…most of them about screenwriting, which I handle through the bi-weekly Open Forum posts. But I also get emails from folks wondering about why I do what I do with this site and even how I do what I do. So in the interest of clearing the air, here are some answers.
Why do I do Go Into The Story?
It started out as a place for my former students to stay connected – with themselves and with me – so we could continue a dialogue about screenwriting. But also from the very beginning, I envisioned this to be a place to honor screenwriters and screenwriting.
Why? On a personal level, I never felt like I had found a creative home until I stumbled my way into screenwriting. As soon as I discovered it, I knew that screenwriting was the perfect creative outlet for me, particularly given my lifelong love of movies. In other words, I love screenwriting.
In addition, having worked in LA as a screenwriter for 15 years, I got to see in my own way how Hwood and the press in general treats screenwriters. And I think it’s fair to say that screenwriters deserve much more credit than they receive — because no one else in the entire filmmaking process starts off with a blank piece of paper and conjures up an entire story universe.
Those two reasons were the impetus behind shaping the ‘editorial philosophy,’ if you will, and the content to acknowledge and laud publicly the work of screenwriters.
Another dynamic emerged early on, arising from the fact that I’ve been teaching screenwriting (in my spare time) since 2002 — make GITS a site for aspiring screenwriters to go to in order to learn about the craft. And while I’m happy to offer my two cents on the subject, I think it’s more important to provide the collective wisdom of the professional screenwriting community. Hence, using GITS to aggregate as many written and video interviews as possible; the How They Write A Script series; and hopefully more exclusive Q&A’s with working screenwriters in the future.
A big reason why I do this site is you – the community of people who visit here. I’ve been shocked by your response on two levels: First, the sheer number of visitors continues to grow and grow — the site had its best week of traffic ever last week — and if the trend continues, we’ll end the year with over 300,000 unique visitors and I project at least double that many in 2010. Evidently GITS is filling a need. Second, the incredible feedback I receive from you, not only with your great comments on posts, but links to interesting articles you send me, your suggestions for the blog, your reflections on current trends, and so on. In sum, we’ve managed to grow into a vibrant, interesting, and interested community – and I can’t help but be jazzed about that.
Finally there’s this: Before I co-wrote and sold the spec script K-9, I had virtually no awareness of how Hwood operated and certainly zero understanding of what it meant to be a screenwriter. I had a steep learning curve when I first broke into the business in 1987 and, as a result, I made some mistakes. If anything I say on this site can help aspiring writers have more of an understanding of what they might be in for once you get your lucky break and hopefully avoid making similar mistakes, I’ll be a happy camper.
And for all of you who worry about me not monetizing the site – which is true, I don’t make a nickel from GITS – stop fretting. I make a good living at my real job as well as teaching, script consults, and various writing projects. I do GITS because I feel like it’s a benefit for aspiring writers – and that is inherently satisfying to me.
How do I do Go Into The Story?
Because I post so frequently, most people seem to have the impression that I spend all day hovering over the blog site. That’s not true. I use Blogger which allows me to schedule posts in advance. I do almost all my writing for the blog at night. When I do find stories in the course of my work day, I’ll create a post, save it as a draft, then work on it later. Only occasionally do I compose and post items during the work day and then only during the lunch hour.
The thing is I find many of the stories for GITS posts as a result of the research I do for my job with Distillery Pictures. I’m also by nature a curious person, so I do my share of following links down the Web rabbit hole, and find some of the more obscure items that way.
Also I’m a really fast typist. And having taught screenwriting online since 2002, I found that I’m quite good at knocking out some ideas / answers on the fly. So yes, what I do does take time, but I handle it primarily in condensed sessions at night.
Finally let me address the question of why I post as frequently as I do. There are plenty of other screenwriting blogs, some that post something every week or every few days, a handful that post an item per day. But when I started GITS, I wanted to aim at those people who write everyday. If you’re anything like me, you like to warm your way into the writing session. So that’s why each day starts off with a Daily Dialogue (at 6AM EST), hopefully to inspire you as you write dialogue. And something else to inspire you at 10AM EST: Monday it’s On Writing, Tuesday Hollywood Tales, Wednesday Screenwriting 101, Thursday it rotates, but I’m thinking about doing a Scene Description Spotlight in that slot, and Friday Great Scenes.
I figure that’s a nice way to start off a writing session. But then if you’re also anything like me, you enjoy taking a break every few hours. And that’s why I post items during the day, a variety of items dealing with everything from the business of Hollywood to features on screenwriters to box office news.
In other words, I’m trying to make GITS a place to support your writing efforts and your creativity, and a friendly place to boot.
So there you are: More than you ever wanted to know about this blog.
And now may I ask you a few questions:
* Why do you visit GITS?
* What features are your favorites?
* Is there something you think I can do to improve the site?
I’ll be happy to hear from regular readers, but I’d also like to give a special shout-out to all you ‘lurkers’ out there. Love to hear from you, too, so please let me know your thoughts in comments as well.
Let me close with a poem by Howard Nemerov called “Writing”:
Writing
The cursive crawl, the squared-off characters
these by themselves delight, even without
a meaning, in a foreign language, in
Chinese, for instance, or when skaters curve
all day across the lake, scoring their white
records in ice. Being intelligible,
these winding ways with their audacities
and delicate hesitations, they become
miraculous, so intimately, out there
at the pen’s point or brush’s tip, do world
and spirit wed. The small bones of the wrist
balance against great skeletons of stars
exactly; the blind bat surveys his way
by echo alone. Still, the point of style
is character. The universe induces
a different tremor in every hand, from the
check-forger’s to that of the Emperor
Hui Tsung, who called his own calligraphy
the ‘Slender Gold.’ A nervous man
writers nervously of a nervous world, and so on.
were a great writing. Having said so much,
let us allow there is more to the world
than writing: continental faults are not
bare convoluted fissures in the brain.
Not only must the skaters soon go home;
also the hard inscription of their skates
is scored across the open water, which long
remembers nothing, neither wind nor wake.
And remember: Trust the process.
Not to sound like a kissass, but I love your blog … you present not just an experienced, articulate eye on the biz, but a diverse one … you cover a lot of angles on the world of screenwriting, which few other blogs can do … certainly not mine, at least not yet.
I dig your site, dude.
Well, I come here because it's another view of this thing called cinema. I do like that you use more technical descriptions of things like Character arcs.
I also think that blogging with other writers keeps you sharp as you have to be used to expressing yourself. It's not like you'll have a stand in for pitch meetings.
As far as features, I think the Scene Description should definitely be a recurring thing.
I also think that highlighting books about cinema would be great too. Not only screenwriting, but directing, cinematography, everything film.
I would definitely recommend Gilles Deleuze's Cinema 1 and 2. Some Bergson and Bazin also.
The duality of the internet, the duality of the arts…
This morning, John August puts up a post on his site basically saying, "Outsiders, keep out!" (At least that's the subtext I gleaned from his anti-Scriptshadow post)
At the same time, Scott Myers puts up a rather loving tribute to the craft of screenwriting and, as usual, an open arms welcome to his readers, both lurkers and regulars.
There's a reason your blog is taking off like a rocket Scott. You are intrinsically a TEACHER. Not everyone can do that well. Hell, most bomb miserably, to be frank. But your enthusiasm for the craft explodes off these blog pages. You treat each reader question with the utmost care and respect.
Oh, and you're damn funny. (doesn't hurt!)
Those who choose (or are chosen!) to write these silly little 120 page movie blueprints are well aware of the odds stacked against us, we pretty much know the score and it ain't exactly in our favor.
Your blog gives us something called HOPE. A priceless gift indeed.
(raises glass) TO GITS!
Lurkers, you're not going to find a findlier place to visit. True, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people asking them. BUT if you wanna grow you're going to have to take some risks.
I'm a VERY SHY, TIMID person, but at one point I got the nerve up to ask a Hollywood agent what screenwriting software he'd recommend. I know, stupid question. He said Final Draft. I bought it and benefited greatly… Stumble forward.
Why do you visit GITS?
E.C.'s response: Creative stimuli. NOT living in Los Angeles, (as of 12-8-2009 Bonney Lake, WA hasn't been annexed by the Governator — but I wouldn't put it passed him!) there aren't many places script writers can communicate with their own.
What features are your favorites?
E.C.'s responce: ANYTHING geared towards mastering current spec script format. Especially as pertains to DESCRIPTION. I've got lots of books, BUT even if I write their format verbatim, it's not the format smiled at by scipt readers these days. Hence, ANY advice Scott or his of his readers who know their a__hole from a hole in the ground is appreciated.
Besides that, I like your site the best, Scott, when you evalute individual scenes from produced scripts.
Is there something you think I can do to improve the site?
1) Provide access to buyers looking to purchase spec scripts.
2) Provide access to agents looking to take on new clients.
ALL else is gravy…
- E.C. Henry
P.S. I can vouch for Scott's typing skills. IF you need proof of his typing prowess I highly suggest you visit Scott Myers at the next UCLA Writers Extention Cyberhouse. Dude is smoking hot on the keyboard.
Hi Scott, I've been coming to the site since the middle of the year and now find it essential daily reading. I think I've gleaned more about the craft of screenwriting in the past six months from GITS than I have from all the books and courses I've ever been to or read. It's real, from real writers in the business or writers who have been legends in the business. It's very clearly set out, comes in easily digestible chunks, has a lot of variety and the tone of your posts is one of friendly, almost paternal helpfulness i.e. you come across as someone who genuinely wants to share with his readers everything he knows and everything he learns on a daily basis which might assist them.
Really appreciate all your efforts Scott, keep up the good work.
If I could visit only one site on the subject, it would be this one. Please don't make too many changes.
This site is… "the wind beneath my wings". Your daily postings definitely prep me for writing, and get my head in the right place. I first stumbled onto GITS looking for spec scripts to read and study, so I too could create imagery and ideas into stories I could call my own. But on GITS I have gotten so much more.
The availability and constant motivation keeps me coming back.
I enjoy the posted video interviews, and the "how they write" type interviews. They tend to humanize famous writers and provide a window into their minds. They leave me with the hope to one day be able to produce even a fraction of that wisdom.
Only thing we need more of.. is talk on Joss Whedon! and discussions on Firefly! hehe jk.
I agree with Jeff that you’re a teacher, but even more, you’re an evangelist. It’s apparent in all of your writing that you love screenwriting. I’d venture to say that if you had to choose one way of telling every story for the rest of your life, it would be through screenplays. That enthusiasm is contagious, but with an evangelist, the excitement sticks because it’s more than just excitement, it’s also learning and growth.
The Daily Dialogue is the one thing I read every day, other than the news. The segments I most look forward to are Great Scenes and On Writing. A Scene Description Spotlight segment would be a very welcome addition.
I can honestly say that my writing has improved immensely since making this blog stop a part of my daily start routine. If I never sell a screenplay at the very least I’ve become a much better writer.
I’m going to plug your classes through UCLA, too. I’ve taken several of the week-long short classes and Scott’s are the best. He shares a wealth of knowledge in those classes (even more than on his blog!). His lectures are on time and generally are 12 – 15 pages in length and he encourages active participation in such a way that the participation is really there!
Thanks again!
To EC Henry's comment about Scott's 10th-level dan typing skills: so that's how he's able to post so much quality on a daily basis.
Sometimes, there's too much here, especially if I've been away from my computer for a few days. That Google Reader ticker keeps on counting…
Still, I try to keep up. I especially like Daily Dialogue, but also appreciate some of the more detailed posts about certain aspects of the craft.
And this leads me to what, IMO, differentiates GITS from a lot of other screenwriting blogs: emphasis on craft. Moreover, Scott's approach is such that it makes me feel more like an apprentice craftsman. He solicits our input, answers questions, posts comments, in addition to his regular prolific writing here.
This is a place to question, to learn, to hone, regardless of how developed you are as a screenwriter. And to everyone's benefit. As they say, a rising tide raises all ships…
But the site is also a celebration of why we would wrestle with whatever creative demons in this particular medium in the first place. That is, an abiding love of film.
To that end, I would like to see some sort of tagging to make it easier to find earlier posts. Having a blog myself, I understand that tagging can be a royal pain in the ass. (I've tried using the 'scott distillery' listing but can't quite get used to it.)
Thanks, Scott for all that you do here.
Oh, I forgot to add: Is there a way to track comments in a specific thread, either through an email subscription or some other way?
This was great, thank you so much. The blog is fantastic and I'm so appreciative of what you do. Thank you!
I love your blog. I'm interested in other people's approaches, opinions and experience.
I love movies, analysis of movies, what makes a good movie, a great storyline, an effective climax to a built up thread. What are those special ingredients?
Hi Scott,
Just wanted to write to thank you again for all the work and heart you put into GITS. For me it's great to have your posts coming into my RSS feed when I'm not writing — to remind me to start writing again! And it's great to have them drop in my inbox when I am writing, to help get me charged about the work I am doing.
I'd say the blog is just perfect — don't go changin!
Michelle
echo all the above
