How to pitch your movie

No point feeling timid about this.

After all, I only have to think of it as a rough draft.

Still, you can't waffle on like you can with a bad novel, so some sort of structure feels necessary.

I have adopted Blake Snyder's 'map' or grid to start with, just to give me a shape.

And although selling the damn thing is the last thing on my mind, he makes it very clear that it helps to have the 'logline' down before you start.

He means "the pitch" - and even if you never confront a Hollywood producer, you know what he means when he describes it as the one-liner in the TV Guide film review or the way you describe it to a friend if you want them to come to the movies with you, etc.

Mine doesn't feel quite right yet, but currently I describe it like this:

One White Crow

An optimistically romantic paranormal researcher and his cynical sidekick finally come across a medium who seems to have real powers, but she gets them into trouble with the Psychic Mafia.

Having a go at writing a movie (why not?)

I have decided to try writing a film script in a month.

Not just randomly decided, you understand.

Having written a 50,000 word novel in a month three times now - as part of the NaNoWriMo community, I decided to accept the challenge or dare to attempt a script, instead.

You have to produce 100 pages of script (no word count) in the month of April.

As my online presence, and writing, and sub-personalities, and circles of friends, seem so varied I thought I might enjoy separating out this particular venture/adventure, and created myself this whole new blog.

Most of my writing seems to have appeared with the nom-de-plume of Bogus Magus (the origins of that avatar already seems like a long story, or perhaps tall story).

Ahem.

So you can find me on Script Frenzy, here.


The novels got written on the NaNo site, here.

Just for laughs, and to manifest the writing in tangible books, I investigated Lulu Publishing, and commissioned covers from my artist friend Bobby Campbell, just so I could hold a copy in my hand, not because I consider them good (or even readable) novels.

To try the different formats possible, I also added a posthumous book of a friend's that I edited, and some notes on voice that my mother never got published. Check out the Lulu store, here.

You may think of it as vanity publishing, but I think of it as playing. My play has turned into paid work at times, but I don't do it for that. The trick remains to enjoy yourself. If you never turn it into an income then you had some fun and learned some stuff. If you do end up making some money you will find yourself getting paid to do something you love (not a position many people find themselves in).