Ask the Author: Emmanuel Oberg
Answered Questions (5)
Emmanuel Oberg
I’m passionate about story structure and have spent much of the last twenty years exploring it as a script consultant, development exec and screenwriter, working for European producers as well as Hollywood studios. I was annoyed by many of the prescriptive, dogmatic theories that often limit creative freedom and lead to predictable screenplays. So I thought, why not try to offer something different? Something more flexible and empowering for all involved?
Screenwriting Unchained
is an attempt to start again and go back to the roots of story structure, in a resolutely modern way.
Emmanuel Oberg
I'm working on a series of stories for Young Adults. A supernatural eco-thriller. I have no idea if they'll end up as a series of novels, as a TV series or as a series of films, and in which order. I'm just working on the story world, designing the characters and the various storylines and really enjoying the process. After spending a couple of years writing about screenwriting with Screenwriting Unchained, it feels great to be writing fiction again.
Emmanuel Oberg
Trust your instinct and follow your passion. You can't second guess what the market will want a few years down the line, so write what you feel really passionate about. If you're a screenwriter, watch as many films as you can, read as many screenplays as you can, good and bad, and try if at all possible to get some experience directing and editing. This will really change the way you write screenplays.
Emmanuel Oberg
As Lawrence Kasdan said in a recent interview with John August and Craig Mazin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9-0O...), no one likes writing (because it's so hard). We like having written.
This being said, I do appreciate being my own boss most of the time and I feel privileged to be able to make a living from my passion, so I never complain. I also really enjoy collaborating with other people, and constantly learning from these collaborations.
This being said, I do appreciate being my own boss most of the time and I feel privileged to be able to make a living from my passion, so I never complain. I also really enjoy collaborating with other people, and constantly learning from these collaborations.
Emmanuel Oberg
I don't really experience writer's block anymore but when I used to, a short procrastinating session reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield would cure it, so most of the advice below comes from applying Pressfield's excellent advice.
When I write, I force myself to do so in the morning (because it works for me, others will prefer working at night or in the afternoon) and I don't leave the office until I've done the job, which usually happens by mid-afternoon. Most days, I can be creative for 3-5 hours, rarely more.
I have no landline and no internet at the office (a secluded workshop I bought a few years ago, which is only a short walk from home), so I have to tether my laptop to my iPhone when I need to do some research online. Because I have a limited allowance for data, I know that I can't spend any non-productive time online at the office, or I'll run out of data before the end of the month. Very effective! I also set my mobile phone and my laptop to "do not disturb" when I'm at the office, so no skype calls or facebook updates. Only my agent and my wife can get through, in case of an emergency.
Killing all distractions really helps with writer's block, because if there is nothing else to do, even writing is better than boredom! So you just write.
One trick I learnt from my directing experience: I try to prepare the next day so that I can hit the ground running. For example, I'll try to leave something easy to start with. I'll prepare a list of what I'm suppose to do (for example, write a sequence of scenes if I'm writing a draft), and I won't go home until it's done. Of course there are days where it doesn't work and I get home depressed, in a bad mood and bark at everyone, but most days, it does work.
I also reward myself with watching a film or playing with one of my daughters if I had a good day.
Depending on the writing stage and the kind of work I'm supposed to do, I often use music to get me started. I find the appropriate track (I usually chose pieces without lyrics or with lyrics in a language I don't understand)to be a great way to get you "in the zone".
After a while, you feel better writing than not writing, so you just write.
The key is in regularity. I stick to a strict schedule when I write, I never take a dentist appointment or arrange a phone meeting in the morning for example. Morning, until mid-afternoon, is allocated to writing and writing only, at least five days a week. Phone calls, appointments, accounting, IT tasks, all that is done at the end of the afternoon or on Saturdays. I try to keep Sundays as a family day, and unless I have a looming deadline that usually works.
My friends know that when I'm writing, I don't see anyone. I retire into my social "writing cave", which usually lasts for a few weeks or a few months at a time, and when I get out I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation, from a social life point of view. It's weird I guess but I do enjoy these writing windows when I fully concentrate on the work at hand.
So my advice is to make room to write every day, even if it's only a few hours, and stick to it, whatever happens (except if a really bad thing happens of course, but that doesn't include small family crisis or the sudden urge to sort your CD collection).
When I write, I force myself to do so in the morning (because it works for me, others will prefer working at night or in the afternoon) and I don't leave the office until I've done the job, which usually happens by mid-afternoon. Most days, I can be creative for 3-5 hours, rarely more.
I have no landline and no internet at the office (a secluded workshop I bought a few years ago, which is only a short walk from home), so I have to tether my laptop to my iPhone when I need to do some research online. Because I have a limited allowance for data, I know that I can't spend any non-productive time online at the office, or I'll run out of data before the end of the month. Very effective! I also set my mobile phone and my laptop to "do not disturb" when I'm at the office, so no skype calls or facebook updates. Only my agent and my wife can get through, in case of an emergency.
Killing all distractions really helps with writer's block, because if there is nothing else to do, even writing is better than boredom! So you just write.
One trick I learnt from my directing experience: I try to prepare the next day so that I can hit the ground running. For example, I'll try to leave something easy to start with. I'll prepare a list of what I'm suppose to do (for example, write a sequence of scenes if I'm writing a draft), and I won't go home until it's done. Of course there are days where it doesn't work and I get home depressed, in a bad mood and bark at everyone, but most days, it does work.
I also reward myself with watching a film or playing with one of my daughters if I had a good day.
Depending on the writing stage and the kind of work I'm supposed to do, I often use music to get me started. I find the appropriate track (I usually chose pieces without lyrics or with lyrics in a language I don't understand)to be a great way to get you "in the zone".
After a while, you feel better writing than not writing, so you just write.
The key is in regularity. I stick to a strict schedule when I write, I never take a dentist appointment or arrange a phone meeting in the morning for example. Morning, until mid-afternoon, is allocated to writing and writing only, at least five days a week. Phone calls, appointments, accounting, IT tasks, all that is done at the end of the afternoon or on Saturdays. I try to keep Sundays as a family day, and unless I have a looming deadline that usually works.
My friends know that when I'm writing, I don't see anyone. I retire into my social "writing cave", which usually lasts for a few weeks or a few months at a time, and when I get out I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation, from a social life point of view. It's weird I guess but I do enjoy these writing windows when I fully concentrate on the work at hand.
So my advice is to make room to write every day, even if it's only a few hours, and stick to it, whatever happens (except if a really bad thing happens of course, but that doesn't include small family crisis or the sudden urge to sort your CD collection).
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