Читать книгу Mind Your Business - Michele Wallerstein - Страница 13

NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF 4

To have a successful career, a writer must make many decisions that have nothing to do with the act of setting down words on paper. These decisions have harmed and even destroyed the careers of some of the most accomplished talents. The potential problems may arise without your seeing them as problems at all, but if you make the wrong choice it may be catastrophic. I will try to help you avoid some of the major issues that you will face.

Writers are terribly insecure when they put that first toe in the water. They often feel that it might be easier if they had a partner. You may think that by having a partner you will avoid dry spells, because when you are out of ideas, your partner will come up with some. You may hate the idea of sitting all alone every day and starring at that blank computer screen. Of course we have all heard the old adage that “two heads are better than one.” Well, think again.

As an agent I always preferred writers who work solo. Early on in my career I learned that partnerships inevitably break up and it was usually impossible to get an assignment for one-half of a team, whether they were well-known or not.

If you decide you really must work in a partnership, the best situation would be finding someone with similar likes and dislikes — someone with whom you can spend many, many hours within a closed room. It would also be better if you both smoked or hated smoking, if you both liked working all night or were both morning people. It would be great if at least one of you could make great coffee or repair a computer. Many things one needs from a partner seem inconsequential at first, but may become enormous issues after a few months. Sounds like a marriage, and in many ways it is.

You also need someone with at least a modicum of discipline and who is in it with you for the long haul. This last point is crucial. During my agency tenure I represented a fairly successful comedy writing team of two middle-aged women. They were smart, funny, and actively involved in their sitcom-writing career. They were both married. One writer had been a comic actress and was married to a comedian. One was a little ditzy, the other was more grounded. They balanced each other quite well. I'll call them Mitzi and Fritzi. I loved them and was thrilled to be their agent. They had been together for a while but eventually things began to break down between them. Just when I thought we were about to break through and get them a staff job for a sitcom, they broke up their partnership. It destroyed both of their writing careers. No one, not even I, could tell whether it was Mitzi or Fritzi who had more of the writing chops. Neither of them would write spec scripts. They felt it was beneath them and that their “credits” were enough. Once a team is established, they are not trusted by anyone to write separately. I was so sorry to see them go as clients. They never worked much as writers again.

The breakup of writing partnerships happens more often than not. It is, without a doubt, devastating to the careers of both writers. Let me reiterate that if you can write alone, please do so.

At some point during your pursuit of a career, another writer may ask you to partner up on a project. The final product will never be a good writing sample for you because no one will know which one of you did most of the creative work. Writing samples are paramount to your writing career. You need as many of them as possible, and all of them should be original scripts that have been written by you alone.

Recently I was a guest speaker at a writers’ conference and had a private consultation with an interesting woman. Here was her conundrum: She was just starting a screenwriting career and felt that since she was middle-aged and female that it would be impossible for her to be accepted into the male and obsessively youth-oriented “biz.” She had decided to put her adult son's name on her screenplays as either the writer or perhaps her co-writer. She suggested that if her scripts garnered any interest and generated any meetings, he would go to them alone. She asked my advice about this situation. I was appalled.

My chief horror was that it was a lie. Lying in any business or in any facet of one's life is always a poor choice. This terrible subterfuge cannot continue in a writer's career. Suppose she was to have a meeting. How would her son be able to talk intelligently about the project, or pitch her other ideas, or come up with ways of making the script better? How would he be able to answer on-the-spot questions about the characters of “his” writing process? All in all, it just wouldn't work. I explained to her that when it comes to original screenplays, no one cares how old you are or which sex you are or if you are a green elf. It is all about the script itself. If it is great it will sell. You will probably be re-written no matter who you are. Be proud of having done a great job. Be proud of who you are. Writing samples are usually sent out prior to a meeting so the reader doesn't know anything about the writer personally. The written word speaks for itself. If you have the talent, people will want you and your work. I've found that your attitude is more important than your age or sex. If you are older than everyone else in the meeting and you have a condescending or patronizing attitude toward these younger people, you will not be welcomed back. I know it's difficult to listen to advice from people younger than you are, but that's the name of the game.

If you have a good sense of humor and a positive attitude you will be accepted. It's up to you.

Here is another issue that I've known to be a hard choice for writers. Currently, novel agents and novel publishers want books that can be sold later as motion pictures. It is a very high priority in this field. Opting for whichever medium suits you and your story idea is completely your choice. This is a question of following your heart or perhaps following the momentary fad of the business. If you write purely for a sale, and out of panic, there will be a hole in the work that the reader can detect either consciously or unconsciously, and your reputation will be hurt. You simply cannot please everyone. Writing is difficult at best, but when it is forced into a genre that you don't love, your writing will suffer. When writing from your heart you may not sell the work but you will have a wonderful writing sample. This will eventually do more good for you than you can imagine.

The harsh rules of business have intruded irrevocably on your esthetic world. Not only must books be movies, but movie producers and studios want to sell their soundtracks and turn their movies into video games, DVD sales, board games, and toys because the “backend” monies can be huge to a studio. Motion picture financiers want big movies based on comic books, so people are trying to get comic books published before they think they can sell their scripts.

No matter what changes occur in our business, the same rule will always apply to writers working on spec screenplays: Write that project in which you believe.

The movie business has become so complex that it may seem impossible to navigate it in terms of knowing whom you want to please. My experience tells me that writers should always please themselves first and foremost but to always keep the market in mind. I know that sounds contradictory; however, it's possible and it works. The quality of your work will rise along with your passion for your project. When you write only because you want to get a sale, it will show in the work. Everyone in town is always searching for that special writer with that special spec script that rarely comes along. Very often, your script may not sell or even be optioned; however, you may be hired for a different project and you will use those skills that shone in your original screenplay to rewrite someone else's film. Your spec script may be ahead of its time, or perhaps other screenplays with the same or similar themes are already being developed at a movie studio. I can't tell you how many times this has occurred while I was an agent — sometimes an idea is in the air and is being developed in more than one place. If you have a great script, it will serve to open many doors for you, whether it is sold or not. If the story is wonderful and the characters even better, people in the film industry will know it and will find you. The people who are making movies often find a novel, short story, news article, etc., that they will need to have a good writer translate into a movie script. Perhaps you will be the writer they hire to write that movie.

There is an old saying that “rules are made to be broken.” I believe that to be true. So, if you hear that no one is buying unpackaged spec scripts, or that only books that can be movies will be published, or that you must only write big action-adventure flicks, even though you love writing relationship dramas, you are being sorely misinformed. The only real reality is that things change. The pendulum is constantly swinging back and forth. When you are absolutely sure that no one will buy and produce a western, someone remakes the very old movie, 3:10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe. I don't suggest you fight only uphill battles. Try to be circumspect in your choices.

A big no-no is to spend your time and creative energy writing the same project in more than one medium. I've seen people write the same story in different mediums thinking that they will then have a better chance at a sale. It is much better to write each story idea in one format that you really love. When you do so you will write with more quality and it will show in your piece. You must always be moving forward to your next beloved project. I knew a successful writer who became too attached to one idea. He wrote his “story” as a screenplay and a novel and when they didn't sell, he also wrote it as a play. All of these efforts took their toll in time, thought, energy, and work. It was an enormous waste of all of that and it ended his career.

The simple answer is and always has been: Write what you love but remember that you are in the business of writing.

Another huge question that arises is when to let go of a script that hasn't sold. Writers quite often continually push their agents to send out an old script. It is great to believe in your work; however, here again you must trust your agent or manager. It is very hard to define why a good script doesn't sell, but usually there is a reason. You and your agent may never figure it out. It will also be possible that your agent will know, but not want to share, this information with you. Perhaps your agent feels it will hurt your feelings or that you are so tied to the project that you won't listen to the advice presented to you. The point is to simply let it go and move on to your next spec script, treatment, or pitch idea. There is no such thing as successfully selling defensively. If you force your agent's hand he or she will be put in a position of having to go against his or her own instincts or to let you go as a client. Either of these decisions are potential disasters for you. Like the old saying goes, “It doesn't matter if the window hits the rock or the rock hits the window, in either case it's bad for the window.”

Similarly there is a huge problem if you write a script that your agent doesn't believe in and doesn't want to submit. This is a dead zone that can destroy a perfectly good agent-client relationship. It has happened to me. I once represented a brilliant writer who blindsided me by walking into my office with twenty gold-stamped, leather-bound, completed screenplays about the murders of elderly people in an old age home. A script doesn't get more depressing than that. The story was so sad that I could barely read it. There were no young heroes nor were there any of the other elements that are so necessary in a commercial script. I was dumbfounded that he had written this without discussing it with me first and that he had brought it in to me in a condition that practically screamed that he would not do any rewriting. It was the end of our professional relationship and I'm sorry to say that his career never took off.

There are so many sticky situations that arise in your decision-making process. Arguing vociferously with your producer or development executive in a notes meeting is another one. You can only go so far defending your creative choices. Once a deal has been made, once you are writing on someone else's dime, they have the final say, even if it's wrong. Certainly you may present your case and even try to find a middle ground, but the person behind the desk is the one in power. If you begin by making enemies, you will be replaced on your own film and get a terrible reputation in this very small town.

There's no such thing as “common sense” when it comes to navigating a career in Hollywood. It's better to discuss your situation or problem with someone who has some experience in your field. If possible you must find mentors and ask their advice. People love to give advice. Just be careful to ask a pro.

Another big decision is when to write another spec script. Perhaps your career has been going along fairly well. You have a pretty good agent and you have optioned a couple of scripts and had the good fortune of being paid for a couple of rewrites on other people's scripts. You may have met with lots of good development people and some fine producers, maybe even a studio executive or two. Then, one day it dawns on you that it has been awfully quiet for a few months. Nothing is happening. You call your agent and ask the inevitable questions: “What's going on? Can't you get me another assignment? Is anything happening on my old scripts?” Obviously the answer to all of the above is a resounding “No.” Your agent asks, “What are you working on now?” He wants to know if you have any new pitches. You realize that you have been waiting for him to find you the next job. It's easier to blame your agent than to take responsibility for your own inaction. As I've mentioned previously you must always be working on a new spec script. This means at any time in your career. When the going gets tough you better get yourself to your computer. I once worked for a wonderful agent named Mel Bloom. When told by a client that he'd already paid his dues, Mel replied, “Have you paid them this year?”

All of the above are potentially serious problems in a writer's life. Pay attention to the big picture of your career. Be sensible and sensitive to the business you are in. Certainly there are more problem areas than these, but these are amazingly common and have destroyed many writers. Try to weigh your decisions carefully, and be open to listening to folks who have been swimming in these waters before you. We can't avoid making mistakes in this life; however, perhaps you will be able to sidestep a few.