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Mail Bag! First up, a letter from Gentle Reader Bill in Houston. He’s an aspiring prose writer in the Sci Fi genre, who is looking for a Sci Fi writers’ group in which to participate, perhaps long-distance. Sorry to say, I don’t know of such a group, but I’m certain they must exist, certainly online, no? I suppose it’s a hopelessly old-fashioned answer, but I suggest you ask at your local public library. If they don’t know a group, I bet they’ll still know how to help you find or start one.

Bill mentions, in his note, the familiar scourge of the Sci Fi writer — the perception among others that Sci Fi is somehow unworthy or not respectable. I sometimes wonder if those people are aware that (off the top of my head) respectable works like 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaid’s Tale, Dracula, and Slaughterhouse-Five all contain unabashed Sci Fi or fantasy elements. And that’s not even including popular juggernauts like those Oz, Lord of the Rings, Narnia and Harry Potter series.

Write and be proud, Bill!

The same batch of mail includes a letter from Gentle Reader William in Delaware, who is also interested in writing Science Fiction, more specifically TV Sci Fi. William is about to select a major at his liberal arts college and wants my advice on what to pick — should he definitely go for the “creative writing” minor? Psych? Anthro? Short answer: doesn’t matter.

My undergraduate degree is in Computer Science and that’s never hurt me a bit. I know many writers who studied film in college, but more who did not. Writing is a skill and a talent that can be engaged in and studied without benefit of classroom instruction. In fact, the more you become really good at other things, the more you have to offer when you arrive in Hollywood and have to compete against all those other people who can write, too. If you also know something about the law, or history, or technology, or government, or, man, anything, then that can be a selling point. Take writing courses, certainly — I did — but you can do that starting from any major.

(By the way, William, Bill, from the first letter discussed above, works for a living running a Space Station simulator for real live astronauts. Now that’s a nice background for a Sci Fi writer. Don’t know how you major in it, but as an illustration of how experience can mean more than writing experience, it can’t be beat!)

So, in school, pick something that inspires you, take loads of courses outside your field for breadth of experience, and — get this — don’t be afraid to be practical. It’s not a sign of an unartistic spirit to keep an eye on future earnings.

My favorite picking-a-major technique was the one employed by a friend of mine who went to her campus job-placement office and asked which major produced students who always got hired upon graduation. When they said “engineering,” she went to the Engineering Department and signed the heck up. It can be hard to get a writing job in Hollywood, and it’s not crazy to have something else that you love and that can also pay the bills while you’re polishing those spec scripts.

Have fun in college, William! You’re gonna do great!

Lunch: ground-chicken loaf with embedded vegetables

Thank you to Gentle Reader Seanna-Lin in Massachusetts. She’s a novelist who says she has found this humble blog to be helpful. Really? Cool! I’ve never taken on a novel myself and am overwhelmed by those who have. Have you seen one of those things? So many words on a page!

There is also a letter here from Nicholas in Rhode Island. He’s asking about taking on too many spec script projects at once. In a neat turn of phrase he says that he thinks his “back burner is about to collapse.” Hee!

Well, Nicholas, I’ve found that back burners can pretty much take any weight you put on them. It’s the front burners that are shaky. Cue up as many projects-in-waiting as you want. The trick is in determining the number of them that you can actively work on at once. Some people need to work on one at a time or they get distracted and out-of-focus. Others of us find there to be something counter-intuitively calming about being slightly overworked, since it forces us to turn off our censor and go into emergency mode, which can be very helpful. Figure out which kind of person you are and take on projects accordingly.

And then set some priorities. Having a spec pilot seems to be necessary right now, so that might be a good thing to have finished — really finished — before you work on that spec episode of Chuck which is less likely to be immediately useful.

Nicholas also asks a question about breaking the fourth wall in a spec script in an unusual way. He’s thinking of having a character in a spec for an already-existing show make reference to a bit of pop-culture to which the actor playing that character is connected. Did you follow that? Well, strange thing is, I actually did exactly this in one of the first specs I ever wrote. I learned that the actor on the show I was specing had recently performed in a Chekhov play. So I added a bit in which that character specifically talked about that play, gambling that someone reading the spec might understand and be amused by the connection.

In retrospect, it was a mistake. I cannot recommend this approach. It’s going to cause you to make choices in the writing that have nothing to do with what’s organic to the scene, and it’s probably not even going to be noticed or understood. Worse yet, if it is noticed and understood, you’re in danger of appearing cute, instead of honest, in your writing. I understand why it’s tempting (as I was tempted myself, once), but I have to say, “turn away!” Writing the show within the confines of the walls of that show is almost always the right choice.

Nicholas has more good questions, but those will have to wait for another day. For now…

Lunch: a chopped salad with garbanzo beans. I got extra garbanzo beans and I still had them all picked out before I was half-way done.

I think you should listen to an episode of This American Life called Tough Room that includes a fascinating visit to the offices of The Onion, including an actual
session in the room, and lots of discussion about which jokes work and which don’t.

I recommend that you listen to this segment. This room feels very similar to some comedy rooms I’ve been in and very different from others, but even if you’re just sitting at home writing jokes to put into your spec script, I think you’ll find it useful for jump-starting your own thinking about what makes a joke work.

I particularly enjoy the discussion of the joke “Thirsty Mayor Drinks Town’s Entire Water Supply.” The hypothesis is that the joke works because it’s actually not randomly silly, but is instead a silly version of a story about misappropriation of public resources. The joke works because it means something.

There is also a wonderful discussion of why the proposed headline, “Nation’s Girlfriends Complain about Lack Of Quality Time,” feels tired, while “Local Man Complains Girlfriend Always Wanting to do Stuff” works, even though they appear to be the same joke.

The answer is that the first version is nothing more than a very old observation about women’s demands while in relationships, while the second version is a less-used joke about a very specific kind of man who prefers not to go out and engage in activities. Yes. That sounds like the right analysis to me — I love it when logic agrees with instinct.

Follow the link. You’ll get room experience just from listening.

Lunch: the “Mexican Scramble” at Jerry’s Deli

Guess where I’ve been these last two days? Obviously, I, and all my co-workers, have been back at work in the Battlestar Galactica writers’ room. Fun! It’s all rush-rush-rush as we hurry to catch back up with our own brains.

The first thing we did was indulge in a film festival. We watched all the episodes that have been filmed so far. Not only did this remind us of the events of the season so far, but it immersed us in the world of the show: the rhythms of the story-telling and the texture of the scenes. I also found that, especially with the added time, I was better able to judge what worked and what didn’t work in the episodes I wrote. I learn something about the show every day, and I only regret that we’ll be finished with the run of the show before I achieve the level of competence I really want to have.

When you’re writing a spec script for an already-existing show, you should immerse yourself in it as much as possible — both reading and watching produced episodes. And if your spec pilot is similar in tone to an existing show, I would recommend doing the same thing with your doppelgangshow. We watched seven episodes in a row the other day, and when you watch something with focused attention for that long, it’s like being exposed to an intensive language course or to chocolate — you’re going to take it in.

Lunch: veggie sandwich from the commissary. No cheese, extra avocado.

Oh my, what a busy picketing day tomorrow will be. In addition to “Sci Fi Channel Day” at NBC from noon to 2, as detailed in my last post, there is also a “Spooky Wednesday” picket at Warner Brothers from 9 to noon. If you want to attend both and don’t want to walk for five hours, may I suggest that like any good screenwriter you get into the scene late and cut out early.

You’ve already seen the Sci Fi Day info. Here is the info on the Spooky Wednesday event as provided by the organizers:

Not sure you’re witty enough to write Sam and Dean Winchester’s dialogue? The writers from “Supernatural” can help! Want to know how to raise the stakes for a Vampire detective? Writers from “Moonlight” know! Worried that your spouse may be a cyborg? The writers from “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” probably won’t be able to help (but they will be on hand for your other brilliant questions!). Yes, writers from these shows (plus a few surprise guests!) will be there to answers these questions and more…

SPOOKY WEDNESDAY: February 6th, 9 AM-12 PM, Warner Bros Gate 2.

Since I’ve already committed to the NBC event, I’m choosing to attend that one, but if you’re an aspiring writer, both events obviously have a lot to offer.

Lunch: leftover veggie fajita

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