Co-writing or Editing Another's Work

So, how does one go about Co-writing without killing the other writer? Well, its not easy. Believe me, I taught writing for many moons and 99.9% of people are very possessive of their words. How dare you change that word, thought, idea? You suck. You don't understand me. I hate you. Drop dead. Yep, I heard it all. In trying to help students become better writers, I had students fight with me, cry on me, and roll their eyes too many times to count. And these were the college students!

You have to be very careful when sharing ideas and even more careful when giving and accepting constructive criticism. Egos bruise easily. Here are things that I found, through trial and error, that really help the co-writing or editing process.

First, get to know the person before you read their work. Writing is very personal and people don't want strangers reading their work and telling them what's wrong with it. I finally became a good writing teacher when I got to know my students' individual interests and they got to know some extracurricular stuff about me. It made it easier for us to have a dialogue about their writing without crying or cursing. It was just productive re-visioning. 

Second, read through without a red pen (its a subconscious memory of glaring "F's" in grade school)- I like green pens- and while editing, make comments on all the things you LIKE as you read as well. That way, people can see exactly what phrases, passages, chapters, etc. are working. When I taught, my students would freak out when I passed back their first essays of the school year because they saw writing all over it. "What is this?" they'd ask, all up in arms.

"Did you read the comments?" I'd ask.

Reluctantly, they'd begin to read the comments, but then smiles would slowly creep across their faces when they realized that 3/4 of the writing were compliments. Later on in the year, they couldn't wait to get back their essays to see what I had enjoyed in their papers. Some of them would even stay after class to talk to me excitedly about the things I had pointed out that they had taken a risk on!

Third: it is usually not your job to change the other writer's words. You can offer a suggestion in the margin, but do not try to make them sound like yourself as a writer. Let them have their own voice. You can only change words if words are misused, misspelled, or if they change the tone of the piece. In graduate school I went from one professor to another who wanted each class to write just like him or her. And none of them wrote like the other. It was ridiculous. I thought I was losing my mind and I almost lost my writing voice in the process. After graduation, I decided I did not want my writing to sound "scholarly" and not be understood by 60% or more of the population, so I broke free of everything I learned in college and grad school and learned to write like me again.

Nobel prize authors win awards because they don't sound like everybody else.

Well, that's a good start for any joint writing projects you may wish to endeavor in. I'll add some more tips as I think of them. For now, I want to get back to my work. If you don't work, you don't have any writing, and if there isn't any writing, you have nothing to sell . . .

Peace!
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE

Beginning a Television Spec Script

Television writing. It's a different beast than filmwriting, but one I like to undertake from time to time. It's always good to have a couple of television spec scripts on hand when you're looking for representation. As I wrote in a previous blog, the last spec script I worked on was for the X-Files, so it's time to do something new.

I did get an idea to write a script for Supernatural, but I outlined that and tabled it for now. Instead, I got a better idea for an episode of Criminal Minds.

I decided to do the Criminal Minds episode for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, its a challenge for me and it will stretch my writing skills. I really love the show and I tend to watch it thinking that writing for a show with that level of technical background is out of my comfort zone.

Yet, I have a background in Psychology where I studied Abnormal Psych and Criminology. I just need to do some research and study the written format of the show. A couple of books on Behavioral Analysis and Criminal Profiling should do the trick.

So, comfort zone be gone.

For the past two days I went through Jurgen Wolff & Kerry Cox's book Successful Scriptwriting, focusing on the chapter on hour-long episodes as a refresher. Then I sat down and wrote out the beginning and ending of the episode, as well as major plot points.

My next move will be to outline the 60-page script and just get started.

I'm also going to order a couple Criminal Minds scripts from Script City (1-800-676-2522 or scriptcity.net). I haven't ordered from them in a while due to the pile of screenplays I have from them that I haven't read yet, but I'm assuming they're still around. You can't write a television episode without knowing each show's format. That's why Final Draft has different formats for each of the major television shows built into their software (God, I love Final Draft!)

Get writing!
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE

Be An Original

If you're ever looking for a different book to read and want something that has a strong literary base as well, read The Famished Road by Ben Okri. It's a wonderful South African fiction novel about a young boy who is an abiku. An abiku is the spirit of a child that is born over and over again to the same woman only to die again before the age of five. The abiku child is almost like a curse because he or she can drive his mother insane with grief from miscarriages and the death of young children. In The Famished Road, the main character is an abiku child who lives past the age of five, but can see the spirit world all around him. I can tell you I have never in my life read a novel like it.

And, having a Masters in Literature, I've read a lot of novels.

I thought about The Famished Road today because Ben Okri was quoted on an older episode of Criminal Minds tonight. (One of the things I love about Criminal Minds is that they quote the best novelists that ever lived in the beginning and end of each brilliant episode).

It made me think of originality. What is it that makes some works so outstanding in originality, while others are just cookie cutter copies? I believe that originality lies in the origin of the creation: you. If you write what you know, just like they've been pounding in your head all these years, you will absolutely have an original work.

My screenplays are very original, even when I'm doing a lot of research to back it up. There is a part of me in each of my characters, along with my personal experiences. My entire script, The P.A. is based on my experiences working on film sets either as an actress or as a member of the production crew. The main character in the screenplay I'm working on now, A Kangaroo in the Hand is modeled (loosely) on a Vietnam Vet I met riding the Sydney railroad back in the early 90s.

J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books for her own amusement. She was just happy to get The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone published. It's the most original fantasy work I've ever read.

If I were to say: think about a horror story set in Maine. . . I'd be shocked if Stephen King doesn't pop into your mind. He's cornered the market on that original genre.

So, what story is in you? What do you have to tell or teach?

Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE

Cheerio!