Oh story, where for art thou?

As a writer I am often pitched ideas for possible stories. Some days, like today, I hear the kind of story that makes my blood boil...and I know for certain there's something special about this one; it's the kind of tale I can devote hours, days, weeks, even years of my life to.

And other times I'm tossed back into that old 80's commercial, wondering, "where's the beef?"

So how do you know when you have a story that is not only worth the time investment to write it, but also worth the time of the cast and crew needed to bring it to cinematic life?

I could be flip and answer simply, "you just do." And while that may be true, it's not an answer that actually helps anyone. So here are some of the questions I ask myself when considering whether or not to tackle a story idea and attempt to capture it in script format; hope it helps you:

1) Is this a story that MUST be told?
2) Does this story stir strong emotions? For example, does it bring tears to your eyes? Or does it make you seethe with rage? Are you laughing so hard you may wet yourself?
3) Do you want to tell others about this story? Do you find yourself already sharing shards of this story with others?
4) Do you daydream about this story?
5) Do you armchair cast this story?
6) Can you hear the characters beginning to regale you with their story, clamoring to jump out of your head and onto the page?
7) Do you see the trailer? Or the opening shot? The closing shot? That clip that will be shown during the Oscars ceremony?
8) Is this a story that you can live with for the next two years of your life?
9) Is this a story that YOU must tell?
10) Will you sleep if you don't tackle this tale?

Hope this list helps you. It's just helped me. I'm finally ready to turn down one story idea. And I accepted the other story pitch the moment I heard it, only a couple hours ago; now here's hoping the originator of the tale will want to work with me too.

Can You Write a Character Reference for Your Characters?

I'm working on a script. No surprise there. And I'm also writing a character reference for a colleague that's due next week. And the thing I'm realizing is: the two are remarkably similar.

Okay, so my character reference has to be two pages, while most of my TAGS (or the character descriptions) are a few sentences at most, and only a few words for secondary characters, if even that. Though when I'm working on longer projects, from feature film specs to spec teleplays, I develop well-rounded character descriptions that can include everything from a character's favorite color to what influenced him in his childhood to make him the adult he is today.

In the colleague reference, I have been asked to detail the past few years of accomplishments and the reasons why I am nominating this person for an award. In collecting all my information, I have been asking and answering similar questions that I do when developing a character: what is her motivation? How did she get to where is she is today? What does she hope to achieve next?

I've even looked into the small details I know about her, things that will make the nominating committee understand that I know this person about as well as one can know a colleague (and, I'll admit, a friend). And hopefully, with my carefully crafted words, I will elicit empathy for her, and persuade them to pick her among all the nominees to be honored.

It is this empathy I am also hoping to evoke with my audience for my characters. Whether or not you agree with my character and his actions, you can still feel an empathy for his situation and his choices...as long as I've done my homework and gotten to know that character as well as any author can know those she writes about.

So...how well do you know your characters? If you can write each of them a two-page character reference, then I'd say you're on the right track.

Carving Away the Excess to Discover the Story

Today I met with a fellow female film artist to help her find her story. From her long, intriguing narrative we carved not one, but three possible shorts. More than that if you count the twists and turns that can be added to any one of them. It was gratifying to participate in the process, and to discover that somehow I innately knew the steps to take to coax the story forward.

All we needed was some blank paper.

As she talked I jotted scene after possible scene down, each on a separate sheet of blank recycled paper. Once we carved away the myriad of details from her memory and research, and blew away the dust, we found the story that she wants to tell.

Of course it's not done yet. This is just the beginning. Or rather it's my beginning, and her continuation on this long journey. Art is more than just a final work; it's a process.

So don't fret if you haven't yet found your story. Begin carving away at the tale scene by possible scene. At the end of the process you may just find yourself as fortunate as we were today when we discovered that one third of our scenes will likely make it to the next stage: the script outline.