The Unlikely Road to Becoming a Screenwriter

[Scot Eric]

The following NOTE has been added for any first-time visitors to this thread...

Page 1 through Page 15 (halfway down)

On these pages you'll find...

~some comments about my first screenplay THE WHITE WHALE (a road trip crime comedy in the same vein as Midnight Run or Get Shorty).

~the step-by-step progression of my second screenplay WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN (a horror story set in the Old West -- Cowboys and Vampires, oh my).

~a little touching on a spec script I co-wrote for the sitcom HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER.

~hints for some other ideas I had for future projects, including WHO SHOT THE MILKMAN (as I like to put it, "what if Raymond Chandler wrote an Encyclopedia Brown story") and we see the gestation of the ideas for DND.

Page 15 (midway down the page) to NOW

~All about the progress of writing DND and the insanity that has thus ensued due to the shocking possibility it may eventually be produced as a genuine feature film.

Now, back to whatever the hell I typed here four years ago...

Although it doesn't really mean THAT much -- but I was happy to open my mail this weekend and find something from the Library of Congress.  Back in the summer of 2008 -- I applied for a copyright for the screenplay I had been knocking about with for way too long.  Yeah -- it's the one some of you have actually read (SCB, her lesser half, JackKnight...and CJ read an earlier draft as well last year).  

After several months went by -- I just assumed I was never going to get it -- that it either slipped through the cracks of a burdensome bureaucracy or for some reason was denied.  After so much time had passed -- I had never even noticed if the check that accompanied the script and application had ever been deposited.

Well, lo & behold -- the "Certificate of Registration of Copyright" arrived this Saturday (when one can see that the registration was as of October 8, 2008 -- that tells you how long it took them to mail me this -- my Gods).  Although I've used two other sites (one run by the Writers Guild of America and I actually forget the other one) that at least register it for evidentiary purposes (so I can show that it was written at a certain time as evidence if someone tries to rip it off) -- the biggest and most respected way of protecting one's work is, of course -- an actual copyright.

It was so long ago -- the certificate actually cites the previous title as well as the current one (while the title for the past couple years has been "The White Whale" -- once upon a time it was known as "Duck Duck Goose").

Although I've obviously made several changes since I registered it -- I'm fairly certain I don't need to keep reapplying for a new copyright -- especially as the vast majority of the screenplay is still the same.  Now I no longer have to feel like I'm telling a lil' white lie on the cover page -- where I cite that the work has a copyright.

Probably when I finish the 1st draft of the latest one (a "Vampire-Western" that's currently titled "When the Sun Goes Down") -- even though it will probably change a LOT when I have to do a second draft -- I may just apply for that (c) sooner than later -- particularly since it can take forever.  Unless I make it a musical -- a change like THAT might mean I'd have to re-register it!

Anyways -- just thought I'd share here -- and once again thank the folks who either volunteered (or were coerced into) reading it!

[Mirthquake]

I didn't know that they were available for the reading...

[Scot Eric]

I had asked a small handful of people (five, I believe) last year if they wanted to read it.  Of that five -- one had actually recently read the previous draft (CJ -- who had e-mailed me a few months earlier asking to read it -- so I sent it to him and he read it that same night), so I couldn't really bug him about reading something AGAIN (that was probably 95% the same as what he had already read).

The other folks -- well, people have lives that can be full, busy and hectic and so on -- and since I had said that at this point I wasn't looking for additional feedback -- it was more of a "Hey, wanna read the stupid thing I've been yammering about for the past year or two?"  So -- with no sense of genuine urgency -- it was understandable that folks never got around to it.

SCB -- I can't recall if she specifically asked me to send her a copy to read -- or she came across it lying about in the Moores Mansion and decided to crack it open.  Recently -- after some cajoling on her part -- JM finally read it himself.  JackKnight saw some banter going back and forth on a thread some months ago regarding it -- and said he wouldn't mind giving it a whirl -- so I sent it to him -- and a few days later (or thereabouts) -- he had let me know that he had finished it as well.

Mirthy -- if you'd like to kill off a couple hours of time -- I'd be more than happy to send you a PDF of it.  If not -- I won't be offended at all.  If it's any consolation to the few who got it but never got around to reading it -- heck, I gave a copy to my father over a year ago -- a man who's been sitting in a hospital bed for the past two years -- and HE never read it.

[StrayCatBlues]

I am really pleased for you. 


I came across it hanging  around here and thought I'd give it a glance over as I had a free evening.

In all honesty I didn't set out to read it all as I know it was really meant for John to take a look at, but once started I didn't put it down.

I enjoyed the plot twists, it didn't go where I thought it was going to, it made me laugh and the characterisation was very well done.

I may have said this to you after reading it but just in case I didn't, I'll say it again.. It would make a really good TV series.

With the ending it gives you the freedom so you could work on continuing with these characters.


Most enjoyable and excellently written. Point!

[Scot Eric]

Thank you very much for the kind words again, Gill.  Yeah, I can imagine reworking it a bit into a continuing series for cable, perhaps.  In many ways -- I'd almost prefer that!

Oh - and a point for you too!

[Mirthquake]

I'd be honored honestly.  I'm coming up on another freelance/freedom envelope, so will have time soon.

[Scot Eric]

Well - whenever you'd like me to send it to you -- send me a PM with an e-mail address I can e-mail a PDF to with no hassles -- and I'll shoot it ova to ya.

[Chooch]

Unless I make it a musical -- a change like THAT might mean I'd have to re-register it!

It's not a musical?  John was telling me he sang along to it.

[measle]

It's not a musical per se, but it does (eerily) synch up perfectly with Queen's Flash Gordon soundtrack.

[JSayonara]

Gordon's Alive !	DQ | by Aeva

Any excuse to post some of the big BB.

[Scot Eric]

It's not a musical?  John was telling me he sang along to it.

Although I know this was a joke -- actually -- in the screenplay this thread is referring to -- I do cite several songs playing on jukeboxes, car radios and so on -- and I know John did approve of some of the tunes -- so it's possible he may very well have been singing along with it.

Now -- what I was referring to in the initial post -- was the current project -- the Vampire-Western -- and if I decided to make it a Vampire-Western-Musical.  It would certainly help me out with some problems I'm having bridging the gap of the 2nd half of the 2nd act to the third act.  But I'm MOSTLY kidding about doing that.  Mostly...

[measle]

Vash - ahhaaaa - bloodsucker of the universe!

Vash -aahhaaaa- he'll suck (the blood) of everyone of us!




I want screen credits man....

[Scot Eric]

Oh Measly one...once you've read the FIRST one -- then most assuredly you'll go into the "special thanks" credits on the 2nd one if I decide to go the musical route.  Although I'd say the chances of me actually turning it into a musical are less than 10%.  In all honesty -- probably the only reason I'd even consider such a radical move is to make it stand out a bit (since I'm anticipating the "unoriginal" label to be slapped all over "When the Sun Goes Down").  But -- methinks adding such an element will turn it into a mess -- particularly as I wasn't seeing this piece yielding quite as many chuckles as "The White Whale" apparently has.

And I sure hope the fucking Jonah Hex debacle hasn't turned ther idea of a Western that has any sort of "supernatural element" to it into poisonous shit studios/agents/producers would want to steer far away from...

BTW -- I have no problem posting a description of the first handful of scenes from the new project -- just so people have a "taste" of what it is I'm working on and may make occasional references to over the next few/several months.  Although it is really NOT the way to go about writing a screenplay (essentially writing it in prose form -- and then using THAT as the blueprint for creating the actual script) -- I again have chosen the route that takes far longer. 

In fact -- I even went further than last time -- as I wrote the logline, description of the setting and a mini-bio of over 20 characters -- but that's all for me to work from as I put the damned thing together (and I wouldn't post all that anyways -- just the description of what would probably account for the first five minutes of the "film").

[measle]

I'm in the process of reading the first one now.  Missus Meas is going to read it too, and that might even be better feedback for you.

[Scot Eric]

As I've said -- no worries, particularly as far as "feedback" is concerned.  Unless it's a change recommended during the production phase (aka - fantasyland) -- I'm leaving it as is.  The only reason I even made two very small alterations earlier this year -- was due to an actual news event which had a mild impact on how one scene originally ended -- and another reference that just didn't "date" well when I reread it for the 1,000th time.

I mean, John actually caught a mistake -- where I used the word "Com" and it should have been "Con".  And it is a mistake, one I had missed upon who knows HOW many rewrites and proofreads -- but at this point -- I'm not going to change it.  And that's just changing one measly letter (no pun intended).

Now -- if/when anybody reads the 2nd piece -- that's where feedback will be appreciated and even necessary -- so I can cull together insights and advice and see what makes sense, where there might be a consensus, and so on.  As opposed to the first script (which admittedly has "me" stamped all over it), I'm working a bit out of my element with this one -- so much more of an experiment (and more likely to suck, quite frankly).

Sometimes I'm resistant to making certain changes at first -- but I often realize much later -- that many such suggestions from different readers (particularly people one has a reasonable respect for) end up making it a BETTER script.  Can't treat every written word like it was one of your children.  Unless you don't like children -- then I guess you could...

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