20 Questions: Play the Screenwriting Knowledge Share Game

What's one of the best ways to learn about screenwriting? Asking and Answering questions. Welcome to 20 Questions: The Screenwriting Knowledge Share Game!

When you ask others about the art, craft, and business of screenwriting, you can often stumble upon amazing or subtle revelations that you can apply to your own process and scripts.

When you answer questions about your own screenwriting journey, you can often learn more about yourself as a writer and take what you've learned — and what you've shared with others — and reset your own writing process with a new and improved fresh outlook. And you can possibly help others with your own shared perspectives.

It all comes around full circle.

So let's start a game, shall we? It's a game of twenty questions (inspired by Phillip Shelley's 20 Questions for Screenwriters). I'll start the thread with my own answers — extended versions for the sake of this article — and then the next step is answering them yourself in brief-enough fashion where you can either screen grab your answers and save them as an image (or multiple images) to post on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter or answer them one by one in single Twitter posts and share in the same fashion.

The final step is to challenge other screenwriters to do the same. Now, these can be writing peers of your own, or those Hollywood screenwriters you tag on Twitter with requests to pass their answers on forward.

We'll include a simple copy and paste list of these questions below. Remember to keep your answers brief enough to be able to share within a single screen grab image.

Let's learn from ourselves and each other — and see if we can gather some amazing shared knowledge from those we look up to in Hollywood and beyond as well.

1. When Do You Write?

I usually write after at least a month of visualization, because I need and want to see those images before I can possibly communicate them to others. When the writing process begins, I either write in the wee hours of the night after the family has gone to bed or when I've reserved a chunk of time to write during the day.

2. Where Do You Write?

If the brick and mortar bookstore Barnes and Noble ever closes down for good I'm in trouble, because that's where I love to write — specifically in the coffee shop area. Any research materials that I need are usually right there as I gather a stack of books and magazines before I sit down at a table. After a nice lunch of my favorite Turkey Chipotle Sandwich, chips, and soup or chili — which I eat while reading up on my research to get into game mode — I put the earphones in, play my selected writing soundtrack, and create worlds and characters to inhabit them.

Read ScreenCraft's How to Use Music to Write Better Screenplays!

When I'm writing late at night at home, I'm on the most comfortable couch in the world with my trusted best friend pup by my side.

Lastly, when I'm in Los Angeles, I do my best to write at the Writers Guild Foundation Library. It is the best place for screenwriters to write. Period. You may love the access to your favorite coffee and snacks. You may love the energy of people watching. But if you’re really ready to sit down and go to work, look no further than this magical place.

Read ScreenCraft's The Best Place in the World for Screenwriters to Write!

3. What Type of Stories Excite You?

There's nothing better than an engaging mystery or thriller with reveals, twists, and turns that build to a shocking ending. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, Split, Memento, The Prestige, Shutter Island, The Machinist, Planet of the Apes, The Usual Suspects, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, The Others, and so many more.

Those are the best types of scripts to read and the best films to be entranced by.

4. Name One Movie That Has Inspired You and Why

Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Here is a film that can't be put under one particular umbrella. It's a true original like no other. It's high concept wrapped in a personal character story of a man who didn't ask to see something, but was then compelled to leave everything and everyone he knew behind in order to understand what that amazing something was. That's the type of script I want to be known for.

5. Name a Second Movie That Has Inspired You and Why

Christopher Nolan's Memento. The film and script are solid proof that there's no one way to tell an engaging story. And as a screenwriter, that gives me inspiration and hope.

6. Name a Television Show That Has Inspired You and Why

Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. The original run of the series is a must watch for anyone that wants to write science fiction and genre stories that keep audiences guessing until the very last moment. They are high concept stories condensed into what could just as easily be simple short stage plays — yet the writing is so good that the episodes feel like big event movies.

For the younger screenwriters out there, don't be scared away by the black and white picture and actors you may not know. The series is streaming on Netflix and other streaming channels. Go watch them now for an education on how to conceive amazing concepts and how to write engaging stories that build to amazing endings.

7. Name a Second Television Show That Has Inspired You and Why

Friday Night Lights. The show was developed by Peter Berg, which in turn was adapted from his feature film of the same name (adapted from an equally amazing book). Watching the series is an education on character and dialogue. If you ever want to write something close to naturalistic dialogue, this show is a must.

Read ScreenCraft's The Single Secret of Writing Great Dialogue!

And make no mistake — you don't have to be a huge football fan to like it. The characters and the writing rise about the football.

8. Name a Writer That Has Inspired You and Why

Rod Serling. He was the master at capturing an audience's imagination, be it through shocking reveals within episodes of The Twilight Zone or through features like Planet of the Apes that explore concepts that get the audience invested quickly.

Read ScreenCraft's 31 Must-Read Screenwriting Lessons From The Twilight Zone Creator Rod Serling!

9. What's the Secret to Writing Engaging Stories?

You have to conjure concepts that immediately engage the audience and then you have to continue to engage them further every few pages with plants, payoffs, reveals, twists, turns, and surprises. Point them in a direction where they think they know where they are being led, and then shock their system by veering in a totally different direction. That's how you engage a script reader and audience.

Read ScreenCraft's Best “Plant and Payoff” Scenes Screenwriters Can Learn From!

10. Do You Outline Before You Write?

When I'm writing on assignment, I'll work with the producer to come up with a very general bullet point outline — like using index cards with titles of scenes and maybe a one-sentence description of what that scene is really about.

When you're on assignment, you're working within a more collaborative context where you need to be on the same page with who you are writing it for. I usually ask that any such outline be kept to a minimum like this, focusing on just the broad strokes while leaving room for discovery as I write.

When I'm writing on spec, I don't outline. My pre-visualization process (see below) is relied upon, but beyond that, I want the story and the characters to take me where they are supposed to go. I'm a firm believer in the idea that stories and characters are already living and breathing either in my brain or within magical realms that I'll never understand.

11. What's a Writing Process That You Live By?

When I have the seed — the idea, concept, or image — implanted within my imagination, I have to let it grow. I feed and water that seed by watching movies and TV series that have similar atmosphere, elements, characters, and worlds. I pick out my soundtrack and use that to visualize scenes as if they were in a film already produced and being shown exclusively in my own mind's inner movie theater. And then when I have the broad strokes of the story — at least 75% of what will be on the page after playing it in my head over and over — I write.

12. What's a Writing Process That You Could Never Live By?

Save the Cat. With all due respect to the late Blake Snyder's beat sheets, you just can't write a film like that. Screenwriters should read his book and take notes of the importance of varying story shifts, but there's no secret formula to writing a great script. I've read countless scripts that have clearly followed those beat sheets to a tee and they are often soulless screenplays that are instantly forgettable.

Read the book and take little cues from his process. But don't make the mistake of believing the notion that his beat sheet is the formula to all successful screenplays. Hindsight is 20/20.

Read ScreenCraft's How Rocky Debunks the Screenwriting Guru Book Save the Cat!

13. What Was the Early Genesis of Your Love for Storytelling?

Growing up in the eighties. We had Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, and so many other amazing cinematic storytellers. And this would carry over to playing with Star Wars and G.I. Joe action figures and vehicles, creating amazing and surprisingly character-driven stories. Back then we didn't have amazing video game systems, smartphones, home computers, and the internet. We were outside in the back ditch either playing with action figures or acting out our own creative stories. My friends and I acted out at least six sequels to the Steven Spielberg produced The Goonies.

14. What's the First Movie You Remember Seeing in the Theater?

The original Star Wars. I was born in 1976, so it's likely I saw the re-release of it in the theaters before The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980. My first visual memory from childhood is the image of a golden droid walking in the desert. It's my screensaver because I believe it was the awakening of my imagination.

15. What Do You Wish You'd Known Then That You Know Now?

Everything that I write about here on ScreenCraft. The reason I write for ScreenCraft — beyond the millions they pay me — is to share the knowledge and experience I've picked up in almost twenty years within the film and television industry as a screenwriter, as a studio liaison for Sony, and as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

It's not personal brilliance or genius by any means — it's just what I've lived and what I've learned. And I wish I could have known most of what I share back in the nineties and early 2000's when I was first starting out.

16. What Is the Most Difficult Thing About Screenwriting?

The business end of it. Screenwriting is easy. If you're a true storyteller, all of the art and craft of it is embedded within your DNA. You've watched movies your whole life. Maybe some great television. You've read amazing stories. You've been told amazing stories since you were a child. It's all there. Sure, it's great to have someone offer up some context and some unique ways to channel that storytelling DNA, but it's always there. You just need to have the genetic makeup to be able to process that embedded information and knowledge to tell great cinematic stories.

It's the business end of it that sucks. We write in a collaborative medium — and one that is money-based because it is a business in the end. If we had the technology to project what's in our heads onto the big screen, many of us with that genetic visionary talent would be rich, right? But instead, we have to market our scripts, get someone who doesn't want to read it to read it, and then have dozens of other strokes of good timing and good luck happen in order to ever even get paid for it — let alone see it on the big screen, television, or device.

The business end is sadly a necessary evil.

17. What Do You Enjoy Most About Screenwriting?

I, the creator. That's what I love about it. I get to create whatever and whoever I want. I get to build worlds. I get to tear them down if I'd like. It's the most freedom any individual can ever have — being a creator and conjuring something from nothing. And even more, I get to make the films and tell the stories that I want to tell — even if most end up only being seen or envisioned within my own mind's inner movie theater.

18. Where Do You See Yourself Five Years From Now as a Screenwriter?

I don't dare do that. Too many aspirations and dreams have been crushed because of actively imagining what could be in the perfect scenario.

Life doesn't work like that. A screenwriter's journey doesn't work like that either. That best-case scenario is nothing but wishing for the lottery and trying to figure out what you'd do when you've won it. It's a waste of time.

I'd like to see my scripts produced. I'd like the thrill of collaborating with my heroes. I'd like to hold that little naked man of gold in my hands and thank my wife, who deserves all of the credit for allowing me to pursue this dream and supporting me all of the ways despite constant failure.

But instead, I just keep writing and keep grinding — day-to-day. I make goals. I discipline myself to accomplish those goals. But I can't waste time envisioning where I'd like to be five or ten years from now. I used to do that and now my heart just can't take it because nothing happens as planned. The success I have had has always been the result of previous failures, missteps, and letdowns.

I hope for the best, but am prepared for the worst, in terms of my screenwriting journey. You just have to write, write, write and try to get your stuff out there. Anything that happens beyond that is up to the fates to decide.

19. If You Had to Brand Yourself as a Screenwriter, What Brand Would You Represent?

It's vitally important to brand yourself. While you want to be able to showcase a broad set of skills and talent in different genres and mediums, the business usually calls for branding. You want to be able to be that guy or girl that specializes in X. Keep in mind that you only need to do this to break in. That's how you get assignments. You're the comedy guy, the action girl, the sci-fi guy, the historical girl, etc.

For me, my brand is that guy that can deliver thrillers — whether they be action or psychological thrillers — that offer twists, turns, and great endings. Those are the stories I love to tell. I can write other things, but if I had to brand myself, I'd be the thriller guy.

20. What Is One Surprising (Non-Writing Related) Fact About You?

I used to play with Adam Sandler's dogs — Meatball and Matza, may they rest in peace — on the Sony lot. I even took Meatball's Sony ID badge picture. That's not as exciting as playing basketball with Adam Sandler and while covering him, blowing my ACL out and having a $20 million per picture actor carry me off of the court and fetch me water, but it's more surprising because of the more unsurprising fact that is so true about me — I'm a serial name-dropper and have told that Adam Sandler basketball story one too many times.

Okay, now it's your turn. Copy and paste these questions into a document, answer them briefly (one to two sentences), screen grab them and save as an image (or copy and paste into a Facebook post), and then share it on your social media channels with the title 20 Questions: The Screenwriting Knowledge Share Game — along with sharing this post so people know the guidelines. You can also answer the questions within a Twitter post one at a time. Tag your writing peers, as well as professional screenwriters you find on Twitter, and challenge them to play the game — in the hopes that we can all learn about ourselves and learn from each other. Tag @Screencrafting and @KenMovies as well and just have fun.

1. When Do You Write?

2. Where Do You Write?

3. What Type of Stories Excite You?

4. Name One Movie That Has Inspired You and Why

5. Name a Second Movie That Has Inspired You and Why

6. Name a Television Show That Has Inspired You and Why

7. Name a Second Television Show That Has Inspired You and Why

8. Name a Writer That Has Inspired You and Why

9. What's the Secret to Writing Engaging Stories?

10. Do You Outline Before You Write?

11. What's a Writing Process That You Live By?

12. What's a Writing Process That You Could Never Live By?

13. What Was the Early Genesis of Your Love for Storytelling?

14. What's the First Movie You Remember Seeing in the Theater?

15. What Do You Wish You'd Known Then That You Know Now?

16. What Is the Most Difficult Thing About Screenwriting?

17. What Do You Enjoy Most About Screenwriting?

18. Where Do You See Yourself Five Years From Now as a Screenwriter?

19. If You Had to Brand Yourself as a Screenwriter, What Brand Would You Represent?

20. What Is One Surprising (Non-Writing Related) Fact About You?

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies

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