This week’s rebroadcast tackles relationships between writers, like if you should join a writers group, or what to do if it’s time to part ways with a partner.
Are writing groups a good idea?
I was wondering if you have ever had any experience with writing groups. I know it’s good to network and build more of a community of contacts, but in your experience, can they improve your writing? Do you think they can be advantageous? Or do you just end up getting ever more sets of conflicting notes?
— Jack
I’ve never been in an official writing group, but I did rely on an informal circle of writer friends for my first few years after film school, getting feedback, suggestions and a healthy amount of peer pressure. Reading other people’s writing — even bad writing — makes you think more about the words you put on the page, so it can be a worthwhile exercise even if the notes you get back on your script are less than ideal.
I’d recommend finding people who are interested in doing the same general kinds of movies. If most of you want to write comedies, the woman writing the drama about a girl’s troubled relationship with her alcoholic father is going to be a drag on the group. Likewise, if most of the writers in the group have emotion-laden scripts, your hilarious spec about a farting monkey won’t get much love.
Another suggestion: Accept and embrace that the group won’t hold together long. People will flake out, drop out or move on. In fact, it might be a good idea to put an expiration date on the group at the start: “We’ll be meeting every Monday for the next six weeks. That’s it.”
Do workshops invite idea theft?
I am an aspiring screenwriter, and am about to enter a workshop of about 20 other writers. My concern was protecting my work. I don’t have a complete treatment yet, and god only knows how much my story outline will change before I really write it. I can register something, but it might be pretty different from the final work. Do I run the risk of as yet unmet peers stealing parts of my idea?
— Frank
Get over it. No one wants to steal your crappy idea.
Honestly, Frank, your idea might be terrific. But the reality is, none of the other aspiring screenwriters in your workshop are going to realize it’s terrific, because they’re all busy working on their own crappy-slash-terrific ideas. They came into the workshop with the same false confidence in their genius that you did, and it’s this equity of delusion that will protect you.
Had you written in something like this…
I am an aspiring screenwriter, and am about to enter a workshop of about 20 other writers. My concern was protecting other people’s work. I’m unsure of my ethical backbone, and worry that I might poach other aspiring screenwriters’ stories. Do I run the risk of as yet unmet peers realizing that I’m a thief?
…I might be worried. But I’ve been getting a slight variation on your email every week for the last five years. “Idea poachers” are the WMD’s of newbie screenwriter angst. They’re not really there, no matter how hard you look. Just write your script, and do everything you can to help your workshop-mates.
When writing teams break up
I recently parted ways with a writing partner, and while untangling the issue of who gets to keep what material, a nagging issue has surfaced, to which I cannot find a satisfactory answer.
I decided I wanted to go ahead and complete a script we had both outlined, but the premise of which was his. I contacted him, and after discussion, I changed my mind. However, I decided to use only a single character from the script we had outlined (and only the basic character outline, such as “prison guard” or “starship captain.” I devised an entirely new premise, not dependent upon his initial story.
My ex-partner informed me I could not use such a character in my piece without some type of concession on his behalf. Is this true?
— Anthony
It’s “true” in the sense that he won’t be satisfied. Both of you think that something about this character has value, even though it’s purely speculative at this point.
Without knowing the specifics — and both sides of the story — I can’t offer any strong opinions on the legal or ethical issues involved here. But from a practical perspective, if you try to write this story that has some connection to the work you did together, you’re going to be dealing with this pissed-off person (or the chance this pissed-off person will reappear) for a long time.
My advice: Figure out what it is about this story/character/world that intrigues you. Then come up with something wholly your own that scratches the same itch. Maybe you think you’ve done that with your new story, but you wouldn’t be writing in if that were the case.
Are you enjoying this newsletter?
📧 Forward it to a friend and suggest they check it out.
🔗 Share a link to this post on social media.
🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art, or Threads @ccsont@threads.net