Hi-Way Haven, A Place for Writers
Summer 2006

"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best,
you very often get it."
—W. Somerset Maugham

Email me your favorite writing quotes for sharing in The Haven's next newsletter!

The Haven's Founder,
Vera Caccioppoli, MFA

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The Haven is Open
by Appointment Only.
Please Call Us Today—
760.815.4341

When it comes to screenwriting, my favorite motto is, “Arrive late. Leave Early.”

(This motto has also proven itself when applied to certain social functions I’ve attended.)

When we arrive late, and leave early, each scene is dramatic. If we arrive too early in a scene, there’s a lot of what I call “cranking” going on.  Cranking means the screenwriter is wasting a lot of her precious white space having characters cranking out hello’s, introductions, pleasantries, and backstory. Writing dialogue looks simple.  But it ain’t. Remember that a page of your screenplay equals a minute of screen time, and the average movie is 100 minutes long. The screenwriter has only 100 pages to tell a fully realized, complex story with intriguing, deeply developed characters in life-altering situations.

The trick is in the dialogue. Dialogue is truthful deception.

Yes, dialogue must sound like believable human conversation, but without the "fluff". And effective dialogue must also reveal character, create complex tensions, demonstrate dynamic interaction between multiple characters, move the story forward, reveal subtext, and never, ever be boring.

The screenwriter who writes dialogue that does ALL of the above—and not just one or two of the above—will be able to play with the big shots in Hollywood.

Now, back to “Arrive Late. Leave Early.”

Never be the guest who hangs around too long, like the smell of bad fish. A scene should never meander to a stop. I believe the last sentence a character speaks in a scene should be powerful and resonate. When done well, this is what I call “exiting on an upbeat,” and not dragging your butt out the door.

This is some of what we cover in The Haven’s popular screenwriting workshop, offered on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. Working on real scripts with other screenwriters never fails to inspire and motivate everyone to finish their scripts!  Because nothing happens, until you finish your script: No submissions, no contests, no $40,000 one-year options by Matthew McConaughey’s production company.

Click here to reserve a space in any upcoming Screenwriters Workshop at The Haven!

Other Feature Presentations at The Haven—

Getting Covered
Do you have a completed screenplay? Before you do anything else, you should have it professionally “covered.” (Covered is Hollywood speak for an intensive and close reading, critique and feedback.) If you would like to discuss having a script covered, please call me at 760.815.4341 or e-mail me.

Getting Coached
One-on-one coaching is an amazing and rewarding process. Think about it: if you’re out of shape, you might hire a personal trainer who would work with you to assess your current level of fitness, discuss your goals, help you map out a plan of action to get you to those goals—and then by motivating, supporting, and coaching you through your journey, help get you to your goal. And all of that is exactly what a writing coach brings to your writing project, and career. I’ll have more on the topic of coaching in the next newsletter. But if you have any questions and want to learn more about how the process would work for YOU, call me at 760.815.4341 or e-mail me.

From our last newsletter...
February 16, 2006
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Project Offers Haven for Writers

by Lillian Cox

ENCINITAS – Dyslexia prevented Vera Caccioppoli from learning how to read until she was 9. But it didn't deter her from pursuing a writing career.

Today, Caccioppoli excels in various writing markets. Her screenplays have won honors at the Sundance, Austin and the WorldFest-Houston International film festivals. She is the recipient of the Dan Rudy and PEN Syndicated fiction awards. Her articles have been published in The Washington Post, as well as Self and Shape magazines.

Caccioppoli is founder of the Hi-Way Haven in Leucadia, where she mentors other writers by providing manuscript and screenplay analysis and coaching. On Wednesday nights, Caccioppoli hosts what she says is the only drop-in screenwriting class in San Diego County.

“Since I began, seven or eight people who hadn't written before have finished novels and screenplays,” she said. “That really means something to me.”

The idea for Hi-Way Haven came to Caccioppoli after she moved to Encinitas in 2000 from Washington, D.C., with her husband and triplet boys age 9.

“I had difficulty finding other writers,” she said. “So I thought that if I couldn't find people, maybe they'd find me.”

Read the full Union-Tribune article...

Consultations are by appointment. For more information, call (760) 942-4367 or visit www.hi-way-haven.com