You must read...the "Memento" beat sheet

I mentioned Save The Cat and beat sheets and the importance of outlining in my last post AND I’ve also mentioned Christopher Nolan once before on this blog.  I wouldn’t call myself a die hard Nolan fan, but I really enjoyed Memento, the movie he directed and co-wrote that got Hollywood to take notice (hey, his screenplay got nominated for an Oscar).  I’ve gotta say, I didn’t remember much about the movie except some of the actors, a few key scenes, and most importantly...spoiler alert…that the movie happens in reverse.

I bring up Memento because I think it’s the type of movie lots of baby writers are dying to write – something indie and something that has a really unusual or unique hook (like being told in reverse).  One problem though, is that writing these sorts of scripts divides a lot of people.  Some, including the late great Save The Cat creator himself, Blake Snyder, point out that while these types of scripts can be calling cards, they aren't the sort of specs that sell.  And so, I see writers who want to write these types of scripts saying “screw beat sheets, screw Save The Cat”  OR giving up on their original idea to write something mediocre that they think is “commercial."

That’s why I think it would surprise certain baby writers to read this entry that appeared last year on the Save The Cat  blog…why look, it’s a beat sheet for Memento.  Ha.  I know there are some people that would say it’s easy to try and make any completed movie fit into a box or beat sheet, but I think the beat sheet is right on...annnnd...as out there as the movie/script might seem, Memento is surprisingly simple and can be viewed as hitting all the usual beats.

So yeah, read that beat sheet, watch the movie again, and know that maybe, just maybe, the world of Save The Cat beat sheets and the world of unusual indie screenplays don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Save the pilot!

It’s 80 degrees in January and as much as I’d love to be playing outside, I’m inside trying to finish my new pilot.  I stopped for a while this week to finish reading a couple novels I’m sure I’ll talk about at some point (and to work on a novel I’m also kicking around...that old writer’s ADD).  I guess I was also feeling a little discouraged by the pilot and had to set it aside because it’s waaaay too long (ah to be J.J. Abrams and get 2 hours for a pilot…not that my family drama needs 2 hours but I could probably use it). 

Anyway, I know I’ll get through it, and make the cuts I need to make, but I think what’s harder than running too long right now is feeling a little lost at the end of my episode because my original outline falls apart a bit near the end (i.e. it degenerates from lovely little summaries of each scene in each act to a list of things that I know happen in roughly the right order in the last 2 acts).  And didn’t I just mention how important outlines are?  Well, they are, and this proves it.  Shame on me.  Now, here I am, stalled on finishing my first draft because I have to go back and fix the original outline. 

But, let’s not dwell on that.  Instead, how about some resources for writing an outline?  Don’t know how to write an outline?  Everyone has their own preferences, but I think the library section of John August's site has some excellent outlines of his own work (film and TV), and if you’re a baby screenwriter and haven’t heard of Blake Snyder’s Save The Cat  beat sheet you really should check out that site (and read the book!).  Not that a screenplay has to hit every single Save The Cat beat right down to the page (I’ve heard some people say they dislike this because it’s so predictable) I still think it’s a great resource for anyone starting out who needs that guiding hand to get through a screenplay (and isn’t that all of us, at some point?).