How to Write - Follow this Foolproof Method!

[NoJo]

I was looking for a noteapd to scribble on, when I came across some notes I made from a screenwriting course:


There's a diagram, concentric rings like a dartboard:

In the center, the "bull's eye", was written IDEA (ONE SENTENCE)
The next ring was labelled CHARACTERS
Next, DRAMATIC PREMISE
Next, MORE CHARACTERS, CHAR. DEVELOPMENT
Next STORY OUTLINE
Then comes
SCENE LIST,
Next, STEP OUTLINE
Finally, TREATMENT,

The first and most important stage of writing a screenplay.
It all seems so simple!

Here's some more nuggets I managed to jot down:


IDENTIFICATION
INCITE: one or more of SYMPATHY, CURIOUSITY, LIKEABILITY, JEOPARDY in our perception of the hero



Here's one I actually use:


ASK YRSELF 5 QUESTIONS TO GET YOUR STORY CLEAR:

1. "Who's story is it?"
2. "What's her problem?"
3. "What's her goal?"
4. "Who opposes her?"
5. "How is the conflict resolved?"



I'm sure this stuff could be useful even for the smut we write here.

 

[RenzaJones]

Thanks for the tips. BTW nothing is fool proof
believe me I know a lot of fools

 

[NoJo]

I think the trick is, learn it, use it, throw it away. In that order. Like music theory , and art theory.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: How to Write - Follow this Foolproof Method!

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Hey Joe,

Thanks for sharing. The four at the bottom seem most useful to me and I'm already writing it on a post-it and sticking it to the monitor.

~lucky

 

[RenzaJones]

Re: Re: Re: How to Write - Follow this Foolproof Method!

Whenever you build something that is foolproof, they build a better fool.

too say nothing of the fools in power they're breeding a nation of them as we speak

 

[Guest]

Jose, muchas gracias. I like the conciseness. P.

 

[dirtylover]

Re: Re: Re: How to Write - Follow this Foolproof Method!

Whenever you build something that is foolproof, they build a better fool.

hahaha! that made me laugh, think I will start saying it to people.

BTW, that is actually how I laugh, but how do you write laughter into a story?

Tx for tips SJ

 

[pop_54]

Re: Re: Re: Re: How to Write - Follow this Foolproof Method!

hahaha! that made me laugh, think I will start saying it to people.

BTW, that is actually how I laugh, but how do you write laughter into a story?

Tx for tips SJ

That's how you laugh?? You walk round with it on a piece of paper??? Doesn't that seem a little false

I use many methods, from mild giggles and chuckles from the ladies, to roaring laughter from the guys. Mainly described as laughter/giggles/chuckles, almost never as Hahahahahahaha, snorrrrrrrttttttt, keeeeecccccckkkkkkkkk!!!!!! unless I'm a bit drunk at the time of writing.

 

[NoJo]

A woman who I worked with, once made me laugh like you'd described, big belly laugh, like from the guys. After that I found her incredibly attractive. So I ran away.

On holiday the guy in the next room had a brilliant laugh, which he kept doing every couple of hours the whole time we were ther He'd always start by clapping his hands:

(slapping noise) - Ah... Ah... Ahhh! Sort of like an evil Dracula.

 

[Guest]

I love making men laugh (by my wit, vs. pratfalls). There is nothing like a great masculine laugh for me. There's a special friend who laughs on-line (cam) and I feel so happy to think I can do that, but I so wish I could hear him too.

wistfully, Perdita

 

[pop_54]

I love making men laugh (by my wit, vs. pratfalls). There is nothing like a great masculine laugh for me. There's a special friend who laughs on-line (cam) and I feel so happy to think I can do that, but I so wish I could hear him too.

wistfully, Perdita

Give us a quickie darling, chuckle that is

 

[Guest]

Give us a quickie darling, chuckle that is

Quickie anything for you, big boy. Wish I could hear you larf.

 

[SadieRose]

4 Larfs!

I have a very sweet young friend who actually SAYS "Mwahahaah!" with the most evil grin on her face.

Being susceptible to her sweetness, I do tend to find this most endearing.

*grin*

 

[snooper]

Re: Re: Re: How to Write - Follow this Foolproof Method!

Whenever you build something that is foolproof, they build a better fool.

Funny idea, building a fool. In our dealings with our beloved Ministry of Defence we say:
Whenever we prove that something is foolproof, they just trot out a bigger fool.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Joe's original post reminded me of the way they teach kids to write in school now. They teach them several brainstorming methods. One is to use concentric circles as he said, but I'm not so sure how that works: what goes where.

Another is what they call a "tree" where you write down your main idea, then branch off your supporting arguments and sub-supporting arguments. That's good for essays and theses.

My favorite was the "cloud" method, where you write down your ideas or scenes on a piece of paper, then circle them and draw connecting lines to put them in sequence or order. I've never tried it, but it sounds like it would work.

This reminds me too, that I finally discovered how to write a mystery: you know, a highly structured story that works towards a satisfying ending that makes sense and pulls it all together. I never knew how they did that without elaborate notes and outlines, which I can't do (can't work like that). But if you just write the ending first so you know whodunnit and why, then it's easy to plant clues and red herrings all over the place.

---dr.M.