Screenwriting is one of those jobs that a lot of movie fans would love to do. Everybody has at least once in their life yelled, after wasting money on some boring movie of the type we have seen dozens of times before: I can do better than that! But to go from that to being an actual professional screenwriter isn't an easy task. Still, it's one that Blake Snyder has been very successful at. He's sold many screenplays to Hollywood and is the writer of one of the most important and popular books on screenwriting: Save the Cat. Besides that, Blake travels the globe to give screenwriting masterclasses, discovering new writing talent everywhere he goes. I was very happy when he agreed to do an interview with me, in which he tells about how he became a screenwriter, explains a little bit about his techniques and urges any budding screenwriters out there to pick up their pen (or open their laptop) and start writing.
Origins
Q: Were you already interested in writing movies when you were younger? Did you already write stories or screenplays as a kid, or is it an interest that developed later on?
A: My dad, Ken Snyder, was a TV producer (Big Blue Marble, Roger Ramjet) and I saw these mysterious things called "screenplays" around the house as a kid. I was always into books and writing but language like "Fade In" and "Rack Focus" that I found in one of the first screenplays I read (a sci-fi script called Kingdom of the Spiders) was fascinating. It attracted me to the screenplay format early on.
Q: How did you write your first screenplay? Did you think: "I have a cool idea, let's give it a shot", or did you feel immediately that writing movies was the career you wanted to pursue and did you go from there?
A: When I sat down to write my first script, all I had was so-called "cool" ideas -- and nothing more! But that was how so many of us start out. Cool does not a story make and pleasing yourself solely does not make a writer. It took me writing 20 screenplays before I realized that. I decided to stop writing for me and start writing for you. That's when I began to learn about story structure -- and started selling my scripts.
Q: Did you send your first screenplay to movie studios? If so, what was their reaction?
A: I got interest from the very first script I wrote because I'm a good writer. But the producer who read it wanted to know "what else I had" because the script itself was not saleable. I took his interest as a sign not to change my ways, but to keep doing what I was doing -- which kept me an unsold writer for several years more.
Inspiration
Q: How do you decide which story idea you have is going to be your next project? Where do you take your inspiration from?
A: I do what I say in my book Save the Cat! -- I pitch it to many people -- usually strangers. If I get a good reaction, I keep refining the idea. Often while pitching, just out of desperation not to lose the listener, I come up with great bits. Hopefully, I remember them and include them in further versions of the story. But when their eyes "light up" when I say my title and logline, I know I'm getting close -- and that's the one I write.
Q: For a lot of people, when they think about writing movies, they expect that the screenplay as written by the writer ends up on screen more or less untouched, yet there are often many people involved with a movie who also
want to have their say about what's in the script. Is it possible for you as a screenwriter to protect your screenplay from too many changes?
A: Let me tell you about Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot! This was a spec sale for which I got $500,000 which at the time was a good pay day. The bad news was: after my first revision, they went out to other writers. By the time it hit the screen there was one line left from my script -- and not even the best line! My original inspiration for that movie was The Thin Man. I saw my story as a charming mother-son crime solving team; in my original the Mom's dog helped solve the case, but in the movie, the dog was just a prop. There is no "lesson" to be learned here; they paid me a handsome sum for my script and it got me a lot of meetings because everyone liked the writing. It just happens. The best defense is do what I did recently, sell my script to people I want to be in business with and who get the movie I want to make. But even that is no guarantee.
Q: How long does it take for you to write a new screenplay? Do you go through a lot of drafts?
A: Six weeks. Although a writing partner and I wrote a draft of a script in one week this past summer, and it remained pretty much the way it was throughout the re-writes which took another couple of months. It was easy because, again, we did what I suggest in the book: use The Board, beat out the story on cards, and be familiar with what a good story requires. It was my 78th script I've written, of those I've been paid for half -- one out of two, not a bad batting average.
Q: What happens when you have written a movie? Do you send it to your agent, or do you send it to a studio directly?
A: I work with my manager from the start. Knowing if I am writing something someone else is already working on at the studio level is important to know, so if he hears of anything that might conflict he lets me know. When my manager is satisfied with what I've done, we start seeking out buyers. My most recent script sale in 2006 was sold directly to a production company. I'm told -- fingers crossed -- that it will go into production this June.
Q: When a movie is being made of one of your scripts, are you actively involved on the set? With things like making changes to the script, or writing extra dialogue or something like that?
A: I was more involved in Blank Check. I was the executive producer of that film too, and it turned out a lot better! But usually the writer's job is done by the time they start shooting -- not always, but the standard is for the writer to get one VIP day on the set.
Save the Cat!
Q: Your book Save the Cat has been very well received, and is being used by a lot of people involved with screenwriting and movie production as a guide for how to write a movie. Didn't you see writing the book as, 'in a way', giving away your secret method for writing a movie?
A: Writing STC! is the best thing that ever happened to me. Sharing my methods and experience, and giving my time to other writers, is so amazingly rewarding. I find too as I look back over my career that my real skills have always been understanding story, and inspiring other writers (including my partners) to do great work. I have been a champion of writers from the beginning. I have called up writer friends with movies premiering to congratulate them, and it's funny, but it's not as common a pratice as you might think. Very often the friend will say: Okay, so why are you REALLY calling? But my mantra has always been: there's plenty of success for everybody. And when you win, we all do.
Q: Later this year will see the release of your second book on screenwriting. Can you already explain a little bit what the readers can expect in the new book?
A: This is probably the most useful tool for storytellers ever. The title is Save the Cat! Goes To The Movies: The Screenwriter's Guide To Every Story Ever Told. But it's true. In it, I take the ten genres I coined in the first book (Monster in the House, Dude with a Problem etc.) and then take 5 movies in each genre and break them down by the bullet points of the BS2 (my 15 point beat sheet outline). So basically, let's say you want to write a rom-com, you go to the Buddy Love chapter and read a breakdown on When Harry Met Sally... and see about 10 other movies like it that will help you figure out the elements every rom-com must have. It's literally an "encylopedia galactica" for every movie type and there's a ton of surprises in it too, stuff I found that I can't wait to share. There's nothing else like it out there, and it's long overdue. It's also full of slangy tricks of the trade just like in the first book.
Teaching others to write screenplays
Q: You are also very active in giving seminars about screenwriting, travelling all over the world for it, and also in giving people personal advice about writing screenplays. What inspired you to become so active in helping other people write their screenplays? And do you see it as a process where you are maybe also learning from your students?
A: I love what I do -- that's the short answer. Seriously, I have been transformed by this new phase of my career and feel great about what we're accomplishing. I am meeting writers and have even been helping them sell their scripts. So far we've found 3 or 4 screenplays by first-time writers that we are now in the process of helping get sold. I am very excited about this. We had one woman who read my book, and sat down and wrote a screenplay that was the very first thing she had ever written, and it's just superb. We're out with it now to agents and I can't wait to see what happens for her next.
Q: What can people who are interested in following one of your seminars expect from them?
A: I am unlike other screenwriting gurus out there. My focus is for you to sell your script. This is not a touchy-feely, "follow your heart" emphasis, it's the truth about what it takes to sell. In my workshops we have a limited
number of writers, 10 or 12 tops, and in a single weekend we beat out each writer's idea into the 15 point outline, and I have to say, I am uniquely qualified in that area. I must have "broken" 1000 stories easily in my career, so I can get to the heart of what works and what doesn't fast, and the input from the other writers into your script is just amazing. It's literally magic! And when we're done, very often the class will form into a permanent writer's group.
Q: What do you think makes a good screenwriter? Say that somebody reading the site has a dream of one day becoming a screenwriter themselves, what would you say to them?
A: It's an odd combination, but I'd say confidence and flexiblity! When I read a script I can tell in one page if the writer has confidence in his material, and it lets me know I'm in good hands. But if I buy that script and work with the writer, I also have to know he or she is flexible and can come up with creative solutions to problems without ego. The best writers are those who can throw away a scene they may love because they realize it's not working and come back with a brand new scene that is fresh and effective.
Q: Which screenwriters do you admire?
A: I admire the long-time, unassuming, workaday pros. In the new book I talk a lot about Alvin Sargent. He wrote Paper Moon, Julia,Ordinary People and Spider-Man 2 (the last two I talk about in the new book) I also admire several teams: Ganz & Mandel (City Slickers), Rossio & Elliot (Pirates of the Carribbean), and my friends, and one of several great married teams in the business, Cormac and Marianne Wibberly (National Treasure). When I get flack for poking fun at Memento, I like to cite pros like these who suit up and show up every day and do consistently good work over many years -- which is what I am trying to teach. It's what every writer should aspire to, continual growth within the boundaries of a craft. Storytelling is the most noble profession out there, and one that takes work and discipline to master -- and to be a part of it has been the greatest pleasure of my life. Any aspiring writer must love this work, and be willing to embrace that challenge -- and wake up smiling every day, no matter what. That's what I do. I recommend it.
You can find Blake's informative weblog over here, where he gives more advice, and where you can find a schedule for his screenwriting masterclasses. To read more about his book, Save the Cat!, you can go here.
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