Brush Strokes

I had a great day today. Progress. I'm whittling down the premise more and more. I'm studying five great pilots: Ally McBeal, The Eli Stone Pilot, Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies and Men in Trees. All very different which is good. I like Ally McBeal because it's a great use of flashbacks without feeling flashbackish. The Eli Stone Pilot is such a good premise I want to scream. Ugly Betty, as I've mentioned before, is sheer genius in terms of story structure. Pushing Daisies is wildly original and the tone is so unique I'm in awe. I couldn't ask for better examples.

TV show creators don't get nearly the credit they deserve. I don't know what they get paid, but I assure it's not enough. Studying these pilots is like looking at a painting really close up. You can see all the tiny brush strokes that create an eye, then a face, then a background, etc. People usually just stand back look at the big picture and call it a day. Rarely does one consider the hours that the artist took in premeditating each stroke and how it would effect the other strokes not to mention the other colors. Would they all mix? At the end of the day will everything work together? Will something distract? Does everything melt together to create the overall image?

I love the pilots I'm studying and I love who wrote them. And, it's challenging to keep the faith that I too can create something wonderful and entertaining and worthwhile. I'm simultaneously inspired and humbled. But that's how it should be, right? I'm not supposed to read a professional TV script and think: "Piece of cake! Child's Play! Gimme an hour!" I want it to feel like this. If it was too easy, it wouldn't be appealing. But if it were any harder I might look into dental hygentistry.

Words I Wish I had Written: "Use the Force..." (George Lucas)

Success Rehearsal

Hello loyal readers (AKA, my mom). I had an interesting writing day yesterday. I, for a few precious hours, thought I'd FINALLY cracked my pilot premise. I was so excited. I might've even squealed with delight. A few times. Then, I realized it had some holes. Big ones. And, in my haste to get a premise that I loved, I was actually sacrificing some of the most important things I needed, mainly compelling emotion. It's easy to get into problem solving and superficial 'making thigs work' vs. organically letting a premise birth itself from the main character's emotional life, goals, and flaws. It's good to take wrong turns like these for two reasons:

1.) It's like buying groceries for a trip you don't end up taking. You still have snacks all week long. Meaning: there are still ideas, characters, concepts that can be used later.

2.) There is nothing like the FEELING OF SUCCESS even if it's a false alarm. It's good practice for the real deal.

I've decided to shelve the premise work for a couple days and focus 100% of my time on the four pilot scripts I have. I think that will help me in narrowing down the parameters of my premise. Sometimes I get a little Runaway Create Freightrain-ish and overwhelm myself.

One interesting thing I discovered today is that the "Ugly Betty" Pilot follows the 12 Steps of The Hero's Journey. Flawlessly. All in 49 pages while still hitting all the act breaks with a cliff hanger/mini-tease. Genius! Bravo Silvio Horta! I'll be sniffing that pilot for clues like a pilot hungry bloodhound! Watch your back amigo...

Words I Wish I'd Written: "I'll face my fear in the hopes of a greater freedom..." Tree (singer/songwriter)

Find a Tribe

Okay, so still working on hammering out the premise for the pilot. I've got a lot of clarity subjectively it's just the actual...writing that needs to happen. My kitchen table is covered with note cards: days worth of Pilot Idea Brain Dumping. I joined a writer's group (Jane Espenson encourages that). We meet every Monday night from 7-10. I've only been once but it was good. More than anything it acts as leverage for me. I know every week there is a group of people holding an expectation on my behalf, that I will have in some way advanced, improved, expanded or produced my project in some way. And that is good.

I'm also studying other pilots. I'm used to dissecting produced scripts in an effort to spec them. But it's a whole different ball game creating a pilot. Now I'm reading produced pilots with a different eye: when is the premise clear? When is the main character's character truly revealed? Who loves the character and why and when is that obvious? What is accomplished in each act? What works for me as the reader? Why did I love this pilot (or not)? What do the supporting characters bring out in the main character? At the end of the pilot, am I dying to read more? What expectation am I left with? Cliff hangers? Emotional tease? It's good to study this way. And it's good practice to articulate why I like something and why it works. I recommend it. It would be even more fun to do with a friend. But, alas, this is a solo project.

Re: the Writer's Group. I personally have a tough time speaking in groups about my ideas. I'm in my head so often that sometimes the sound of my own voice shocks me. According to my Shero, Jane, this is a problem. Apparently, writer's talk as much as they write in writer's rooms. So I gotta get over that, STAT. Which is part of why I joined a group. I did well last week, I got a little tongue tied in moments, but I didn't geek out or anything. So. Success.

The rest of this week is all about: more studying of produced pilots, more character bio's (for my pilot) and expanding the World of the Show. I've also NetFlixed about 8 TV shows and movies with similar tones/themes as my project to see what other inspiration I might find.

The pilot journey continues....

Words I Wish I had Written: "The pain pushes...till the vision pulls." Rev. Michael Beckwith