It's strange because there seems to be this belief amongst people I know that writers tend to write very well with their specs because it's something they're passionate about. Writing based on someone else's idea? Not so much. Especially if there's a deadline. Now it's like, gulp, having a job. That's not my personal opinion, just what I've heard numerous times - but there does seem to be some merit to the notion that if you're writing for yourself first and foremost, you're going to write more passionately. And yet - most of the movies that come out aren't from specs. They're developed in house or a writer is brought in to work on a deadline. And we all have heard about the movies that start production without a script being finished. As I've noted here before, I like getting to the point where I NEED to write a particular story. That's when I find my seemingly every waking moment haunted by some idea that just won't go away. It'll be the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing rolling around when my head hits the pillow. Not to mention every moment in between it makes my brain feel like it's jump-roping double dutch style.

When I get an idea, I used to have several in my head to where they bounced around. I got to the point where I got a large whiteboard and they're all written there. No matter how silly. Just to get them out of my head so I can focus. I figure out which one looks like a movie and not just an interesting story. I pitch my ideas to people and see how they respond and see what sticks. Then I break that idea in the planning and organization phase. Can it sustain itself to be feature length? I come up with scenes (set pieces) and wonder are these cinematic? I spend a lot of time on the outline. I save a lot of time trying to break the story before I write it.

Isn't that a wonderful experience, TBBB? And your description so apt: As I’ve noted here before, I like getting to the point where I NEED to write a particular story. That’s when I find my seemingly every waking moment haunted by some idea that just won’t go away. It’ll be the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing rolling around when my head hits the pillow. Not to mention every moment in between it makes my brain feel like it’s jump-roping double dutch style. Must be something about writers' brain wiring that seeks out such intense, immersive experiences. When I'm really into my page-writing process, I will sometimes dream in screenplay form. That is one-part of my dreamscape is the action, then there will be this other part where words appear - scene description and dialogue - as the action unfolds. Bizarre, but a sign I know I'm dialed into my story universe.

Dreaming in screenplay form - that's pretty intense! Never had that happen, though I've had some incredibly emotional dreams that had a powerful musical score in them. I've also had one where I've had the end of story happen - very powerful stuff. A story yet to be written, a story I don't yet know - yet I knew by the very scene I dreamed of what it was all about. One of these days I'll get around to that one, but it's stuck in my head for a number of years already.

You'll never get into a bidding war over a writing assignment.

Well, that's reassuring - I'm not the only one who dreams in screenplay form!

Re: ideas that just have to be written - I have an idea that's been bugging me for years, and despite being too expensive to get made without Tom Cruise in the lead, it won't go away. So now I'm brainstorming it with a view to writing it this year. It'll make a hell of a writing sample - and it's the only way I'm ever going to be free of it!

I read somewhere that as many as 90% of the movies being made by big studios nowadays have some precedent (source material) upon which they are based. This clashes violently with the idea of the "golden age of cinema" in which (certainly not all), but a large number of films were based on original ideas (which started out as 'specs'). The only place originality currently has any place, is in the long-form of the written word: books. So it can then be turned into a film.

Zach, I and my trusty interns are in the midst of a massive research project, aggregating spec script sales back to 1991. I hope to be posting those findings in the very near future. That will give us a much more accurate sense of what was happening on the spec front in the past. In terms of the 90% figure: That sounds high, but I wouldn't be surprised. The movie studios are so risk-averse right now, and working with a title that has pre-awareness gives them a certain amount of comfort.

Michael, that's a professional screenwriting bumper sticker waiting to happen!

Paper and pen by my bed every night for this very reason. "All men of action are dreamers." --James Huneker

<3 this post.