photo by Feuillu
There are a lot of good reasons for someone to learn the fundamentals of screenwriting. I happen to believe that a screenwriter should know how to format a script and why that formatting is necessary to good communication; I also believe they should know the difference between a three act and four act structure; they should also have a rough understanding of how what they write relates to budget; and, a sense of where their kind of writing fits in the movie market. All of these things are worth learning.
However, at the same time, the very act of learning how to format a script, the process of learning what structure means in screenwriting can do more harm than good. A lot of screenwriters become so obsessed with the "screen" part of screenwriting, they forget about the "writing" part. Basically, screenwriters can become so focused on learning the "rules" of writing a successful script, they lose any sense of voice or style they may have had as writers. This is what I want to write about, this week.
The most destructive and harmful piece of information I ever heard in any screenwriting seminar, was the idea that a script is a only a technical document and therefore not literature. I remember hearing that and, initially, nodding my head in agreement. I looked around the tatty hotel conference room and ninety-percent of the people there were doing the same. The other 10% were scribbling this gem down, frantically. The thing is, there is a some truth in it. I do understand the idea that, ultimately, a script is only the blue-print for the end product and not the product in itself. So, there is always going to be a sense in which a script is a document written for actors, directors, art directors, DOPs, wardrobe mistresses, stunt co-ordinators and 1st ADs.
But... and this is an important but... for most writers that concept is horse-shit!
When you're writing a spec script, only bad scripts are written for solely for production teams... good scripts are written to be read.
I'm going to repeat that one again, because it's massively easy to skip over "GOOD SCRIPTS ARE WRITTEN TO BE READ"
Scripts ARE literature. And, your ability to ever to see one put in the hands of a production team, will depend entirely on someone picking up your script and finding it a pleasure to read.
Just in the same way that a reader can recognise from the page a novelist's distinctive voice. They know who the writer is, simply by the way they use language, by the way they construct their stories. I believe the same should be true of screenplays. This, I know, is a controversial statement. Most people will tell you that it's unprofessional to be overly distinctive in the way you write for the screen. I happen to disagree. I happen to think that the people who say that are idiots, and tedious, and they probably frown on my multiple "ands." and my wacky sense of where a comma goes. Down with those varlets and their frowny faces!
I happen to believe there are a couple of good reasons why a screenwriter should have a distinctive, readable style.
The first is to with answering the question "why hire me as a writer, rather than anyone else?" If your writing is indistinguishable from everyone else, then there is no real answer to that. The thing about a unique voice is that it can only be acquired from that one person. I don't want every single producer to find my work to their taste. I'd rather have one or two producers who are really, really into what I do. For that reason and that reason alone, I'm happy to have some people find my approach to screenwriting unconventional.
The other reason that a writer should strive to be literary in their approach to screenwriting, is because the purpose of a script is to inspire people to do things for you. This script's job is to inspire people to invest time and money in the telling of your story... and, the best way to do that is to not just tell a good story, but to tell a good story stylishly.
Ultimately, nobody ever gets inspired by tediously bland, off-the-shelf writing.
And yet, the vast majority of screenwriters do seem to be hell bent on making their scripts as tediously bland as possible. They become so engrossed in character arcs, conflict points and the technical side of the process, that they completely forget that some poor bastard is going to have to read the words on the page. A lot of scripts just aren't that readable.
Let me give you one small example of a common failing, which I see in 99% of the screenplays I read:
John crosses the room and sits in the chair. He starts writing.
This is the way most of the screenwriters I read describe actions. And, at first glance it seems fine and dandy. However, it's almost impossible to describe how spartan, tepid and useless those two sentences are to a reader. So, for instance, how does John cross the room? Does he dance across the room because he's ecstatically happy? Does he stomp across the room, because he's livid? Basically, the sentence "John crosses the room" is bloody hopeless as a descriptor... and yet it, and sentences of equal blandness make up the vast majority of most scripts.
So, what would improve it? Well, how about actually describing what is happening in the scene.
John storms across the room, scattering papers from his overflowing briefcase. He throws himself into the armchair, grabs his notebook and scribbles, furiously.
or
John limps across the room, a hand clutched to the bleeding wound in his shoulder. He collapses into the armchair and painstakingly scrawls "HARRIET" on the notepad, in his own blood.
What I want to drive home this week is one simple fact... screenwriting is writing. Get the writing spot on and the rest of the technical nonsense takes care of itself. John never just crosses the room, he crosses the room in a specific manner and for a reason. He never just sits, he perches, he flops, he collapses, he lounges, he sprawls... he does any damn thing, except sit. People watch movies in order to understand why people are doing things, a fact that needs to be reflected in descriptions of actions.
Basically, If I can't inspire people with every single word, to see the vision of the movie I have in my head, then I have failed at being a screenwriter. It is all in the writing. The question I ask myself with every new script is this one:
"If someone handed you this script, would you enjoy reading it, purely as a piece of literature?" If the answer is no, then on in my opinion I have failed.
keep writing and viva la revolution
(just as a post-script to this, it doesn't matter how good you get at this, you'd be amazed at how often failure to focus on the possible meanings of every single word in a script or pitch can cause problems for you with a reader... a lesson I keep on learning over and over and over again).
Posted via email from Filmutopia's Sunday Morning Movie Blog
