SCREENWRITING TIP #1: The Big Idea

Everywhere I travel if someone discovers that I am a writer, they invariably tell me that they have a great idea for a movie, a book or a TV series. (Especially cab and uber drivers, they are idea machines). And if I would JUST write it for them...

Yikes, there’s the catch. They don’t want to do the work themselves. Problem is, I have tons of ideas of my own. Ideas are cheap. Execution is what counts. Very few execute. When I am pitched an idea I tell people, "Write it yourself!" Few ever do. Because they discover when they start that writing is hard work, and they quit without seeing it through. So the basic secret of success in writing is: Do the Work. Write the worst thing you can put on paper, but get through it. Then you can rewrite it. Over and over until you make it great. Most people who are professionals wrote five or six screenplays before they even sold one. No one is a genius right off the bat.

But a word of warning before you start the actual writing: It’s best to test your Big Idea before you dive in. Do an outline of your movie, brainstorm the plot points. Do character sketches so you make sure the character fits with your plot and vice versa. I will be covering how to do those things in more detail in future updates, but the biggest warning I have is: NEVER START WRITING WITHOUT AN ENDING. You will just be making the hard work harder for yourself. Your Big Idea is worth doing the homework for, just so you can keep your enthusiasm up through a very difficult process of creating something from scratch.

And if you don’t have time for full steam ahead on one Big Idea right now, the best thing you can do is make a habit of filing your ideas away in a file cabinet. Virtual or physical. Write anything you find interesting down. Scan the world for things and plots and people and phrases that pop out to you. You never know when your observations will come in handy. Eventually, you will have files and files of plots, and characters and ideas, that can help you start quicker when you finally dedicate yourself to that one Big Idea project. You’re not starting from zero, and that’s a wonderful thing. 

A Good Idea is eternal. Sorting the bad from the good is the hard part, but having a file to pull from is the key. You never know when a character you thought of five years ago, might solve a plot problem you have now. And every once in a while, make yourself go through those files, let your mind wander over them. You might be able to add some puzzle pieces together and BAM! You could have the pieces of a Big Idea just waiting to be assembled and written.

Or you could just take an Uber somewhere and grab one of the driver’s ideas. But we both know you can do better than that.

And just like that - there's no turning back.

The interior of Asteroid Made of Dragons has been approved and it's on the way to be printed. Inkshares staff, Bethany at Girl Friday Production, the irrepressible copy editor Carrie, the mysterious being I only know as DES (Designer), and my Pokemon trainers Veronica and Tom from Sword & Laser have all given the nod. Final cover tweaks are coming today as well and we're off to physical production.

I feel odd about it. I've self-published before, so there was much more of a feeling of instant gratification when I put the book out. After intense beta reading and copy editing by friends and colleagues - I clicked a few buttons and it was done. You could order the book immediately. That moment of white-hot excitement as I pushed 'GO' and tossed my stuff out into the world - it was wonderful. And then, inevitably, I'd realize I'd goofed on stuff.  The problem with being both writer AND publisher is you get to overrule a lot of sensible things when you WANT BOOK NOW. My first book, I actually pulled it down, re-edited it and put it back up on Amazon a few months after release because of all the snarky little copy edit and formatting problems. Ha, I had an ogre that changed names at least twice in one chapter.

So, the moment where I left to my own devices would have put this book out - was months ago. And in all that time, the book has only gotten stronger, cleaner, better - less prone to causing impromptu hauntings. Intellectually, this is amazing - readers will see a remarkably more polished form of my work this time around. But emotionally, hmm. It's been long enough that I've kind of come disconnected from the excitement of the book coming out? Maybe I'm just tamping down my expectations for what launch is going to be like, but in a weird way - it's like I'm excited about someone else's book coming out?

Stephen King (Uncle Stevie), has a phenomenal book called 'On Writing' - and one of the many passages I really took to heart was his edict that you have to put the book away after you write it. Long enough that you can read it as a stranger - that it doesn't sound like your own voice in your head. I think this is the first novel I've really been able to do that. Especially this week as we were working on the final copy edits - I found myself reading passages of AMOD and thinking Who wrote this? This is pretty good. Ha ha, Sideways is the best.

And you must now how much it pains me to say this about my own stuff. I am a quiet, quivering ball of self-loathing. 

But quite honestly - I kept feeling a new excitement. Not the sweaty, PUSH THE BUTTON release fervor I've felt before - but more of a Christmas morning, oh, just you wait until you see what I got you kind of feeling. As dangerous and perilous for my anxiety as this is to even think or type - I felt ...proud...of the book. I wanted to swagger.

I hope this feeling lasts. I'm going to ride it as long as I can - until the crippling doubt returns, natch.

Thank you all again - I can never say it enough. Real bookstores are buying the book! You are going to get to read my book in just a few weeks! You did this. YOU DID THIS.

It's all your fault.

More reports as they come in - be prepared, we're on target for release at the beginning of April - so you're going to hear more and more from me soon.

NOTES OF INTEREST

Audiobook giveaway for Spell/Sword - Precursor novel to AMOD. - ends 1/31

My jam.

My twitter! - c'mon and follow me people! It is SOLID GOLD over there. Just me whining and complaining ALL THE TIME.

Dear readers and supporters, friends,

The day nears! In about a month’s time The Life Engineered is going to launch. While I thank you with every breath I take these days there is no time for lengthy speeches about gratitude. Indeed, the time is for action! My friends, in the next weeks I need to drum up as much interest in The Life Engineered as I possibly can and I’m kicking it off with a bang.

On February 4th, 5th and 6th I will begin San Fransisco. My mission? I want to personally sign each and every copy of The Life Engineered going to supporters. All of them. Like a maniac or some kind of machine.

While I’m on the West Coast however, I might as well try to hang out with a few of you that are in the area. So on Saturday February 6th I will be hanging out at Borderlands Books. I don’t know if that’s going to be an official event or just me sitting at a table drinking all their coffee. I’m still working out the details. All I can tell you is that starting at 3pm, maybe earlier, I’ll be at Borderlands Books in San Fransisco. I’ll probably have prints or at least papers and I’ll answer questions about The Life Engineered, Inkshares, why I think robots are awesome, I’ll tell the story of my car accident and why the top of my feet tickle all the time (the secret is nerve damage).

As I get more details I’ll send out more updates but I’ll also be Tweeting about it and posting to my writer’s Facebook page, so why don’t you follow me on these platforms?

Guys, gals, sentient machines masquerading as humans… there is some cool stuff down the pipes and I really want you to be involved.

 Cheers, JF

Dear readers,

Something very big is coming for supporters of Blood Dawn! In particular, everyone who became a Dragon or a God-King -- all 35 of you! -- I'm planning something fun for the last push to get 399 pre-orders before April 11th.

Stay tuned. If you're dying of curiosity, feel free to email me and I'll give you a hint:

johnrobinrt@gmail.com