"Really" Bad Words

This picture has nothing to do with what I'm going to write about. For some weird reason, I feel obligated to put at least one picture up in each post. Anyway, this is Charlie doing one of this favorite new things: scribbling. I've kept him from coloring up until now because I'm terrified of him coloring on my Mom's walls. He loves to color, but we only do it in a controlled environment . . . we'll see how long that lasts . . .

Now I have to warn you . . . this post is about writing. But don't judge me. A lot of the rules of writing I'm discussing I break on this blog all the time! That's why I love having a private blog. I know my family and friends won't judge me. I just want to share thoughts and feelings with you guys, uninhibited. So, if you see a misspelled word or grammar misusage . . . keep it to yourself, smart guy.

As most of you know, I've written two screenplays. I'm going to enter them into a contest called the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. It's organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That's right. The Oscar people. Ooooh . . . Anyway, they give away a few $30,000 fellowships a year in this contest. If you are a semi-finalist, they will send out information about you and your screenplay to producers and agents all over Hollywood. For an unknown screenwriter, that is prize enough. But then again, $30,000 sounds nice, too. It's not just about the money, though. There was a guy at this screenwriting conference I went to last year who had gotten Honorable Mention in this contest a few years ago (for the screenplay, Finding Forrester, which, of course, became a successful movie starring Sean Connery). He said the day before he got Honorable Mention he had zero messages on his voicemail. The next day, he had over eighty. So even placing in this contest is a big deal. Not to mention, this guy has gone on to write more screenplays, such as The Rookie (starring Dennis Quaid). Nice, right?

So, my goal for the past seven months or so has been to finish these two screenplays and send them in to the contest. The deadline is May 1st of this year. I knew one was finished, at least as far as story and plot goes. All the major work was done. I went back and read my other one in progress about two weeks ago and I was super pleased to find that it was "finished," too. That was such a relief. I honestly didn't know how I was going to have enough time to finish it and "polish" it. Polish, meaning, making sure every single word on the page is perfect. Screenwriting has to be the most technical form of creative writing there is. There are very specific rules for . . . everything. And it has to be perfect, or no one will mess with you because they assume you're an amateur.

So, I was relieved. Then, I started to "polish" it. I used a sheet I got at that conference as a guide. It had a list of "bad" words that weaken writing, such as: is, are, the, that, then, walk, sit, stand, look, just, begin, start, really, very, and pretty much anything ending in "ly." Obviously (uh-oh! "ly"!), you do have to use words like "the" or "is," but used in certain ways, they weaken a sentence. I won't go into details, because it's super boring. Anyway, these rules were not new to me at all. I've got an English degree, so I've spent hours upon hours editing papers. I know these things. And yet, I could not believe how many of these words popped up in my script! To give you an idea . . . my script was 108 pages when I started. Now it's 104 pages. I think these words are words we rely on when we don't know exactly how to say what we want to say. I don't edit myself as I write because it totally inhibits the process. I can't write about a character's deepest feelings if I'm worried about using "the" the wrong way.

It's been a horrible, taxing, boring experience to edit this thing. Now I understand why people cringe at me when I tell them I'm a writer or that I have an English degree. Now I understand why people hate English! And yet, in a sick way I still love it. Last night I was flipping through the paper and I cringed when I saw this headline: "Some Dog Breeds Really Are Better for Families." Ugh! The "really" is so unnecessary! Can't you see how addictive this is? Newspapers are a gold mine for finding "bad" words.

So, I have to go, because, believe it or not, I still have more editing to do. Now I have to pick apart my formatting. I'm not sure I'll write a post on that because it is really involved, and frankly, really boring.

I have some cute Charlie pictures to post soon, so stay tuned for that . . . that is, if this post didn't bore you to death!