Ask the Author: Jennifer M. Baldwin
Answered Questions (5)
Jennifer M. Baldwin
Hi Garth! Thank you for the question! The first screenwriting book I ever read was Syd Field's Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. It was something I happened to find in a Borders bookstore, and it had blurbs on the back from Steven Bocho and James L. Brooks, so I figured it would be worth checking out. Apparently, it was (for better and worse) some kind of Hollywood screenwriting "classic." It's standard three-act stuff; formulaic, but good for understanding the basics of how Hollywood thinks of story (it was the Save the Cat! of its day).
Then in my first screenwriting class, we were assigned a book called Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay by Andrew Horton. This is a book I would highly recommend because it moves away from the standard Inciting Incident-Rising Action-Climax-Falling Action-Resolution formula of plotting and explores the way characters impact narrative. Instead of focusing on the plot points of a screenplay, it asks the writer to start with characters. It's very big on experimentation and non-Hollywood ways of telling stories.
Similarly, The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri asks the playwright (or screenwriter) to start with character and create a narrative that is particularly suited to the main character (so that he/she can confront deep-seated fears/desires). It focuses a lot on psychological motivation so that instead of things happening to characters and then they react (in a very action-driven way), the motives of the characters drive the story and determine what happens next (creating a more interior-driver story). It's a book for playwrights, but it has a lot of interesting stuff for the screenwriter too.
Finally, the big mother of all screenwriting books is Story by Robert McKee. He takes a lot of the Lajos Egri stuff, some of the Syd Field stuff, and then a good chunk of his own original stuff and mixes everything into a bona fide storytelling bible. It's a book I return to often just to troubleshoot my stories or get ideas.
A non-screenwriting book that is also great for plotting and structure is James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure. Bell also has a lot of advice for other aspects of the writing process, such as gathering ideas, plotting versus pantsing, and revision.
These are the books on my shelf that I go back to (well, except for Syd Field's book; it's maybe worth reading once, but it's not very deep or helpful once you've moved beyond basic three-act structure).
I also studied screenwriting in college, so I had the experience and advice of professors and professional screenwriters, but alas, there are no books I can recommend to replicate that kind of education.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions about screenwriting, pitching stories, Hollywood-ish stuff, or just writing questions in general. Cheers!
Then in my first screenwriting class, we were assigned a book called Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay by Andrew Horton. This is a book I would highly recommend because it moves away from the standard Inciting Incident-Rising Action-Climax-Falling Action-Resolution formula of plotting and explores the way characters impact narrative. Instead of focusing on the plot points of a screenplay, it asks the writer to start with characters. It's very big on experimentation and non-Hollywood ways of telling stories.
Similarly, The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri asks the playwright (or screenwriter) to start with character and create a narrative that is particularly suited to the main character (so that he/she can confront deep-seated fears/desires). It focuses a lot on psychological motivation so that instead of things happening to characters and then they react (in a very action-driven way), the motives of the characters drive the story and determine what happens next (creating a more interior-driver story). It's a book for playwrights, but it has a lot of interesting stuff for the screenwriter too.
Finally, the big mother of all screenwriting books is Story by Robert McKee. He takes a lot of the Lajos Egri stuff, some of the Syd Field stuff, and then a good chunk of his own original stuff and mixes everything into a bona fide storytelling bible. It's a book I return to often just to troubleshoot my stories or get ideas.
A non-screenwriting book that is also great for plotting and structure is James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure. Bell also has a lot of advice for other aspects of the writing process, such as gathering ideas, plotting versus pantsing, and revision.
These are the books on my shelf that I go back to (well, except for Syd Field's book; it's maybe worth reading once, but it's not very deep or helpful once you've moved beyond basic three-act structure).
I also studied screenwriting in college, so I had the experience and advice of professors and professional screenwriters, but alas, there are no books I can recommend to replicate that kind of education.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions about screenwriting, pitching stories, Hollywood-ish stuff, or just writing questions in general. Cheers!
Jennifer M. Baldwin
I've always been a huge Arthurian buff. It started when I was a kid and read the Rosemary Sutcliff books about Arthur. I loved them. I continually checked them out from the library. Seriously, I think I managed to keep them for an entire year. I'd check them out, renew them as much as the library would allow, return them when I finally couldn't renew them anymore, and then check them out again as soon as they were returned to the shelf. It was borderline obsessive.
No, actually, it WAS obsessive.
My fascination with the Arthurian legends continued into college where I took a class about Celtic myths and read all about the Welsh version of Arthur. That was the first time I had encountered references to the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. I thought they sounded cool, so I did more research and decided that I wanted to write a story that included the treasures in some way.
The Merlin's Last Magic series is what grew out of my fascination with the treasures and the Welsh myths of the Mabinogian.
No, actually, it WAS obsessive.
My fascination with the Arthurian legends continued into college where I took a class about Celtic myths and read all about the Welsh version of Arthur. That was the first time I had encountered references to the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. I thought they sounded cool, so I did more research and decided that I wanted to write a story that included the treasures in some way.
The Merlin's Last Magic series is what grew out of my fascination with the treasures and the Welsh myths of the Mabinogian.
Jennifer M. Baldwin
I'm working on the second book in my Merlin's Last Magic series. It's called Ysbaddaden and the Game of Chess.
I'm also working on a novella that is part-memoir, part-fantasy.
Finally, I'm writing a short story called "Song Child" that's a prequel for my next fantasy series, The Red Tower series.
I'm also working on a novella that is part-memoir, part-fantasy.
Finally, I'm writing a short story called "Song Child" that's a prequel for my next fantasy series, The Red Tower series.
Jennifer M. Baldwin
Try to finish what you start. Unless the story is totally, completely, torturously terrible and you hate every minute you spend on it, I recommend that you try to finish. Even if it's crap, the act of finishing it will teach you a lot about storytelling and craft and (perhaps most importantly) discipline.
I also think aspiring writers need to read a lot. But don't read only page-turners or light, fun stuff. Read the classics. Read poetry. Read essays. Read things that are strange and quirky. Read old things: epics, myths, romances (the medieval kind).
Also: Watch off-beat movies, Hollywood classics from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and foreign films. Watch T.V. shows that tell complex, original stories. Go to the theater and see great plays.
The typical answer that most writers give for a question like this is "Write a lot." But if you're writing a lot of lousy prose and doing a lot of weak storytelling, then you're not going to get any better as a writer. You're just going to reinforce bad habits. By reading great works of literature (and by the way, I include folks like Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain in the "great" category), then you'll see what good writing looks like. Imitate the good stuff. Once you can imitate the good stuff, then move on to developing your own voice.
I also think aspiring writers need to read a lot. But don't read only page-turners or light, fun stuff. Read the classics. Read poetry. Read essays. Read things that are strange and quirky. Read old things: epics, myths, romances (the medieval kind).
Also: Watch off-beat movies, Hollywood classics from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and foreign films. Watch T.V. shows that tell complex, original stories. Go to the theater and see great plays.
The typical answer that most writers give for a question like this is "Write a lot." But if you're writing a lot of lousy prose and doing a lot of weak storytelling, then you're not going to get any better as a writer. You're just going to reinforce bad habits. By reading great works of literature (and by the way, I include folks like Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain in the "great" category), then you'll see what good writing looks like. Imitate the good stuff. Once you can imitate the good stuff, then move on to developing your own voice.
Jennifer M. Baldwin
I use three different methods. The first is that I outline the heck out of my stories so I don't end up stuck. If I already know what's supposed to happen in a scene, I don't get blocked. So I've become a super-outliner.
The second method I use is something I call "Writer's Block Journal." It's a separate file where I write down my thoughts, no matter how mundane or unrelated to my stories. It's just a way to vent and get my fingers typing. I'll do a few minutes of the Writer's Block Journal, and then after writing about nothing for awhile, I'm ready to actually start working on something substantial. I feel that if I confront my writer's block head-on, acknowledge that I'm avoiding my story for whatever reason, and then write a little bit to get into the rhythm of typing, I find I get over the block pretty quickly. What's death for me is going on the Internet to do random surfing. When I do that, my writer's block gets out of control.
My third method is to work on multiple projects at once. If I wake up on a given day and I'm not feeling my Merlin series, I just open up one of my short stories, or my novella, and work on one of those. I figure it's better to work on something different than not work at all.
The second method I use is something I call "Writer's Block Journal." It's a separate file where I write down my thoughts, no matter how mundane or unrelated to my stories. It's just a way to vent and get my fingers typing. I'll do a few minutes of the Writer's Block Journal, and then after writing about nothing for awhile, I'm ready to actually start working on something substantial. I feel that if I confront my writer's block head-on, acknowledge that I'm avoiding my story for whatever reason, and then write a little bit to get into the rhythm of typing, I find I get over the block pretty quickly. What's death for me is going on the Internet to do random surfing. When I do that, my writer's block gets out of control.
My third method is to work on multiple projects at once. If I wake up on a given day and I'm not feeling my Merlin series, I just open up one of my short stories, or my novella, and work on one of those. I figure it's better to work on something different than not work at all.
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