Screenwriting Expo

I've always been resistant to attending the Screenwriting Expo, because it just always seemed like another one of these cheezy events where the "gurus" give you purported shortcuts for great storytelling. I once sat in on a David S. Freeman seminar, and found it to be somewhat ridiculous. It's like, 36 plot points, 29 character types--I walked out because it was just over the top. The Screenwriting Expo had the potential to be just as lame, so I resisted going for years. But I decided to go this year, and I have to say that I was quite impressed. I think it's all about which speakers you choose to see, and I think that this time, I made some good choices. Steven Barnes blew me away with his discussion of characters--he uses a lot of yoga principles and Eastern philosophy to delve into character motivation and types. In general, he just has some wonderful ways of looking at human psychology, something that interests me a great deal. I've been reading some psychology books lately, and it's so funny because my freshman year of college, I was either going to major in English or psychology--I guess things come full circle. Anyway, I also saw Linda Cowgill speak, and her discussion of plot problems/issues was so, so, so helpful. She goes through a number of common plot problems and how to solve them. I think what really sets the pros apart from the amateurs is flawless plotting--a story that moves forward without getting bogged down in details and events that are implausible. She gave a great list of things to do to clean up plot. I also checked out Michael Ardnt, the writer of Little Miss Sunshine. He did a really excellent dissection of what makes a great movie ending--his discussion was also quite helpful to me. I feel like beginnings are my strong point, but endings, ugh. Overall, I took away a lot, so now, back to writing! It's great because Raspberry Magic is out to a number of people, and it's always so great to hear what people have to say. Everyone's opinions differ so much, but ultimately, it's up to me to decide exactly how I want that story to go.