Ackerman noted two pivotal moments that shaped his decision to pursue writing. As a young man, Ackerman worked two jobs in New York City as he struggled to discover his life’s purpose. He spoke with heart and conviction about working a long shift at a restaurant and passing by the subway on his way to his second job. As he looked at the faces of the passengers exiting the tunnel he saw reflections of grimness and resignation. He vowed to do whatever he could, at almost any cost, to avoid the despair he saw in those faces.
The challenge then became to find a true passion to pursue. His “aha” moment came when he saw the audience reaction to a play he wrote and thought, “This is what I want to do.” He found affirmation for his decision to follow his passion from one of his idols, George Burns. In a brief meeting with Burns, Ackerman recalled that Burns asked “Do you love what you do?” When Ackerman replied, “Yes,” Burns gave him a satisfied nod, much to Ackerman’s pleasure.
Since his start as a New York playwright, Ackerman has written everything from novels to one man plays to feature movie scripts. For the last twenty years, Ackerman has taught his philosophy and process of writing screenplays that sell to his fortunate students at UCLA. He has mentored a number of screenwriters whose scripts became feature films. He has also translated this into his book, Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way.
Ackerman shared several key points from his book with HSSW members.
Ackerman shared a simple concept that writers too often forget in constructing scenes. He believes there is only one reason to write any scene: to give characters a forum to get what they want in that moment. Every scene is critical. Most scenes have two characters (or more) but each character wants something. The question to ask is, “What does the character want in that moment?” If a writer truly understands what that is then the potential for a great scene exists.
Yet too often a scene goes wrong when it's written from the writer's motives and perspective in mind, not the character's. The result? The dreaded and dull expository scenes that lack conflict. Ackerman notes that effective exposition should always be a byproduct of conflict. Without this, expository scenes written from the writer’s perspective become what Ackerman calls “blurt,” characters blurting out information that might be more effectively shown than told.
Beyond writing effective scenes, Ackerman believes the number one job of the screenwriter is to make what is important to the character-- no matter if it's saving the world or saving a local movie house-- important to the audience. He recommends that a writer have a firm understanding of the audience for her script, including the genre and whether the script is geared toward an indie or studio audience. He notes that while indie films in general focus on exploring the human condition, he studio films focus on escaping the human condition.
Besides instilling inspiration in these areas, he offered practical advice, important reminders to writers such as:
Ackerman ended the evening with the encouragement that we can all be original in our writing. We are all individuals. The experiences in our lives and how they affect us, change us, and make us think about things are uniquely our own. Therefore, when we write we can take these unique experiences, thoughts and ideas and share them in a new way.
Thanks Hal, for the inspiration and “cheers” to all the writers who continue to share their ideas and creativity through their works.
To get more information about Hal’s writing process and current endeavors, please check out Hal’s book or his website: www.halackerman.com.
Special thanks to Donald Levesque and Scott Anderson for pulling the last minute gathering together. Also to the dozen plus screenwriters who were able to show up.
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