New Kid on the block

[Michael J Leider]

Hi, I'm Michael Leider

Writing was one thing I loved since 13, in my seventh grade English class, when I read to the class my fictional writing assignment. The class loved it but the teacher felt otherwise. I was hooked anyway.

I am a Woodbury University grad where I studied marketing. and advertising. My working experience was mostly in the financial services industry. After 24 years, I left that world I became a Realtor.

Following a stroke during heart surgery, I began to write again as therapy. Prior to the medical set-back, I wrote screenplays but kept my day job and just entered them in competitions. I scored in the top three once and made semifinalist and quarterfinalist several times. I recently finished my first book. ( just posted a blog on this site.)

Now retired, when I am not writing, I spend my time trying very hard to learn to surf again, fix up my 66 Mustang, walk my 2 dogs (a Boxer and a Terrier mix) and repair my aging house. I am also hoping to turn a short script I penned called Get the Gun or Die into to a film this year. I will update fromtime to time on that as we progress.

[H.P. Lovesauce]

Hey, welcome!

If you could change one thing that was within your control, what would you have done as regards your writing?

[Michael J Leider]

Hi, thanks for asking. I would have spent my time writing articles, short storys and then progressed to novels instead of writing screenplays.

[H.P. Lovesauce]

So were you writing all the time while you were working these stable day jobs? If not, was there something other than the health crisis that spurred you on?

[Michael J Leider]

I started writing down story ideas after college but didn't follow through until fifteen years later. Writing for me is a way of satisfying a creative itch.

[Dave]

Do you think screenplay and novels are completely different, enough so that working in one doesn't really benefit the other?

[Michael J Leider]

They are only different in technique. Story is story. I do forget formatting methods when I shift. I sometimes forget to change tense when I go from (screenplay) present tense to whatever tense the book should be. If a writer's greatest strength is long flowery descriptions, that talent would not be beneficial in screenplay writing. Screenplays requires a more concise technique. The gatekeepers in the movie biz and the contest judges want a fast read. They are not into reading scripts for pleasure. You might write something in a novel,short story or essay etc. like this: He walked into the room and was horrifiedby the mess. A coffee cup was harvesting a two-week old mold. Ant-covered empty pizza cartons littered the floor... In a screenplay, what the gatekeepers want to see is this: He enters the room. It is a disgusting mess. Or, He enters. It looks like shit. Or better yet, He enters. It is hoarder hell. The better one is at boiling down the descriptions, the more likely one is to succeed as a screenwriter. I have a hard time doing that and have a lot to lean in that regard.

[Mike Griffiths]

Welcome

Sounds like you have some insight that you can offer the rest f the people here. Good luck with your projects.

Mike