If you keep up with my posts, which have been few lately, you know that I began writing film criticism in 2008, when I found myself in a state of unemployment and not knowing what direction to take in life. You may also know that the words of Richard Matheson played a major role in my decision to pursue a career in writing, as did my 2008 viewing of Cameron Crowe’s autobiographic film, Almost Famous (2000). What you may not know, however, is that there is more to the story.
In 2001, after visiting the local art cinema for a showing of David Lynch’s masterpiece, Mulholland Dr., two things happened. 1) I knew I had to create something, anything; and 2) I knew I had to scour the internet as soon as I got home to figure out what I had witnessed on the big screen.
Full of naïveté and passion, I set forth to write a screenplay. I carried a pen and a notebook with me everywhere. While at work I spent my breaks writing scenes and jotting down ideas. At home I would turn off the lights, light a couple of candles, play music (Aphex Twin – Drukqs was a favorite) and write for as long as I could. After several weeks of earnest scribbling, it became clear that my screenplay was little more than a disaster of paper and ink. Naively, I thought that since David Lynch’s writing is so bizarre and he comes up with many ideas on the fly, that I should follow suit. This was a terrible idea. Lynch is a one of a kind genius and it was foolish of me to attempt to follow in his footsteps.
Looking back on it, I’m not sure why I gave up writing, but I did. It’s obvious now that I should have visited my local bookstore and sought out a few books on screenwriting. I would have discovered many great things, like structure and character development, but instead I put away my pen and my notebook and gave up on writing for over seven years.
It’s amazing that I never pursued writing in any serious way as a youth. I recently discovered an old multi-paged video game strategy guide that I co-wrote with a friend while we were in middle school; we even printed it with my parent’s state-of-the-art dot matrix printer. The desire to write has always been there, but somehow I never saw it and apparently no one else thought to bring it to my attention, at least not in any serious way. I suppose this goes to show the importance of a guiding hand.
Since my post about wanting to become a film critic a lot has happened. I’m now a contributing critic and interviewer for Flickfeast and a contributing columnist for the London-based film publication, New Empress Magazine.
During this time I have read (and re-read) books on film, film criticism, and non-fiction writing. A few months ago I began reading The Complete History of American Film Criticism by Jerry Roberts. Not only is this a great tome ofAmerica’s film critics, but I noticed a trend. Through the years, many film critics have gone from criticism to screenwriting. I already knew that Roger Ebert had penned a few screenplays for Russ Meyer and that famed French director François Truffaut was a critic before he became a successful and influential filmmaker. What I didn’t realize, however, was how deep the connection between critic and screenwriter has been through the history of the cinema.
Ever since my disastrous first attempt at screenwriting I had resigned myself to not being able to write fiction. I was now convinced that non-fiction was my bag and that was that. But this new information once again raised my curiosity about screenwriting. So, I did what I should have done 10 years ago; I read a few books on screenwriting, and you know what? I’ve started writing a screenplay and I already have a few ideas for more.
No writing career comes easy, but I feel I have a better chance at making a career out of screenwriting than out of film criticism. That’s not to say I’m giving up film criticism. I love movies and film criticism will always be a part of what I do but, for the moment, screenwriting is my first priority.
Copyright © Justin Smith 2011
