I am very interested in storytelling, scripting and creative writing. My attention to this recently increased while I was watching a pretty average (or below-average) film "Arabian Nights". Still, although it is full of silly and naïve details, there were some fascinating sentences and thoughts. I like the fact that you can easily invent a story which will take someone’s breath away and make him ponder later on what you said.
Do you have any suggestions of books that deal with different kinds of writing? Are there good courses of creative writing and how satisfying/disappointing they are? I am told that most of them are rubbish, but who knows… I was recently very surprised by the fact that there’s a university course of CW and that Darren Star completed the four-year programme. Are there such faculty programmes for screen-play writing?
They say I am excellent in writing different kinds of essays, stories, etc. but I still want to know what is written in books whose thematic is writing and are those courses helpful, what are they "made of", i. e. what do you do on them?
Nymann, you obviously have a very vivid and active imagination. I think someone of your abilities, while perhaps not wasting your time with books on writing, would be better off to just plunge ahead and start writing what you want to write. With some patience and self-criticism, I am certain that you will find a style and wording that is explicit and wondrous, and can evoke in the reader the sense of wonder and mystery and beauty that so many long for in this troubled, weary world.
Go for it! (OOps, I think that’s Nike’s new slogan)!!
just plunge ahead and start writing what you want to write
I agree with Sitran. Better to spend four years on your screenplay than four years reading about other people’s screenplays. There are some techniques, script formats, etc. that would be handy to know about if you’re serious and want to get published, etc. You can find most of what you need online. The Writers’ Guild of America has a good website with an online mentoring program you might want to check out (www.wga.org). I’m sure there are similar organizations in other countries, too.
1) Analyzing the works of great authors to get a deeper understanding of what makes their fiction ‘great’, so that the person will see what literary "tools" they themselves can then apply to their own work
2) Practicing with certain types of writing to "get a feel" for them - plays, poetry, short stories; subdivisions of those, such as comedies, sonnets or mysteries
3) Critiqueing one another’s work to point out what could be done better
4) Doing practice in whatever you want to write, to keep everybody in the habit of writing regularly
There are other things, but those are the main ones.
I would agree with what the others have said so far - the most important thing is to keep working on developing your own skills. Classes aren’t really necessary, only talent and devotion. There isn’t anything in a class that couldn’t be gotten elsewhere.
I avoid "me too" posts, but just go ahead Nymann. I do remember checking out a short book by Ursula K. Le Guin (the sience fiction -among other things- writer) called [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0933377460/qid=1063497973/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/102-9766603-6284921?v=glance&s=books]Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew
[/url] (my usual link to Amazon.com), which seemed to be quite interesting and cheap.
The comment in Amazon states that:
Ursula K. Le Guin’s extraordinary writing primer is full of charm, wit, and opinion. Le Guin likens writing to "steering a craft," and as one reads through this volume, one has the sense of floating down a river, with the waves of Le Guin’s words lapping at one’s craft. Le Guin veers sharply from the mainstream of contemporary writing manuals by challenging their very definition of story. While it is common to "conflate story with conflict," Le Guin writes, she finds that limiting. "Story is change," she says. While that change may be the result of conflict, it is just as likely to evolve from "relating, finding, losing, bearing, discovering, [or] parting." Le Guin demonstrates this complexity with well-hewn excerpts from the works of such writers as Jane Austen, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charlotte Brontë, and especially Virginia Woolf. The many aspects of fine fiction writing Le Guin addresses here include the role of the narrative sentence (its "chief duty [is] to lead to the next sentence—to keep the story going"); avoiding exposition doldrums ("break up the information, grind it fine, and make it into bricks to build the story with"); and the concept of "crowding and leaping." While prose should be "crowded with sensations, meanings, and implications," don’t forget that "what you leave out is infinitely more than what you leave in."
Accompanying Le Guin’s text is a handful of clever writing exercises, each as enticing as its name. Among them are "I am García Márquez," which requires writing with no punctuation; "Chastity," which challenges one to write without adjectives or adverbs; and "A Terrible Thing to Do," which proposes taking an earlier exercise and cutting it—by half.—Jane Steinberg
Some universities offer scriptwriting as an emphasis in their theater (uh, make that theatre over there :) ) majors. Scriptwriting may also be a part of the English Major.
A typical theater major will have to delve into all the aspects of the theatrical trade, including coursework on set design, script analysis, acting classes, directing classes, and time spent on the various crews such as construction, lighting, costume, and running crew. My oldest daughter graduated with a theater degree with an emphasis in acting. My youngest likes script-writing and photography, and will probably transfer from a Fine Arts/Photography major to a Film major, or maybe become a Mass Comm major and go to graduate school for filmmaking.
They’ve both promised to take care of me and my wife when they become rich and famous. And I’m still buying lottery tickets. :D
[quote author=Palewriter link=board=omni;num=1063460382;start=0#3 date=09/13/03 at 19:37:15]There are some techniques, script formats, etc. that would be handy to know about if you’re serious and want to get published, etc.
From the time of the Golden Globe® and Emmy®-winning Sex and the City’s early production, Michael Patrick King has been a leading creative contributor and key to the show’s growing success. For the last three seasons he has been the show’s chief Executive Producer. For his individual work as a writer on the series he has been nominated for three Emmys and two Writers Guild Awards. He has also been nominated twice for the best director Emmy and won it last season for his work on "The Real Me" an episode that also garnered him a Directors Guild nomination. He also received a Directors Guild nomination for "Plus One is the Loneliest Number."
King has revealed in past interviews some of the ingredients that are important to the show’s continued success. "It’s about what sex does to people, in terms of exposing their insecurities… the selling piece of the show, is that you’re maybe going to see something about sex… the sex on the show is either in pursuit of a comic or romantic result," says King. ;D
As a writer and director of the third seasons premiere episode "Where There is Smoke," King started things off with sizzling dialogue and masterful storytelling. He also closed the season by writing the poignant and hilarious "Cock a Doodle Do." Some other memorable episodes written by King include: the emotionally charged "Running With Scissors", where Carrie has an unfortunate meeting with Natasha, the outrageous funky spunk episode "Easy Come, Easy Go", and the enormously popular and emotional "I Heart NY" in which Mr. Big moves away from New York.
From the second season to date, King has written all the season premieres and finales including his Emmy®-nominated season finale "Ex and the City," which he also directed. All have King’s signature heartfelt and comedic touches.
[quote author=Silver Han link=board=omni;num=1063460382;start=0#13 date=09/21/03 at 19:57:17]
Seems like that ought to be "off-topicking", to preserve the hard ‘c’ sound, rather than sliding into an ‘s’. Gotta love English spelling! ;)
~Silver
Yes. I suppose "frolic - frolicking" would be the [s]paralel[/s] [s]parallell[/s] [s]parrallell[/s] parallel…oh BUGGER English spelling.
[quote author=Silver Han link=board=omni;num=1063460382;start=0#13 date=09/21/03 at 19:57:17]
Seems like that ought to be "off-topicking", to preserve the hard ‘c’ sound, rather than sliding into an ‘s’. Gotta love English spelling! ;)
