The Writer's Method

I found myself doing the same thing. Surfing from channel to channel, jumping from streaming platform to streaming platform. I owned them all but for some reason I still couldn’t find anything to watch. My one-bedroom apartment was filled with sticky notes, journals, and papers covered from front to back. I spent the last two months studying everything there is to know about my favorite movie called “Knives Out.” It basically took place in one location and I was determined to finish writing my feature film script by the end of the month so I could win a grant to fund my first film. My eyes started to beam as I imagined the credits rolling, “Ryan Murphy, Writer and Director”! I just needed to watch a few more films first.

I texted my close friend Andre from film school. “Yo Andre, have you seen any movies as good as “Knives Out”? He replied, “Still trying to write that script huh? Ummm, let me see.” I told him “Yeah, I think I’ve seen it 86 times already.” That wasn’t an exaggeration either. I watched that movie at least three times a day. He said, “Wow man, didn’t even know you liked it that much! I can’t think of anything that good right now, but remember what professor Hartman used to tell us? Every story has been written before bro.”

I remember professor Hartman always telling us that but I never really understood what he meant. I always thought it was one of those sayings people said to writers so they didn’t feel bad their stories weren’t original enough. I replied, “What do you mean? Haha never really paid that much attention in Mr. Hartman's class.” He said, “ I mean Knives Out is basically a modern-day version of the movie Clue.” Then suddenly it clicked. Instead of just looking for movies I needed to look at the similarities of a movie to find what I’m looking for. “Thanks, Andre I think you just saved my writing career.”

Instead of surfing channels aimlessly I had a system now. I started searching for movies that took place mainly in one location like “Knives Out”, had a similar genre, and a similar theme and before I knew it I had a list of five new movies to watch, like “12 Angry Men”, “Murder Mystery”, and “Finders Fee.”

What I was searching for was already in front of me, I just had to be reminded of some sage advice from Professor H. Within a few days I was finished with my feature film script and I was able to turn it in on time for the grant. A couple of friends came over to celebrate that same night. I cleaned up all my writing notes and my girlfriend set out some snacks and drinks for everyone. I figured what better way to celebrate writing a feature film than to watch a movie with a bunch of my favorite film geeks. But instead of just choosing something from the “Most Popular” list on Netflix I decided to try out my new method.

I went around the room and asked everyone what their favorite movie was. Of course, everyone’s answer was different but I was able to take all the commonalities like the setting, genre, and theme and chose that new Disney movie called “Soul”. Everyone had a good time and it was all thanks to what I now like to call “The Writer’s Method.”