Charging through your first draft...?
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
Sitting with my wife this morning discussing the novel she's in the middle of writing, she shared with me that in her last writing session she had to put the brakes on her forward progress and go back and insert certain details that she'd rushed right over on her first pass through a section of her story. This brings up an interesting question for writers of any kind of fiction:  Should you stop your forward progress as you push through your first draft to go back and insert material into territory you've already covered--or--is stopping your forward momentum on your first pass through w ..read more
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A writing mantra that pays dividends...
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
So you have an exciting new idea you want to develop.  You've been mulling over the basics of the story in your head and are eager to dive into it and get started. But wait.  What exactly does that mean?  To start on page one and see what evolves as the pages accumulate? To let the characters emerge as you place them in the unfolding story and let them wander where they will?  With you holding your breath as you wait to see if the writing actually leads you somewhere exciting? In my experience, that's not the writing process that will consistently pay the best dividends ..read more
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An MFA program that works
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
I've recently returned from our low-residency MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen program's January residency in Peterborough, NH.  As Program Director I'm happy to say that again it was a big success.  By "success" I mean that all of our student writers were once again immersed fully in this retreat-like setting, attending classes, workshops, special talks by Visiting Artists, and, most importantly, were able to share a new full-length script they wrote during the previous semester with their fellow students, our faculty of established writers, and the many actors and other indust ..read more
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Beginning the rewriting process...a little tip
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
When you've recovered from completing the very first complete draft of your script and are about to take a look at what you've got, it's useful to think of yourself as potter at the wheel.  Your first draft is your raw clay, and your job now is to work and rework that clay in your hands as it spins on the wheel. You may have to work through it over and over until it has the exact texture, thickness, and shape you want.  Like a potter, you only produce a finished piece of quality in this way, one pass-through after another.  And slowly your script responds to your steady, gent ..read more
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The two pillars of a good story
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
The true test of a viable story--one that ultimately will lift off the page and really deliver the goods--is the strength of your plot points at the end of your structural Act I and Act II.  These are the I-beams of any well constructed story, whether it be a play, screenplay, teleplay, or any narrative fiction.  They each dictate what has to have already happened and what will happen as the story unfolds. The plot point at  the end of Act I always spins the story in a surprising new direction and demands a set up in Act I that leads to this act ending.  And the plot poi ..read more
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How to guarantee progress on your first draft...
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
There's a simple little practice many writers I know use (including myself) to keep them moving forward when grinding out their first draft. It's painless and almost always effective at keeping you eager to return to the work tomorrow to pick up where you left off today. The secret is to as much as possible always stop work for the day when you're feeling good about what you've accomplished and when you knowing exactly where you'll be resuming at your next session. In other words, don't ever walk away when you're lost or frustrated with your daily progress  --that's a sure bet that you ..read more
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Script prep: Laying out the cards...
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
I'm currently in the middle of developing a script up in my second story home office and I thought it might be informative to share a bit of the plot outlining phase of my pre-draft process. What you see here is my day bed taken over by my project.  What's obviously apparent is that I still like to use the old index card method of laying out the scenes--playing with how to structure the telling of my tale.  I've laid out the three acts, with the white cards the A plot and the blue cards the B plot.  I find working with actual cards like this allows me to get a tactile feel f ..read more
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How to make your script come truly to life...or the cliche that keeps on giving...
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
I've just been working on a script with a client of mine and an old truism once again became abundantly clear--the devil is in the details.  Or to put it in more proper dramaturgical terms, the ultimate success of your script--to bring it fully to life--depends on how well you're able to have your audience/reader fall in love with your characters and the only way to really accomplish that is to weave into your telling of your tale an accumulation of the small yet powerful bits of information about your characters and how they behave within their world. I like to call this the writer's pa ..read more
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Your first draft: resisting the urge to share...
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
I realize that many of my new posts are to some degree a repeat of older posts.  But there are some topics that are worth repeating.  One of these is how important it is to resist the urge to share pages with other folks while you are in the midst of writing your first draft. My contention is that finding the strength to resist the often powerful urge to get feedback on your draft-in-the-making pays significant dividends.  There's a private bond that you, the writer, develop with your characters and your developing script that produces a special creative energy--and energy tha ..read more
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The dangers of writing out of order...
buzz mclaughlin / on scriptwriting
by Buzz McLaughlin
1y ago
There are writers I work with who have shared with me that they often write their first drafts out of order--initially writing scenes that take place at various places in their unfolding story.  They say that this gets them warmed up and connects them with the material they're working with, discovering the tone of the piece as well as getting a better bead on the principle characters and their voices. My contention is that there are lurking dangers when you take this approach to your first draft.  Here are a few of them: --There's a tendency to fall in love with key scenes you've ..read more
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