Page to stage – Almost An Author

Final Draft

For the last six months, I’ve known what I wanted to write about my final post of the year. If you go back and read my posts, you will see hints of the direction I was going. However, I didn’t want to make it to this post until the end of the year, so I tried slowing down the points I was trying to make by discussing how writers tackle this in storytelling.

Pacing
Subtext

These two aspects of storytelling give writers the means to control the information the audience receives and helps build momentum and anticipation toward the final act of the story. This post is where the column has been heading since I discussed first drafts earlier this year, the final draft.

Final Draft

This is not to be confused with the screenwriting software most of us use to write, Final Draft, the industry standard. A final draft is the final phase in the screenwriting process.

“The first draft is just the writer telling themselves the story.”
Scott Myers, Screenwriting Professor

Storytelling is a hard process, even if the writer already knows what they want to say because storytelling is the vehicle writers convey the message and at first, most writers don’t know how to get from plot point to plot point.

Along the way, a story can get rough or pick up extra baggage from the journey, each of which can help slow the narrative down and not in a good way. Like in the game of chess, each character and event needs to fulfill its specific purpose if the writer is going to win the game.

Furthermore, the writer needs to know when to move each character or let a particular event occur. One domino out of sync can ruin the flow. Each draft of a screenplay is a refining process to make sure the pieces (characters, exposition, action) come into play at the right time.

Rewrites and drafts are a necessary part of screenwriting; the average screenplay goes through at least 30 drafts before reaching the final draft. Along the way is not uncommon for the story to change drastically.

4 steps from Script Lab on how to write a final draft in 10 days.

Day one-You already have your beginning in your head. Remember that you have to open your script in a compelling form. There has to be a physical or emotional hook that will take hold of the reader and force them to need to read on. Your task is to write ten pages. We’re shooting for a 100-page screenplay, which is right at the sweet spot of where you want your spec script to be. So you’ll be writing ten pages for each writing session/day.
Now, you can choose to write over the span of ten consecutive days if you want. Maybe you’ve taken vacation time to write this script in a week and a half. Perhaps you’ve dedicated X hours of each day or night after you come home from work or school. Or maybe you can’t commit to ten consecutive days of writing. That’s perfectly fine. A break in between writing sessions allows you the opportunity to visualize what you’re going to write for the next.
Many scripts from novice screenwriters fail to offer a consistent tone, atmosphere, and pace. This is primarily because most novice screenwriters take upwards of six months to a year to finish a single script. Their writing sessions are sporadic. They get bored with the story. They get frustrated with the process. And they become complacent to the point of just wanting to get it done. When you reread and rewrite pages as you go, immediately before you continue on writing from the point you’ve left off, you are in constant connection with the tone, atmosphere, pacing, characterization, and beats of your story. You also want to use this reread and rewrite process as a way to maintain a consistent format as well. There’s nothing more frustrating for a reader than inconsistent format, which includes scene headings, character names, scene description, etc.
Before you continue, you need to ask yourself some additional questions before you rewrite the first 30 pages of your script. Is there enough conflict in those 30 pages? Is the protagonist well on their journey (physical or emotional)? Has the major conflict caused many additional conflicts that the characters must face? You want to have some conflict injected into the story every few pages. That’s what creates a true page-turner. Now it’s time to write pages 31-40!

To save space, I only shared half of the list, so I highly recommend you going the original article on Script Lab and read the full list. The Takeaway is, the final draft isn’t just a leaner script, it has a clear message, and a focused story.

The golden rule of screenwriting is to cut whatever doesn’t move the narrative forward. A chunky description isn’t necessary to describe a scene, endless exposition isn’t the best way to develop your characters. And finally, always remember to enter the story at the latest possible point and get out as quickly as you can without confusing the audience. Every piece of your screenplay needs to count towards the bigger picture.

Make It Work

Remember, a screenplay is like a puzzle. If a piece is missing, then you cannot complete it; likewise, if you have too many pieces that aren’t necessary, they only get in the way. If you don’t make the cuts, the studio which purchases your script will likely cut them along with a lot more. Studios are notorious for changing screenplays drastically before the movie is made. Below are a few notable movies that changed drastically before being made.

As long as a screenwriter knows the key components of a screenplay, they can just fill in the blanks with their ideas and write a clear final draft!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries, he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJohnson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Pumping the Brakes

This month I want to continue talking about the importance of pacing and screenwriting. I want to emphasize that pacing a story isn’t just necessary for action movies which tend to move quickly on the screen.

All genres of stories need to have an appropriate rhythm and flow of information at just the right time to help the audience understand and the narrative flow smoothly. There are a few devices writers employ to help regulate the pace of the narrative. Below are three common tools writers use:

Pauses
Breaks
Beats (not story beats)

I want to clarify that “beat” isn’t the same as a section of a story, but a brief pause in dialogue or action. These tools aren’t meant to stop or hinder the narrative, but to make it stronger by adding another layer.

If you’ve ever studied a produced professional screenplay, you’ve seen that there is a balance of “whitespace” with text. When reading a screenplay, large blocks of dialogue or descriptions can slow the reader down, the whitespace helps the eyes follow the story without becoming lost or overwhelmed by the text.

Seasoned writers have learned how to “break” their stories to help set specific acts, dialogue, or actions apart from others. Imagine yourself driving and wanting to slow down so you don’t miss your turn or the place of interest you want to see, seasoned drivers understand how to pump the brakes.

Pumping the Brakes

In life, momentum can work against or for us. Sometimes we get so focused on pursuing one thing, we miss out on the small things in life and sometimes that’s what we should have been paying attention to in the first place.

The same principle works in music, sometimes we get so caught up in the rhythm of the song, we neglect listening to the words. If you’ve ever sung or read music, you know songs aren’t made up of just a bunch of notes, there are time signatures and “rests” strategically placed within the song that gives it its unique sound.

Furthermore, not all notes are held for the same length of time, same goes for rests. Musicians know there is no music in a “rest”, but there is the making of music in it. Musical rests help emphasize the notes to come or the preceding notes.

Think about some of your favorite love songs and if you remember those rests, listen to Whitney or Celine. This brings me to the whole purpose of this post, pacing isn’t just important for action movies, pumping the brakes is even more important for dramas, sci-fi, and fantasy films. Romantic movies build tension by slowing the story instead of rushing into love. Fantasies build ministry and suspense by making the audience wait for the unexpected. Below are some scenes from some of my favorite movies where the writers pump the brakes to make the scenes and stories more powerful.

As you can see and hear how powerful pauses in dialogue and action help build intensity into a scene or even just a beat of it. Pumping the brakes also allows the audience to participate in the story by letting them use their own imaginations.

Remember, pacing controls the flow of information on the screen and even their subtext. We don’t want to give away too much information before the narrative comes to a satisfying end.

Endings

To go back to our driving-a-car analogy, sometimes it’s the journey to the destination that makes the final stop worthwhile. Drivers need to know where they are going and how much gas they have in the tank to make sure they get there without running out of fuel.

In the same way, writers can use their momentum to get from plot point to plot point without running out of gas or overshooting the destination. As I end this post on pacing, I want to clarify how exactly writers “write” pauses into their screenplays. Never write the term “beat” because there is more than one use for the term and screenwriting. Below are three common approaches to adding pauses to a screenplay

(Pause)
Ellipses (…)
A brief action line to break up the dialogue or thought

Just like there are different ways to indicate a pause in a screenplay, writers approach pacing differently, some pause on the fly during their writing process; while others don’t finalize a script’s pacing until they work on the final draft by adding the aforementioned elements into the story after it’s been plotted. Once you know where your story is going, it can be easier to know when to pump the brakes!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJohnson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.