Skip Press - Writing & Advice

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The kind of compliment that makes me blush

I just wanted to say that I took Skip's basic screenwriting class through the Community Education Department at Cerritos College here in Southern California, and that it helped me unlock my writing ability that had laid dormant for 20 plus years and now I'm the author of Tormented Soul (Horror) and am also working on three other books all at the same time. One of my books is nearing 208,000 words and it's all because I decided to learn from the best. Thanks, Nathaniel Armstrong, Jr.

You can do it all, really

Hey Skip, I just finished reading "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting" and it definitely gave me great perspective towards my writing career. I have a script that i'm putting a final polish on and discovered that not only would it make a great film, it would make a great sitcom too! My questions is, is it possible to sell 'em as a movie and sitcom (once i write a pilot of course)? If my movie script gets picked up, is a spin off to a sitcom a probable idea? Thanks - Ramon Malpica

Ramon, this is one of those "let the network figure that out" type of things. A lot of independent and established filmmakers go into television because of the almost instant gratification they get. They write it one day, they're shooting it the next. I'd say, sell your movie and hope it's a hit. If so, the networks might be coming to you to make a sitcom spinoff, or to to see what other ideas you have.

If I'd only had me when I was starting out...

Good day Skip, I'm a teenager who hopes to become a well known writer. You definitely helped me learn a lot about screenwriting and I thank you. Though, I have a problem. I love writing, but I just can't find the right amount of ambition to write something without losing my mood that I have set into the story. So I ask, what can I do to help myself gather up enough courage to write what I love and keep at it?

Dear Nameless... introduce yourself, don't be shy. You might try sitting in some great place like a park or some coffee shop or diner you like, and handwriting the scenes one by one on index cards. Or even with a pen and pad. What you're probably worrying about subconsciously is how your work will be received, once written. Get these things out of your head and into the real world, and then you'll start learning for real. It's OK to mess up! The script for the movie "Cast Away" was rewritten 35 times!

In the "you pays your money and you takes your chances" department

Dear Skip, If I use your service to locate an agent for my screenplay, what are the chances that they'll actually take it on? Thank you, Jeff

Chances? Jeff, what are the chances you'll get hit by a semi walking across the street? I'm not in the business of finding agents for people, only helping them learn about writing better work and finding the right home for it, if possible. If I worried about chances, I'd never make it here a day. But in truth, most of it depends on you and your writing.

Answering the long email below - To email me, look for "Missing Links" on the right and find one to click. No, it won't take you to Web pages owned by my family - you can actually reach the real missing link, my own self.

Dear Skip, Just picked up your Ultimate Writer's Guide to Hollywood and was impressed by your generosity of spirit, sense of humor (sardonic but not condescending), and candor about your own projects that have gotten stalled somewhere in the development pipeline. It was a pleasure to find real eloquence in a how-to guide (a rarer-than-it-ought-to-be phenonmenon). As a fiction writer who's had more lucky breaks and near-misses than he deserves considering his puny output, I was especially struck by your advice to write a novel first and worry about the screenplay later; that seems to fly in the face of advice I've seen all too often elsewhere that ya just gotta blunder your way through that first spec screenplay and steel yourself for a no-reply. I was also cheered to read your plug for good old Larry Brody. I did a weekend workshop with him when I was hanging out at a writers' colony in the Arkansas Ozarks a few years ago. (He's got a ranch thereabouts, as you probably know.) I'd never tried my hand at a TV Pilot notion 'til then but wound up 2nd runner-up (or somewhere in the line of also-rans) for a two-page "treatment" I sent in about how the blues has become the new cash crop in my native Mississippi with all the con-artistry & rank profiteering that implies...I also won, like, 3rd place for a short story I can't seem to get published (OK, I've only sent it out to two places) but for which I managed to land a $5000 grant from the MS Arts Commission. That story and one that landed in the New Yorker got me on the short list for a Chesterfield fellowship, and since then I've fallen into work with Wim Wenders, Charles Burnett, and the Coen brothers when they came south to shoot a flick. But back home after a few years overseas I'm feeling a lost and out of touch, and damn if, for instance, these HBO original series I missed out on in my years of not watching televsion haven't blown me away...even at their worse, miles beyond the big-network fodder I grew up watching. Not sure what I'm getting at here or even why I'm writing this. The closest I've come to completing a screenplay was after a Robert McKee class when I managed a rough-hewn third-of-a-script. Also helped Chris Thomas King (with whom I worked with on O Brother Where Art Thou?) polish up a script of his own...not that that counts for anything. In fact, I realize this just sounds like a bunch of name-dropping, woulda-coulda-shoulda-been and belongs in an email (or better yet, in the Recycle Bin) rather than on your Question board, but I couldn't seem to find an address for you on your website. Anyway, thanks for bearing with me. No need to bother replying--I just appreciate your listening and the work of yours I've read so far. On to the Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting next, I guess. All best, James Hughes

Agents in Other Places

Hi Skip, I live in the SF Bay Area. I'm looking for a screenwriting agent to represent me. Do I have to fly down to LA or are there agents here. If so, do you know any? Thank you for your time. Liz

A voice cries out from Baghdad by the bay...

Liz, if you'll check the News page there's a link to an article in the L.A. Times about a script I'd like to produce. We secured the option via the Reece Halsey North agency, mostly book & novel authors, but it's worth a try. See http://www.reecehalseynorth.com/

I get paid how much?

Great Forum. Really enjoy the comments. One question I have is what is the going rate(s) for writer's compensation (high and low) for writing treaments for non-fiction, hour long programs for television or dramatic based with characters for studios and production companies. I can't find anything that addresses this on the WGA website unless, I overlooked it. Thanks, Trey

That Writers Guild is tricky!

Trey, go to www.wga.org and search for "Schedule of Minimums" and you'll get a downloadable document that will cover those things.

Oh, those troublesome camera directions...

Dear Skip, I have read all your books and took your screenwritng class. And have FINALLY gotten my butt in gear and started ACTUALLY writing it. I have one question. When writing do we put in things like OPEN (exerior/interior), JUMP CUT, or PAN? I know I saw it somewhere but can't for the life of me find it. Thank you!

Answer - Leave out camera directions unless absolutely necessary (like POV). If you don't, a crew from the Directors Guild of America will drive to your house and smack your hand, and they won't film it.

I get simple kudos, too. Go Brandy, go Brandy!

I just read your book "How To Write What You Want & Sell What You Write." Loving it! Those words gave me the ambition needed to just do it! Today I set up my blog at blogger and hopefully ESPN will eventually realize that they need a woman to write the real story when it comes to sports. Getting my confidence and ready to grow "rhinoceros" skin. -- Brandy

I love a Southern accent, even in type.

Hey, Skip (that's Southern talk): I just finished your book "How to Write What You Want & Sell What You Write." I found it extremely engaging and helpful. I have thought about writing a novel for about 35 years. I finally found a plot, and I prepared a preliminary stream of consciousness outline. As the topic may be quite controversial, I am wondering if there is any person or service that will give advice on generic ideas. Of course, I would expect to pay a fee for the service. Lynne

We can fix ya'll up, ma'am.

Howdy, Lynne (that's Texas talk). Enough thinking, time to write! You'll see fees for various things out to the right side of this page. I've coached a lot of people through writing (and editing) novels and I'm currently doing that with a Wall Street executive. Just send me an email and we'll do what we can to get your dreams out of your head and onto paper (the we being me an ya'll.) Looking forward to it.

Such a little book, such popularity...

Hi Skip, Read your 3rd edition of How to Write What You Want and Sell What You Write. It is the best self help book for writers I have found. Thanks for that effort. I have been working on a non fiction subject for quite a few years, I am about your age, and have about 5000 pages of reference material typed and handwritten plus about 60 gig of pdf files I have created containing more reference material. As you have surmised, I do not know when to stop because everytime I venture in one direction, more detailed information is found. I have the fear that if I do not include this info my work will fall short of the academic quality I am hoping to achieve. What do you suggest? Cheers, Michael Veniez BA.

That's a common problem with a first book.

Michael, most people writing their first book, particularly when it's something comprehensive as your's sounds to be, want to cram their whole life (and/or attic) into that book. Just figure out the theme of the book and include only things that clearly illustrate the step-by-step presentation of your theme. You might be writing a "core" book that will be a success and lead to further books, all using the material you have accumulated.

I love young ambition!

I'm under 18 and having trouble finding a way to get my script out there. Do you have any special advice or do I just need to keep going at it?

Get the basics right first

Let's look at what you did posting on my site. You didn't identify yourself or list an email address as some did below. So I don't know any details. Specifics mean a lot. If you don't know how to write a good query letter, read the chapter in my How to Write What You Want & Sell What You Write (see the home page - it's featured prominently). Of course you need to just keep going, but if you have talent now and you know how to reach people properly, you could be the next Isaac Asimov wunderkind. Personality helps, too. If you'd stated your name and email address, I would've sent you that chapter for free. Remember this - everyone started out some time, and the ones who made it love to "give back" helping for free like people did for them, back then. There's always a way to do it, but you have to state who you are and what you have in a way that people like.

Here's a smart guy who's going to make it…

Hello Mr. Press, My name is Lionel Correa and I am a new screenwriter. I have purchased your book "The Writer's Guide to Hollywood" and I am learning so much from it. You make it very useful friendly. Thank you. I just wanted to know if you have the contact information of the producer Robert Rodriguez from Troublemakers studios. I know he lives in Austin, Texas but his website does not list a contact. I would like to offer him one of my screenplays that fits his type of genre, which takes place in Mexico. Attentively, Lionel Correa

I'm starting to write my first screenplay and by reading your book (the Complete Idiot's Guide...) I am well familiar with the whole rewriting concept by now. My question is: When you rewrite, do you save your first draft and start the rewrite from scratch? Or do you work on the one you already wrote?

Lionel, my man!

I don't think Rodriguez will be interested, Lionel, since he mostly writes his own stuff, or with Tarantino and others. Have you tried doing a "Whois" search to see the contact information listed when his website was registered? Some times that turns up contact info.

As far as rewriting goes, I work on what I've already written, and most people I know do. The successful folks I know believe in just pounding something out and then doing the real writing in rewrite. Of course, they know structure before they start writing, which you can learn in my course. Hope that helps.

Questions from Courtney

Dear Skip,

(1) I am in the process of writing a screenplay. But I am confused as to form. I am writing it in a notebook in a novel form, is it best to do that first or write in script form? I feel like I am tormenting myself over which form to begin writing it. Thank you.

(2) I have several ideas for screenplays. Which is better to do first, work the screenplay out or write the treatment? My most recent idea has really sparked my imagination to work on it, because I think it's original. Are there any resources to find out if the idea has been thought of already? Thank you.

-Courtney-

Answers from Skip:

Courtney,

Writing your story in novel form is fine. That's a bit like writing a true "treatment" of a screen story like they did in studio days. You write out the full description of events, maybe throw in a little dialogue if it's pertinent, like "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." or "Here's Johnny!"

As to whether it's original or not, you might try looking on the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com. There are several ways to do searchers there.

Also, read "the trades" - www.HollywoodReporter.com and www.Variety.com - and search the archives of both. If you want to subscribe, they offer better deals in December when business is slow.

I also highly recommend Howie Meibach's site at www.hollywoodlitsales.com .

Even if someone else has an idea similar to yours, that might not mean you should abandon your project. Steven Spielberg told me he was in progress on another Peter Pan script when he found "Hook" and liked it better. You can also apply for membership to my "Skip's Hollywood Hangout" and run things by other members.

A reader asks: "Do you evaluate treatments?"

Why, yes I do!

That might fall under the "Know Before You Go" price, depending upon what you call a "treatment." Back in the days of silent movies, "scenarists" described the scenes and some dialogue (as much as you could see on a placard between scenes). Then as movies developed in the studio system, treatments would be written that fully described all the scenes and perhaps some memorable lines of dialogue. They might run almost as long as a short screenplay. Today, in the video game world, a treatment might run 200 pages. If you are talking about the normal thing called a movie treatment these days, it could be 2 to 3 pages. I would be happy to review something like that for the "Know Before You Go" price. If it were longer, we could work out a fair price. You'd need to have that treatment registered and/or copyrighted, however.

Another reader asks:

I have 3 movies "all" in my head. I can tell you about each one from beginning to end, but when it comes to putting them down on paper my mind goes blank. What would you charge and what percentage of the sales would you want to write the scripts and sell them?

My reply:

In a situation like this, I would probably get you to describe what you see to me. We could do this in person or over the phone. I would then organize the material into a structure of a movie we could sell, and go over it with you. Once we'd established a story we liked I would draft out the script. A deal like that would be a $2,000 minimum, payable in advance. We would work out other fees and shares of profits in a way that was fair and that you could afford. I would handle the marketing alone if necessary, working under a mutually agreeable written agreement.

Moving On Up...

If you want me to speak at an event, please ask. Whether it's outside or in southern California and fun, I'd love to hear from you. For my other services, read about my fees on the other side of the page.