Happy Friday!
I’m so excited – closing in on completing another feature length comedy script with a student!
My NYU class begins February 13, and there’s a couple of places left. The class would make a great valentine if your honey is an aspiring screenwriter. I love teaching this class, and look forward to another great semester at my Alma Mater.
I’m also excited about the Super Bowl. This is Tom Brady’s eighth. He’s an inspiration to me because he never gives up.
He’s got the courage of a writer who’s just come back from a pitch gone wrong, but hangs in there just the way we writers should, again and again.
Whether or not you’re a fan of the team, Brady is one of our tribe, the football is his pen. May the best team win!
The lesson I learned this week, from Tom Brady, is to fight for the highest stakes for your character BEFORE you write. I’m finishing up a series bible with a student – who wrote several episodes of the show before we could create a life or death situation that was unique.
The exercise is simple, therefore, not easy.
1. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write about the highest stakes in your own life. A car accident, a nearly fatal disease, a devastating break up. What happened, and what was the worst thing that could have happened? Hopefully, they aren’t the same thing!
2. Repeat the exercise for your hero or heroine. Write as if you were the character in the first person.
3. Repeat the exercise for your villain or obstacle, again writing in their voice.
4. Compare what you’ve written. Lightbulbs will come on, I promise.
Kudos to my friend, Lisa G, who just sold an animated kid’s show. Her dedication, humility, and willingness to play until the last second, that resulted in this SPECTACULAR success. Can’t say more until the check clears, you know how it is…..
Here’s to your successful writing!
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
