Guest Blogger: Herb Goss

Guest Blogger:  TV Writer/Producer, Herb Goss

Writing is about starting.  Every day you must start to get anything done.  Many people tell you to pick a time to start and always begin at that exact time.  Now that's discipline, but you're a writer not an Olympic athlete so that might not be realistic.  Other writers have a page count that they like to hit.  I believe in both.  I try to write at least six pages a day and I like to start at 10am.  However, if I can't start at 10 am than I start at another time and if I can't write six pages than I write as many as I can.  You see the object is to have discipline which is the only way to write anything of substance and value.  The other rule is to be flexible because if you are not flexible then you'll find that you are constantly beating yourself up which is not conducive to having a good writer's life. But how to start?
It all begins with a blank page.  More vast than the infinite universe we live in this can be the most challenging part of writing.  If you don't have an idea to slam down then the first thing to do is brainstorm. Just start writing down the first thing that comes to your mind.  "A rabbit eating popcorn and getting thrown out of a theater on it's ears."  "Why are there two different spellings of theatre, theater?" Don't filter, don't censor. Be prepared to throw that all out because it's not important that the ideas be good but that you write the ideas down.  This gets you flowing and keeps you in the habit of writing.  Once the habit forms you wont' be able to stop yourself, unless you hear an ice cream truck because all motion stops when anyone or anything hears the song of an ice cream truck.

If you have an idea.  Start writing it down.  Get as many pages as you can.  You've started.  Sweet.  Now you have something to rewrite.  From that day forward, you'll never have to start from scratch.  You can start by rewriting what you already wrote, making it better.  After that, continue to write from where you left off or perhaps you can write an entirely different piece of your puzzle. Start, write, rewrite, six pages a day.  That's a six hundred page novel in 100 days.  Three months.  It's a 30 page spec script in 5 days.  Okay it's not that easy and fast but it's close.  Six a day.  Start, write, rewrite and then one day... finish.

This week's suggested website:  Zoetrope.com (www.zoetrope.com) In March of 1998 Francis Coppola launched a website where writers could submit their short stories to his magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story. A community of writers quickly formed around the website. It became so popular so quickly that a few months later he created sites for novellas and screenplays.  The Virtual Studio is a submission destination and collaboration tool for filmmakers—a community where artists can submit and workshop original work. It's also the best e-resource for information about the Coppola family and American Zoetrope.


This week's writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Write a one page short story in the first person point of view.  Doesn't need to be fancy or award winning literature.  Now here's the real challenge.  Switch genders.  If you're a male write in the voice of a female (many great writers still complain this is difficult and yet crucial).  Try to be convincing and not cliched.  Be sure to depict the character's inner life.  You won't have much time in five minutes and one page but try to give the reader a glimpse of your character's inner landscape.  It doesn't need to be perfect.  Practice switching into the "voices" of your characters from the inside out.  Have a great writing week. 

The Benefits of Failure

"You need a thick skin to survive in this business."

I must have heard this officious piece of advise a thousand of times as I embarked on my journey to become a writer and "make it" in Hollywood.  But what does it really mean to have a thick skin?

Every creative artist experiences rejection.  For writers, the rejection we get can be exceptionally brutal.  If we're putting ourselves out there and doing the work the rejection we receive amounts to piles of letters from editors, agents and publishers stating right there on black and white how inept we are.  At least that's one way of looking at it.


Another, perhaps healthier way to look at rejection is to consider that feedback of any kind is an opportunity to become a better writer.  In a recent interview I was asked how I dealt with bad reviews of my film, Watercolors.  In truth, those bad reviews were just an opportunity for me to fine tune what may have not worked with some audience members.  The truth is that the great majority of audience members and critics did like my film but the few bloggers and smaller publications that trashed it still had good things to offer me as a writer/director.  I had a lot of useful information and although I can't use it for a rewrite for Watercolors, I'll have in the back of my head for the next project.  


Perhaps the greatest trick is not to take it personally.  Some people will make suggestions that you'll find pathetically amateurish - consider the source.  Other times you'll get a solid nugget of gold (even if it's in the form of a harsh statement) that perhaps underscores a weakness in your writing.  Don't be so hurt by the harshness that you miss the gold.  Remember that critics get paid to write interesting copy and sometimes that means slamming someone.  In all likelihood, if you adjust based on some intelligent feedback your rewrite will be better than your initial idea.  We all have weaknesses in our writing - in our psyches - in our hearts.  They make us unique.   They make us human.  


One of my favorite pieces of memoir is a book called "The Great Failure" by Natalie Goldberg.   Goldberg is a Zen monk, a painter and a wonderful writer.  She's been a huge inspiration to me in my journey.  I hope she'll do the same for you.  In her book she describes many experiences where putting her own ego aside allowed her to become a better writer.  In the end, nothing is a failure -- it's all a learning experience.


Having a thick skin doesn't mean being impenetrable, invincible or arrogant.  Thick skin means letting the nonsense that doesn't apply slide right off.  And, they'll be lots of it.  Know your own self worth and understand the process that works for you.  Hopefully, part of your process will include knowing how to work with rejection and criticism.  


This week's suggested website: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - (www.sfwa.org) The SFFWA, or SFWA for short-short, is one of the most effective and widely-recognized of all non-profit writers' organizations. Members have access to all manner of resources and publications and can benefit from the protection offered by the SFWA.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Consider some of your favorite publications and what it took for those contributing  writers to sell their piece.  Harper's, The New Yorker, Esquire, etc. all work with the top writers.  Now, in a positive spirit, give this writer your criticism.  Look for ways in which the story missed its mark or could have been more effective in your opinion.  Be ready for when roles are reversed and its your story in Esquire that people are criticizing.  

Friends, Fragments and First Drafts

When it comes to writing, I never throw anything away.  Like mining for gold, writing is a process of excavation and sifting through sediment to get to "the good stuff."  You dig deep for the truth your characters want to embody.  You dig deep for themes that reveal something about the human condition.  The sediment that is disturbed comes in the form of many drafts.  Awful, incoherent, sometimes nonsensical drafts.  It's essential that you learn to keep these drafts so you can sift through them later and ascertain their true value at a time when you're not so emotionally attached to them and can reread them with a different perspective.

I have folder stuffed with early drafts.  Unfinished, fragmented, and raw.  Why do I keep them?  I feel that for a writer its okay to be a hoarder.  There's no way to know what nugget of dialogue will make it to a finished scene.  Sometimes months or years after writing something you stumble upon it and it sparkles a fresh stream of thinking or reignites the original fire behind it.  When you have forgotten even writing it, that's the best.

Another important thing to remember: Never show anything to anyone while its still in development.  It's unfair to all parties involved.  A kind word from a friend can easily distract you.  A tiny bit of criticism from a relative is enough to stall your efforts or worse, sabotage you completely.  Case in point, back in May of 2010 I was about 70 pages in to what I thought was a good story about a newly divorced woman in her senior years.  It came from the complaint I've heard repeatedly from actresses that there aren't any really good parts for women and certainly not women over forty.

I want to create a character and situation people want to see but Hollywood (in its mad rush to make a gazillion dollars) just isn't listening.  I made the mistake of showing my infant script to someone close to me for feedback.  In hindsight, I ask myself, how could I have been so stupid?  Feedback on what?  I wasn't even close to finished yet.  None of my characters were fleshed out enough to evoke any sense of compassion in the reader.  Plot points were still loosely conceived, scenes were out of place or incomplete.  It was still in that messy "first draft on paper" stage.  The reaction wasn't good and worse still, I let it sit on the back burner for months, feeling dejected.  What a set up!  But that's what we writers do to ourselves.  Learn to keep your creative process to yourself until the right time.  Rewriting and editing will come later.  It's a distinct process.  A wonderful book on the editing process is The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lemer.

There is a time for criticism, feedback and polish and there's a time for free-association, wild abandon and creative exploration.  Mixing the two approaches can have hazardous consequences.  The need to create something perfect may keep you from creating anything at all.  Perfectionism is another way of keeping yourself blocked.  It sounds so reasonable, so admirable: "I'm a perfectionist."  But, the truth is if you wait to write something perfect, it'll never happen.  You'll never write anything.  Perfect doesn't exist.  No one writes a pretty first draft.

Give yourself permission to excavate the depths of your psyche.  What may come up initially isn't pretty but like that crusty sedimentary earth that covers gold, our first drafts are valuable layers of raw elements that with time and care may bear or reveal unexpected fruit.



This week's suggested website: (www.finaldraft.com) Final Draft is a screenwriting program available for both Windows and Mac.  It's easy to use and recognized as the industry standard.

This week's writing prompt:


Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Imagine a specific locale.  It can be a cabin in the wilderness, a corner office in a skyscraper or any other location from a script or novel you're working on.  Close your eyes and try to capture every detail.  Be sure to include your sense of smell, taste and touch to describe the environment as well.   Write for five minutes.