https://www.goldenscript.net/feature-screenplays-2021

I’m honored to have my feature historical screenplay, The Rose and the Lion, named a Finalist in the 2021 Golden Screenplay Competition. The winners will be named July 5th!

Just won the Screenwriting Sage Contest for my feature screenplay, Haywood!

Here’s an interview I did for the contest:

http://www.screenwritingsage.com/competition/competition-winners-2020/

Haywood by Charles Musser (Drama Screenplay Winner)

Congratulations on winning the Screenwriting Sage Contest this year in the Drama category with your feature screenplay, Haywood. How do you feel?

Thank you. I feel great. To have your hard work recognized is always a wonderful feeling.

What was the inspiration behind the story? 

Haywood is based on the life of “Big Bill” Haywood, a radical union organizer in the western United States in the late 1890s and early 1900s, and centers on his trial for murdering the Governor of Idaho. It’s a fascinating story, and Haywood himself was a man who was larger than life. It was also the first screenplay I ever attempted writing some ten years ago, and it has gone through numerous revisions and iterations since then. There was also an enormous amount of research involved, as anyone who has attempted to write an historical script based on real events, or any biopic, will attest.

The screenplay was very well-crafted, what process do you follow for your story structure? 

I never had the opportunity to attend a film school or an MFA program in screenwriting, so I had to teach myself the basics of the craft (and it is a craft that can be taught and learned) as I went. Although I’ve read many books and articles on the craft of screenwriting in particular, and dramatic storytelling structure in general, the first book I ever read on the subject was Blake Snyder’s, Save the Cat. It’s a wonderful, slightly hokey, but very practical, approach to understanding and utilizing the traditional three-act story structure, and I still use many of his techniques. 

For example, and this may date me, but to this very day I use a real corkboard on my office wall, divided into three acts, that has a bunch of colored 3X5 index cards attached by thumb-tacks, each one representing story beats. I know there are plenty of digital storyboard apps out there that are wonderful, but for me, it’s a tactile thing—choosing the card colors, the ability to touch and rearrange them willy-nilly, etc., is a great way to avoid writing anything while your subconscious is busy creating scenes and dialogue in your head in the background.

How long have you been writing for and what made you start writing scripts?

I wrote Haywood, my first script, about ten years ago. I came to writing creatively relatively late in life, my early 40s, via the genre of poetry. Interestingly enough, I sincerely think poetry and screenwriting are sister arts. Both reward and require concision in structure, both benefit from an affinity for strong imagery, and both seek to convey those images with simple (even terse) but powerful language. I’ve also written several novels, but my real love is screenwriting. I was a typical movie geek as a teen and in college (still am), and was always in awe of the skill and teamwork it takes to write, produce, direct, and act in something the end result of which can be so magical. 

How many more scripts have you written?

I think a total of eight features including Haywood, innumerable short scripts, and two original sixty-minute pilot teleplays. 

What is your writing routine? 

I’m an early riser, and I usually write very early, around five am or so until six or seven. After coffee, my mind is clear and the left hemisphere is chugging along with gusto. An hour before bed in the evening is also a good time as well, since the right hemisphere takes over and dreams and images and intuition bubble up to the fore. A thousand words is a decent day; two or three-thousand, I’m on fire.

What do you enjoy about writing?

The actual process of writing, at least for me, is painful. I do absolutely love, however, having written something.

What do you struggle with?

I think it’s pretty universal among writers, but the fear that nothing I write is any good. I have a terrible fear that a word in an action description is out of place, or the conflict in a scene is flat, or innumerable other neurotic obsessions. Hitting “send” on a script is very, very hard.

What are your goals with your scripts and writing? 

To be produced, of course. To see my characters come alive and the words I’ve written spoken by real human beings who are not in my head, and to know others are also experiencing the dream or vision I had. Good writing has everything to do with a love of the reader or viewer, in my opinion, and nothing to do with your self. 

Have you found it difficult to get your writing read by industry professionals? 

Generally speaking, yes. I have had other scripts do well in other contest venues. For example, I wrote a feature biopic on the great Spanish poet and playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca, and it was a semi-finalist in another contest called the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, and my phone rang off the hook after that from agents and producers asking to read it.

Do you plan to produce this winning screenplay, Haywood?

I’d love to, but time will tell. I’ve actually had a few producers show interest. They’ve loved the script itself, but it usually comes down to money. Haywood is a period piece, which are notoriously expensive to produce, and studios and prodco’s always need to balance costs with projected revenue from target audiences. We’re in the Golden Age of streaming, however, and there are so many competing platforms with plenty of money to throw around, perhaps Haywood will get a chance. Nobody really knows what will be successful and what won’t. As one of my favorite screenwriters, William Goldman, once said, “Nobody knows anything…… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one.”

What is your advice for aspiring screenwriters? 

First, it’s important to realize that good writing is five percent inspiration or pixie dust, and the other ninety-five percent is knowledge of craft and good, old-fashioned hard work. Don’t be afraid to write poorly; everyone does in a first draft. Revision and editing is the real heart of writing. Hire a professional script editor. I know your family and writing friends are well intentioned, but a good editor (and the good ones are expensive) is worth every penny. 

Secondly, don’t shy away from killing your darlings when necessary, whether they’re characters or scenes or snippets of dialogue. Be ruthless; the goal is the final product, not soothing your ego. 

And finally, no matter how much you love your protagonist, you’ve got to drag them down in the mud and stomp on their heart, you’ve got to throw everything you can think of, including the kitchen sink, at them. And when they claw and fight their way back up, knock them down again. It may hurt, but it’s what you have to do as a writer.

Finally, what will you do with the prize money?

It’s going in my white-sands-and-azure-water cookie jar, wherein I dream of leaving winter and face-masks behind and stroll onto the beach in Costa Rica, blue agave margarita in hand, sun and cool mist on my face, and commune with the angels of indolence.

“Forbidden love and the supernatural collide in a novel about healing and forgiveness.  Musser’s writing style is appealingly dreamy, and full of simile and metaphor…”-Kirkus Reviews

“While the use of talking animals can be tricky, Musser pulls this off wonderfully, rendering the animals wise and enlightening. All told, this is a lovely book for intelligent readers who appreciate the use of metaphor to create an inspiring tale.” -Blue Ink Review

SAMPLE FIRST CHAPTER:

It’s 1776 in the American colonies, and revolution is in the air. Richard Pierpoint, torn from his home in Africa as a young boy and sent across the sea as a slave, hears the word “freedom” repeatedly, and yearns for a better life. When the British offer freedom to any slave who joins the British Army, Richard, and the beautiful and mysterious Shenandoah, who has stolen his heart, escape from their masters and begin a quest in the pristine forests of the Mohawk Valley to join the British guerilla unit, Butler’s Rangers. Their story, and the story of the other escaped slaves who join them on their bid for freedom, has never been told in the history books. It’s a tale of adventure, struggle, hardship, love, courage and, ultimately, triumph.

“As usual, Musser’s lush writing style pulled me into not just the setting, but the mood of the period. This book is at once a thrilling rush as we root for these men and woman running for their lives…” -Amazon Reviews

“Remember that stories can set us free. Tell her a story from your heart and she’ll know what to do.”

40 year-old Federico Garcia is an Afghan vet who has seen more than enough tragedy for one lifetime. His dreams and memories of his bloody past haunt him, and leave an empty space in his heart. When he meets Marie, a young woman trapped in an abusive marriage, they forge an unlikely friendship that blossoms into the promise of something more…

Until Marie is mysteriously injured in a fall down the stairs, and finds herself in a coma.

Federico begins his own investigation into the life of his beloved friend, and uncovers secrets about Marie’s personal life that she never wanted revealed. But his discoveries have only begun.

Marie would like him to meet someone—the strange and magical Elizabeth —who has a story for Federico to hear.

Magical, lyrically rendered, and sparkling with childlike wonder, “Gichimanidoo” is a captivating tale of magical realism and love against all odds.

More Reviews of Gichi Manidoo:

“Forbidden love and the supernatural collide in a novel about healing and forgiveness.  Musser’s writing style is appealingly dreamy, and full of simile and metaphor…”-Kirkus Reviews

“While the use of talking animals can be tricky, Musser pulls this off wonderfully, rendering the animals wise and enlightening. All told, this is a lovely book for intelligent readers who appreciate the use of metaphor to create an inspiring tale.” -Blue Ink Review