Every Writer Has To Get Used To Two Kinds Of Writing - Glenn Gers

Glenn Gers has been a full-time professional writer of movies and television for 25 years. His credits include theatrical features, no-budget indies, TV staff and episodes, original movies for cable and streaming, such as BROTHER'S KEEPER (2002), FRACTURE (2007), MAD MONEY (2008) and many more. He has won multiple festival prizes and an Emmy. He provides tips for writing on his KZbin channel Writing For Screens and offers script-consulting via his website Writingforscreens.com.
SUBSCRIBE TO GLENN GERS KZbin CHANNEL
/ @writingforscreens
MORE VIDEOS WITH GLENN GERS
bit.ly/2Rv5lUL
CONNECT WITH GLENN GERS
writingforscreens.com
www.imdb.com/name/nm1020896
/ @writingforscreens
/ writing-for-screens-10...
/ realglenngers
(Affiliates)
►WE USE THIS CAMERA (B&H) - buff.ly/3rWqrra
►WE USE THIS EDITING PROGRAM (ADOBE) - goo.gl/56LnpM
►WE USE THIS SOUND RECORDER (AMAZON) - amzn.to/2tbFlM9
►WRITERS, TRY FINAL DRAFT FREE FOR 30-DAYS! (FINAL DRAFT) -
SUPPORT FILM COURAGE BY BECOMING A MEMBER
/ @filmcourage
CONNECT WITH FILM COURAGE
www.FilmCourage.com
#!/FilmCourage
/ filmcourage
/ filmcourage
/ filmcourage
BUSINESS INQUIRIES
bit.ly/22M0Va2
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FILM COURAGE KZbin CHANNEL
bit.ly/18DPN37
LISTEN TO THE FILM COURAGE PODCAST
/ filmcourage-com
PROMOTE YOUR MOVIE, WEBSERIES, OR PRODUCT ON FILM COURAGE
bit.ly/1nnJkgm
Stuff we use:
CAMERA - This is the camera we have used to film 90+% of our interviews (over 200 interviews and counting) It continues to be our workhorse - amzn.to/2u66V1J
LENS - Most people ask us what camera we use, no one ever asks about the lens which filmmakers always tell us is more important. This lens was a big investment for us and one we wish we could have made sooner. Started using this lens at the end of 2013 - amzn.to/2tbtmOq
AUDIO
Rode VideoMic Pro - The Rode mic helps us capture our backup audio. It also helps us sync up our audio in post amzn.to/2t1n2hx
Audio Recorder - If we had to do it all over again, this is probably the first item we would have bought - amzn.to/2tbFlM9
LIGHTS - Although we like to use as much natural light as we can, we often enhance the lighting with this small portable light. We have two of them and they have saved us a number of times - amzn.to/2u5UnHv
COMPUTER - Our favorite computer, we each have one and have used various models since 2010 - amzn.to/2t1M67Z
EDITING - We upgraded our editing suite this year and we’re glad we did! This has improved our workflow and the quality of our work. Having new software also helps when we have a problem, it’s easy to search and find a solution - goo.gl/56LnpM
*These are affiliate links, by using them you can help support this channel.
#writing #screenwriting #screenplay

[@bmoneybby]

I like this guy. He's doesn't make me depressed when he talks about writing.

[@jeremykayprofessionalscree9914]

Just out of curiousity, who, when they speak, make you feel depressed about writing?

[@brodympat]

@@julovemoney I think a lot of the “mid-successful” writers tell others not to be writers because they’re afraid of more competition. I’ve never seen one of the big guys tell writers to give up the craft.

[@julovemoney]

@@brodympat i agree with you on the successful writers. All seem to encourage the dream. They don’t bs and tell you it’s easy - they say it’s hard work and dedication for sure but they seem to want to inspire. And it’s appreciated That’s for sure.

[@dongxx]

good writing has Nothing to do With how it makes you feel lol

[@faibabernard]

iFkr😅😅 straight to the spine of the matter

[@DeathBySeksy]

This guy is actually giving 5 star advice in every one of his videos.

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here) Truly - thank you so much, it's really good to hear that. Just kinda winging it when I do this, trying to helpful and truthful.

[@DeathBySeksy]

@@writingforscreens my pleasure! I just hope writers watching you don’t sleep on your tips! I wish I would’ve learned the stuff that you talk about way earlier in my writing career hahaha

[@writingforscreens]

@@DeathBySeksy I wish I had learned it earlier in my career too!!

[@settembrinifilms5659]

I just went through all his videos and thought the exact same thing!

[@jeremykayprofessionalscree9914]

"You start to think the way someone who's not you would read it". This is such an incredible description of shaping/rewriting. It's really about trying to imagine how (1) the audience, and (2) producers will respond to our writing, and what we can do to make it land more clearly. Thank you for sharing such quality content.

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here:) Thank you!

[@edgarbleikur1929]

Having watched so many FILM COURAGE clips this is by far one of the most informative pieces I've watched. I've put this in my screenwriting file.

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here:) Thank you!!

[@CircumcisionIsChildAbuse]

this guy have some amazing psychoanalytic skills that allows him to articulately put to words, abstractions that perfectly explain the process of processing art. everytime this guys speaks, I go, "I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN! YES!" cause being around people who don't know, or can't explain the process like he does, gets frustrating.

[@NickRossi]

My gosh, what an excellent and wise teacher!

[@jamuojisan]

His advices can be easily applied to life. I'm lucky to find this guy.

[@AlexiOuzas]

Great points about writing for production and understanding what happens when a script gets "made"

[@princeowiredu2022]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS. GIVE THIS MAN A MEDAL!!!

[@sunriseeternity300]

Glenn Gers is very good at communicating the complicated and abstract. #glenngers #filmcourage #abstract #processofsuccess #writing #howtowrite Little parts create big parts.

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here) Thank you so much!!!

[@gailh4466]

Glenn talks sense and has a clarity that others don't. He gets to the nuts and bolts of it. Thankyou.

[@CircumcisionIsChildAbuse]

I wish I could speak to this guy in real life, holy shit, being CONSTANTLY around non-creative, non-writers, non-artists, is a small death of every single day. Exposure to creative minds, online, is not enough to sustain one's self.

[@michaelswaby5364]

So true. Thanks AGAIN!, film courage 👍🏽

[@filmcourage]

Cheers Michael!

[@jpgreer]

I really needed to hear this today! A sweet providence to be sure. Great work as always.

[@indigo4732]

That system sounds really good! Thank you for sharing that, im gonna try it.

[@therunawayrascal]

great stuff! much appreciated

[@marcofsw]

This is also applicable in solving a mathematical problem. First you need a playful attitude to find the idea of a solution. Then, secondly, you need a laser sharp turn into becoming picky with accounting details of producing te actual mathematical solution. This shift is tricky for many

[@joannkelly7994]

OMG. So honest and so true. Thank you for confirmation. Sometimes you cannot write it down quickly enough, so you have to find that one word or the “essence” of the scene or situation. How ever. I do notice that those things that stay with you or keep coming back are mostly correct. I have found that the characters will not say or do what they don’t want to do. If it makes me laugh or cry - it will probably make the reader or the audience do the same. I don’t try to remember it all. In this instance a short pencil is better than a long memory. Thank you, again. This was very uplifting and enlightening.

[@joannkelly7994]

This is so true. So very very true. Writing indeed is re-writing. Loved this interview. Thank you.

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for watching Jo Ann!

[@Damacles9]

Excellent advice!

[@johnallenrichter]

I think you are absolutely right. Especially for those of us writers who write without an outline or plot. The first part of writing is laying out the essence of your first scene and then let the story take over the writer. . The writing becomes it's own animal. It becomes alive and goes in the direction that it wants to go.. And not where the writer thinks it should go or has planned by outline or plot idea. The plot becomes a product of the creation process. Some writers have their plots or outlines set before they begin writing. And that's not wrong. But it's just different than my personal style. Even Stephen King says he lets the story become alive and follow it's own path. He even says that the endings usually surprise him because he suspected they would end differently, as though he steps aside and lets the story take on it's own life. The first time I suspected I could be an effective story writer was when I heard Mr. King say that he could easily get absorbed into his writing so deeply that he himself becomes part of the story and loses sense of his actual surroundings. And the reason that's so profound to me is that's how reading his books makes me feel. As though I'm completely absorbed into the story. So kudos to the idea of the creation part! I'm more of a poet but my creation process is exactly the same "word vomit" as you call it. That's really the essential understanding any writer needs to become confident and prolific.

[@EtheriumSky]

All super helpful advice. I would love to hear him speak more about the revision process though. Unlike some other writers - I never had major issues finishing a first draft, getting all the key parts in place, and doing it reasonably well and quickly. But revision - oh man, that's pure agony for me. I'll end up switching tabs from outline to my notes to actual script, wasting time, not making anything better for weeks sometimes, before i manage to improve a single scene. Creativity is one thing - it's useful when i start a first draft. But it feels that revision is more about solving logistical problems (ie. char needs to start here and end up here at specific points without everything else collapsing on itself) and that to me has somehow always been the absolute opposite of creative work... Would love to hear more on that!

[@sajansherin7359]

Very true things on screen writing.. Great!

[@therasbull]

Writing is rewriting Agreed

[@animatorFan74]

So I write in the sense that I create roleplaying adventures for people to play in an RPG, and this advice is definitely still applicable for that. Write, edit, write, edit. Same process is needed even for writing for the audience of small group of players. I love doing it, too. Good fun. :)

[@braindamage38]

Rejected scripts don't get burned. - important thing to remember.

[@AnyDayNow360]

I have a new idea and this is right on time (I have it saved to a screenwriter playlist 😁). I also haven't commented in a long while so I hope you both have amazing holidays and end of year 2022!!! 😁🎉🎉🎉🙏🤙

[@faibabernard]

Both are easy and difficult at the same time... coz in creating, it’s sweet when the only thing holding you back is the pace of your penning/typing... and with shaping, you might suggest a shape that might sink the whole show and that will really suck!!✌🏽🥱✌🏽

[@rmpeete]

Great advice!!

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for watching Rickie!

[@gustavocoronel4893]

thanks for being an inspiration .

[@filmcourage]

Cheers Gustavo! If you want more from Glenn, he has been posting a lot of videos on his channel - kzbin.info/door/E-jmjAfrk-Ls95wGLluPNA

[@gustavocoronel4893]

@@filmcourage there I go!!!!

[@moetarded7757]

The daydream and then passing the sniff test. I am writing my story in book form and script at the same time.

[@AnyDayNow360]

The hard part for me is shutting off the editor 🤣😁I appreciate this!

[@l.w.paradis2108]

Film Courage ALWAYS finds the nicest, most generous, most gifted people. How? Seriously. We need a video on how to find the right friends to share with. Nobody has ever done anything truly great alone.

[@yuqixia4592]

Exactly what I am doing now

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

This guy is wild

[@RaynaKimani]

Made the #119 comment! My screenwriting saves people lol

[@teacherofteachers1239]

He gives such a useful explanation of this mistake: "I need the audience to know this thing, so I'll write a line where somebody says it." What a succinct account of why dialogue (often monologues) I hear in low-budget independent films is uninteresting. Relatively recent examples of this are any films by Neil Breen. As Glenn Gers continues, the problem is the absence of a need for the character to say it.

[@tearstoneactual9773]

Matt Colville gives a great example on Explaining versus Engaging (the audience/reader). It's oriented toward D&D, but is also based on his experience as a writer, and game developer. That really helped me out a lot, to internalize this whole thing. Exposition is still exposition, even if it's coming out of a character's mouth.

[@teacherofteachers1239]

@@tearstoneactual9773 Memorable way of describing that screenwriting temptation: "Exposition is still exposition, even if it's coming out of a character's mouth." Awesome.

[@filmcourage]

Creating or shaping, which one is easier for you?

[@corpsefoot758]

Shaping! Half of writer’s block is just dreading the process of sitting at your desk and facing the blank page :(

[@madhvishukla4332]

Creating is easy for me , and editing it looks very difficult

[@LP640Fan]

This guy wrote Fracture (2007)!

[@thecat8905]

I’m always looking for someone to read it for the criticism .

[@MattDamon2299]

Creating is very easy. Shaping is easier. I love this art. I can do this all day.

[@AHKAHKI]

I’m Tryna Memorize This Video Word 4 Word

[@whobitmyname]

And here I thought I was all over the place when I spent an entire evening doing cleanup and pasting on intrusive ideas. Turns out I'm a geeeeenius.

[@josephvanwyk2088]

Perhaps because we live and breathe story. Our unconscious mind records everything it sees and stores it some place. Your conscious mind can access this well (sometimes the well is shallow, sometimes it's kilometers down). Technically nothing is original, because you have seen it some place else, perhaps when you were 5 years old, and now think of it when 30. However, the WAY you tell this or that will be original. It's easy to copy and paste tropes, but takes a craftsman to flip a trope/genre/sequence/theme it on it's head.

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here) Yes, very true! I agree!

[@corpsefoot758]

I don’t think it’s true that people have seen everything somewhere. Or else speculative fiction like cosmic horror etc. would never exist But there is value in a “human touch” remaining within such work at the same time, so it remains relatable (i.e. saleable)

[@diegooland1261]

I'd really like some feedback on this. When I'm writing a scene, I imagine the characters, where they are in relation to each other, and what they are saying or not saying. But I also imagine the perspective. Where is the viewer/camera in relation to what is going on. Do other people do this? If I find a scene isn't working, I'll move things around including the perspective. It is an element to be manipulated as much as the dialog or action. Is this sort of rewriting from perspective a thing?

[@jeremykayprofessionalscree9914]

Hmmmm, that's really interesting to hear about. When you change the perspective, or manipulate it, does it help you write better pages, or do you find you're able to write more easily sometimes if you just shift the perspective?

[@diegooland1261]

@@jeremykayprofessionalscree9914 I'm not sure if it helps improve my writing but it does help me think through what characters can say or not say. If two people are talking and the perspective is from behind one character, we can see the other character's face and what is behind him/her. The "perspective" character may say something that doesn't makes sense unless we can also see what he/she is seeing.

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here) I personally think it's best to try not to write camera/filmmaking instructions into a script. Most readers in the industry feel it slows down the story and puts the writer in between them and the imagined scene. If the camera instruction will make a serious difference to the story, then do it - but otherwise, try to make the story feel as "real" and immediate as possible, make it "happen" in their mind.

[@corpsefoot758]

What I’m hearing is that you write for the screen, not just the page. Which is great! But keep in mind that there is a time and place for actually writing down all those camera movements, and a physical screenplay is neither the time nor the place (unless you’re directing yourself, and don’t want to forget those little details by failing to write them down anywhere) In the vast majority of cases, anyone else who reads visual cues on a script page will chalk it up to your inexperience (the best-case scenario), or even literally get offended that you dared “step on their toes” professionally speaking (worst-case scenario lol) Two questions you might want to ask yourself here, though, especially if you’re so visually-inclined as a writer: have you considered directing yourself? Alternatively, as a “low-stress alternative” to the former question: have you at least considered drawing storyboards for your scripts as well? I think it might help lend some substance to subsequent pitches for your work, if you can demonstrate to producers that you’ve thought through a project enough to know where everything should be on actual production day (just remember people might do something different with your work just to spite you, so be careful not to get too attached to certain elements lol) And finally, people who are so keen on blending personal narrative with visual skills need not even get attached to the cinematic medium in particular. Graphic novels are a great alternative path IMO

[@jeremykayprofessionalscree9914]

@@corpsefoot758 Thanks so much (I'm not OP, BTW). Hey, I've never written for graphic novels--I'm mainly working in TV right now, but would love to do graphic novels for some ideas that would require a much larger budget if they were TV or film. Do you have tips on getting work or getting started in graphic novel writing?

[@sellavelsellavel3513]

Hi ..I'm from india..This channel is highly important for film script writing. But if u upload the video with subtitles it would be better for us... Please help us..

[@filmcourage]

We are working on it, please check back soon. 🇮🇳

[@sellavelsellavel3513]

Thank you so much.

[@corpsefoot758]

Just use the Captions button on KZbin, that’s what I do And that tiny addition of baked-in captions you’re suggesting equal to a LOT of work on the channel’s part

[@sellavelsellavel3513]

@@corpsefoot758 Thank you so much... Really i appreciated it....it helps me a lot.

[@corpsefoot758]

@@sellavelsellavel3513 No problem

[@Valeria-sx7uv]

Glenn Gers is so goooood! Check his KZbin channel, he shares a lot of usefull information! 👏

[@tomlewis4748]

I think the secret to dialogue is to inhabit your characters. Suspend your disbelief and imagine them as real people. If you know them well and are bonded to them the way you hope readers and viewers will, 'split' your own personality and 'become' that character just for long enough to write the next line of their dialogue. Step outside of yourself, and let the character speak for themselves, and for you, the writer. If you can do this, 'you' don't have to even come up with the line. They will do this for you (you can 'shape' it, later). They will even tell you where the story should go! All you have to do is approve of what they suggest to you. in reality, of course, the lines do indeed come from you, but what this does is allows your adaptive unconscious (another Malcolm Gladwell concept) to step forward, push your conscious awareness gently to the side, and take control by suggesting what the line should be. Your conscious mind hears this whisper, snaps its fingers, and types the line. It feels like magic. The reason this works is bc all creativity originates from the unconscious. It feels like our conscious awareness is doing the creating, but all our conscious mind is doing is taking ownership of what our unconscious mind creates, bc we can't see the sausage being made by our unconscious mind. It's still 'you', so 'you' are the one being creative. This process is a way of relinquishing conscious control long enough for creativity to emerge from where it all must come from-the unconscious. When we speak dialogue in real life, where do the words come from? Again, they are suggested by the unconscious mind, then approved (or not, and possibly 'shaped' or edited) by the conscious mind, and then spoken by the conscious mind (action). That's why it feels so mysterious and that we don't know how things 'come' to us. It's the unconscious mind at work, out of view of our awareness, and that is where every creative idea (as well as our own real-life dialogue) comes from, but we can't 'see' the process happen. All we see consciously is the results that come from the 'creator'-our adaptive unconscious. Base this on the advice Aaron Sorkin and other writers live by, which is every scene is based on intention and obstacle-someone wants something, and something stands in their way. So 'become' your character, understand what it is that they want, and why they are having difficulty getting it. Think of them as real. They will then write the lines for you, as well as the plot itself.

[@51angrybees40]

The creative part: I was listening to this song. Closed my eyes. Then this scene just came to me. Gotta get off the toilet, computer isn’t even turned yet! Gonna forget!

[@corpsefoot758]

I always use the Notes app on my phone in a pinch, particularly because of my crappy memory lmao

[@tearstoneactual9773]

20+ years of creating on the fly, and having to get it pretty close to right, pretty close to saleable. (which means both creating and shaping at the same time.) I feel like a unicorn, and most writers would look at me like I'm freaking insane. I probably am, a bit. But that was the environment I came up in. There were no second chances. There were no do-overs.

[@kponly]

Scribble draft

[@sj33zy64]

Ugh shaping is ruining my LIFE Just kidding, but I tend to struggle with shaping an idea Working on it!

[@writingforscreens]

(Glenn Gers here) If something's hard for you - try working up to it slowly: take small steps, do just a little at a time, build up your confidence and experience and strength in it. And reward yourself when you do it - treats (of all different kinds) after can help!

[@sj33zy64]

@@writingforscreens wow thanks for the advice! Love your interviews

[@writingforscreens]

@@sj33zy64 :)

[@wizard4203]

i've been saying this forever. the writer is unique amongst the artists and artisans because has no raw materials, like paint or clay or wood, our of which to make his art. so he must produce a pile of bad story and bad dialogue to start with, like throwing up a pile a wood. then you have something to shape-build into your 9th symphony masterpiece.

[@ellenlewitt]

How to wind up totally confused: Read the comments below, one after another. Geez....

[@corpsefoot758]

Remember, though: the commenters aren’t proven professionals. Whereas Mr. Gers actually is lol

[@kermitfrog593]

Careful. You keep talking this common sense a lot of out of work writers selling books and classes are gonna get upset at this.

[@sj33zy64]

Lmao

[@corpsefoot758]

Hey look, they asked for it Imagine an entire generation of “gurus” selling screenplay tips which don’t help your work reach the screen whatsoever. How much more dishonest can they get

[@easyeagle3730]

Most movies today are total garbage. Making the most money is all these pathetic production companies care about.

[@NUCLEARDASH]

You need to watch more movies from out of the hollywood/usa, man

[@corpsefoot758]

@@NUCLEARDASH Even films within the studio system are not all bad People just don’t search past the billboards. One of my favorite films was the recent “Wind River”, and that was definitely produced by Americans

[@klartext2225]

The VOMIT DRAFT???? Writing from Germany, this would mean: Der erste Auskotz-Entwurf! Who the hell creates such ugly phrases, and what for? When I write, I never "vomit". Ahh, this is so loud, stupid and insensitive.

[@corpsefoot758]

It means get all the ideas down first, regardless of how ugly that first draft may look to any outside readers And we’re not in Germany, buddy. Hollywood is American lol

[@theglanconer6463]

Two kinds of writing; woke and non-woke. Activists versus writers. Sadly 90% of the refuse produced by Hollyweird is woke, produced by activists and ideologues.

[@corpsefoot758]

Nah, it’s produced by conservatives who hire the woke ideologues Anybody who opposes the safety net is a Reaganite, i.e. conservative. Plenty of CEOs from these tech companies are also pro-surveillance etc., i.e. conservative Make no mistake: the only party in America is the corporate party

[@oveliaeinsberg9838]

Cringe comment. Woke = Good.