Screenwriting : Writing Partner? by Jimmie Pelyhes

Keep writing. A partner (in my eyes) is a equal. You would be attracting an equally flawed writer.

Keep writing, you will improve. There are no short cuts. Years and years of effort is required. As sad as that seems.

Work on your craft. It’s normal to be strong in some areas and weak in others. Read up on the theory from people with a track record and put it into action by writing as much as possible. Find out where your weaknesses are and focus on them via the process of deliberate practice.

And don’t use competitions and coverage for feedback.

You're part of a brutal decade long job interview where there’s ten thousand applicants for every position. You have to become incredibly strong and capable.

Take your latest work and read it out loud, better yet, record it, wait a day and then listen to it. The things that work and don't work will start jumping out at you. There are many sub genres of comedy: make sure you're staying true to you're choice, or know when you're intentionally crossing over and if it makes sense for the story as a whole. Everything at the beginning is a promise, first to the reader, then to the audience. Is the script keeping the promises made? Is it playing on the expectation of that promise? Twisting it? Then topping it? Have fun - keep writing. Try your bits out on your friends - All the time. Also find a critique group and read sections to them. When you get the same "feedback" on a certain thing - then you know that's what you need to work on. Above all - keep writing.

Always read your script out loud with another writer, partner etc. You find all the typos, and shoe leather...A good practice whatever genre that you are writing in....

I'm a bit late but I think you should have a writing partner if you want to write with a partner. Could work, but joining someone just to compensate a flaw is no-good.

But is wonderful your humble approach and admitting you lack something is something admirable, so props for that.

What you could do, now that you know what you could lack, is drilling. Take a skill at a time, dialogue, humor, voice.

Select one, for example, dialogue.

Search for series with good dialogues. I think Derry Girls (Netflix) has the best and more "realistic" dialogues. But it's Irish humor, that is similar to British but different to American.

This time we select humor. And we saw that Derry girls has a particular kind of humor, as well as Edgar Wright's moves. It's English humor, but is "Wrightian" humor.

Now you go and watch key and Peele, and it's another kind of humor. You analyze.

Now that you analyzed. You grab the one that you would feel more inclined to write if you were writing. And, without looking at the screenplay and without pausing (this is important because if you pause you'll overwrite details) you write everything you see, as if you were writing it for the first time, and would translate to what you are watching.

And THEN you search for the script if it's available and compare it to your own version of that film.

This is just an exercise that covers all you need. But read a lot of screenplays, watch a lot of things, different kinds of humor, different cultures, different people.

ps: having table reads could work, too.

Lawyer up first before you hire a partner to write YOUR ideas

I think you've got wrong post, Barry...nevertheless, thanks :)

Comedy generally is better written with at least two people at the helm (shows like Blackadder and Red Dwarf were typically written by a pair of writers). The two most important elements are humour (obviously) and logic. The gags have to work both within the context of the situation and also make sense to the audience (over here in the UK, when it comes to two writers, one will focus on the gags and the other will try to concentrate on the logic and narrative).

Which is why it generally takes 9 screenplays before you are ready. There's a steep learning curve, and you need to dig in and learn.

You don't need someone else, you need to get to work.

Actually I've written 11 screenplays.

Jimmie Pelyhes please, read my comment. Stay safe and trust yourself!

I really liked this idea from Brian Largo. It's a twist on the the whole idea of the Master Study. I can tell this is going to be a real brain-bender, but completely worth the time and effort:

"...Now that you analyzed. You grab the one that you would feel more inclined to write if you were writing. And, without looking at the screenplay and without pausing (this is important because if you pause you'll overwrite details) you write everything you see, as if you were writing it for the first time, and would translate to what you are watching.

This is just an exercise that covers all you need. But read a lot of screenplays, watch a lot of things, different kinds of humor, different cultures, different people.

ps: having table reads could work, too. "

I'm going to do this Brian! Right on!

As a 'sort of' example (it wasn't a master study, but the step before it) : I had a mentor in illustration who chastised me for attempting to draw out of my head without reference. ( so used to doing everything as fast as possible.) So he assigned me 20 frogs. Mind you, each frog drawn by hand on paper by looking at it and not tracing, takes about 40 minutes to do it right with a finished brush-pen inked piece. So pretty much a part time job done in under a week. After I finished, he said, "nice work. Now, do twenty more frogs." Just doing that pushed my level years beyond others in my critique groups who have stayed at the same level for years.

Karen Thomas Yes. Sometimes it's all about drills. You take something specific and develop it with deliberate practice. Deliberate being the key word. And then you add the specific to your general skillset and that propels your level.

It's not easy, but it pays off.

Jimmie - it's a long, steep hard climb up the mountain of marbles. I knew a writer who after 30 years, gave up. He couldn't understand why with his 30 years of experience he was making no progress; my question was 'do you really have 30 years of experience, or 1 year's experience 30 times over'. You have 11 screenplays: Is the 11th one better than the first?

Please understand the point to all this. Simply put, I thought that have someone to write with and bounce ideas off would be a good thing. I have no intention of quitting, nor do I plan to let someone help me rewrite one of my screenplays. The plan was to maybe work with someone stronger moving forward.

*stronger in plot development

Jimmie - I did the co-writer, script partner thing before. It came down to, do I want to keep a friend or make them a better writing partner? I decided to keep my friend and fire my writing partner: I let the project die from lack of action. Later, after a lot of pestering, I begged off the piece because of no time, took my name off and gave it to that person. Just keep in mind that it may come to something like that in order to break "free" from the thing.

Sometimes it's crazy what people expect out of the cooperative arrangement. Someone once told me, "I'll say the words out-loud and you'll just type them! It will be great!" This person had an MFA had worked in various human relations jobs, volunteered at community involvement programs and was studying screen writing. Holy Cow!

I would treat it as seriously as any business deal or life partner arrangement. Check that other person out and make sure the back and forth is completely compatible. Do several test runs on sample projects. I'm not sure where you are on the spectrum of people/ relationship empathy, but as a very empathetic person myself, I have no wish to do a partner arrangement again. It seems to be fraught with pitfalls. And do what Dan MaxXx advised, get a lawyer.

Hi Jimmie, I just saw this post as I've been knee deep in research all week on a project I am working on with a writing partner. As corona goes on I'm getting less motivated and would love someone to bounce ideas off of. I'll send you a network request and we can chat!

Didn't mean to mislead anyone. But I really don't see where someone would automatically think that.

Please forgive my ignorance.

uhhhhh... Jimmie, you wrote; "Writing Partner?" in your thread title. :-) I thought you were looking for a writing partner. Sounds like you're really looking for critique partner(s).

Jimmie, I'm willing to take a look at a couple of your scripts and offer critique. My scripts tend to be more dramedies than straight comedies, but I enjoy (and learn from) helping other, more talented writers see what's missing in their scripts. Contact me by submitting a form on my site (which is listed in my bio). -Geoff

First, you want real laughs not just smiles. Make sure those people are praising laughs not smiles. And unexpected ones. As for basic conflict and plot, start with silent comedy shorts to grasp basic conflict and build upward. Dialogue and complicated characters in modern films can obscure the basics for starting writers.