Another Spring, Another Schmooze

If you're in Montreal on the 4th, swing on by Réservoir for another Soirée Schmooze; we'll be upstairs.

Circle Cast Interview and Giveaway

Today, I'm interviewed on YA Fresh. I talk about the mystery at the heart of the King Arthur legend, my writing routine, my first sale and other fun stuff. And I'm giving away a signed copy of the book. Check it out!

You Just Never Know

So I'm reading The Audacity of Hope, and I see that eleven years ago, Barack Obama had just got his butt whooped in a congressional election, and was considering getting out of politics. About the same time, I was considering getting out of showbiz. I guess it worked out for both of us after all.

Denise Jaden interviews me about The Circle Cast

Denise Jaden, author of the highly acclaimed YA novel LOSING FAITH and the forthcoming APPETITE FOR BEAUTY, interviewed me on her blog! She asks me about my characters, my day job (which is screenwriting), my path to publication, my number one bit of writing advice, and what I wrote when I was a teen. Check it out!

Likable v. Interesting

On a certain script, I've been getting some feedback that amounts to two characters not being perceived as likable or worthy people. I've had various proposals on how to make these characters seem more likable or more worthy people.

While that note can be valid, often it is misleading. We don't have to like your main character and we definitely don't have to like your secondary characters. You have to make your characters people we find compelling. We have to root for them to succeed or fail, but rooting for them to fail is just as strong as rooting for them to succeed.

For example, we have a lot of sympathy for the Frankenstein creature, but we don't want him to survive -- he murdered a little girl! In Oliver Stone's NIXON, we don't want Tricky Dick to get away with it. But we find him a compelling, fascinating character -- a sort of monster himself.

Lisa and I were just watching Charlie Kaufman's BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. (And if ever the possessory credit should belong to the writer and not the director, this would be it.) John Cusack's character is not likable. He's a whiny loser of a puppeteer. Then he goes on to do things that make us hate him. Yet he carries the film. We care what happens to him ... and his punishment is very satisfactory, thank you.

In this particular screenplay, I couldn't give the main character more likability because of what he does. He has a profession we all despise and fear. And in the movie he does a very bad thing, and then covers it up. That's nothing I could change -- it's in the bones of the screenplay. Having him be nicer to his daughter or to "save the cat" would just piss the audience off -- they'd feel I was trying to weasel out of the character's essential badness.

I think I've cracked how to fix this particular screenplay. If I'm right, the answer isn't to make the main character more likable nor his girlfriend more worthy. Instead I'm making the girlfriend much more clearly crazy -- clarifying just where her insanity lies -- and showing more clearly how the main character is failing to understand her craziness. The solution is in making their flaws clearer and stronger, rather than giving them virtues they do not deserve.

When someone says your character isn't likable enough, the answer may not be in making the character more likable. There is something missing, but it may not be something you can solve by having the character take care of his aged grandmother. The solution is in making them more interesting. Make them more compelling, stranger, more distinct, more flawed, more human. Make them more someone we can't take our eyes off.

When someone asks you to make a character more likable, make them more interesting.

If It Bleeds, It Leads

We just got word that YOU ARE SO UNDEAD has been invited to screen at BleedFest in LA. Yay! We'll let you know the date.

Forum is Coming Up

The WGC National Forum is coming up April 10th and 11th. If you're a member of the WGC in Québec, or if you hope to become one, and if you have any concerns you'd like aired, please talk to Anne-Marie Perrotta or me before then. Thanks!

Details, Details

Q. I'm currently working on a spec Cougar Town. Cougar Town has a ton of recurring jokes and bits (Penny Can, the Japanese restaurant greeting, etc.). I'm trying to figure out how to strike a balance between writing a really great Cougar Town, recurring jokes and all, and not alienating readers who don't watch the show. Which side would you err on?

This is a toughie.

My first answer would be never to spec a show that showrunners are likely to be unfamiliar with. I don't know if COUGAR TOWN is a show everyone watches. Call a couple of agents' assistants and ask if execs and showrunners are likely to be familiar with it.

My second answer would be: this is one way that writing a spec is harder than writing for the show. You can't usethe recurring jokes as a crutch. You have to write the recurring jokes in such a way that they score anyway. If you can twist the jokes, or top them, then you get points from any reader and bonus points from the COUGAR TOWN aficionado.