How often has this happened to you? You're working on a script. You've decided that your main character is going to be... oh, an art gallery manager. You want a scene to show her on the job. You write: INT. ART GALLERY BASEMENT A cavernous space. Picassos and Renoirs line the walls. JANE SMITH (30) barks into her mobile phone. JANE But dammit, we NEED Maurice LaFlor for the big spring show! He's the best oil and canvas man in the business! No one knows the color red like that guy! You reread what you just wrote. Yes, it's good... but is it AUTHENTIC? Maybe the fact that you know nothing about art galleries is a problem. You Google "how do art gallery managers actually talk?" but that isn't much help. Where can you turn? In the last couple of weeks I've seen posts on this forum from a cop, a member of the US military, an astronomer (who gave me this idea)... If this thread doesn't go bust, I propose it as a place to let people know what YOU know that might be useful to fellow writers. Even stuff that might not instantly SEEM like an area of expertise. You're a talented gardener? You know the what goes on in a DJ booth? You're fluent in Chicago urban slang? What's second nature to you could be a frustrating writing challenge to someone else. Volunteer your expertise, presumably on a pay-it-forward basis, and maybe someone else has expertise to offer in return. Any takers?
Screenwriting : I propose an experts exchange by Kerry Douglas Dye
Other topics in Screenwriting:
Check out Trending Discussions
Register / Log In
I'll start: CORPORATE COMPUTING. At the risk of dispelling the widely-held belief that I'm actually William Goldman trolling under a pseudonym, I have a day job that involves Internet technology and all sorts of corporate mishigoss. If you need someone to review your technobabble for authenticity, I volunteer my services.
1 person likes this
I'll second: I'd like to think my "expertise" comes in a package marked CRAZY. So, if you ever need to know what it's like to be completely afraid of spiders, this irrational and paralyzing fear, shoot a query my way. Oh and I'm a bartender if that means anything.
Depending on the expert needed, one option might be HERO (help a reporter out). It's mainly PR folk but the net is pretty broad and it might be of use.
1 person likes this
The Equestrian world and Horses.
1 person likes this
art history and yes, I could help with what an art gallery manager would realy say : )
The research phase of writing is the most exciting for me. I think it's much more valuable to spend time with people in their workplace. You will see things with your own eyes that you didn't ever think about asking, and that your subject would never think about telling you. You have to put the work in if you want your story to ring true.
It is called research. You are trying to shortcut it, but it will not work. Internet is making people so lazy nowadays... As James Gale says - "You have to put the work in if you want your story to ring true."
2 people like this
Ahem, looks like we also have some experts in sanctimony around here. :) I'd prefer not to deflect this thread into a discussion of whether the whole concept is useful. Let's just say: obviously serious research is important. But sometimes you just need a quick... "hmm, what magazine might an equestrian be reading" and you don't want to spend hours researching the answer. Now we know who to ask! (Cherie.) So I appreciate the input from the haterz (expertise: Internet slang), but... can we not?
1 person likes this
I am an expert at being a brain damaged writer, roofer, carpenter, peasant. As a writer I think it is important to reach into yourself to find the expert. You only need a little lingo and an attitude like the one you expressed. You need to love the purpose of the character you are writing about. Then you'll learn to talk just like them.
Alle, thank God for you. If you didn't exist, I'd have to write you. You seem to have missed that my script excerpt was intended as a joke. The POINT was that it was inauthentic. If anyone else didn't get that... it's now on the record.
So let me ask. Do you think Mario Puzo and F.F. Coppola spent many hours researching Don Corleone before writing the Godfather?
For me, life is research. It makes the mundane interesting. I am writing a crime thriller, so I recorded some Law and Order episodes (all of I've seen but now will look at to expand my knowledge base rather than to be entertained). I googled surveillance equipment and got all kinds of info. I worked in the town where the action takes place.
The "Law and Order" thing reminds me of this: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ql07e8/stand-up-john-mulaney--favorite--la...