My Screenwriting Spark
Okay, so I’ve been noodling around with this idea for ages. You know the feeling – you watch a killer movie, get all hyped, think “I wanna do THAT!”, but then… nothing happens. Life gets in the way, right? Anyway, this Alex Tse guy kept popping up in stuff I watched, like The Equalizer and Hard Boiled. Solid, punchy stories. Figured maybe I could learn a trick or two from his path. Didn’t really plan much beyond that.
Diving In Headfirst (Mostly Flailing)
First thing I did? Obvious, right? Hopped online. Just typed his name + “screenwriting” into the search bar. Ended down a rabbit hole:
- Read a bunch of old interviews – the kind scattered across film sites nobody remembers.
- Tried finding scripts he wrote. That part sucked. Lots of dead ends. Found bits and pieces, like scenes from Tokyo Drift, but not the whole enchilada.
- Watched some movies he was involved in again, this time trying to scribble notes like a madman. Paused a lot. Annoyed my cat.
Felt messy. Like searching for a lost sock in a dark room. Wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking for, just hoping something cool would jump out.
The Actual Writing Part (aka The Struggle)
Inspiration is cheap. Actually writing? Pure pain. Here’s what went down:
- Plotting: Had this vague idea for a detective thing. Tried mapping it out on sticky notes. Looked like a toddler’s art project after a sugar rush. Couldn’t figure out the middle bit. Like, what happens AFTER the cool opening?
- Characters: Wanted a tough guy like Chow Yun-Fat in his films. Ended up with cardboard cutout saying clunky lines. My dialogue sounded like robots reading manuals. Ugh.
- Action Scene Attempt: Big mistake. Thought I could write a car chase like Tokyo Drift. Spent hours describing engine sounds and tire screeches. Read it back. It was boring. Like, really boring. Felt like describing a dishwasher cycle.
Started noticing patterns in Tse’s work though. Way less fussy descriptions. More focus on rhythm, mood. Things kept moving. Mine felt stuck in mud.
Small Wins (and a Bit Less Flailing)
Didn’t totally bail on the detective thing. Tried chopping the big mess into bits:
- Ditched the entire sticky note plot wall. Just wrote one scene per day. Any scene. Didn’t force it to connect yet.
- Stole Tse’s trick. Watched a tense scene from one of his movies, muted it, and tried writing the dialogue just from body language and cuts. Learned loads about saying less.
- Forced myself to write only action descriptions for that car chase, then only dialogue later. Mixed them together afterwards. Still not great, but better than dishwasher cycles.
Actually got a short opening scene down that didn’t totally suck! Realized my initial “study” was useless without actually putting pen to paper. Or finger to keyboard.
Where I’m At Now
Still very much at the “barely swimming” stage, not “dolphin-diving”. That full script? It’s… happening? Slowly. Learned digging into one writer’s journey is cool for sparks, but doesn’t build the house. Gotta lay your own bricks, one crappy scene at a time. The main thing I took from Alex Tse so far isn’t a secret technique. It’s seeing someone who actually did the damn writing, again and again, even after the tough stuff. Keeps me plugging away, slowly.
