I’ve reached the age of, “If a book doesn’t grab me in the first two chapters, I put it down & back away.” I used to slog through any meh book I started until the tepid end. No more. I do the same with plays, TV shows & movies.

The other night I walked out on a new take of a gem of a musical after Act 1. I saw what they were trying to do. It didn’t work for me. If anyone had asked me, my review would have been, “You tried really hard.”

So, I left. I walked to the train and caught the last one that would get me home in under two hours. But I thought about the show as the train rolled along.

I won’t review the show. I made a rule a long time ago that I only review something if I have a positive take. My thinking here is that I want to encourage people to like the things I like. But I don’t want to discourage anyone from liking something that doesn’t work for me. I have particular and peculiar tastes. What doesn’t work for me might thrill you to pieces. Thus, if something doesn’t ring my bell, I don’t talk about it by name. You might experience it, and it might change your life. I wouldn’t want something I might say to make you miss that experience.

I try to hold my writing to the same standard. “Don’t be meh.”

When I write a play, a book, or a movie, I keep a few things in mind. Here they are in some particular order.

1. Start the story in the middle of the action. The characters lived life before you peeked in and decided to chronicle this part. And, in the minds of the audience, they’ll have some sort of life after you’re done with them.
   • Don’t start with them waking up.
   • Don’t start with them taking a phone call.
   • Don’t start with a list of anything they’ve said or done before (especially true if this is a continuation of a previous story).
2. Identify the main character of every scene you write.
   • The main character can change from scene to scene, but you need to know who it is to focus your writing.
   • Know what each character wants in the scene and write to that.
   • Know how this scene, and every scene, is driving you to the end of the story.
   • Try to make everything your characters say and do drive towards what they want. That’s how we live. Don’t you think your characters should do the same? I remember in one “Friends” episode Phoebe and Joey argued about whether or not there’s such a thing as a truly selfless act. It’s a deep, philosophical concept and one that we as writers can embrace.
3. If you don’t know the end, that’s cool. But you imagine this:
   There’s a difference between racing to get a pregnant woman to the hospital and going for a Sunday drive. One has a specific goal. The other takes you along, but it likely meanders some. One compels you. The other might have nice scenery and maybe some navel gazes or a chat if more than one character is in the scene. But you’ll have to decide which is more powerful. A Sunday drive can be cool, but I encourage you to use those kinds of scenes sparingly.
4. Don’t be afraid to move scenes around. Use what works and sometimes a single sentence moved to another spot opens a scene up and makes it shine.
5. Edit.
   • You can edit after each chapter (though I don’t do that). You can wait until you’ve finished the entire manuscript, script, screenplay, libretto.
   • But don’t edit right away. Once you finish, put it away for like two weeks. You need distance and a bit of time. That will help you approach the work more objectively.
6. Need another character but think you might have too many? Need to have someone say something profound, caustic, exciting, or thrilling but think it’s cheesy or corny? No worries. Write it down. You can always go back and remove stuff, but you need to get it down on paper first. Someone once said, “Great writing takes many drafts.” I agree, and I’ll add, “and effective beta readers.”
   • Once you’ve finished your last draft, edit it like crazy. When you’ve done all you can, get beta readers to read your work and give you feedback.
     • Make sure your beta readers like you but don’t love you. People who love you will read your work through rose-colored glasses. You want someone who will give you constructive feedback on how to improve what you created.
7. You don’t have to write the first sentence first.
   • In fact, I seldom do. Sure, I write something as a placeholder so I can write the second, third, and fourth sentences. But I don’t gnash my teeth about the first sentence until I’ve written almost the entire thing. Then, I go back and see if the first sentence still makes any sense. If it does, great! If it doesn’t, I play with it until it does.
8. Write daily or at least write consistently (whatever that means for you). Always, always write the very beginning of the next scene before you step away for the day.
9. To that end, my next post will be all about why it’s so important to do number 8.

Have any questions or comments? Get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.

Cheers!