Film Courage: What if a writer does not
know if they're a conceptual writer or an intuitive writer?
Corey Mandell, Screenwriter and Screenwriting Instructor: Yeah great question. I can tell
in 10 seconds but I've been doing this a while so what I'll do is well I can tell by reading it but
that's not going to be helpful to the writer the writer can't necessarily read it but here's what
a writer can do so I'll ask a writer question so I can tell from a writer and I haven't read their
writing so what I'll do is now they have to have written at least a script so I'll say let's talk
about the last script you why did you write it what was your inspiration what was your jumping
off point what did you get excited about I just listen and I can tell in 10 seconds so if it's a
conceptual writer first of all they're going to be answering from just their voice it's going to
be answering from the more analytical intellectual part of the brain that then you just can hear that
but also they're going to be talking about they started with an idea a concept o no one's done
a thriller where or this I thought would be a really good comedy or they'll talk about oh a
twist ending they had or an opening story stuff or they might be talking about world conceptual
writers love world building so could be world building could be a concept an idea part of
a story a beginning a twist ending a this a con that's now when you when you talk to an intuitive
writer they're going to be talking about it from a more emotionally authentic vulnerable
place and they're almost always going to say well so there's this character and it's a character or
or it's something personal and they might be able to say like I worked with a writer once and she's
like I just went through this really painful divorce and I either just cry myself to sleep
every night and drink or I could write about it okay so that's an intuitive writer or sometimes
they don't even know they'll say I don't know and they're almost embarrassed but like I had
to write this I just had to write this that's an intuitive writer so what is your inspiration what
got you excited another thing I'll ask is okay so when you're working on this script was there ever
a point where you got in a like it got tough like you got lost or you you you didn't know
what to do and they're oh yeah yeah I go what did you do and an intuitive writer they they're going
to find the solution in the character and just what feels right and the conceptual writer is
like well I thought for the someone who reads it' be good if this happens and they're just
coming at it from a completely different space not just to confuse this for a moment I always
get in my workshops I get I'd say 90% of the writers within a few weeks they know they're
conceptual or intuitive and there's no gender to this I mean I have equal amount of conceptual
writers or men and women same with intuitive but there's always like one or two or three
writers who will say I'm so confused I really thought I was intuitive because this but then
I thought I was conceptual when I do this sees I feel like I'm both but I don't think I do either
that great exactly there's a small percentage of writers I call them slidable so if you think about
like the conceptual and the intuitive and most people obviously unless you've had like brain
damage you have access to both parts and you use different parts when you sleep you're using your
intuitive when you're solving math you're doing the conceptual but most people will hang out here
as a writer or hang out here but there's some small percent of writers that just slide back
and forth back and forth so they're like oh yeah I thought I was no I thought it was this and they
they're like kind of equally comfortable they just slide back and forth but they're not strong enough
in either space so they will just pick one space stay there get really strong at it then go over
here and get really strong at this if you are slidable you should celebrate because that's
the hardest part so I'm I'm a DieHard conceptual writer so when I was doing this training it was
so hard to turn off the conceptual brain it was so hard to go over here and when I was over here
at some point I'd have a conceptual thought or conceptual concern I just goop and I would just
stay here I had to learn how to slide back and forth effortlessly that's the hardest thing for
me to teach someone and some people naturally do it I don't know why but they do so it's possible
someone listening to this they answer the questions that I asked and they're like I
kind of think I'm both that is possible but you might need to get stronger at one or both sides.