Microcinema Flashback - Writing What You Know... Second Best (2001)

From August 2001.

*****

Writing What You Know... Second Best
by Pete Bauer

There's a common, useful theory for new screenwriters which is to "write what you know." This means to write about your own experiences instead of trying to write a space-epic-horror-musical. The purpose of this exercise is to allow the writer to learn to write without having to do a lot of real pre-writing work... since you're writing from your own experiences, you don't have to do a lot of research, character development, etc. If you've been a waiter for three years, then write a script about waiting tables. If, like Kevin Smith, you worked in a convenience store, write a script about Clerks.

And, as your experience grows, you will find your older scripts could use an injection of your newer life lessons. For example, Steven Spielberg, who wrote and directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind, stated that, now that he has been a father, he never would have written Close Encounters the same way. When he made the film, he was young and single, without any children. So, he had no issue with the main character, played by Richard Dreyfuss, deciding to leave his family to go do some intergalactic galaxy hopping with the nearby aliens. However, now, as a father and truly understanding the love and attachment a parent has for their children, he stated he could never write that Dreyfuss would leave his family. His real life experiences have taught him that it just wasn't believable. And any parent will tell you he's correct.

Like all new writers, I wanted to set the world on fire with my creative genius, but I found my first two scripts falling outside the world of believability. The first, Undetected Risk, was a script about college kids who accidentally receive a top secret satellite transmission. The second, Mirage, was about brainwashing experiments that turn average citizens into assassins. Both had enough quality substance and structure to know that I could write thrillers, however, both stories took place in a shallow world. Both took place in the only world my limited imagination could create. Since I was so young, the only brainwashing and government secret stories I had seen were on television, so most of my stories were written with those pre-fab TV worlds in mind... and in the end it meant my stories offered nothing truly original.

So, I decided to take the phrase "write what you know" to heart and wrote a romantic comedy about a drama student (me) who is dealing with the struggles of a college relationship, called A Moment In The Moonlight. It was based on all of my failed relationships I had to overcome during my college years. After writing this script I realized two things: One, that my characters were much more believable, and Two, the world they lived in was real and unique. Even though the script in its entirety is not spectacular, the experiment, the process of "writing what you know" was extremely helpful. It allowed me to grow as a writer by letting me focus on the process of actually writing 120 pages instead of struggling with trying to create characters and a world from scratch.

However, there's a serious downside to this that I have noticed more and more lately. As the proliferation of DV shorts and features stream from all of the creative minds across the nation, there are more and more stories about filmmakers. About filmmakers unable to make films. Of course, I'm certain that these were done because they were "writing what you know." But, I've got to tell you, most people DON'T CARE and CAN'T IDENTIFY with filmmakers. They see them and the process of filmmaking as uninteresting and they see filmmakers as necessary, creative freaks. So, they could care less about the struggles of a filmmaker. They only want to see the finished product... a quality film that allows them to escape their everyday lives for a couple of hours.

If I see one more story about a struggling screenwriter, actor, director or producer, I think I'll vomit. I love making movies and I HATE watching stories about filmmakers... because, who cares? So, you're having trouble making your movie so you write about a filmmaker having trouble making a movie... unless it's because your potential financiers are actually Iraqi Underworld or something exciting, then why would I want to watch a story about your struggles when I'm having filmmaking struggles of my own. And if I'm not a filmmaker, then why should I care at all? Because, the reality is that usually the writers of these filmmaker stories aren't really good enough to make these types of stories universally appealing. It's a niche market that very few people are interested in.

Does that mean you shouldn't write about the struggles of filmmaking? No, the experience you gain from writing about it will make you a better writer for your next story. But, for God's sake, just don't make a film about it.

Hollywood still hasn't learned this lesson. They find any story about filmmakers as some sort of satire about their own lives. But, in the end, very few of these stories actually ever make any money or rarely bring any true notoriety to the writers and directors. Now, for some reason, the average public IS still fascinated with the lives of the stars. And, trying to cash in, Hollywood decided it would be interesting to make a film about a star and the whole Hollywood-Star experience. So they made America's Sweetheart. Considering the talent on and off the screen, this thing should have been a blockbuster. However, it got mediocre reviews and luke-warm box office receipts. Because, like I said before, NO ONE CARES. Every once and a while some of these stories have enough edge to be successful, such as Swimming With Sharks, Living In Oblivion, and Misery (a writer wrote about a writer). But for the most part, these stories are not appealing.

The writer we could all learn from in overcoming this dilemma is Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone. Serling was a genius and he wrote the bulk of those classic episodes. However, when he started to get creative burnout near the end of the series run, instead of writing about writers having burnout, he wrote about burnout in general. He wrote about advertising executives or plumbers or husbands having burnout. He turned his own experiences into something everyone could identify with simply by changing the employment in which the main character was experiencing the burnout. Suddenly, we participate in the pressure and helplessness of the characters because we think they are just like us... average people who happen to be having extraordinary experiences.

"Writing what you know" is a great way of getting new writers into the writing game. But, when you decide what to shoot, please, please, please choose a story about something you know... second best.