Genre, strengths and weaknesses

[Joe Calabrese]

Here's a question?

What genre do you guys work in? Those with common interests may find a friend here to relate to.

I like to write: Action/Adventure, Historical Drama, Sci-Fi and a combination of those.

I used to write Horror, but I feel that my stuff is dated (1980's). I need to catch up to these young whippersnappers and their new way of scaring the crap out of people.

I feel my strongest areas are Formatting, Dialog and Structure. My weakest is Character arcs, Tone and Spelling/grammar. But I have a great proofer/editor who works cheap and fast.

[maestrowork]

I write mainstream/contemporary drama. And dabble in thrillers and romantic comedies.

My strength is characters, complexity, themes. I can write visually. My dialogue is not bad. I am not very good at formatting, technical stuff.


A related note: are logic and plot cohesiveness more lax for comedies? I mean I just watched "Be Cool"... while it has funny moments and the whole film is tongue-in-cheek and groovy, the logic sucks. Characters do things people normally won't do, and don't even talk about motivation. So for comedies, is it true: "anything for a laugh"?

[William Haskins]

thriller, though i've tried my hand at comedy, and am now finishing up a supernatural horror script.

i have to work hardest at dialogue and unity of plot points; have a somewhat easier time with action lines.

[randesq]

I seem to be only be happy with character driven drama. But, lately trying my hand with anything and everything. Figured if this is a marathon, might as well have some different genre material.

Weaknesses? Slogging through the material and putting my pages in everyday and off roading way too much in tying stuff together before I've stretched the limits of the story. I'm a horrible typer and an even worse speller, but thankfully I sometimes have a writing partner that makes me look like George Will.

As far as my strengths? I'll let you know when I develop one.

Current projects: Trying to write a historical thriller with a multi protagonist and two different time periods (imagine the hours structure or dead again with a seedy new york underbelly) It's a struggle

A broad comedy, zombie flick and a thriller (all of which I'd never imagined writing)

I'm most comfortable in noir or slice of life - most often a hybrid of both.

A few under my belt I'm happy with (co written) and four or five in varying frankenscript stages. I'm waiting for a lightening bolt, as we speak.


Sidenote: Elmore Leonard's writing shouldn't be watered down like that, Maestro

[maestrowork]

r: I have no problem with Leonard's book. I do have a bone to pick with the script by Peter Steinfeld. Watch the movie and tell me what you think.

[Optimus]

I'm mainly sticking to comedies for now. I'm finishing a rewrite on a Something About Mary type comedy. About to start a broad college comedy, and am outlining a rom com.

I'd like to one day try my hand at drama and action.

Actually, I'd really love to write a martial arts flick one day.

My weaknesses are character arc and depth.

I don't think I have too many strenghts, but I'm chock full of mediocrities.

[vig]

my strength, my will. you show me ANYONE with a stronger will than me, you're lying.

vig

[randesq]

That was some great halls of justice dialogue

[kojled]

supernatural/psych creep suspense in the vein of ring, sixth sense, silence/lambs. most heavily influenced by hitch. finishing haunted house story, starting first horror

z

[Lord_Galvatron]

In my case... Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy... and adaptations of comics into film. I do have some ideas about an urban action story and a romantic comedy. My low point is grammar and spelling, although I'm pretty ok with dialog. Good thing I married my editor!!!


I used to write Horror, but I feel that my stuff is dated (1980's). I need to catch up to these young whippersnappers and their new way of scaring the crap out of people.


Joe, if you want my opinion, don't worry with the "hip" PG13 horror crapfest that's apearing now. The sad thing is that producers are trying to get the PG13 rating to have kids get in the theaters and make more money. Some of these movies are very good (like the remakes of japanese horror films). A lot are just bad. I for one I rather "survival horror" films (survival horror is coined from video games like resident evil). Ok... get a load of Dawn of the Dead '04 or the original Dead series by Romero... or better yet, John Carpenter's "The Thing" It is a simple yet effective formula, take a group of people, put them in the worst imagined situation. A situation so bad, you know there won't be a survivor. Explore how these characters react to such a horrifying ordeal. "Oh but this sounds like any horror movie I've seen" Yes, it is true... but what set this apart from the slasher teen flick is the characters. These are extreme character studies.

Of course, you can go with the more psychological terror, that is very good too.

[IWrite]

My main genre is comedy (action, romantic, dark, quirky) but my current gig is writing a serious drama.

My strengths: Structure, Character and Dialogue.
My weakness: Coming up with really high-concept stuff

[Ivonia]

I like to write SF/Fantasy, often with a religious twist to it.

I've also been delving into horror (not the zombie/vampire/werewolf stuff, more like the ethereal stuff like ghosts and demons), but I'm currently trying to make it original, and not look like I just copied other movies (which is hard because horror genre has been done to death, and takes a new twist to revitalize it, until everyone starts to rip off that lol).

I generally like to develop high concept ideas, and generally I want to write a story that will have universal appeal, so that people all over the world can enjoy it, and not just specific markets (not that there's anything wrong with the US market, but I'm hoping I can get fans all over the world with my stories).

My dialogue isn't the greatest, but I can come up with some pretty cool action scenes to make up for that.

[Lady Brick]

My biggest weakness is enviroment... for the first couple drafts, the characters tend to feel like they are living in a box. Also, for some reason, all my recent projects keep sliding into comedy, even when I was planning something serious. Odd, because my prose is almost always serious and my scripts are almost always funny. So far, have mostly been dabbling in satire because of this.

On the plus side, character, dialogue, and pacing are strong :heart:

[ironmike]

All my writing has to have conflict and suspense. It can be aThriller, Horror, Romantic Comedy or Drama. Without conflict and suspense I fall asleep. Dialogue, sub text, showing instead of telling a story are my gigs. And on the eight day the good lord created, "Word processors." On the ninth day "Style Writer."

[Boo_Radley]

My favorite film genre, without a doubt, is horror. I've been a horror film fanatic since the age of seven (I'm thirty three now...do the math) and have seen, literally, thousands of horror films as a fan, a reviewer and a critic.

Which is why I rarely write horror scripts. After having seen so many I'm usually hard pressed to come up with an original idea lol But when I do get a horror script started, I go for something allegorical/metaphorical. Something with some kind of social commentary or with dark and disturbing subtexts. I'm a massive fan of George Romero, so that should give you some idea.

I don't really have on particular genre I stick to, though.

I enjoy writing dark, disturbing thrillers...psycho-dramas, every bit as much as I enjoy writing cop action/dramas (I love a good dirty cop story, and in stories such as these, the majority of my main characters are violent men who have to redeem themselves in some way [think Eastwood in Unforgiven, Chow Yun Fat in The Killer, pretty much any main character from a James Ellroy novel]).

Then I also like to write a funny and action packed buddy story type flick...think Lethal Weapon, Red Heat, The Last Boy Scout and the like...

I've also got a couple comedies and one violent super-hero/revenge/action piece. A violent sci-fi/fantasy/futuristic piece...and a bunch of other junk. Hell, I've even got a western and a romantic comedy.

I'm not conceited enough to say I'm exceptionally talented with any particular element...though I tend to put a great deal of thought into my characters, plot and tone. Dialogue, I'm lucky if I can get any of my characters to not ramble as much as I myself do lol

[terryewalker]

My weakest is Spelling/grammar, which I think most known on here. I like to write Action/Adventure.

I have finished my first Script set during WW 1 but I think its C**p to many mistakes i.e spelling/grammar, I have a producer who wants to do it 'BUT' until its right, its with me in file 13 on hold.

[Rock]

I have tried my hand & mind at just about everything except horror and sci-fi - can't seem to get interested in watching or writing those.
I have completed a comedy - drama - dramatic comedy - WWII musical. I am currently working on 2 scrpts - one is based-on-a-real-life/now deceased person and the other is a buddy, pre-teen script. I find the scripts based on true stories a little more time-consuming as all the details have to fit, not only the time frame, but also stay true to the person's life. Sometimes you get the urge to add things that really "weren't there or didn't happen" and you can't do that!
I feel most comfortable with the comedy - not slap stick - as it is an uplifting experience to laugh, both on and off the page.
Smile - as smiles are sunshine from the heart! Have a great writing day.
Rock