Barri Evins’ article Does This Script Make Me Look Fat? resonated with me more than any other article that we have read. My ultimate dream in life would be to become a screenwriter, and I have dabbled around and written a few things here and there myself. To get into the mind of an actual industry executive who knows how the behind the scenes stuff works was invaluable to me.
The part that hit me the hardest was her candid insight into writer’s groups. I actually am a part of one here at the school, but I have to disagree with her a slight bit. They are not my friends—well ostensibly they are, just by being a group that gets together, but they aren’t the type to sugarcoat things. I respect them because they take the time to explain what they enjoy and what they were not so thrilled about from the scripts they receive. Granted, we aren’t professionals by any stretch, by on the off chance that one of us turns into the next Quentin Tarantino or Charlie Kaufman or Aaron Sorkin, I’m sure they would pass some recognition to the small Rowan Writer’s Room.
Everything else that Evins talked about was totally awesome. I love have frank and pointed she was, it was really eye-opening. Two particular aspects stuck out to me—about being soft-spoken and having conviction in your own story. I’m generally a quiet and laid back guy, and I don’t always voice my opinions strongly. I understand to get anywhere, not just in pitching a script, you have to be willing to defend your thoughts and ideas and explain why you feel as strongly as you do. That’s something I certainly have to work on.
Also, the thing about how executives and producers read scripts was really enlightening. I never thought about how extraneous settings and characters names were, I just thought they were logical script format parts. It’s something I’ll keep in mind for future scripts I come up with.
In the end, I am very happy I read this article. Evins had a ton of helpful advice, and helped me refocus my method of thinking.
The part that hit me the hardest was her candid insight into writer’s groups. I actually am a part of one here at the school, but I have to disagree with her a slight bit. They are not my friends—well ostensibly they are, just by being a group that gets together, but they aren’t the type to sugarcoat things. I respect them because they take the time to explain what they enjoy and what they were not so thrilled about from the scripts they receive. Granted, we aren’t professionals by any stretch, by on the off chance that one of us turns into the next Quentin Tarantino or Charlie Kaufman or Aaron Sorkin, I’m sure they would pass some recognition to the small Rowan Writer’s Room.
Everything else that Evins talked about was totally awesome. I love have frank and pointed she was, it was really eye-opening. Two particular aspects stuck out to me—about being soft-spoken and having conviction in your own story. I’m generally a quiet and laid back guy, and I don’t always voice my opinions strongly. I understand to get anywhere, not just in pitching a script, you have to be willing to defend your thoughts and ideas and explain why you feel as strongly as you do. That’s something I certainly have to work on.
Also, the thing about how executives and producers read scripts was really enlightening. I never thought about how extraneous settings and characters names were, I just thought they were logical script format parts. It’s something I’ll keep in mind for future scripts I come up with.
In the end, I am very happy I read this article. Evins had a ton of helpful advice, and helped me refocus my method of thinking.