The Is It Crap Writer Factor
Tue, Dec 2nd 2008, 09:27
Writing... You have an idea. You like it. You explain to someone. They like it. You read some scripts in the same medium that you're aiming for. You sit down. You write. You leave it a while. You rewrite. You've finished. You think... Is this a giant pile of crap? I've just wasted hours of my life on this and it might be crap. How do we find out whether it isn't or not? So far I've discovered the following...
(a) Read it out loud. This can help, but often I still can't see the thing as a whole.
(b) The old leave it in a drawer for a couple of weeks, then read it trick. Yes this helps, but can also lead to the terrible realisation that the idea is actually crap and needs a great deal of work.
(c) Go for a walk. This really works for me. Just walking the dog and thinking about the idea. Thinking about things from a new perspective or character's pov. Thinking about adding in new characters, or taking out scenes. Highly recommended.
(d) Read it out loud to someone else. This is much better than (a). All the bits that make you cringe slightly when you read it to yourself suddenly make you writhe in agony. It becomes a lot clearer what has to go, plus you can interview your listener afterwards to see if they liked it, understood it, were intrigued. Also recommended by Frank Cottrell Boyce who is somewhat more well known than me.
(e) Read a new writing self-help book, or re-read an old one. I find this helps sometimes, even if I'm just picking out passages or chapters. It helps me to focus and go right back to the basics.
(f) Read some more scripts in the same milieu (hoping that's the correct use of milieu). Then review your own script again. I find this helps sometimes - I can see how my script stands up against similar stories written by my contemporaries.
(g) Deep down, you know the truth. I think that deep down, you know yourself if something is good or not. It doesn't mean you're going to admit it to yourself though. That would require hours, possibly days, of therapy.
(h) The final solution. Send it off to whoever you were hoping to send it to - that competition, that producer you know, that director. Or alternatively, if you write and direct or produce yourself... make it. Await feedback, or see if the production works if you've made it yourself. This is the most terrifying bit of all.
After all this writing fiddling and soul searching the question may arise "Why am I torturing myself?"
This is a question I have often asked yours truly before reminding myself that I am a writer, and considering all the terrible things that happen in the world, I've actually got it good and I should stop having an artistic paddy.
I have written lots of aborted, half finished, or even finished-but-crap things over the years. Some will never see the light of day. Some were good ideas that can be recycled I hope. I think the key thing though is that the general graph of skill and storytelling ability has been on a gradual incline from indifferent to good and hopefully, occasionally, to inspired. I think it's important to just keep writing, even if, after all the in depth scrutiny and detailed tinkering, some of turns it out to be a load of old wallop.
