Ink2Screen's podcast

Welcome to the Ink 2 Screen podcast. I am your host, Amber Bosworth. I am the creator of Ink 2 Screen. A website and resource for beginning screenwriters that want free information and inspiration to help and guide their writing.    You can check it all out at www.ink2screen.net.   Today is all about Character Development. We will go over why it's important. The character arch and then a great exercise to help find your characters voice.    You can get all notes at www.ink2screen.net/page4 and I'll post the link in the show notes below this podcast. This'll be a quick podcast, with some quick tips to help your characters on the page. with a nice little exercise that can really help when you are looking for inspiration.   We are asking our audience to go on a journey with our characters for 90-120 minutes. And sometimes so much more if they decide to watch over and over again. I'm revealing a big secret about me. I have seen Titanic, in a movie theater, 18 times! And it wasn't just the appeal of the ship or the beautiful Leonardo Dicaprio. It was Kate Winslet. I felt for her character more than I knew at the time, being only sixteen years old. As I've gotten older, I realized more and more how much I loved that character. That is what had me spending over 54 hours, just in a theater, with her character. I want to write characters like that. Ones that speak to people on levels they haven't even discovered themselves yet.  

1. Be sure your character is likable early on. The audience needs to connect to your character very quickly. Attention spans have only gotten shorter which makes that connection so vital and needed quickly. You can have a "bad" guy but still make him likable. Dexter, the main character and a serial killer is only relatable because he has a code and kills murders. Most of us can connect with that deep dark desire to punish the guilty. Think of characters that you love. Why do you love them? What keeps them so alive in your eyes? These are the things you want to keep in mind when you are writing your story.
2. Build realistic and detailed characterization. Characterization is so important. You want your characters to be realistic and have depth of character. If not, they will be flat and boring. You'll lose your audience in a heartbeat. 
3. If the character is really good then they will make their own decisions. It will write itself. As decisions present themselves, your characters will have built such a life that it will come so easy.
4. Dialogue, Dialogue, Dialogue.  A great obstacle many writers face, myself included, is finding the voice for each character. I would go back and read my dialogue, only to find that each of my characters sounded a like. That can be easy to do because we write what we know. It's important to give each character their unique voice.
5. Help can be by putting yourself in the characters shoes. Being an actor can greatly help this. 

  There are so many characters that can benefit from this technique.   Finding your character's voice. Without having a wall with a yarn spider's web around it. This technique was given to me in one of my master's classes. Create a pinterest board for your character. Just try it. For any character. Are you having a problem with your antagonist? Maybe he/she sounds too much like your protagonist. Create a board just for that character. What would that character choose? Clothing, food, hobbies, silly cat videos?      The fun exercise. Do this as soon as you can. Do it for every character or just for your main characters. This will give you richer and deeper characters to help find their voices.    A quick recap! Things to focus on to create a well developed character: make your character likable early on, build realistic and detailed characterization, let the characters make their own decisions, create great dialogue, and try putting yourself in your characters shoes.  And please, give the exercise a try. Create at least one Pinterest board for your main character. See if this helps. Some people also create journal entries but for me, I enjoy the visuals that Pinterest creates. It really does paint a picture of my character in my head which also helps create that depth on the page. And that is what you want for your reader and audience.    Another reminder that the May Monthly Writing Madness has now opened for registration. This month the grand prize will get entry into the Masterclass with Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin wrote his first movie on cocktail napkins. Those napkins turned into A Few Good Men, starring Jack Nicholson. Now, the Academy Award-winning writer of The West Wing and The Social Network is teaching screenwriting. In this class, you'll learn his rules of storytelling, dialogue, character development, and what makes a script actually sell. By the end, you'll write screenplays that capture your audience's attention.   It includes 35 video lessons, 38 page workbook, and the ability to learn anytime, anywhere. This is the prize for the May Monthly Writing Madness. Starting May 15. 5 days to write 5 pages, $15 entry fee and the chance to win the Masterclass, a profile on ink2screen website, and an interview on our podcast. Head on over to www.ink2screen.net to enter the madness now.     If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to subscribe to it no matter where you are listening from. And you can also find us on facebook under Ink 2 Screen.    Well, time to go. Hope to hear the furious scratch on the paper or the gentle tapping of a keyboard. Until next time.

I Know I was supposed to talk about character development but I wanted to take a moment and talk about the short screenplay contest that we host every month. We are now day 3 into the very first Monthly Writing Madness competition. It is a small group but I am so excited to get the great screenplays written by our contestants.    This competition will be every month on the 15th. I love alliteration. 5 days to write 5 pages for a change to win $150 all for the low entry fee of $15. Plus 25% goes right to the International Child Art Foundation, which I will bring up later on in the podcast. Competition has done so much for so many people throughout the ages. Just think how the Olympics were able to create peace time among waring countries, if only to come together and show their best. The same can be done with writing. As writers, we get so stuck in our heads. The characters, the words for bar/restaurants, or even the damn dog that is the favorite of our antagonist. We get lost in the details and that amazing story we've been waiting to write for years gets pushed to the back of the drawer.   

I believe that competition can help break through that barrier. If not to help with your current project, than to inspire something completely new. Stop for 5 days, and write something that will get you out of your comfort zone. Get back to the story!

Since we are into the competition, I want to bring up how competition can truly inspire you. This is the main reason I started these monthly competitions.

I'm going to share how I got the inspiration. This is from the last blog I wrote. You can find it on www.ink2screen.net

I also want to talk about the amazing charity that 25% of all proceeds goes to. International Child Art Foundation. You can look them up at www.icaf.org.

Loglines   What is a longline? "A one or two sentence encapsulation of your story. It highlights character conflict and those aspects of your piece that make it unique."   I was so thrown by this concept when I started! How the hell was I supposed to funnel my 120 page screenplay into two sentences? And it's something I still struggle with today.   Loglines have to answer certain questions "What's the hook?" "Does it have audience appeal?"   Remember; 

• Concept is your greatest ally.

  Some other things to ask yourself as you are writing the logline:

• What is the crux of your film?
• Is the concept clear and easily understood?
• Does it suggest the largest conflict in the film?
• Does it suggest your cast of characters?
• What's unique?
• What may be familiar to your audience?
• What is easily marketable about your film?
• What is the dynamic action of your film?

  Sometimes it helps to think of it as a one line premise.    What has worked with me now is trying to write the logllne first and it's a very, very short outline. Your main character is there, the conflict and what makes it unique.   Some Logline examples: And I just stole these online. But it's important to show how easy it can be sometimes. Once we hear these loglines, it's like, why the hell didn't I think of that. It is also something that can help producers sell your movie. Get that elevator pitch down. How will you sell your script without pulling out your 2 page synopsis? Create an amazing longline!    Good ones:   "A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims." SILENCE OF THE LAMBS   "Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency." THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION   "Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after becoming infatuated with his daughter's attractive friend." AMERICAN BEAUTY (This one adds the actual name. This is a personal preference. But it does take up space in those two sentences. It is just as impactful to start right off with "A Depressed suburban father…")   "An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soapmaker form an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more." FIGHT CLUB   "A high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in order to secure his family's future." BREAKING BAD   Now some example of bad ones:   GRADUATE  - A college graduate, home for the summer, has an affair with the wife of his father's business partner, then falls in love with her daughter.    DENNIS THE MENACE  – Comic strip moppet plays pranks on Mr. Wilson.   EDWARD SCISSORHANDS  – A suburban mother brings home a freaky young man who has scissors instead of hands.   I think it's so important to practice this, so every screenplay that is entered into the Monthly Writing Madness will require a logline right on the title page.    I've added a great exercise in this weeks freebie into the show notes. There are great questions to ask of your script. Not only will it help create a logline but it will also help your script as a whole. Because if you can not answer these questions for your logline then how is your full script fairing? So use this exercise for your logline and a quick examination of your script as a whole.   If you are just starting out and this concept intimidates you, there is a great formula that I was taught when I got my Masters.   Write down the protagonist, setting, problem, antagonist, conflict and goal. Then put it down into the the logline as such:   (Protagonist) in (setting) has/did/was (problem) caused by (antagonist) and (conflict) as they/he/she can (goal).    Work on this simple technique until you become confident with your own logline ability. I still use this to get the first logline out and then tweek it to fit what I was really wanting to say. I'll be adding this technique into the freebie that you can find in the show notes and also at www.ink2screen.net/page2.      Now the 4 things to avoid doing when writing your logline.

1. A logline is not a tagline. The tagline like In space no one can hear you scream!" This does not a logline make. Follow the steps above to create the best logline for your movie.
2. Avoid the cliche as much as possible. Cliches are vague and do not provide the unique quality that only your script has.
3. Questions. Do not ask questions in your logline. The logline can keep the reader guessing but don't ask them the question. Let them wonder and want to read more.
4. Keep it simple, stupid! Some writers go on and on. One to two sentences is all but that does not mean to create an eight line run on sentence. Strip it down and throw it out into the world.

  Avoid these 5 things and you will be ahead of the game.    That is the crash course on loglines. If you want practice, take the Logline action guide from the show notes and practice writing a logline for your favorite films. How can you get it down to the bare bones.   Next week we will be in the middle of the first Monthly Writing Madness competition and it will be a great time to talk more about character development.   If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to subscribe to it no matter where you are listening from. And you can also find us on facebook under Ink 2 Screen.    Well, time to go. Hope to hear the furious scratch on the paper or the gentle tapping of a keyboard. Until next time.

Who am I and What do I do? I am Amber Bosworth. I have a masters in creative writing for media and I was all ready to move to LA and follow my dream but one fun night at a Comic Con and I had my beautiful baby boy. I moved to the Northern Midwest to be near family but refused to let my dream of writing go. I write every day and could not find a place great for Midwest or any other region besides LA or NY for screenwriters.    Our journey has led us straight to screenwriting.   Title pages! It is so important to make a great first impression. Be sure you have everything done correctly and simply. Check out the website www.ink2screen.net/page1 for all of these notes PLUS the Title Page Quick Guide.   12 days away. Monthly Writing Madness. Registration now open. 5pages, 5 days, $15 buy in and a quarter goes to charity. Every 100 people that enter the prize goes up by $100 starting at $150.   I always found that competition inspired some crazy ideas.     Be sure to check it out at the website: www.ink2screen.net and subscribe to this podcast for weekly tips. This will also be the place to meet the winners of the monthly writing madness. A chance to get more tips from great writers.   If you want to hear about the next episode or future episodes, be sure to subscribe. You can also check us out on Facebook or Instagram.   Well, time to go. Hope to hear the furious scratch on the paper or the gentle tapping of a keyboard. Until next time.