Interview: Listening Raven - screenwriter of "REZ" (Question 1)

ROFFEKE: Your screenplay "REZ" has many moving parts that work well together. How long did it take you to write it? What's your writing process like? Are you an outliner or a seat-of-the-pants-er?

LISTENING RAVEN: First off, thank you for your observation and sentiment that REZ is, many moving parts that work well together. That is extremely observant and complimentary.  

Never actually put together a written outline. Maybe I will next project, maybe not. I wish I could. But, then again, maybe there was one that just took place somewhere other than documentation. Maybe in my head floating around.  

Writing to me is not pencil & paper. Or computer in the contemporary sense. It's day dreaming. We all do that. We all daydream. As a child, many thought my wondering off in my mind was a medical condition that required some medication to resolve. Thank the powers beyond us my handlers never put me on those drugs.  

We see things when we don't think; or try not to think. Thought, ideas, concept come to us. From where, I think I know, but I can't prove it. Then write it down in no particular order.

It can be a single sentence. It can be pages of non-sense. No matter. See where it goes from there. That in and of itself is meditation. That is being one with God; The Great Spirit. The place beyond us. Have many friends that are atheists. And that is their choice.  

That said, these folks are incredible dreamers, some of them, just as some believers can't write a grocery list to save their lives. The best atheistic writers I know can go places in their minds they can't explain. Nobody knows for sure what they're going to dream tonight. There is so much that is unexplained. But meditation is peace and out of peace can come order.

So you have a bunch of thoughts written down.

That's great and they are valuable. Anything you take the time to write down is worth saving. If not for the public, yourself. If you're like me, you'll look at stuff you wrote down years ago and feel embarrassed, ashamed and down right sick at how incredibly stupid you were, and still are. So what.

Eventually, if your passion is in it, something precious will surface.  

Then comes the editing. You can do this yourself. And/or get input from others. But, BE CAREFUL of those who will destroy these thoughts. Sometimes these critics will give you great advice. But, once you mull it over, you will know.  

In my case, I've spent tens of thousands of hours writing regarding many projects. They were followed by just as much time editing, cutting the parts that went on too long. And by too long I mean the parts that don't appeal to the audience. When you see your stuff performed in front of an audience, and the body language of those in the crowd is that of, Please get me out of here, that makes a writer ponder.

It also sucks.

I've sat in the back row for one act plays when there was feedback time.  I heard one lady say about one of my works, If that character pontificated for another second, I was going to pull my hair out and scream out loud.

I was not all that happy. Then, upon further review, she was right.

REZ was actually in New York City's Off-Broadway in the summer of 2016. The stage play went by the name of, “Last of the Caucasians. It was written under my legal name, Erich L Ruehs.

The name gifted to me by my brothers & sisters as a child long ago is Listening Raven. That is now the name I write under.  

This was some time ago, and a story for another day I chose not to share with the public. It's when I not only found out for a fact about my dirty blood, but leaned to embrace it. And the Raven that always showed up during our story telling hours was real. It took the form of a real creature we could all see. And, as Forest Gump would say, That's all I have to say about that.

Last of the Caucasians was on YouTube for some time, but alas is not there anymore. Don't get me started about the internet. *Actually, during my re-write of these questions, I think LAST OF THE CAUCASIANS is back on The YouTube if you search:  Last of Caucasians Erich L Ruehs. At least its on The YouTube for now. I don't really understand these search engines.

(ROFFEKE Note: You can watch it HERE)

But, it's about the re-writes. Thousands of hours; literally. And that's cool. Writing is life. Never write because you have to. Write because it gives you life.

LAST OF THE CAUCASIANS, the stage play, turned into REZ, the screenplay.

Lots of hours. Many days ran into afternoons which would turn into nights. Followed, naturally by daybreak next day. The first draft for REZ was around 185 pages long.

More weeks and months were joyfully spent getting it down to 95 pages. You will feel as if there is assistance from somewhere else when you write and edit from the heart.

Study the little things. Just meditate on one line, even one word. If a sentence can be said with five syllables, instead of seven, that's a victory. If that takes you days to edit, take those days. I don't count words, I count syllables. Each is a musical note.

When you realize there's something on page whatever, and it can come back as a reference point to another page, grab it.

Then there's something said on the later pages that could be introduced in a subtle way 30 pages back, that's a victory.  

Read your own work hundreds of times.  Read it thousands. Something is going to come to you for the first time. And then you still might have it wrong. And if you think that is a struggle, it isn't. That's living on the pages. That's where you live at that moment.

So how long did it take me to write REZ?

I guess a really long time. Thousands of hours followed by thousands more.  I would guess around 10,000 hours on LAST OF THE CAUCASIANS (The stage play) combined with the metamorphization into REZ (The screenplay.)

During these two project, which one could say was the same project, there was other writing going on. Other stories or just free-flow-writing. I do some free-flow writing at the end of this interview, Mildred, which was inspired by your questions.   

One writing secret I have is to print out a hard copy of my play/screenplay. I say secret because I'm not writing for money or people to notice me. I wouldn't charge people to learn my technique. Somebody asks, I share. Many good people have shared their time with me and I'm proud to do the same.

Anyway, my secret is having a hard copy of something I wrote. Even if it's one page, it can be pulled out when on line at the grocery store, or anywhere else. Make edits and/or add to what was written down.

Then put in on a computer copy. And then make edits and/or add dialogue to that computer document when it's on the screen.

Then, print out into a hard copy and do the same.

Then, put those changes into the computer version and do it again.  

Go back and forth a couple hundred times, I don't know why, but you'll discover things on the hard copy version you won't see on the computer screen and vice versa.

Each gives a different perspective in a subtle manner.

I'll have a hard copy with the words printed out and a pencil in my hand and something in hard copy form just JUMPS out at me. Then circle something and point it to another place on the page. Or some other page. I'll line the pages out it a room and look at how the flow goes and look to one page to the other.

Then put the edits back on the computer. The computer version will reveal a different perspective. You can zoom back and forth on the computer in a different manner in which you edit with papers on the ground.

I love papers in my hand, or on the ground, or pinned to a wall or old barn outside. There's this movie with Russel Crow and his mind and he puts stuff on a window, or something and the thoughts bounce back and forth from the written stuff on the window to his head and then back and forth again.

I can't relate when folks think he's crazy. He's not crazy. He's the only normal one in the movie.

Or, sometimes you'll get something right the first time. It could be that the first thing you write down is the best, especially with one important line of dialogue.

There aren't really any rules but passion, hard work and honesty. And thousands of hours.  

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Look out for Listening Raven's answers for question 2:
ROFFEKE: What do you enjoy about writing screenplays that you find challenging when writing stage plays, and vice versa?