At a recent Bafta and British Film Institute lecture series, Tony Gilroy, the screenwriter of the Bourne series, gave his top ten tips on how to write the next Hollywood blockbuster.
In addition to writing the Bourne movies, Gilroy’s screenwriting credits include Armageddon, The Devil’s Advocate and the oscar nominated screenplay Michael Clayton.
So here they are, Tony Gilroy’s top ten screenwriting tips:
1. Watch Movies
It was interesting hear that Gilroy didn’t believe that a screenwriter could learn anything from attending a screenwriting course (sorry Mr. McKee) or reading books on screenwriting.
Instead, Gilroy said that our lives have already been filled with movies since we were young and we have “filled ourselves with narrative… and food.” We already have everything we need inside us to write a great script.
2. Be Imaginative, But Keep It Real
The great thing about screenwriting is that you can make things up! You can create scenes and fantastical plots and wonderful worlds, but you’ve got to keep it within the boundary of human behavior.
As a screenwriter, you have to be a master of human behavior and then, and only then, can you write a screenplay of quality. Remember, “every scene has to be real.”
3. Build On Small Ideas
I love this line, “big ideas don’t work!” It’s an interesting statement and Gilory goes on to state that in order to write a great Hollywood movie you have to start with a small idea and build on it. He says…
“With Bourne I never read any of the books; we started again. The very smallest thing with Bourne was, if I don’t know who I am and I don’t know where I’m from, perhaps I can identify who I am by what I know how to do. We built a whole new world around that small idea.”
4. Live By Your Wits
Gilroy was lucky, but not for the reason you might think. His father was a screenwriter but as Gilroy states, he didn’t get some magic creative “pixie dust” from his father.
Instead, he was lucky because he got to see a professional screenwriter at work. His father worked very hard at his craft and Gilroy got to see what it took to make it as a working screenwriter. In Gilroy’s own words:
“If you are living with someone who lives by their wits, it seems normal to you, it doesn’t scare you as much and you understand the rhythms of it.”
5. Write For TV
TV is where quality stories are right now. It seems to be harder and harder to make good quality movies, but there are a lot of good things happening in TV at the moment. There are more nuances and there is more time to tell a story!
TV is certainly a much more interesting and richer medium than it was ten years ago.
6. Write Anywhere, Anytime
You need to be able to write your script in any place and at any hour. Gilroy states that he has written in a million hotel rooms and he can write at any desk.
Also, it’s important to know when things are going well for you. Are you on a roll with your writing or is it time to call it a day? When your writing is going well, don’t stop—as Gilroy says, call home and cancel dinner.
7. Get A Job
Gilroy spent about six years working in a bar while he honed his craft as a screenwriter.
The best advice is to find a job you can do that allows you to make the most amount of money and gives you the most amount of time to focus on writing.
You need to be able to just write and write and write. To be able to do this, you don’t want to get a job that is too mentally demanding or stressful either.
8. Get A Life
If you don’t have anything to say then it’s not worth it! And having something to say comes from having a life outside of movies.
Try to know about lots of different things. You don’t have to be an expert, but if you can have a wide range of interests this will definitely inform and improve your screenwriting.
9. Don’t Live In LA
It’s all about “feeding your head.” And Los Angeles, in Gilroy’s words, is a bad place to feed the head.
“In LA you are driving around all the time, surrounded by people who are making you depressed. I don’t think Hollywood really helps a young writer feel any sense of romance about their life.”
You want to live in a place where you can feel energized and positive about life!
10. Get A Thick Skin
As a screenwriter you’re going to face rejection. Sometimes you’re not going to hear back from people and you’re going to go weeks and months where nothings seems to happen.
This can be very demoralizing, but it’s important to just keep on writing. Keep on working and honing your craft. And if you hang around long enough, things will eventually happen.
*Jennifer Sloane has worked as a screenplay agent in Los Angeles and Nashville for the last five years. Jennifer loves good movies, music and animals. A former television and movie executive, Jennifer currently heads business development at Script Mailer (a company that connects screenwriters with agents and producers in Hollywood).