Blogocentric Formulations

Writing on a Train & Terry Rossio

PROMPT: You're on a train (or other similarly isolated area) - how do you pass the time? Daydream...


I'm sure this isn't going to come as any big surprise... but I'd write. Being on a train or somewhere else that you're essentially stuck is the perfect place to write (and read) because you can't leave! I've always been pretty self-sufficient in terms of finding ways to entertain myself when I'm somewhere others might find boring... but that's always been because I have plenty to read and I usually bring a computer, pen and paper, or other means of jotting down ideas. As long as I can do those two things, I'm rarely, if ever, bored and the time seems to pass along just fine.

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PROMPT: Do you have a favorite screenwriter? BONUS: If you don't have one or know any (or even if you do), why do you think screenwriters aren't given as much prestige as actors, directors, and producers?

TERRY ROSSIO
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0744429/

Terry Rossio and his writing partner Ted Elliott are responsible for the screenplays to quite a few movies that almost all of us have probably seen (including a few that have popped up on other bloggers' lists this month!), including ALADDIN, SHREK, and the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise. The reason I chose Terry instead of Ted is because he also writes the occasional column about screenwriting, which was an invaluable resource when I first got my start trying to write screenplays. These two guys are so smart when it comes to story and character, it's kinda ridiculous.

As far as why screenwriters don't get as much prestige as the actors, directors, and producers, I think it's because unlike, say, novels, the writer is the first voice in a very long process rather than the final voice. The writer is responsible for coming up with a script, but the producer is responsible for shepherding the project through the production process, the actors are the ones people see on the screen, and the director is the one who gets to put his "stamp" on it last by being responsible for the creative direction of the project during the leg of the journey between script and screen. Since the screenwriter's job is done largely behind the scenes, and primarily prior the the start of production, I think their profile on the project is lowered... and when you combine that with the fact that there are already so many other voices involved in a project besides the screenwriter, I think it's easy for screenwriters to get lost in the mix.