INTP and screenwriting?

[Staywhatyouare]

Sci-fi screen writing to be more specific...I've always been interested in creative writing, but have rarely ever had the motivation to get any project anywhere near completion. I started working on some ideas for a science fiction novel set 100 years in the future about a year ago and showed it my close friend who's a film school guy/film enthusiast, and he is convinced it could be written into a good screenplay. Now obviously a screenplay is a huge undertaking, and if I'm serious about doing it well its going to take a lot of effort. So my question is, do you guys think an INTP who was a solid idea and is willing to put in the effort to actually carry out an ambtious prject to completion would be well suited to the task, helped in large part by the fact that INTP's tend to be creative, always thinking about the future, and good writers when they put their mind to it?

 

[walfin]

Lol, seems like you're already certain that INTPs would be good at this.

Go for it! Have fun.

 

[Staywhatyouare]

Lol, seems like you're already certain that INTPs would be good at this.

Go for it! Have fun.

Heh yeah, I guess looking back its kind of written in a way that makes me think that..but I think that's just me trying to convince myself I'd be good at it to give myself confidence. I really would like some outside thoughts, maybe some tips from any one else here who has attempted to go about this? I guess it would just make me feel a little more comfortable if I had some success stories from other INTPs.

 

[NoID10ts]

I read the book "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting" by Syd Field a few years ago and found it very helpful and encouraging. I never actually wrote a screenplay, but still. I have been trying to write a novel and I think the important thing is just to keep writing and don't second guess yourself too much (as an INTP will tend to do). I've fallen into that trap, as of late, and it's like a vortex. The writing gets better as you go. Just keep at it and then refine it in subsequent drafts.

The strength of an INTP writer can also be the downfall, I think. We are good at seeing the big picture and fleshing out a consistent and logical story, but we can become mired in maintaining those little consistencies and we can become tormented when we realize something might be illogical. Personally, I also tend to rethink it constantly and frequently become convinced that there is a better way to tell it. This means it never gets done. But that could just be me, and not all INTP writers.

 

[Kidege]

I wrote a few back in college and it's great for us, precisely because we're good at seeing the big picture, and screenplays do not ask for all the little details. They're not the "finished product", but a damn good way of setting a structure, determining the actions and hinting at the psychological motivations.

The technique is relatively easy to learn. Besides getting a good book on it, I'd advice reading and comparing a few screenplays that have already been turned into pics.

 

[flow]

I might attempt to write an account of my college experience with the help of my ENTP cousin, who went to college to become a writer. Needless to say, he'll be doing the bulk of the work. I'm here for ideas.

 

[Staywhatyouare]

NoID10ts- Thanks for the book suggestion! I looked it up on amazon and was about to purchase it, but actually found out that my film friend already owns it so I'm going to borrow it from him and read it. I think that it will be really helpful in helping me to refine my writing skills. And as for the comment about our strength also being our downfall, I agree completely. I am having the exact problem you described, I have the main story and big picture/main themes all figured out, but I keep wanting to revise the way in which it is told, which prevents much progress from ever being made.


Kidege- Good suggestions, I'll definitely look through some screenplays that have already been made.

Flow- Heh, funny you mention that because one of my close friends at school, and one of the few people I consider to be an intellectual equal is an ENTP and we have become writing partners in a sense. However I feel like we both have issues with following through on our ambitious projects.

 

[Enne]

Wow, psychic. I just agreed to be part of a screenwriting project. I hope they're ready for my ideas.

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

The strength of an INTP writer can also be the downfall, I think. We are good at seeing the big picture and fleshing out a consistent and logical story, but we can become mired in maintaining those little consistencies and we can become tormented when we realize something might be illogical. Personally, I also tend to rethink it constantly and frequently become convinced that there is a better way to tell it. This means it never gets done. But that could just be me, and not all INTP writers.

I have this problem as well, and it is kind of killing me. But I'm trying to write a novel, not a screen play. Not that the same problems described above don't also exist in writing a screenplay, but I also think a screenplay might be easier for an INTP than a novel because you don't have to pay as much attention to physical descriptions of people and their actions as you do in a novel- a lot of that is left up to the actor. I get caught up in this because it seems to be something I don't notice so much in others, not to mention something I don't consider all that important so it is a challenge for me to describe. Same with scene... a challenge.

 

[Staywhatyouare]

I have this problem as well, and it is kind of killing me. But I'm trying to write a novel, not a screen play. Not that the same problems described above don't also exist in writing a screenplay, but I also think a screenplay might be easier for an INTP than a novel because you don't have to pay as much attention to physical descriptions of people and their actions as you do in a novel- a lot of that is left up to the actor. I get caught up in this because it seems to be something I don't notice so much in others, not to mention something I don't consider all that important so it is a challenge for me to describe. Same with scene... a challenge.

Yeah, its for this reason exactly that I decided to shift my idea from a novel and turn it into a screenplay.

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

Yeah. But what's in my head is a book, not a movie. And there's no changing it. Way too much internal monologue for film.

 

[Enne]

I think that's why so many book and film heroes are extroverted / sensing? If your characters' types are intuitive or are feeling in nature, they'll need that fleshing out of what's going on.

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

There are loads of introverted intuitive protagonists. They just tend to be placed in extroverted, sensory situations- so the tension is them being out of their element and trying to find a way of dealing with it- which is, essentially, what is going on in the story I'm writing.

 

[Enne]

Hmm.. okay get that. BTW what is your novel about? Will it someday be adapted into a screenplay?

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I have this problem as well, and it is kind of killing me. But I'm trying to write a novel, not a screen play. Not that the same problems described above don't also exist in writing a screenplay, but I also think a screenplay might be easier for an INTP than a novel because you don't have to pay as much attention to physical descriptions of people and their actions as you do in a novel- a lot of that is left up to the actor. I get caught up in this because it seems to be something I don't notice so much in others, not to mention something I don't consider all that important so it is a challenge for me to describe. Same with scene... a challenge.

Allow me to interject here my thoughts on the literary artform. What are the advantages of the literary medium, the written text alone? Is your story really one that could only be expressed in text or are you just making it a novel because you lack the resources to create a movie? If you focus too much on the physical descriptions, you are trying to make the reader picture the story in his head as a movie. I have seen many books like that and I do not like them. I urge all novelists to consider the advantages of written text over video and one of them is that visuals can be left ambiguous and the reader will fill in them on her own.

Now, I know you said your story has too much internal monologue for a film, and yes, this is another advantage.

 

[Staywhatyouare]

Yeah. But what's in my head is a book, not a movie. And there's no changing it. Way too much internal monologue for film.

Excellent point. Maybe in a way I feel like I'm "settling" by writing a screenplay?

 

[Staywhatyouare]

There are loads of introverted intuitive protagonists. They just tend to be placed in extroverted, sensory situations- so the tension is them being out of their element and trying to find a way of dealing with it- which is, essentially, what is going on in the story I'm writing.

Interesting, that's also something I'm going for with the protagonist in my novel/screenplay. I'm not sure about you, but I know that in my case the main reason for this is probably that my protagonist ( at least personality wise) is very much based on myself.

 

[walfin]

Interesting, that's also something I'm going for with the protagonist in my novel/screenplay. I'm not sure about you, but I know that in my case the main reason for this is probably that my protagonist ( at least personality wise) is very much based on myself.

Just a thought. Try not to model everything on your own life (which I think may be a tendency for everyone, not just INTPs). Don't limit yourself.

 

[Staywhatyouare]

Just a thought. Try not to model everything on your own life (which I think may be a tendency for everyone, not just INTPs). Don't limit yourself.

Yeah that's definitely good advice. I'm not modeling everything on my own life, but I find that in order to create more realistic characters it helps to base them to some extent on the personalities of people I actually know.

 

[Citizen X]

Sci-fi screen writing to be more specific...I've always been interested in creative writing, but have rarely ever had the motivation to get any project anywhere near completion.

I feel like I wrote this.

I'm afraid many of us suffer from this problem, or variants.

I'm working on fixing it, though.

 

[Citizen X]

I have this problem as well, and it is kind of killing me. But I'm trying to write a novel, not a screen play. Not that the same problems described above don't also exist in writing a screenplay, but I also think a screenplay might be easier for an INTP than a novel because you don't have to pay as much attention to physical descriptions of people and their actions as you do in a novel- a lot of that is left up to the actor. I get caught up in this because it seems to be something I don't notice so much in others, not to mention something I don't consider all that important so it is a challenge for me to describe. Same with scene... a challenge.

I am fairly convinced that one of my top favorite contemporary writers, Thomas Ligotti, is an INTP. He writes short existential horror fiction, his fiction is the natural evolution of H. P. Lovecraft's ideas, minus the purple pulp.

What I have noticed about Ligotti's fiction, is that he doesn't go that deep into describing any of the (weird) characters that populate his fiction. Other than a name and a couple of manias, he doesn't go into any detail about them. When describing landscapes or situations, he is very concrete and to the point. Many of his stories, like "The Red Tower" for example, do not even have a plot as traditionally understood. Instead, these stories are written more like essays, like some of Jorge Luis Borges' stories (Although Borges did go into full detail). The only possible exception to Ligotti's style might be his short novel (his only long work, actually) "My work is not yet done", which is a departure from all his fiction.

What I'm trying to say is that you can be very concrete and non verbose and still come out as a good writer. Ligotti's fiction is written with a very good dream-like non verbose prose. He is one of my main influences in my own attempts at writing.

 

[Android]

I only read the initial post, but I can say with certainty that you are more than suited for the task.. even if it takes ten years (maybe better if it does). I've been working on a sci-fi screenplay set 1,000 years in the future for several years now. I probably have way too many ideas I want to fit into a single script, and actually plan to sit on this script after completion and wait for a chance to direct the film itself (I'm terrified to hand it over to somebody else so they can misinterpret it and F-squared it up). With futurist sci-fi there is a difficult balance of vagueness and specificity that need to be maintained.. hence the time I've spent on my script. With my script I'm also having difficulty portraying the dystopian/utopian world that I have in mind (part of the world lives in isolated utopias and the majority in a dystopian wasteland). I tend to set loose long range goals. Despite how much I want to say to the world, I also feel that the most important thing that can come from this script is my personal development. I refuse to rush it into completion or see it corrupted (which I'm aware probably means it will never be made).

 

[Staywhatyouare]

I only read the initial post, but I can say with certainty that you are more than suited for the task.. even if it takes ten years (maybe better if it does). I've been working on a sci-fi screenplay set 1,000 years in the future for several years now. I probably have way too many ideas I want to fit into a single script, and actually plan to sit on this script after completion and wait for a chance to direct the film itself (I'm terrified to hand it over to somebody else so they can misinterpret it and F-squared it up). With futurist sci-fi there is a difficult balance of vagueness and specificity that need to be maintained.. hence the time I've spent on my script. With my script I'm also having difficulty portraying the dystopian/utopian world that I have in mind (part of the world lives in isolated utopias and the majority in a dystopian wasteland). I tend to set loose long range goals. Despite how much I want to say to the world, I also feel that the most important thing that can come from this script is my personal development. I refuse to rush it into completion or see it corrupted (which I'm aware probably means it will never be made).

That's a very encouraging post. Do you have any specific advice for someone in the beginning stages of undertaking something like this? Right now my goal is to have a "treatment" for the screenplay finished by the end of the summer

 

[Sapphire Harp]

I certainly think you could do it, if you stop thinking about doing it and get writing. My theory is, on your first project, you'll succeed on the seventh draft. Later it should be less, but the first time it should take you a long while...

Around two years ago, I was taking my second, maybe third try at writing Science Fiction short stories... And I feel like I had made some progress. It was a good feeling when I had left one of the stories sit for six months, forgot where it went... and when I picked it up to read again, found myself getting sucked into my own story! :P

One of the first tries I made, someone commented that my dialogue was really bad - but now people think it's one of my strengths. Part of that comes from a better understanding of Stanislavskian acting (something I recommend you look up), and part of it's from a general rule of thumb I head Scott Adams say. That is, 'Almost never do people respond directly to anyone else,' or something like that. As he said it directly, it usually goes like:

Person A: <Says something that's interesting to himself.>
Person B: <Says something that's interesting to himself, as well.>
Person A: <Says something else that's interesting to himself.>

Actually, I find people sort of respond, but not quite. Generally that helps keep the dialogue flowing naturally, and helps you get onto interesting tangents.

I also had a recommendation for you, specifically about screenwriting. I assume you know of Battlestar Galactica. Maybe you hate it, but that's mostly irrelevant to this... On their site, they have posted a three to four hour podcast from a writer's meeting for the episode 'Scar'.

At the time I'm writing this, I only ever found time to listen to the first hour, but I thought that was worthwhile in itself. Personally, I think the show's podcasts are mostly great, but this one in particular sounds like just the thing you want to listen to. Here are the links:
Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3
​

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

What I'm trying to say is that you can be very concrete and non verbose and still come out as a good writer. Ligotti's fiction is written with a very good dream-like non verbose prose. He is one of my main influences in my own attempts at writing.

I agree. The trick is staying true to your own style (or the style of your protagonist who is doing the speaking) vs. being influenced by others. I think my book was coming along pretty well but then I made the mistake of going to this writing workshop full of Bridges of Madison County sort of women. To put it mildly, I stuck out like a water tower in the middle of the prairie. And dumb me took their criticism to heart, even though I didn't like what they wrote. So I'm trying to work my way back to my own thing.

I'm pretty verbose, though- my Ne's pretty heavy so there's large amounts of tangential thoughts in my writing. But I'm interested in this Ligotti guy. I'll have to check him out.

 

[Kuu]

My brother is supposedly INTP too, (perhaps borderline INXP) and he's currently studying a masters in screenwriting.

I also like to dream about the cinematic flow of stories, but I'm too lazy to get my ass down and make screenplays. Besides I don't have any story I'd consider worthwhile to pursue ATM, which is, I think, my biggest problem.

 

[Rain]

Sci-fi screen writing to be more specific...I've always been interested in creative writing, but have rarely ever had the motivation to get any project anywhere near completion. I started working on some ideas for a science fiction novel set 100 years in the future about a year ago and showed it my close friend who's a film school guy/film enthusiast, and he is convinced it could be written into a good screenplay. Now obviously a screenplay is a huge undertaking, and if I'm serious about doing it well its going to take a lot of effort. So my question is, do you guys think an INTP who was a solid idea and is willing to put in the effort to actually carry out an ambtious prject to completion would be well suited to the task, helped in large part by the fact that INTP's tend to be creative, always thinking about the future, and good writers when they put their mind to it?

Only if you could overcome the end. No doubt finishing is essential, but after wards when you get rejected by several places you have submitted to you would need the confidence to continue until you get accepted. after about 20 times of FAIL you just suck, but since intp's are pretty okay I would assume you would get it in the first 10.