Blessing (+) or a Curse (-)?  Example: Superficial ladies man - Power to see only the beauty of women - curse! = Shallow Hal It works for dramas, too. Example: Boy who wants to get over a girl - given the ability to erase the memory of the girl from his mind - curse! = Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

There is great power in surrender! When you’re trying too hard, it won’t work. Relax. Have fun. Let go.

And let the right idea drop in your lap from out of the sky — there’s a reason the good ones always do! 

For Information: rich@blakesnyder.com

The three worlds of a screenplay are just that, different places with different demands. When deconstructing a script in class, or in a studio consultation, this is where I always start: the big picture, the overview. Examining the “three worlds” not only shows “How does it begin and how does it end?” it reveals the process of the hero’s “transformation” in a way that is the starting point of any discussion about “fixing” a script. A good example of the “three worlds” in action is seen in the #2 movie of the weekend, Wanted.

Wanted is fun action picture, and while I shy away from movies that encourage their teen audience to shoot people as a way to get results (Grand Theft Auto IV dude, about as scary as it gets), there is a style to the violence that is new and terribly intoxicating. But as a structuralist, I am most concerned with how it works.

Wanted works like Matrix. A naif, an innocent, a cubicle dweller with a dead end life, is told on page 12 that in fact he is a natural born assassin. After the normal guy hesitancy to join up — even though doing so means hanging out with Angelina Jolie — our hero succumbs and his training begins. This section is just part of the “upside-down version of the world,” the Anti-thesis of everything our hero, and we, think of as “normal.” And “training” is always a big part of any “Fun and Games” rise to the “false victory” of Midpoint.

And yet, the funhouse-mirror reflection characters that appear here are just like those Dorothy finds in Wizard of Oz. What were farmhands and mean teachers and sideshow medicine men become in the “Anti-thesis” world scarecrows and wicked witches and wizards. So it is in Wanted, as our hero finds a whole new pecking order at “work.” If he thought being a cubicle dweller was tough, his coffee breaks now include dips in a pool of electrolytes to speed recovery from his knife cuts and broken bones.

But that’s World Two for ya. And “Anti-thesis” is just the beginning of change this hero will undergo. It’s like Training Day, in that regard, in which we begin the movie with an “ethical” but naive hero, throw him into the upside-down world where the rules no longer apply, and now force him to choose a “third way.”

And again, just like Training Day, when that world proves to be false, and falsely embracing, we must change yet again. In Wanted’s “All Is Lost” the hero (James McAvoy) is “worse off than when this movie started” and the “whiff of death” includes almost being killed while losing the “mentor” that didn’t seem to be so when we first met him. The compare-and-contrast between these two dead teachers in Training Day (Scott Glenn) and Wanted (Thomas Kretschmann) tells us how very similar these two stories are too.

The “third way” the hero seeks is a combination of what he was and what he’s learned. The hero can no longer go back to the life he had before, but he can’t stay where he is either. In the “netherworld” of “Dark Night of the Soul,” he must find a new answer — and he does! Wanted’s Act Three “Synthesis” includes the “Five Point Finale” and a “Storming the Castle” sequence that actually is a castle! Love it when that happens!

By the end, Wanted’s hero is “transformed” having crossed through three worlds: Thesis- Anti-thesis-Synthesis. Yes, the special effects are great, yes, the story is compelling, but it’s this transformation that makes it the most satisfying part of any movie, and what we all seek — audience and writer.

Assuming she was asking about the movie, whew!, I replied: “One more minute,” and sure enough, moments later, there it was. Remember, knowing structure to impress girls is the reason I got into this years ago. Thank you, Syd Field! But beyond improving one’s social life, the beats help writers tell a story and not worry about structure. And Get Smart is one of the better examples of the Beat Sheet in action.

Spoiler alerts in position, let’s take a look:

I would be very proud if I were the writer of Get Smart. Tough assignment. The biggest success of the story is you did not have to know the series to get it, and if you did, so much the better. They humanized Maxwell Smart (made legend by Don Adams) by making him a wannabe, steeped in research, and trying hard, but not there yet. This is his genesis story, how he and 99 and Fang and the Chief came to be. 

Structurally when Steve and Anne Hathaway take on the mission, we enter Act Two. In this version, the really stunning stand-in for Barbara Feldon is a seasoned spy, who (following the Rom-Com commandment Thou Shalt Not Like Each Other At First) is less than pleased to be on the case with a research nerd. 

Fun and Games follow as the “set pieces” of dropping behind enemy lines, reconnaissance, gadgets, and spy stuff unfold, all while B Story banter sets this love story into motion. Fun and Games bits and B story beats shuffle as the story heads to Midpoint. The peak comes (in public) at a dance, when in a “false victory” Steve proves himself not only a good spy but a gentleman as he dances with a matronly Moscovite. 

And though there is not an A and B cross that results in a first kiss (no “Sex at Sixty” exactly) , it is the first time Anne smiles at Steve and we sense that despite herself she may be fallling for him.

What’s All is Lost? Why it’s when Steve is “worse off than when this movie started” — when he is fired, accused of treason, and loses the girl. I so often teach in class how this is the spot where the hero winds up behind bars, wondering where he went wrong, and there is Steve in a Guantanamo Lite cell doing just that.

But with help from the B Story (Anne who can’t believe Steve really is a traitor), Steve busts out of jumpsuit life and we head into Act Three with a perfect example of the “Five Point Finale” — including Point 4 when Steve “Digs, Deep Down” to come back from the dead after a train-dragging incident. New plan in motion, the reunited team, having made amends to each other and working in Synthesis, stop the Bad Guys.

Watching, you just think this is a funny movie, and it is. Really silly, really wonderful stuff, and not a swear word in it. Again,  if it were my script I would be very proud. But structure is never silly. It frees us up to fill in the blanks any which way we like, to be as creative as we can be — and even to impress our dates!

Doug Spoors

A day after The Great American Pitchfest, we received this email from writer Doug Spoors. Like many of those I spoke to this past weekend, Doug found the event to be a great success. Congratulations to all!

“Blake,

I can’t thank you enough for your input on my logline. As it turns out, I changed the logline and it changed my pitch. While having my morning coffee before the pitches began, it finally clicked completely… the logline is the pitch! If you can get the story into a really great logline, you’ll have a really great pitch! After I did it a couple times, I had a pitch with an agent who told me at the end: ‘Wow, I gotta tell you, you have that pitch down perfectly! That is nothing less than amazing… Great job!’

As it turned out, I pitched to 14 studios, developers, production companies, etc. (all non-agents) and 12 out of 14 wanted more …. even after I told them the script was only up to plot point 1 at 30 pages, they all wanted the treatment and more. One even asked that we get together in the next two weeks to discuss an option.

Then I turned to pitching agents and managers - 100% interest at that point. I have my first meeting with a management company for this coming Wednesday.

What an amazing day! Thanks so much for your input - I could not believe that between the time of giving your class and by 5:00 p.m. I had your comments by email - you are an amazing person. If ever there is any way I can repay a favor, please please call on me!

Best regards,

Doug Spoors”

And I loved, loved, loved the time I had meeting with all the writers in attendance.

I had a packed house for my speech on Saturday morning and I want to thank all of you who were so kind in your enthusiasm. We had a lot of fun! And we got down to business too! What a fantastic time!

I got to test out some new theories on how to “turn out” your movie idea, how to find the “grabber” of it — and by doing so not just have a better pitch but a better story! And the enthusiastic response from all the writers I met with afterward only reinforced my confidence that I am on the right track.

Storytelling gets simpler the more you exercise your skills, that’s the good news. When I hear a pitch — and hear a problem in it — the fix is usually easy. There are basic things that misfire, and those are usually just a matter of adjustment. But the hurdle is what it’s always been for creative people. Can you let go of your preconceived notion of what it is, and hear what listeners are telling you? And if you keep getting the same rejection over and over, can you huddle in your creative place and come back out with the solution?

This, to me, is what it’s all about. Story is a puzzle. And getting all the pieces to fit just right is not just a good sales tool, it’s the point of the job. The challenge also has to be fun!

Here are some things found in the pitches that don’t work:

- An idea that’s a gimmick, not a story

- A hero with no goal and no obstacle in the way

- Concepts that are too simple, or flat when you hear them and…

- Confusion of ideas. Like I said in my talk, a confusing idea is like a Chicken Omlette; you can’t quite put your finger on exactly what’s wrong — but there’s something about the concept that just isn’t right!

Mostly, I thank one and all for your love and support. I genuinely felt welcomed by every person in the room Saturday, and whatever your reason for being there, God bless you! I wish you all real success in the world and think about you every day hoping today will be the breakthrough that changes your lives!

Yes, even you.

Have a great writing week everyone, and thanks again to all my new friends I met this year at Pitchfest. Hope to see you all again soon!

That’s a little motto my producer father taught me. And he knew. He proved that “get up off the mat  and hit ‘em again” works. 

My dad’s motto is more than a lesson in persistence; it is a mathematical certainty, and a spiritual one. It means there are x number of “no’s” between you and victory, so why not get through them?

And do so with a smile? 

Why not look at that “pass,” that “no thanks,” that “sorry, we already have something like it” as getting closer not farther away from your goal. We are closer every time we even assay the field.

I love this philosophy. It helps me stay in the game when a string of “no’s” urges me to quit. We are indeed getting closer each time out.

But we must also ask an important question: closer to what?

You say you are closer, but what does that mean? 

What is your goal for today? What is your goal for this month? What is your goal for this year?

Are you getting closer to these goals, or do you have to re-tool, change goals, and figure out a new way?

We are half way through your best year ever! This is the year you succeed wildly. This is the year you become what you always wanted to be. This is the year, 2008, when all your dreams come true.

What does that look like?

Do you have a clear picture of what you’re wearing when the phone call comes? Have you picked out the pool that will be in the backyard of the house you buy with the proceeds from your amazing spec screenplay sale that everyone in town is talking about? Do you know what charity you’re going to give to with the money that comes flooding in your door — and maybe it’s not a bad idea to start tithing now?

The routine of pursuing our goals sometimes becomes exactly that — routine. We write x number of pages per day, send out x number of email queries per month, attend x number of meetings with our writers groups. All good. It’s the process.

Yet occasionally we must take a beat and look around. As we push toward our goal, let’s pause and assess exactly where we’re going.

Failure is not an option for us. We are here to succeed. We are here to get closer to our goals by becoming better in the face of a “no.”  And that alone is a “yes” I can proudly claim every hour of every day!

How is your year progressing? What is your assessment of how you’re doing — and what changes do you have to make either in your goals, or your approach to them, to make this year the best ever?

Mostly, what can we do to help? That’s also why we’re here. If you need help, ask for it. If you want feedback, get it. Ask for help. And ask for success. Say it out loud, and every “no” will become a “yes.”

That’s all I’m saying.

If anyone wants my input on a movie before going into production, don’t be shy… just ask.

I mention this in relation to the latest installment of Indiana Jones. The dust has settled. The filmmakers are safely in profit — they have a hit! And Indy 4 is an entertainment to be proud of.  But for screenwriters, looking at all four films in the Bullwhip Quartet, it’s also a primer in the difference between good and great.

I propose that the first and the third in the series are the best.  What do 1 and 3 have that 2 and 4 have less of? Let’s take a quick look at Raiders of the Lost Ark (1) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (3):

1.  Both have clearly stated themes and “stories,” not just set pieces. And that is key!

2. Both 1 and 3 hit the points of the BS2 like clockwork; they are structurally solid.

3. Both show how relationships change with the action, and are not just tacked onto the story, and…

4. Both have really bad bad guys (and though it’s hard to beat Nazis, there is a point to this!)

In short, these things trump any action or set piece and without these elements, story suffers.

Let me just use the word “flabbergasted.” I was flabbergasted when I revisited the first Indiana Jones, which I did in preparation to see this summer’s installment.  And right there before the adventure begins, Harrison Ford turns to Denholm Elliot and says “I don’t believe in black magic or superstition.”

Well, guess what? That’s the theme of the movie. That is the “arc” of what happens to Indiana Jones in the course of his first adventure.  He goes from a non-believer, a scientist, a guy with a lot of whipsnap smarts but no heart, and slowly piece by piece finds “faith.” 

The ending in which he alone, like Ulysses tied to the mast to hear the Sirens, is witness to the divine intervention of the Ark of the Covenant is proof that he has changed. And yet all along the way his “helper” characters in the B Story have been trying to convince him.  ”Don’t you see, it’s a radio transmitter to talk to God,” says fellow archeologist Belloq midway through the adventure. But Indiana, at this point, is unfazed.  

I was also delighted when I realized how precisely the first Indiana Jones hits the marks of the BS2. It had been a while since I saw it and the joy I felt in seeing its midpoint “false victory” surprised even me. When Indiana discovers the whereabouts of the Ark, only to find Karen Allen is alive, it’s the one-two punch of a classic midpoint. I’d forgot.  ”Sex at sixty!” I yelled when they kissed. That’s the oldtime screenwriter’s phrase for when the boy and girl kiss at the first hour. It’s the A and B story cross, followed quickly by one of the great reverses in movies when Indiana has to tie her back up again, or risk his real rescue effort.

But it’s all to the point of the “spine” of the story, the “greatest event that ever happened to Indiana Jones” — the story about how he started without faith and, over the course of a wild adventure, found it, by amending his past misdeeds, learning to love, and discovering a power greater than himself!

A movie that’s “about something” is also part of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the third installment co-starring Sean Connery.  Here again, 3 has a story beneath the hijinks, that of a relationship between a father and son, and the son’s quest to make his dad proud. Amid all the chase scenes and derring-do and wonderful set pieces, that is how each bit “moves the story forward.”

Once again, Indy is learning faith here, too. And structually, it is also one of the great examples of what I call the “Five Point Finale” in Act Three when Indy has a choice: the prize of a great archeological treasure or saving his father’s life. It is one of the great “dig, deep down” moments that ranks right up there with “Use the force, Luke” to show what real faith is.

Finally, let’s talk Nazis.  It’s not a coincidence that they are part of 1 and 3 and absent from 2 and 4. “Make the bad guy badder” is sure-fire screenplay physics that guarantees your hero will be a bigger, too. In 2, the evil is vague. In 4, it’s vague-er. And there is a blur even in the script that can’t quite decide if Communism is bad at all. What are the consequences of the Soviets getting 4’s treasure? Hard to judge. 

Good as they are, 2 and 4 are missing these elements. Same great character, same great team running the show, same top flight A-list writers, and yet 1 and 3 are stories that are truly memorable.  2 and 4, less so.

So take note. Your script too must be “about something” and have meaning that touches us at a primal, and even spiritual level.   

Do so, and your story will be memorable, too.

And if you want to ever talk, I’m here all week! I would have started by asking: “What exactly is Indiana Jones’ ‘problem’ at the beginning of 4?” How will this be “the greatest event that ever happened to the hero of this story?”  If those questions are answered in any screenplay, I believe a more satisfying story results.

No, it’s not partaking of the all-you-can-eat buffet, or the joy only true Angelenos appreciate — valet parking — it’s being on stage talking to a hundred or so of my closest friends, AKA screenwriters.

The event is The Great American Pitchfest, organized by Signe Olynyk, and it is a wonderful opportunity not only for me, but for any screenwriter interested in sharpening his or her ideation skills.

Last year’s Pitchfest was a huge success with thousands in attendance, and this year promises to be even bigger and better with outstanding speakers and a chance for attendees to stare across the table from actual producers, agents, and managers — all with the same question: What’ya got?

It is the golden chance to test drive your latest notions, sure, but that’s not the real reason to attend.

I always tell writers not to go to Pitchfest expecting a sale, for there are very few magical pitches that will get you a “Sold!” right there in the room, even though it occasionally happens.

The real purpose is networking, meeting not only potential buyers, but fellow writers who are on the same path.  As screenwriters, we don’t do nearly enough outreach to each other. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from my association with the Romance Writers of America (to whom I will be speaking in San Francisco in August), it’s that there is not only safety in numbers, but tremendous benefit. It’s what I am trying to promote with our Cat! Writing Groups, and quite successfully! (More on that in blogs to come!)

The primary goal for anyone going to Pitchfest is two-fold:

1. Meet a lot of people, and that means all kinds — writers, producers, agents, and experts.

2. Practice a most important skill: pitching.

Can you tell me what your movie is about?

Have you practiced pitching to enough strangers in line at Starbucks to know the good points and bad points of your story? And when push comes to option or possible sale, when you’re finally in that office at the studio with decision makers who really can say “Sold!” right there in the room, will you blink?

Or will you deliver? Will you stand at the plate, bottom of the ninth,  game-winning runner at third, and have confidence? It’s up to you, all eyes are on you, the pressure is on, we’re counting on you to win!

Do you have the stuff?

It takes practice, and what Pitchfest is most useful for is practice under near-game conditions.

My talk to screenwriters Saturday morning will be about that moment not just “in the room” with a decision maker but the importance of  ”the big idea” — the fact that now more than ever “concept is king.”

Still!

Always!

And I will be giving audience members a preview of that chapter about pitching and “the idea” from my new book Save the Cat! Strikes Back, in which I reveal for the first time my experiences getting loglines from readers from all over the world, and my brand new tips on what works… and what doesn’t:

- What are the three types of loglines that DON’T do it for me, and why do all the ones that don’t work tend to fall into these three categories?

- What is the thing I am most anxious to “hear” in your logline or pitch; it’s not the “commercial” value — although that plays a part.

- What are the 4 new must-haves I am recommending to writers interested in amping up an idea.  Can that be done? Or is a bad idea so fatally flawed that it’s often best to toss it. How do you decide?

I can’t wait to meet all of you and get on that stage and tell you everything I have been lucky enough to learn about this very important skill.

See you at the Marriot! I’ll be the one in the suit with the valet stub in his pocket — speaking is my number-one favorite activity, but valet parking is a close second!

Saeed (and friends)

We’ve received this great news from screenwriter Saeed Faridzadeh:

“My screenplay, Mittens (which stands for Multinodal Intelligence uniT v10), got second place in the family category in the Storypros screenplay competition.

And to think this all started on an impulse buy of your book, that someone at another writers group mentioned to me! I bought on a whim, read it, loved it, and a week later when I went to the Writers Store, saw that you had a second book and would be doing a meet and greet there. A week later I saw you talk and KNEW I needed to attend your workshops.

I came into your Beat Sheet Workshop with a script about a lonely girl and a snarky cyborg cat, and I thought I had gold. Then I realized it needed some serious work, but came out with a better story. Then going into the second workshop, your Master Class, I thought that what I had coming out of the first was, once again, gold, but found it still needed work… and once again came out with a seriously revamped story that ended up MUCH MUCH better.

That second workshop got me the script I ended up submitting to Storypros, and landed the second place. But what’s funny is that the fellow LA Cats read that version and gave me even more notes that helped make that story even better. So now I have what I hope is a kick-ass script that has evolved and come a long way.

This second place is proof to me that I’ve got something here with Mittens. And I owe you so much. Your book, those two weekend workshops, and the great Save the Cat! LA Group are the best things to have happened to my writing.

And one day, your book will have a chapter devoted to the beats of Mittens.

Thanks for everything so far. Now I’ve got to sell this sucker!”

Saeed www.thezerospace.com