Tag: screenwriting

White Space

Recently, I decided to enter my latest screenplay into another screenwriting competition. Before I submitted my screenplay, I decided to do another rewrite to make it easier to read. I started out with the basic writing rule; storytelling is more about showing than it is telling— especially with screenplays. So there are a few things I wanted to accomplish with this version.

Tighten dialogue up
Removing unnecessary repetitions
Condensing scene descriptions

I hoped to create more white space to make it easier to read. Before screenplays ever make it to the big screen, they will be read by a reader who must read hundreds of screenplays each day.

Thus we must make our screenplays more readable so they stand out amongst the countless other aspiring screenwriter’s work. Screenplays need to be a fast read for Hollywood’s screenplay readers.

“Script readers know about the trend to write shorter paragraphs of scene description so they will likely bring that expectation to a reading assignment. If they see long blocks of scene description, that will probably suggest to them the writer is an amateur.”
Scott Myers (Screen Writer)

If a screenplay is too bulky or wordy, it will never make it past a reader’s desk. So screenwriters need to be able to tell the most visually entertaining story without using a lot of unnecessary wordage that weighs a story down like too much baggage on a plane.

I have read a lot of produced screenplays in the last year and there is an obvious trend towards leaner screenplays. One of the biggest trends in screenwriting today is lean screenplays with lots of white space.

White Space

To be clear, white space is used in all forms of writing, from advertising to poetry and screenwriting, and it is simply the unprinted area of a piece of writing, a blank in a newspaper or advertisement.

White space can even be used in a sentence to structure and pace it. The never-ending sentence. In recent years white space has become a great tool in screenwriting.

Here are a few purposes of white space.

It unclutters pages of information.
It allows breathing room for the reader to intake and interpret information for any specific image that is necessary to visualize.
It emphasizes important elements, leading readers’ eyes to the focal areas of a script.
It showcases a shift from one visual to the next.
It gives a reader comfort.
It helps the reader better understand and interpret the visuals.[2]

Always Remember storytelling is more about showing than telling every minor detail. Leave room for the audience’s imagination and for the production team to put everything else where it goes.

Where Things Go

I am not talking about screenplay structure here, but more about movie production. Like any other piece of writing, screenplays are a combination of information for other people to consume and interpret.

Directors, producers, and production teams need to be able to clearly understand the story and the instructions you put into your screenplay. Huge chunks of information can hinder the ability of others to understand the information in your story.

Writers who don’t study the craft clutter up a page with lots of information and fail to learn the basics of screenwriting.

Font
Margins
Spacing

Amateurs try to manipulate a screenplay’s margins and font to try to fit more information into their screenplays. Spacing keeps the reader from getting overwhelmed and keeps the story flowing smoothly without abusing a page’s white space!

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.

Tags basic elements of screenwriting, screenplay, screenplay differs from novel, screenwriting, white space

Screenwriting

Subtext

I’m binging on the superhero series The Punisher. Not because I am a comic book junkie, but because I like this series’ emphasis on mental health and how trauma can affect our lives.

In the season one finale there is a powerful scene where The Punisher, Frank Castle, locks eyes with a former military buddy and best friend after he was tortured by their colonel turned bad guy.

After a brief, subtle stare, the Punisher breaks free from his shackles, quickly kills the Colonel while the friend watches. A lot happens on screen without a single word being spoken. Still, the audience understands everything that is happening.

The writers of the show masterfully use subtext via action and pauses to tell a powerful story of revenge and friendship. In screenwriting, there are a few ways to tell a story without explaining everything.

Action
Dialogue
Inaudibles
Subtext

Movies and TV are the ultimate examples of showing versus telling! On-screen the audience can see all of the action, settings, and emotions. We can also hear the dialogue and audible cues (crying, sighs, and screams.)

However, all of these can take up a lot of space in a screenplay. A common “rule” is to not have huge boxes of dialogue. Dialogue blocks are a form of information overload and they clutter up a screenplay.

They can also bore a reader and the audience by telling them everything they want or need to know. Generally, dialogue should be no more than a few sentences long, so this forces a writer to show more than tell and to use subtext.

Subtext

If you are a fiction writer, then you probably understand that subtext is important to the storytelling process. Because in screenwriting, subtext leaves more white space on the page and it adds layers to your narrative.

“The underlying personality of a dramatic character as implied or indicated by a script or text.”

In screenwriting, subtext is the unspoken words, emotions, or desires. Although screenwriting is a visual art form, there are emotional and soul elements that cannot always be expressed in words, which invites the audience into our stories.

“Text means the sensory surface of a work of art. Subtext is the life under that surface—thoughts and feelings both known and unknown, hidden by behavior.”
Robert McKee

Writers know to avoid “on-the-nose dialogue.” On-the-nose is when what is said states the obvious or tells the exact thoughts or feelings of the character without action or subtext.

Another use of subtext is the underlying meaning behind a scene in a movie. The adage is, “If the scene is really about what the scene is about, then you’re screwed.” Subtext gives every scene in your screenplay more depth.

Think of two star-crossed lovers who cannot put their feelings into words, their avoidance or lack of interaction can imply what words can’t.

On the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy, a young doctor, Simone, struggled with her feelings for her roommate, but couldn’t tell him because she was getting married. Everyone could see in her eyes, whenever the two were around one another, her feelings for him were strong. It was no surprise when she left her groom at the altar for her roommate. By then, the audience wanted her to do this. The subtext in the previous scenes built the anticipation of this unlikely couple.

Sure, we see this dynamic play out in many movies and TV shows, because subtext is crucial to visual storytelling.

Seven tips on writing subtext into your screenplays from Masterclass.

Study subtext in film and novels.
Get into your character’s head.
Write the subtext in your notes.
Apply the iceberg theory.
Practice with hypothetical characters.
Think about a real-life event that could contain subtext.
Edit out unnecessary dialogue.

The best screenwriters have mastered the art of subtext, but all writers need to use this technique to tell the clearest and leanest story. It is a chance to practice “show don’t tell.”

And this dynamic goes beyond what the audience sees or perceives. Subtext keeps writers from telling actors what to do or how to act. It is the actor’s job to bring the character and their emotions out.

Subtext lets more action out than simply telling everything that is happening in a scene or character. Keep it on the stage, not on the page. Movies let the action out!

Act it Out

By now, I hope you know there is a lot more to the movie-making process, than just writing a screenplay. As I recently shared with a fellow writer, this is a business and everyone has a specific part in the business. You do your part and get out of the way.

Only a finished movie can bring our words alive, amateurs fill pages with lots of unnecessary words, imagery, and dialogue. Leave room for everybody in the movie-making process to do their job.

Writers write
Directors direct
Actors act

A few years ago, I had a writer friend, who also worked as an actor in Atlanta, tell me that actors hate being told how to act. So, limit parentheticals and acting cues, and let the actor bring the character to life; it is their job.

Subtext helps everyone do their job. Writing is a process that needs to be paced. Writers cannot dump a bunch of information, regardless of its function: dialogue, action, and descriptions can all be expressed through subtext.

Tags screenplay, screenplay differs from novel, screenwriting, Show don't Tell, subtext

Screenwriting

Screenplay Format

For some reason, most writers are curious about writing screenplays. And they come to me with many questions about the craft below are just a few questions I am routinely asked.

How long should my script be?
How do you write the dialogue?
What is the correct script format?

First things first, scripts and screenplays are different arts.

“A ‘script’ is the written document version of a visual art form and is used across multiple mediums, while a ‘screenplay’ refers to a script specifically for movies or television. When you read a script, it could be for a play, movie, television show, comic book, or video game, while a screenplay is specific to movies and tv shows. Each script has its own formatting rules to help you tell what type of script it is; whether it’s a screenplay, teleplay, stage play, or something else.”
Film Draft

Writers ask about format a lot because they’ve been taught and know the format and technicalities of both nonfiction and novel writing. Writers know, depending on the genre they write, there are specific formats publishers, editors and agents follow. And they correctly assume that screenplays have guidelines for formatting. So this month I will look at screenplay format and some of the differences between it and what most writers are used to.

Screenplay Format

All writing categories have specific formats and guidelines writers know to follow. Knowing the correct way to write and present their writing helps separate amateurs from professionals.

And this is why we all study the craft, no one wants to look like an amateur even though we are all at some point. Before I continue I want to emphasize there’s a difference between format and formula. The format is a guide for our narratives. Formulas are rigid, not fluid, and can hinder our writing.

Screenwriter and writing coach Scott Myers explains,

“Screenplays are stories, not formulas— if you go in with formula, you come out with formula.”

Knowing the correct format will help you guide the audience or reader through your story most clearly and quickly. Of course, there are plenty of screenwriting programs to help writers write screenplays, but still, writers need to know basic formatting for screenplays.

With that said below are the main components of a screenplay writers need to know from the Scriptlab.

Slug Lines: These are the scene headings in a screenplay, a key difference is slug lines also include both the time of day and whether a location is inside or outside.
Subheader: These headers indicate movement from locale to locale with and a specific location.
Action lines: These are the short description lines beneath the slug lines that describe what we are seeing. They should be in the present tense with an active voice.
Dialogue: In film, dialogue should be snappy and get to the point. Occasionally a monologue is warranted in film, but rarely. Keep in mind that the best dialogue contains subtext, or the unwritten meaning behind the words. sing (V.O.), (O.S.), or (O.C.) next to a character name is a way to tell the reader there is a provision or special circumstance to the following dialogue.
Wrylies (parentheticals): These are short emotional or delivery directions for the actor regarding that specific line.
Transitions: There is an implied transition from one scene to another as indicated whenever there’s a new slug line. Adding “Cut to:” isn’t necessary and only takes up much-needed space in your screenplay.

A few things I wanted to add are, most writers know the importance of white space in the writing. When giving a scene description under the slug line, limit the description to one or two lines. Also, keep dialogue short. Make scene transitions brief and use parentheticals scarcely.

Not only do actors not want to be told how to act, but brevity also helps keep a page from being cluttered with too much information that will more than likely only slow a reader down. Screenplay readers have a lot of screenplays to read and you don’t want to make their job any harder by filling a page with too much information that will only slow them down. White space allows our eyes to take a break.

Take a Break

The best writers understand the importance of leaving room for the audience’s imagination. We’ve all experienced information overload when reading. If not, please understand too much information can confuse a reader and will slow the story down. Imagine going on a road trip and hitting the brakes every time you see a landmark. The trip will both exhaust you and take forever, perhaps even ruin the trip altogether for you. White space gives the reader a break from all the action and visuals, it’s the old adage, “less is more.” Below are a few types of information overload a writer can unknowingly put into their screenplays.

Excessive exposition
Unnecessary actors instructions
Artsy camera angles
Unnecessary dialogue

Leaving subtext in your dialogue and not using acting instructions, allows the actors to act. Limiting camera angles allows the director to direct, and limiting exposition allows the set designer to create the perfect imaginary world, none of which are necessary in proper screenplay format.

Tags basic elements of screenwriting, screenplay, screenplay differs from novel, screenwriting, script to screen-stage

Screenwriting

Tell A Story

Recently, I reconnected with an old Christian writer friend on Facebook. We hadn’t seen each other in about a decade when we used to go to church together. She began asking me a lot of questions about screenwriting. She is interested in turning a couple of the books she’s written into movies.

Most writers feel that because they enjoy writing and telling stories, screenwriting is an easy task. Yes, all writers are storytellers, but not all storytellers are screenwriters. Below are different types of storytellers found in the writing community.

Authors/editors
Professional storytellers
Content writers
Screenwriters

Each of these niches has its own conventions and purposes. They may even have some similarities but they are different professions altogether, success in one doesn’t mean success in another; because each medium has its unique characteristics and technicalities. Deep inside most writers understand this.

This is why I have so many writers asked me how to write a screenplay. Not that I am an expert myself or claim to be one. I’ve just studied the conventions, techniques, and process of screenwriting for the last two decades. Still, there is no magic formula, approach, or secret to screenwriting.

Screenwriters can face the age-old dilemma of story versus structure just like most storytellers do. Most screenwriting coaches emphasize, “There are no screenwriting rules, but conventions and guidelines to help a story flow better.” Screenwriting coach Scott Myers explains that “structure is only half of the story.”

American theater producer and director George Abbott shares, “In the first act you get your hero up a tree. The second act, you throw rocks at him. For the third act you let him down.”

Structure Or Story?

Author and writer Steven James explains, “The beginning isn’t simply the first in a series of events, but the originating event of all that follows. The middle isn’t just the next event, but the story’s central struggle. And the ending isn’t just the last event, but the culminating event.”

For as long as I can remember, there has been a debate in literary circles about what is more important in writing—structure or story. My personal, unprofessional opinion is you can’t have one to the fullest without the other.

What I mean is, if you want to tell the best and clearest story, you need some form of structure. Legendary screenwriting professor Robert McKee explains,

“Structure is a selection of events from the characters’ life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and to express a specific view of life.”^[1]

When writers over-focus on the “structure” the story ends up suffering: meaning the story does not flow naturally and can come off as being formulated. Structure should always make a story clearer, but not predictable. True screenwriters have learned how to use structure to tell a better and clearer story. Below are seven steps to writing a screenplay from the Pond5 blog:

Craft a logline
Write a treatment
Develop your characters
Plot and outline
Write a first draft
Step back and take a break
Rewrite

Notice the writer doesn’t mention any formulas or formats. The focus is more on getting the concept of your story on paper and then reworking it into a clear order. If you are still curious or worried about a screenplay format or structure there are plenty of books and resources you can purchase to learn the layout of a script, but never let structure kill the story inside of your head.

My first guide to screenwriting was The Screenwriters Bible, it is a great guide for learning the do’s and don’ts of screenwriting conventions. Always remember to keep your story clear and flowing.

Then you can choose a structure that complements your story.

“A whole [story] is that which has beginning, middle, and end. A beginning is that which is not itself necessarily after anything else, and which has naturally something else after it; an end is that which is naturally after something itself, either as its necessary or usual consequent, and with nothing else after it; and a middle, that which is by nature after one thing and has also another after it. A well-constructed Plot, therefore, cannot either begin or end at any point one likes; beginning and end in it must be of the kind just described.”
Scott Myers,quotes Aristotle

Structure?

Dick Doherty explains, “When you get a story underway, refrain from interrupting the flow. Avoid digression. Don’t go parenthetical.” Don’t let structure kill your story!

Most writers understand basic story structure. Regardless of the type of writing you do, “story” will follow a pattern from point A to point B. The only difference is the timing and how you get from one to the other.

“Story structure helps guide your audience from the beginning to the end of your book by introducing characters and settings, setting up the conflict, developing the main plot points, and finally resolving that conflict. It also helps create tension, suspense, and surprise—essential components of almost any story.”
Blurb.com

In the writing community, writers have a choice about how their story unfolds, below are three of the most common story structures used in storytelling.

Three act structure
Five act structure
Seven act structure

If you’re wondering what structure works best for screenwriting, it really depends on the type of story you’re telling, but the five-act structure is what I have found used in most of the screenplays I’ve read.

“Screenplay Structure Simplified: “Plot is critical, but how a writer ‘gets’ to plot is even more critical.”
Scott Myers

Whichever structure you choose, just be sure you tell a great story.

Tags screen writing, screenwriting, story, storytelling

Screenwriting

Where It Begins

Over Valentine’s weekend, I decided to re-watch one of my all-time favorite movies. I decided to do a commentary video on the beautiful foreign movie, A Very Long Engagement.

Not only is the movie one of the most romantic and hopeful movies I’ve ever seen and have some of the most beautiful cinematography and subtext ever filmed. It has all the key elements of a great movie, just not typical screenwriting format.

Clear plot
Both internal and external conflict
A great inciting incident

The unique thing about this movie is it is a perfect example of nonlinear storytelling. These types of stories aren’t told in chronological order. This means the story can switch from different points of the characters’ lives, all the pieces of the story are there, just jumbled up in different order.

For instance, this movie begins with the inciting incident, but then halfway through the movie, we see the main character’s childhoods and how they met which goes back to the inciting incident at the beginning of the movie. In storytelling the inciting incident is where the conflict and story begin, it is where a movie begins.

Where It All Begins?

An inciting incident is an event that occurs and disrupts a protagonist’s life sending it out of control or in another direction. It puts the events of your story into motion.

“The stronger your inciting incident, the more dramatic, compelling, and engrossing your novel will be.”
Jerry B. Jenkins, author and writing coach

In a sense, the inciting incident creates the conflict of a narrative.

Five characteristics from The Write Practice, that qualify an event as an inciting incident.

Early: They occur early in the story, sometimes in the first scene, almost always within the first three to four scenes.
Interruption: They are an interruption in the main character’s normal life.
Out of the protagonist’s control: They are not caused by the character and are not a result of the character’s desires.
Life-changing: They must have higher-than-normal stakes and the potential to change the protagonist’s life.
Urgent: They necessitate an urgent response.

It is critical to a story’s success for the inciting incident to happen as soon as possible in your screenplay. It doesn’t have to be in chronological order as with A Very Long Engagement, however, the audience needs it to occur sooner rather than later in the story.

“The inciting incident is indispensable because the inciting incident is the hook.”
Scott Myers, screenwriting coach

The hook is the lift-off moment of your story!

Story?

All stories follow a basic structure to some degree, they may not have the same events, but they follow a typical pattern. Think of it as a stream flowing from a lake, there can be multiple streams heading in the opposite direction of the lake, each one can follow their own paths.

But ultimately they are all flowing away from the lake towards a new destination. Using this analogy we can view the lake as the inciting incident if the lake boundary is breached. The CEO of Storybrand Donald Miller says, “The inciting incident is how you get (characters) to do something. It’s the doorway through which they can’t return, you know. The story takes care of the rest.”

The inciting incident is simply the starting point of any story, however, it complicates your story and sets the events in motion.

“The inciting incident is the primary cause that follows that puts in motion the other four elements.”
Robert McKee

Progressive complications
Crisis
Climax
Resolution

As you can see the inciting incident is a critical part of the plot of every story, regardless of what structure you use. Because the inciting incident is where it all begins!

Tags basic elements of screenwriting, screen writing, screenplay, screenplay differs from novel, screenwriting, script to screen-stage

Screenwriting

Conflict in StoryTelling

By now most of you know I am a big Marvel junkie and escape into the marvel cinematic universe whenever I can. For the past six months, I’ve been binge-watching the Daredevil series on Disney plus.

It honestly has some of the best storytelling on the small screen I have ever seen and I’m not saying that just because I’m a big fan of comics, in college I had a collection of over 3000 comic books. Yes, I am an action and superhero junkie.

While, books and novels both contain conflict in their storytelling, writing for the big and small screens focus on different aspects of conflict.

External conflict
Visual storytelling
Layered subtext

WARNING: The movie clip in the following paragraph is from a fight scene and be considered graphic.

Sure movies and television shows have inner conflict but they express them more visually. The writers of Daredevil masterfully combine both inner and external conflict beautifully, sometimes in a not so family-friendly way. These writers understand the importance and need for conflict in storytelling!

Conflict

First, we must understand what conflict is. The dictionary defines conflict as, “A serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one.” By definition conflict is continuous, it isn’t some brief break in harmonious living.

As long as the conflict continues in our stories, they will have the necessary momentum to keep our narrative going and hopefully keep our audiences interested. Many writing coaches describe conflict as the fuel of storytelling.

“Conflict generates drama. Conflict is entertaining. But perhaps most important is this: Conflict concerns struggle.”
Scott Myers, screenwriting coach

Below are six types of struggle found in storytelling according to Masterclass.

Character versus self: This is an internal conflict. Meaning that the opposition character faces is coming from within.
Character versus character: This is a common type of conflict in which one character’s needs or wants are at odds with another’s.
Character versus nature: In a nature conflict, a character is set in opposition to nature.
Character versus supernatural: Pitting characters against phenomena like ghosts, Gods, or monsters raises the stakes of the conflict by creating an equal playing field.
Character versus technology: In this case, is in conflict with some kind of technology.
Character versus society: A character versus society conflict is an external conflict that occurs in literature when the protagonist is placed in opposition to society, the government, or a cultural tradition or societal norm of some kind.

The age-old teaching of show versus tell is more pertinent to screenwriting because these stories are visual. We never want to bore the audience by telling when it is much easier to show regardless of its internal or external conflict.

The audience must see conflict either through action, acting or inaction. The audience needs to know what is at stake and how it affects the character or the world in which they live. There is a struggle somewhere in their life. Ultimately, the struggle will bring change to the character or their world.

Change

Conflict always brings a change in a story, whether internal or external.

“A film isn’t just moments of conflict or activity, personality or emotionality, witty talk or symbols. What the writer seeks are events, for an event contains all the above and more… ‘Event’ means change. A story event creates a meaningful change in the life situation of a character that is expressed as an experience in terms of value. To make change meaningful you must express it in the audience must react to it, in terms of a value values are the soul of storytelling.”
Robert McKee

If conflict occurs, the events change things, McKee notes story values are the universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from Beaumont to the next.”. Below are a few types of conflict change can bring.

Alive/dead
Love/hate
Freedom/Slavery
Truth/lie
Courage/cowardice
Loyalty/betrayal
Wisdom/stupidity
Strength/weakness
Excitement/boredom

This change will be obvious as your story and characters progress from the beginning to the end of a screenplay. Conflict can build scene by scene, story value to story value. Along the way, our characters and their worlds will be changed when they face conflict.

Tags basic elements of screenwriting, internal conflict, screenplay, screenwriting, script to screen-stage

Screenwriting

Screenwriting Basics

Recently, I had a local writer friend reach out to me about how she could adapt her book into a screenplay. I get that question a lot; although I am not a successful screenwriter, people for some reason believe that anyone can write a screenplay, just because they’ve written a story or book.

Just because a book is successful and is a good read, doesn’t necessarily mean it will make a great movie. Studios have lost billions by producing popular books that bombed in theaters. Hollywood generally believes that novelists should not write screenplays.

So this year, I want to explore the basics of screenwriting and some of the different conventions, concepts, and features that novelists may not know about. There may be some similarities, but screenwriting has its own unique needs.

Tight writing is a must
A lot more show than tell

While the general rule in storytelling is to always show and not tell, this rule applies more to screenwriting, because screenplays are visual art forms. So in writing a screenplay, writers always must visualize their stories first, this is a basic element of screenwriting.

Elements of Screenwriting

“Screenwriting has no rules, it has conventions to help tell a story.”
Robert McKee

The number one convention of screenwriting is the story is seen. Screenplays are written with characters we will literally see and don’t have to imagine—always write from that perspective. If you cannot visualize your characters on screen, then they won’t parlay to the screen.

Seven tips for adapting a book to a screenplay from the Creative Penn.

Read screenwriting books- Reading some how-to screenwriting books will give you a solid grounding in writing characters, plot, structure, dialogue, theme, etc. for the big screen.
Read screenplays- The reason many screenplays fail, whether they’re adaptations or not, is because the writer simply hasn’t read enough screenplays.
Outline movies- It’s also important to become familiar with movies are put together structurally. Novels may contain some structural tropes within certain genres, such as Mystery or Romance, but screenplay structure is generally much more ‘formulaic’.”
Write an outline of your novel- Once you’ve spent some time on the first three steps, apply the same principle of writing outlines as described in Step 3 to your own novel.
Refine your movie’s core conflict- Take some time to think about the story from the point of view of someone watching it up on screen in a movie theater. What’s the core conflict here that’s going to make them pay money to want to go and see it?
Finalize your outline- Some screenwriters like to write outlines, synopses or treatments of their story before starting on the script. Other’s don’t. But I would strongly advise you have some kind of document to follow while writing the actual screenplay.
Start writing your screenplay- Once you have your outline, it’s time to finally start writing and I’d recommend purchasing some professional screenwriting software first, such as Movie Magic or Final Draft. (WriterDuet is a great free alternative if you’re strapped for cash.)

Screenwriters know the conventions of the art and resist the need for a formula. As I begin this series, I have to address the age-old debate of structure versus story. Not from my perspective, but that of the greats. While screenplays have conventions, never let structure kill your story.

Screenwriting, as with novel writing, is the art of storytelling. The story must dominate your script. However, according to Screencraft Magazine, “novels focus on the internal emotions of the story’s characters, screenplays are the outer emotions of the story’s characters.”

Story Matters

Typically when novelists try to adapt books to screenplays, they either kill their story by trying to use a bad writing structure or they don’t know a screenplay format at all. Either way, their narrative loses its beauty.

Sometimes no matter who adapts a book to a screenplay, the story just does not work as a movie. The readers’ imagination is better than the visuals on the screen. Before you attempt to adapt your screenplay, read the five story elements needed to make a great film from totalstoryteller.com.

A sympathetic hero: Having a ‘save the cat’ moment can help you create a sympathetic character. This ‘save the cat’ term was coined and popularized by writer Blake Snyder.
A vital quest: It’s no joke. There are real stakes to this quest.
Insurmountable obstacles: It seems impossible for the hero to achieve victory, at least as he is now.
Surprising ending: Ingenuity and creativity sees the hero achieve victory through unusual means, finding help in unexpected places or with unexpected allies.
Inevitable ending: The ending is logical. It seems obvious after-the-fact that it would end as it did.

Remember, it is the screenwriters’ job to take these elements and combine them into a visual cocktail to help the audience understand the narrative. It is like combining poetry with painting. Screenwriters need to know the basic elements of screenwriting.

Tags basic elements of screenwriting, from page to stage, screenwriting, story matters, tips

Screenwriting

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.

Tags Final draft, Page to stage, plot point, plotting, screen writing, screenplay differs from novel, screenwriting

Screenwriting

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!

Tags action beats, favorite movies, Page to stage, pauses, scenes, scenes from favorite movies, screenwriting, slow the tempo

Screenwriting

Slow Your Roll

Labor Day weekend, I finally decided to go see the action movie Top Gun: Maverick. It seemed like a great way to escape from reality for a few hours; Robert McKee notes, “Action movies are the most popular genre currently.”

Even Disney is banking on the trend with its Star Wars and Marvel franchises. It’s no wonder this was the perfect time to finally make the long-awaited sequel to the original Top Gun. However, I was pleasantly surprised to be swept away by a more than a typical action movie. Below are some unexpected qualities of the movie.

A superb character arc
An in-depth romantic subplot

One of my favorite parts of the movie was how the writers expanded on a romantic relationship that was only briefly mentioned in the original movie 30 years ago. In fact, later I had to go back and re-watch the original movie to see where the romantic lead came from.

The writer masterfully intertwined the romantic subplot with both the action and Maverick’s character arc, which in the process, slowed the pace of this full-throttle action movie!

Slow Your Roll

Whether a novelist, screenwriter, or storyteller, you need to understand the concept of pacing.

“Pace begins in the screenplay. We control rhythm and tempo. Progressions must be shaped, for if we don’t, the film editor will.”
Robert McKee

Pacing a story is critical to maintaining the audience’s attention and the focus of our story. As writers, we cannot unpack too much information at one time, because this will overwhelm the audience.

Good writers understand how to pace their stories to help build expectations and momentum. According to Masterclass, narrative pacing refers to . . .

“How fast or slow the story is moving for the reader. This is determined by the length of a scene and the speed at which you, the writer, distribute the information. Generally speaking, descriptive passages tend to slow things down, while dialogue and action scenes speed things up — but slowing the pace of action down at choice moments can also build suspense.”

Seven Tips to Master Pacing

Utilize breathers.
Change the order of events.
Vary your sentence length.
Keep characters physically moving during dialogue.
Reveal information selectively.
Vary your narration.
Read the work out loud.

“A screenplay is different than a novel in this respect: Whereas most novels are written in the past tense, a screenplay is in the present tense.”
Screenwriting coach Scott Myers

Pacing controls the ebb and flow of a story by controlling the story’s present action. Below are a couple of movies whose pacing helps the audience hold on despite continuous fast-paced action scenes. The goal is to tell a story and pace it to balance the action.

Whiplash

The dark Knight

Kung Fu Hustle

Hold On

Good writers know a story’s pace builds both momentum and anticipation of what the audience wants or expects. We must grab their attention as soon as possible and make sure we keep it all the way to the end of our story. Pacing helps us to keep from exposition or emotional dumps that can cause viewers to tune out. Two tools that screenwriters can use to help pace a story are:

Pause
Beats

Remember, you don’t want to stop momentum of the narrative by either slowing down or speeding up. This is the purpose of writers learning to control a story’s pace.

Tags character arc, pacing, present tense, screenplay differs from novel, screenwriting, story thythm and tempo, tips to master pacing

Screenwriting

SubPlots

Last month, I decided to go back and work on an updated version of my original award-winning inspirational screenplay I wrote years ago. I wanted to make sure that my main message was clear and that the plot was unimpeded by needless exposition.

I wanted to make sure the script was as polished as possible before approaching literary managers who could help me navigate my screenwriting career. This update is a step in the right direction for my career. As I’ve stated before, rewriting is writing. Rewriting serves a few functions:

Finding typos and grammatical errors.
Refining a script’s message.
Tweaking subplots.

Subplots In Storytelling

Often screenwriters become so involved going from point A to B in their plot line, that they end up making their story shallow and one-dimensional. Life is not a simple journey; life is made richer by the obstacles we overcome, quiet seemingly insignificant moments, and surprising unplanned moments.

Real life is as much introspective as it is an outward journey. Subplots are a great literary tool for revealing inner conflict or desires. The two worlds interact to make up what we call our life. Sometimes there is more going on beneath the surface than meets the eye.

In storytelling, a subplot is defined as a side narrative that supports the main storyline by adding layers of complexity to it. They can be standalone stories by themselves but work better by adding elements such as back story and details about minor characters which help to enhance the main story’s characters.

In my screenplays, I have used subplots to introduce or set up my protagonist’s disability/inner desire. In my first screenplay, my protagonist’s desire to be loved leads him to all of the wrong places, ultimately leaving him with a brain injury. His pursuit of love becomes his motivation to endure being disabled in hopes of finding true love.

I use a romantic subplot in all of my screenplays because at heart, I am a hopeless romantic myself. There are many forms and approaches to subplots in storytelling. Below are four types of subplots from Masterclass.com.

Mirror subplot: A smaller-scale conflict mirrors the main characters to teach them a valuable lesson or how to resolve the conflict.
Contrasting subplot: A secondary character faces similar circumstances and dilemmas as the main character but makes different decisions.
Complicating subplot: A secondary character makes matters worse for the main character.
Romantic subplot: The main character has a love interest, and this relationship complicates the main plot.

When using subplots, it is critical to make sure that they enhance the stories main plot and don’t confuse the audience.

“Subplots may be used to resonate the control and idea of the sensual plot and enrich the film with variations on a theme.”
Robert McKee

if your subplots are too controlling or don’t enhance your story, it is best to cut them to save space. Remember every page is valuable real estate in your screenplay. Script readers and your audience will lose interest if there are too many ideas battling for their attention. Subplots can be used as building blocks of your narrative’s plot and as the fuel to keep it going.

Keep It Moving!

Keep in mind, that movies are a form of visual storytelling, however, too much action or information will have the same effect as looking at the sun, and the audience won’t be able to focus or see the bigger picture of your story.

They may even become frustrated or agitated, when they can’t follow your story, they feel like they are watching a Ping-Pong match and cannot see the ball. Talented writers know how to use subplots to help set the pacing of the story without diminishing it or confusing the audience. Below are a few of my favorite films with obvious subplots that didn’t overpower the rest of the story.

These storytellers have mastered the art of weaving subplots into stories to help pace them.

“The best tip I know is to use subplots to enhance the pacing of the film overall.”
Robert McKee

Stories may be all about the characters or the plot, but they are enhanced by the subplot.

Tags Plots, screenwriting, subplots

Screenwriting

Plot Driven Story Telling

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date August 5, 2022
No Comments on Plot Driven Story Telling

Recently I began working on a new screenplay project I pitched to a management team. For almost a year now, I’ve known the concept of the story, but for my pitch, I needed to break down some specifics.

Message/theme
character sketches
plot points

My focus for this project hinged on specific plot points, not only to set up my story but to develop my character and the conflict he will face; which would eventually lead to a satisfying conclusion that demonstrated my message.

Although my story focuses on one main character and his arc, the narrative is driven by a specific plot with unique twists. In a sense, this story is more focused on the plot and how it changes my character, his relationships, and his outlook on life. The plot points are critical to the telling of the story and that makes this project plot-driven.

Plot-Driven Storytelling

In the early days of filmmaking, the plot took center stage. Meaning, the plot gets more emphasis over character development; which allows plot twists, fantastic worlds, and breathtaking action to take center stage. Remember, the plot is simply a sequence of events that a character encounters as they progress from point A to point B in your story.

Laurie R. King noted, “In silent films, quite complex plots are built around action, setting, and the actors’ gestures and facial expressions, with very few storyboards to nail down specific plot points.”

Plot-driven stories still have amazing characters for the audience to connect with; however, this approach shows more of what the characters do, rather than who they are and what they think.

This is why plot-driven storytelling works well for movies; it allows the audience to see the action and fantastic worlds the characters live in. It is especially helpful for fantasy and mystery narratives.

Examples of Plot-Driven Movies

Keep in mind any of these films would still work with different characters going on the journey from point A to point B. Plot-driven movies focus more on the action, plot points move the characters in the story forward more than the characters themselves.

“Mysteries and thrillers are not the same things, though they are literary siblings. Roughly put, I would say the distinction is that mysteries emphasize motive and psychology whereas thrillers rely more heavily on action and plot.”
Jon Meacham

It is the action of the plot that propels a narrative towards its conclusion.

Moving on

As the plot advances our narrative, ideally our character/characters will change in the process. Plot-driven stories often have more revelations or questions for the characters to deal with, driving the story further ahead.

“There’s almost always a point in a book where something happens that triggers the rest of the plot.”
Novelist Jonathan Carroll

Plot-driven stories are unique because they shape our character during the narrative, as opposed to the character shaping the plot.

Tips From masterclass.com on How to Write Plot-Driven Stories

Focus on external conflict – If you are attempting to write a plot-driven story it’s important to focus on external conflict as opposed to inward conflict as the action that drives your story forward. Internal conflict often takes place within a character and serves character-driven narratives well. External conflict, on the other hand, requires multiple forces and helps to build a driving plot.
Carefully outline plot points – Plot-driven stories require a tight and well develop story structure and a logical sequence. Plot is not something you find on the pages as you write. It requires a large amount of planning and foresight. You should have a detailed view of your major plot lines and arcs before you begin any plot-driven story.
Develop high-concept plots -High-concept stories are widely accessible storylines with clear and communicable plots. These stories are often found in screenwriting and film. Screenwriters use a high-concept plot as the driving force in a thriller or other plot-driven film. These premises are a good place to start for a plot-driven story.
Include plot twists – A good story should subvert audience expectations by including multiple subplots and unexpected storylines. Once you have a cohesive plot drawn out, think about ways you can surprise your reader and push back what they expect in a story by introducing a plot twist.

Ideally, these tips will change our character all the while advancing our plot towards a satisfying conclusion. Plot points change our character, reveal truth, and subplots in plot-driven storytelling!

Tags Plot, plot driven vs character driven stories, plot twists, plot-driven story, screenwriting

Screenwriting

Character Driven Storytelling

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date July 4, 2022
No Comments on Character Driven Storytelling

Powerful stories make a strong impression on our audience. These stories bring change in our audience through the changes within the story themselves. Below are the common approaches to storytelling.

Verbal
Graphic
Cinematic

Cinematic storytelling is told through the reenactment (dramatization) of events on screen. It uses the conventions of film to tell a story through actors both visually and audibly.

“Don’t write about a character. Become that character, and then write your story.”
New York Times best-selling author, Ethan Canin

Screenwriting dramatizes a story in one of two ways, plot-driven or character-driven storytelling.

Character-Driven

Simply put, character-driven storytelling puts more emphasis on the characters (thoughts, arcs, and character changes). Ideally, the audience will be able to relate and find themselves in the story.

“There’s a magic to being present when you’re writing a character.”
Reid Carolin

This approach allows the audience to see a character’s flaws, fears, and desires. As you can guess, this will increase the impact of the message and make your overall story more powerful. Below are a few popular character-driven movies:

In each of the above examples, we can see the changes—internal or external—in the protagonists. Our goal is to connect with our audience and hopefully inspire them to change as well.

Robert McKee warns, “All stories are ‘character-driven.’ Event design and character design mirror each other. Character cannot be expressed in depth except through the design of story.” All stories revolve around our characters, but character-driven stories are more focused on the change within our characters during the storytelling process.

Our approach to storytelling can be determined by our goal of telling the story in the first place. Why do you want to tell these particular characters’ stories and what benefit will it be to them and our audience as well? Writers have to know their endgame—their purpose for telling a story.

Know Your Purpose

“It’s not until you really throw your character into the story that you can genuinely understand who they are.”
Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director, Elijah Bynum

Before you write your first word, know the purpose of your story. Storytelling is a form of communication, and we each have something unique and special to share. Perhaps it’s personal, cultural, or maybe a universal issue that will connect with others. Below are some common topics writers use in their storytelling:

Social issues (climate justice, health care, racial injustice, gun violence).
Love
Good versus evil
Perseverance
Hope against all odds
Inspirational stories

In my case, I choose to tell stories about characters with disabilities or special needs, how they change on their journey and how they affect the worlds in which they live within my stories. Your story’s message will direct your story, whether it’s plot-driven or character-driven storytelling.

Tags character driven plot, cinematic storytelling, screenwriting, storytelling

Screenwriting

Tight Writing

Tight writing has its place and purpose in all forms of writing, but more so in a screenplay. When writers leave more “white space” on a page, there is less clutter to distract our eyes, which means a clearer and faster read. Below are some examples of unnecessary clutter in writing.

Unnecessary or excessive exposition
Wordy dialogue
Unnecessary camera angles or transitions (in screenwriting)

Talented writers know how to maximize a page’s real estate: say more by writing less, respect the audience by letting them fill in the blanks, and let the actors act and directors direct the action.

Our job as screenwriters is just to lay a blueprint for the plot to follow, then get out of the way and let everyone else do their job. Therefore, we need to master the art of tight writing.

Tight Writing!

Most writers understand that tight writing means by using as few words as possible. While there are no rules in screenwriting, conventions and expectations need to be respected: page count, pace, and plot points for genres must tell a clear, well-flowing narrative.

A three or five-act structure is usually used to tell a complete story. The structures aren’t set in stone but act as a guideline to help direct a movie’s action.

These guidelines work as boundaries that allow us to color in the blanks like a coloring book. The lines can separate the picture from the white space. Writers can get more bang for the buck by tightening up their writing to fill in the blanks and not go outside the lines.

Just like with a coloring book, when we clutter up the white space, it makes it harder to see the picture.

Eight tips from Script Lab to help tighten your screenplay.

Cut handles-any piece of speech that doesn’t help reveal character or develop story.
Eliminate gerunds from action lines-words ending in “ing” often function as nouns. Essentially, gerunds denote ongoing processes, and they’re not useful in screenwriting because we want you to tell us the active situation, not a process.
Double check – do I need this?- If a word or phrase isn’t essential to the story, then you can cut it out without confusing the reader audience.
For action lines, find the focus of the image, not the specifics- If it feels like you must write several sentences to communicate an idea, take a step back and consider what emotion or revealing activity you’re explaining. Is there a more concise image that does the same thing?
If your line barely runs into the next, consider shorter synonyms for your words – If you can save an entire line of a page by using a shorter synonym, do it. It really adds up.
Combine sentences to cut down on punctuation– As above, this kind of editing can really help cut down on space. Best of all, if two sentences are communicating the same idea, completely eliminate one of them.
Remove unhelpful ornament- Adjectives are fun, varied, evocative, and overused. If an adjective isn’t absolutely necessary, delete it. This goes for every word, but adjectives tend to crop up in scripts.
Void via negativa- Say what something is instead of saying what it is not. Don’t describe what someone doesn’t do. Instead, write their action as clearly as possible.

Following these tips helps to create a tighter story in your screenplay. The benefits are endless, but the most obvious of a tighter script is a more enjoyable read, which creates a more focused story and focus is powerful in storytelling!

Stay Focused!

Filmmakers know a tighter script lends itself to a more powerful story that makes the story easier to follow and keeps the audience’s attention. This also gives a more focused message without a lot of exposition to digest, which allows the audience and reader to enjoy the journey.

When writers fail to use tight writing, it forces the studio to spend more time editing. Below are a few movies where studios utilized excellent editing to make the movie better.

A screenwriter’s goal is to tell a powerful story that causes change in both the characters and the audience watching them.

“A story is a series of acts that build to a last act climax or story climax which brings about absolute and irreversible change.”
Robert McKee

Great writers use tight writing to not only change the characters of their story, but also the audience.

Tags screenplay, screenwriting, stay focused, tight writing

Screenwriting

Cut to Finish

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date April 4, 2022

Last month I touched on the need for a lean screenplay. Lean writing is ideal for most forms of writing, the goal is to “say more, by writing less.” Wordy writing often discourages others from reading our work.

Screenwriting is no different. A long screenplay often loses its impact the more time it takes to read. A thick manuscript also has other drawbacks, below are a few hiccups that are possible with a screenplay with little white space.

Numerous typos
Repetitions
Telling and not showing

When agents or studios are interested in a screenplay or a writer, they don’t read the screenplays themselves; they have readers, who are the gatekeepers in Hollywood. They are the first set eyes to see your screenplay.

If the reader doesn’t like what they see, a studio or agent will never see your screenplay. This is why it is imperative for you to hook the reader sooner than later. The rule is to hook the reader by page 10, if you don’t do that, they will never finish reading your screenplay.

Cut to Finish!

Your screenplay needs to be a page-turner–meaning by the time a reader gets to page 10 they are invested to read the next 100 pages.

Reading a screenplay takes time, the more pages, the more time it takes to read it. This is why the clutter needs to go. Clutter in screenwriting comes in many forms: wordy dialogue, too much scene and character description, unnecessary technical terms, or camera angles.

Also, too many characters or scenes can lose a reader and make your narrative confusing. If a scene or character cannot move the plot forward, then it isn’t a vital part of the story. Your job is to tell a story, not direct it or paint a picture, that’s other creatives’ jobs. You are simply the storyteller.

Many new screenwriters try to show off their “knowledge” by including technical camera angles or artsy descriptions in their storytelling and end up only making their script harder to read. So, keeping your script as lean as possible will make it easier to read. Below are a few script trimming tricks from screenwriting insider Scott Myers:

Lose the orphans: if you have a line of dialogue or action that is only 1 to 2 words, try condensing it or cutting it to save space.
Minimize parentheticals: there are often one or two words to direct an actor, dialogue itself is self-explanatory, no need to waste space or be repetitive.
Cut transitions: transitions imply a movement from one scene to and next, that is what seen headings are used for, transitions are only useful when there is a significant change of scenery or time. By cutting the transition you can save a line or two from your script each time. Besides artsy transitions can be a sign of amateurism.
Use pseudo-slugs: shortened seen headings that take up fewer lines and space.[i]

There are many benefits to having a lean screenplay. Shorter screenplays are easier to read, the story flows smoothly and quickly from scene to scene and plot point to plot point. This saves a reader time and energy.

It gives a reader a more enjoyable experience. A quick read increases the chance of your screenplay making it past the gatekeepers in Hollywood and you’re one step closer to crossing the finish line.

Finish Line!

Don’t forget that every page of your screenplay equals about one minute of screen time in a movie. The longer a movie is the less likely you are to keep an audience’s attention until it’s finished.

No one wants to sit through a long movie unless it holds their attention from beginning to end. Your job is to make your audience commit to sticking around until the closing credits roll.

The best writers know how to pace a story to keep an audience interested longer, they know how to get more bang for their buck. Besides, not every scene in a screenplay makes it to the finished movie when it is released.

Even in major motion pictures scripted by Hollywood studios there are often deleted scenes included when a movie goes into home distribution. Below are a few deleted scenes from recent movies.

The studios and producers knew that they could save time and enhance the audience’s experience by removing the scenes from the finished product and that is why we must cut to finish!

Tags cut to the finish, say more with less, screenwriting, trimming tricks

Screenwriting

Rewriting is Writing

Three months into the new year and I am eager to get started on the first draft of a new screenplay. I’ve had this idea for a story since my accident, 25 years ago, and now I’m ready to attempt the first draft.

First drafts are only a part of the screenwriting process and the first step in the process of drafting. Drafting is a structured process that involves steps in creating a piece of work. Screenwriting typically has four phases of drafts, each with its unique audience, according to Naomi Write at Writeandco.com.

Draft Phases

Me draft
Audience draft
Producer draft
Audience draft

The goal of drafting is to create the best possible story that will be appealing to and readable by different audiences. It also allows a screenwriter to edit a screenplay for typos, grammatical errors, and repetitions.

Additionally, it helps create the characters, story plot, and conflict. As you can see drafting, editing, and rewriting are all part of the writing process.

Rewriting Is Writing!

No screenplay, prose, or story is written perfectly the first time. Professional writers understand that editing is writing. Editing and rewriting set a professional writer apart from amateurs.

Edited screenplays have been refined through the drafting process and have well-developed characters, clearly defined worlds, and obvious conflict. The stories are also easier to read because there aren’t any typos or grammatical errors to slow the reader down.

Edited screenplays are also clearly unique narratives that can spark our readers’ imagination. A screenplay can be like another movie, but not a retelling of a story we already know.

Your story must be clear to others and not just yourself. Remember to keep the story simple. Below are common writing mistakes new writers make from Ben Larned at Screencraft.com.

10 Common Writing Mistakes

Neglecting spelling and grammar.
Incorrect formatting.
Drawing from tropes.
Forgetting the plot (or, skipping the outline).
Crafting awkward, listless, or endless dialogue.
Playing director in descriptions.
Not punishing your characters.
Leaving your story unfinished (or too neat).
Letting the first acts slide (or, saving the best for last).
Submitting without rereading.

Screenwriting teacher, Scott Myer’s mantra is…

“Rewriting is writing.”

With each draft there should be fewer and fewer mistakes and misunderstandings. Editing and rewriting help writers grow from amateurs to professionals.

This is why it is important to get feedback on our screenwriting, friends and family are nice, but professional coverage from industry insiders who know what screenplays need is best. Script coverage helps writers see flaws, know what to keep and what to get rid of.

When I first began screenwriting, I learned an important lesson. Writers mustn’t like their stories too much and must be willing to cut what doesn’t work. Regardless of how much you like a character, setting, or scene; if it doesn’t help the story, it needs to go on the cutting block.

Cut to Finish!

The goal of editing and rewriting is to trim the fat off a screenplay and help it flow better as a story. A screenwriter doesn’t have that much real estate to introduce characters, create conflict, and set up the plot.

In the old days, the general rule was a screenplay should be no longer than 120 pages, nowadays it’s around 100 pages—from start to finish, a complete story with new worlds, characters, and enough action to hold an audience’s attention for the entire movie.

Therefore, it’s important for the audience to enter a scene as late as possible and get out or move to the next scene of a movie. All while flowing smoothly without losing the audiences’ attention. The idea is to save space in a screenplay.

Even after a movie has finished shooting, editing in the studio helps cut the “fat” or nonessential parts of a movie out before the movie is released. Below are a few examples known for the bad editing before they were released.

Even big-budget movies from major studios can create the critical errors of bad editing and skipping rewrites. A movie is only finished by rewriting, because rewriting is writing!

Tags editing, rewriting, screenwriting

Screenwriting

idea box

Now that the holidays are over and a new year has begun, many of us will have a hard time stirring from our holiday-induced coma. But, we each have new stories and worlds to create. One of my favorite sayings is…

“Dreamers dream, writers write.”

It’s easy to stay in our happy-go-lucky pretend worlds, but it takes real work to get stories created; new worlds, characters, and conflict to stir the pot!

Each writer has their way of coming up with new stories to tell. Creative’s are wired different, but we have the same goal. To tell an entertaining or possibly a life-changing narrative. But how we come up with them is as unique as we are. Which category do you fall into below?

Outliner
Pantser
Hybrid

Personally, it depends on what I’m writing. My nonfiction is planned out, whereas my fiction has a skeleton outline, but I let my characters take me along on the journey with them. The cliché, “Ideas are a dime a dozen,” is an accurate one. But screenwriters need to understand that not every story is visual. We will need a bigger idea box.

Idea Box!

Screenwriters are consistently working on assignment or speculation. Assignment writing is when a studio or production company hires someone to write stories that the studio has already developed an idea for. The writers are just doing the footwork.

Speculation or writing on spec is what most new writers do. We create ideas of our own and put them into visual stories, speculating someone will want to buy it or pay to go see it. Writing on spec is risky because no one knows if what the writer creates will ever be sold or produced.

Even when not writing, a screenwriter is still creating and playing with ideas in their mind or watching for great stories to be told in the news or the world around them.

I recently talked to a working screenwriter who lives in L. A., home visiting family for the holidays. He shared how his ideas are inspired from traveling back and forth between coastlines or the stories he hears when he comes home.

This man shared with me that conflict is king in storytelling, but uniqueness is the queen of storytelling. Unique voices, perspectives, and writing approach can make a simple story stand out amongst the millions of spec scripts. This is why many look down upon formulaic storytelling, an audience can lose interest if they can sense or know what will happen next.

Robert McKee notes, “story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.” there are guidelines for stories to follow, but they are fluid, not finite.

Guidelines allow the audience to follow the story, but never tell the story.

It’s our job as writers to communicate entertaining and original narratives that meet an audience’s needs. The pressure is on as we try to keep the audience both entertained and interested. Below are a few ways that I found online to help develop stories that are both entertaining and unique.

Take a walk: They allow us to see the world at a slower pace, get fresh air, and listen to other people.
Read the newspaper: Current events are great jumping-off points for characters. We want our ideas to be relevant in today’s world.
Watch a movie and kill the protagonist off in the right way: Use that outcome to create a new tagline and write that story.
What’s going on in your life: Writing is catharsis. Take your problems and put them on the page.
Steel from the classics: Most of the classics are fair to use, so change up the settings, characters, and outcome.
Mine the public domain: It’s not just the classics, the public domain is a great place to get inspired. Disney has mastered the art of retailing legends and fairy tales. The Bible is full of stories waiting to be told on the big screen.
Start at the end of one of your old screenplays: What happens after you fade out? Can you tell a new story with the aftermath?
What happens in one location?: Try taking your big idea and making them small, more focused, and specific.
What can you shoot? What do you have access to? What locations, actors or set pieces do you have access to?
Tap into history: History is public domain. It’s full of events people talk about all the time. [2]

Whether you’re a pantser, outliner, or hybrid, you have a story to tell. So, find it and tell it regardless of how you get there, just make sure it is unique.

Unique!

Screenwriter and writing coach Scott Myers says, “Start with the first word. Stories are written one word at a time.” Stories don’t write themselves, that’s our job. Hollywood is desperate for new stories. That is why Hollywood has been rebooting old movies and TV series from years gone by, below are just a few examples.

Each of these shows and movies all started with the first draft at some point, but they were only written after someone reached deep into their idea box.

Tags guidelines, hybrid, idea box, outiner, pantser, screenwriting

Screenwriting

post-production

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date November 4, 2021

For almost 2 years now, the pandemic has shaken up Hollywood’s plans. Filming has been sporadic and movie release dates have either been delayed or canceled altogether in theaters. Studios plan and tease new movie releases to maximize on their investments into screenplays. Studios have always used movie trailers to promote films. However, Disney, Marvel, and Fox Studios have created a science to movie promotion. They have learned to maximize the returns on their investments through movie promotion.

Build buzz.
Stir curiosity.
Lay groundwork for an upcoming release.

The ultimate goal of a trailer is to increase a movie’s success. Just because a movie’s trailer has been released doesn’t mean the movie is finished shooting. A studio may release a trailer to get early feedback from film goers before the movie has wrapped shooting.

It is possible that a studio may release images from the set to help stir interest in the upcoming movie. This most often happens when a movie is in post-production. There are no shortcuts in movie making. As I write this post an investigation is underway into a tragic shooting on the set of a new Western movie entitle Rust. Reports claim that producers tried to cut corners possibly to save time in the film’s post-production.

Post-production!

Post-production is the stage many in film making look forward to, this is actually the longest part of making a movie. It takes time to get the raw footage polished, edited and special effects added before the final product is released. Below is a list of what happens in post-production.

Edit: This is when the raw footage is transferred to an editing system (i.e. Avid or Final Cut Pro). An editor begins digitally cutting the movie guided by the vision and direction of the director.
Sound Edit:Audio tracks of the film are edited to remove unwanted sounds and sound effects are created (i.e. explosions, crashes, gunfire).
Music: This is where original scores (music) highlighting the mood of a scene is added. If a director wants to license songs for the soundtrack, a music supervisor secures the recording and publishing rights.
Visual Effects: Artists and engineers design and add special effects to the film. This is done through computer-generated visuals which can be costly and time-consuming.
Sound Mix: After all audio tracks are finished, sound mixers adjust audio levels to ensure music or sound effects don’t drown out actors’ dialogue. This also ensures that the audience can keep up with what is happening in the story.
Color Correction: After the picture is locked (no more edits or changes), a colorist goes through every scene and digitally adjusts and refines the hues and light to create continuity and strike a mood.
Graphics: Title, credits, and other graphics (such as date stamp) are created and added.
Trailer: Another editing team takes over to cut the movie’s trailer, this 2 ½ minute preview is meant to entice a paying audience to go see the movie when it comes out in theaters.

The post-production stage is a crucial way to ensure a screenplay has been followed to create the best possible story. And to ensure that the film is polished and professional before it is presented at a movie’s premiere.

Big Day!

By the time a screenplay makes it to the big screen, it has likely been years since it was originally written. Screenplays can change a lot before a movie is presented to the public. Remember, after the sale, studios own the concept and can do whatever they choose.

Post-production is the next to last step to make a story come alive. Sometimes movies have a bad final product because this process was rushed. When Marvel released a teaser for its film Black Widow, fans didn’t like the mask of the character, Taskmaster, which led to Marvel changing the look of the character before the film’s release. Below are a few movies whose final product wasn’t the best visually regardless of the found success.

Although some of these have become cult classics years later, some of them are better known for their lackluster editing or special effects. No one really knows if a movie will be a hit or a dud, but we do know the importance of its post-production!

Tags movie production, movie trailer, Movies, post-production, production, screenwriting

Screenwriting

Filmmaking: The Production Phase

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date October 4, 2021
No Comments on Filmmaking: The Production Phase

When the pandemic hit, Hollywood went through a tough time since movie productions had to be shut down to ensure the safety of the casts and crews. The pandemic is one example of possible setbacks in movie productions. By now most of us have seen the infamous footage of Tom Cruise’s reprimanding of the crew during filming Mission Impossible 7.

There is more to the production phase of filmmaking than screenwriters realize. This stage is more than just setting up a camera and filming.

There may be more crew members needed to be hired to fulfill specific production needs.
More than likely there will be a script supervisor needed to ensure the continuity of the film.

The supervisor also helps to minimize unnecessary errors in the filming process or filming unnecessary scenes. The production’s ultimate goal is to bring the fictional world of a screenplay to life, but productions have a lot going on offscreen that makes the production phase possible.

Production Phase!

Production is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. It’s time for the cameras start shooting action. The most important thing in this phase is to remain on schedule. Following the production schedule helps keep the film within its budget, and staying within budget increases the likelihood the film will make a profit.

Keep in mind that during production other things are going on, such as the cast and crew being housed and fed. To keep those expenses on budget, the schedule must be followed to a T.

It is also important for the film to follow the script so that there won’t be any excess shooting time or inconsistencies in the story. Think of a highway through the mountains that gets blocked by an avalanche. The detours cost money and take time to get around. It’s the script supervisor’s job to make sure the story is consistent with the screenplay. All of these factors work together to help avoid a nightmare production schedule and a movie with glaring inconsistencies.

Occasionally, (briefly) going off-script improves a movie, as in these examples:

1. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark – Originally, Indiana I was supposed to have a whip versus a sword fight.

2. Good Will Hunting – The brilliant Robin Williams improvised the story about his wife’s sweet imperfections.

3. The Shining – Jack Nicholson added the “Here’s Johnny” comment on the spot.

More often, going off-script costs money and produces a bad film like the others here:

4. Waterworld – The movie’s production went so far over budget it almost doubled its $100 million budget.

5. Titanic – Leonhard Carpio needed a stunt hand draw a sketch on film. Unfortunately, Leonardo is right-handed, but the hand doing the sketching in the movie was left-handed, so they had to do a mirror image during post-production to give the film continuity.

As you can see by these examples, movie studios have a high risk of their investments into screenplays. Editing can fix some issues, but editing is time-consuming and it doesn’t guarantee to fix every problem.

The obvious and most cost-effective course of action is to streamline and focus on the production phase before shooting comes to a wrap.

That’s a Wrap!

Production isn’t the end of the story for the film. After a movie has been filmed, studios want to be sure they are getting what they paid for. That is why there is more work to be done in the postproduction phase.

Tags movie production, screenplay, screenwriting

Screenwriting

The importance of Pre-Production

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date September 4, 2021
No Comments on The importance of Pre-Production

While many have romanticized ideas about life as a screenwriter, the hard truth is writing a screenplay is just a small portion of the first step in moviemaking. Writers assume that once their script is sold, a studio immediately began to bring it to life. Nothing can be further from the truth. When studios buy your script, they are actually acquiring the concept of the story, with intentions of making it into what they want. Meaning one of two things.

The script is shelved for a time (possibly for years.)
The script is greenlighted for production.

Either way, your screenplay doesn’t go straight into production. Once the project is greenlit, there is still a lot of work to do before your story begins to come alive. Scripts that are bought aren’t necessarily what is made into a movie. Your script may be similar to a concept a studio wants, but the script will go through several rewrites as part of the pre-production process.

Pre-production?

Pre-production formally starts once a project is greenlit. It is meant to finalize the preparations before a film goes into production. Its purpose is to ensure a studio’s max return on their investment into your script.

All films go through pre-production. Studios know the type of film they want and use pre-production to get your script to meet their need. Purchased scripts aren’t necessarily what is produced. The nasty truth is that after you sell your script, it is no longer yours and studios can do whatever they want.

This means your script will be rewritten by either in-house writers, contracted writers, and possibly you. The purpose is to ensure the studio gets what it wants, they are investing their money and time into it after all. When a script is in pre-production, settings, characters, and timeline can all be tweaked to get the studio what it wants before production starts. Below is a breakdown of what happens in pre-production:

1. Lock the shooting script.

2. Finalize the budget.

3. Form a new company. (not always applicable)

4. Hire key department heads.

5. Break down the script.

6. Storyboard and shot list the scenes.

7. Scout and secure locations.

8. Cast actors and hire crew.

9. Get permits and insurance.

10. Schedule shoot days.

11. Perform a tech scout.

12. Arrange for equipment rentals.¹

Ultimately pre-production helps to ensure the best possible production schedule, including cost. Remember, this is a business and studios want to minimize the losses in production bad wraps. Making a movie isn’t easy and many things can go wrong.

Off Script!

When studios carelessly produce a movie, it shows on the screen and in the bank. Hollywood is full of stories about nightmare productions. Movies that not only didn’t earn a return on their investment, but the production may also have cost them money. The following are a few examples:

Studios have learned to take their time and minimize the risk of losing their investment. Therefore, they utilize the necessary step of pre-production.

¹ https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guide-to-preproduction-in-film#quiz-0

Tags Movies, screenplay, screenwriting

Screenwriting

The Importance of Production Teams

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date August 4, 2021
No Comments on The Importance of Production Teams

We all have them, big dreams of writing a blockbuster screenplay and selling it for big bucks and one day seeing our names roll across the screen in the credits. As I’ve stated before, most writers fail to realize that writing a screenplay is just one small step in the process of making a movie, in our minds we have oversimplified the process into a quick three-step procedure:

Write a screenplay.
Make a big sale.
Film the movie.

Filmmaking is nowhere near that easy and you aren’t the only player in the process. Getting a sale isn’t even the hardest step of the process. Even after a script is sold it doesn’t guarantee the movie getting made, unless it is written on assignment.

If you’re breaking into the business with an original screenplay (a.k.a. spec script) studios may never acquire the funding to get the movie into production. If it does make it to the first phase, a production team will need to be hired and put together to get things started.

Production Teams!

In a movie production, each person has a specific job to do and works closely together with members of their team: writers, editors, actors, set crew. The movie set crew plays a large part in making movies. They are the hands and feet of moviemaking. The complexity of a movie can be seen in the size of its production team. For this article, I want to share the numbers of some of the bigger crews in filmmaking.

1. Iron Man #3 – 3,310 crew members.

2. Avatar – 2,984 crew members.

3. Marvel’s The Avengers – 2,718 crew members.

4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 2,709 crew members.

5. Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – 2,622 Crew Members.¹

Each team plays a small part in bringing your story to life. Moviemaking is an art that requires a specific creative process.

The Process!

Just like writers have a unique writing process, studios have a filming process to produce the best possible return on their investment in your script. Hollywood has developed a tried-and-true process for the art of moviemaking:

Development- This is where the project is birthed. It is the creation, writing, organizing, and planning stage of a project. In development, a preliminary budget is made, the key cast are attached, key creatives are chosen, main locations scouted and multiple script drafts may be written. It’s all the groundwork to show what the project will be and how much it will cost to make. It starts the moment a Producer thinks of a project or a Writer starts penning words on a page.

Preproduction– Pre-production (or ‘pre’ as it’s called) is where scripts are amended, budgets are adjusted, actors are cast, locations scouted, the crew employed, shooting schedules amended, sets designed and built, costumes made and fitted, and everything to do with the shoot is planned and tested. The pre-production stage can last many months from the initial greenlighting of a project to when cameras actually roll. As this date draws closer, the crew grows with many people being employed about two to eight weeks before the shoot starts.

Filming (Production)- The production stage is where the rubber hits the road. The Writer, Director, Producer, and countless other creative minds finally see their ideas captured on film, one day at a time. Production is usually the shortest of the five phases, even though it is paramount to the film and where most of the budget is allotted. Production is the busiest time, with the crew swelling to hundreds and the days becoming longer in order to be as efficient as possible with all the gear and locations on hire.

Postproduction– This is where the footage is edited, the sound is mixed, visual effects are added, a soundtrack is composed, titles are created, and the project is completed and prepared for distribution. Although the shooting crew has done a lot of hard work, now the post-production crew face arduous hours of work ahead of them to piece together the scenes and craft a stunning story.

Distribution– Without a stringent and robust distribution strategy, the other four stages of production are fruitless, at least from a business perspective. Distribution is the final stage in a project for producers looking to make a return-on-investment. This can be from cinema distribution, selling to a TV network or streaming service, or releasing direct to DVD.²

As this post shows, filmmaking is much more than just writing a screenplay, as you can see each specific phase requires a different part of the production team.

¹ https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-people-work-on-a-hollywood-film/

² https://indiefilmhustle.com/5-stages-indie-film-production/

Tags movie, production teams, screenwriting

Screenwriting

Teamwork

Recently, a local writer friend and I decided to do a script swap to read each other’s WIP. To be honest, I was a little afraid to let her look at my script and I believe the feeling was mutual since this was her first attempt at screenwriting. I’ve been there.

As writers, we are often protective of our work. Our projects represent our time, beliefs and we put all our heart into the work. Fear of rejection is part of human nature. We don’t want others to trifle with our art, dreams, or hearts.

But if we care about our stories, we need to be open to feedback from others. The temporary discomfort is worth it to help improve our stories and make them better. Be open to honest feedback about your writing

Negative feedback can be helpful in the long run.
Writing a story is a learning process.
Is easier for others to see the holes in our stories.

With that said, writers must know what screenwriting is and isn’t. We are writing a story only; we aren’t acting, directing, or producing the story. Those are other people’s jobs, we are just the writers and need to understand that screenwriting is a team effort.

Writers must learn to just tell the story and get out of the way for others to do their part in our storytelling because screenwriting is all about teamwork! Unfortunately, when writers attempt to write the first screenplay, they often cross the line. They attempt to tell other members of the team how to do their jobs by including directing and acting, and production cues into the narrative. Years ago I had to learn that screenwriting takes teamwork.

Teamwork!

The writer’s job is simply to write a cohesive, well flowing story and then get out of the way for the other team members to do their job. Screenwriting coach and producer David Trotter writes,

“Many writers who are new to the business believe that they must use fancy formatting techniques in order to get noticed by Asians and producers. Therefore they add arty editing directions, clever camera angles, truckloads of caps, and so on… Be judicious and keep your focus on the story and characters.”¹

When readers, studios, or producers read a screenplay full of camera angles, artsy transitions, and special effects cues, it makes it harder to read the screenplay. In the end, it takes away from the actual story the screenwriter is trying to tell.

But when you stick to the story and characters, it makes your screenplay easier to read the story easier to follow. When the writer sticks to telling just the story, it enables the director to understand how to direct the story, it allows the actors to use their acting skills to bring our characters to life. And in the end, it will help the producers keep the film within the budget. The key to great storytelling is to tell a great story and then get out of the way. To illustrate the point look at the Marvel Avengers franchise. Each of the movies was written by screenwriters, but directed, and produced by other professionals.

Although they received great fanfare for directing the Infinity Wars saga, the Russo brothers had nothing to do with writing the screenplays, they were only paid to direct the movies.

Avengers Infinity War

Avengers Endgame

Another example is my childhood favorite, the Star Wars Saga. Although he wrote and directed the very first film in the series, George Lucas had nothing else to do with writing or directing any of the other original films.

Disney now has all rights to the Star Wars franchise and can hire their stellar writers and actors to bring the characters George Lucas first created nearly a half-century ago to life. Lucas did his part, and now he has left the story to others in the business who can create new adventures and put everything together for a whole new generation of fans.

Put It All Together!

Although screenwriters write stories, it isn’t our job to bring them to life. As hard as it is to let go, once our script is sold or optioned, our babies have left the nest, and it’s up to other professionals to put it all together for us.

Studios
Producers
Directors
Actors
Production crew

Hopefully, now, it is easier to see how show business takes teamwork!

¹ Trotter, David. Screenwriter’s Bible. 7^th edition, Silman-James Press, 2019, Pg. 134.

Tags director, Movies, screenwriting, storytelling, teamwork

Screenwriting

Show Business

After I submitted my last screenwriting post, I received feedback for my latest WIP. Although it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, it did provide some key feedback I needed to improve my screenplay.

Feedback is crucial to writing the best possible story. That’s why I am more than willing to pay for others in the business for their thoughts on my writing. A lot of new writers don’t want to share their work for fear of rejection. However, critical feedback is part of the business of screenwriting and it serves a few purposes:

Helps us grow as writers.
Helps improve our screenplays.
Helps us better understand the business.

As much as we writers like to romanticize screenwriting as an art, we need to understand it is a real big-time business and sometimes a brutal one! As the great Irving Berlin once wrote, “There’s no business like show business!”

Show Business!

Since most of us enjoy our art, we assume we will enjoy show business, but unless you’re a business-minded person, your passion for the art may be snuffed out by the business of being a screenwriter. Although I am new to the industry, I can vouch that the idea of screenwriting has been heavily romanticized.

The belief that you just need a great idea of a story to make it in the business is garbage—ideas are a dime a dozen. There is a lot more to screenwriting than just a great story. That is why there have been so many movies made about show business, there is plenty of drama!

Hollywood is so much of a business, screenwriter and teacher Scott Myers writes a weekly series just on the business of Hollywood. ¹ Aside from actually writing, learning the craft and making the right connections are two of the most important parts of the business of screenwriting.

As most of us writers know, the concept of the lone nomad writer is another romanticized myth in the business. Writing is a team effort. And just like learning to dance, we must pick our partner carefully!

Pick Your Team!

As this post goes live I am returning from a writer’s conference where I studied the craft, networked, and pursued representation for my nonfiction writing. Regardless of which area you write, writing is a team effort. So be sure to put your team together carefully.

Manager (coach and industry guide)
Agent
Entertainment Attorney
Studio
Distribution team

Each of these are a part of your screenwriting journey. These are just a few of the key players you need when working in show business!

¹ https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-business-of-screenwriting-111b5d087f7d

Tags feedback, hard work as a writer, screenwriting, teamwork, writing team

Screenwriting

Know the Rules

In my latest screenplay, I decided to take a risk and break the rules. I wanted to give my protagonist’s back story after the inciting incident. The problem was, I needed to show almost 30 years of exposition to explain how my protagonist got to the inciting incident.

My go-to answer was a dream sequence. But this led to another problem, dream sequences usually occur later in a story. I know the rule but decided to break it. The best writers are willing to take a chance to make their stories unique.

New York Times best-selling author Jerry Jenkins advises, “Yes, you can break rules— unless you do it because you’re not thinking. If you’re breaking a rule, do it on purpose.”¹ After all, writers are creatives, and nothing kills creativity like rules. That was never the purpose of the writing rules. So-called writing rules serve a few purposes that benefit both the writer and audiences.

Help the writer look professional and not amateurish.
Help a writer direct the narrative of the writing.
Help the audience understand the theme and purpose of our writing.
Help industry insiders know what kind of writer you are.

There are times to be rebellious and break the rules, but first writers must know and understand hence said “rules.”

Know the Rules?

Screenwriting coach Scott Myers advises, “There are conventions, there are expectations, there are patterns. But the simple fact is… There are no screenwriting rules!”² I like to think of rules as guidelines, a template for my story to be built in.

Rules can be rather confining and formative, whereas guides help us plan out our stories. It goes back to the classic story versus structure debate. Structure should help a story, not hinder it.

As a creative, I prefer to let my story unfold naturally without worrying about specific features and functions. At the same time, I am aware of and acknowledge specific writing conventions. Below is a list of things to keep in mind when you are writing out your screenplay masterpiece:

Keep title pages simple.
Only use FADE IN and FADE OUT at the beginning and end of your script.
Slug Lines — a.k.a. location headings — should only have three pieces of information.
Little to no camera directions.
Dialogue never follows the Slug Line.
All new notable character names need to be in CAPS the first time they appear.
Scene description is not for background.
Dialogue is not for exposition.
CUT TO transitions are useless in a screenplay.
It’s not your job to dictate where actors should improvise.³

There are times when breaking the rules pays off, but not often. They are the exceptions to the rules, not to the industry standards.

Hollywood Has Its Own Standards!

Keep in mind screenwriting isn’t just an art, it’s a business and business is all about making money. Hollywood does not like taking chances. Especially for unestablished writers, the loss of investment goes up. This is part of the reason it’s so hard to break into the business of screenwriting.

The classic 90s hit “Jerry McGuire” hit the nail on the head with its catchphrase, “Show me the money!” Learning the rules of screenwriting can be profitable for everyone, even if you choose not to utilize them. Below are a few examples of films that broke the rules and were still successful:

No one wants to write a box office bomb. Not only are they financial losses, they cause collateral damage to the studio, actors, and the writers who failed to know the rules.

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 Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

¹ Jenkins, J.B. (2006). Writing for the Soul, Writer’s Digest Books, pg. 187

² https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/so-called-screenwriting-rules-part-4-8851dd1943de

³ https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/8886-15-simple-screenplay-rules-you-need-to-know/

Tags screenwriting, writing rules

Screenwriting

Visual Storytelling

One of the best and most common pieces of writing advice screenwriters get is to always use visual storytelling. One of the easiest ways for me to illustrate my narrative’s theme is to look at it and express it visually.

What does my character’s world look like?
What time of year is my story set?
What is the culture like in my character’s world?
How does my character’s personality clash or reflect their surroundings?

Movies are an art form that can appeal to human sensory receptors. Our emphasis should always be on showing an entertaining story rather than telling one.

Ideally, all writers need to show more than tell; nothing bores an audience more than endless words and unnecessary exposition. This is why we need visual storytelling in our narratives.

Visual storytelling!

What has always drawn me to screenwriting is my tendency to visualize stories in my head. Even when I go to the movies or watch a movie at home, in the back of my head I am breaking down each scene into its literal components.

I find myself wondering how the writer imagined it originally. Because often what we see on the screen isn’t what the screenwriter originally wrote. It can be kind of fun trying to re-create scenes in our own heads because at its core screenwriting is simply visual storytelling.

Screenwriting coach and mentor Scott Myers advises aspiring screenwriters to read scripts of produced movies and then compare what is written to what they see in the movie. Not only is this free training in screenwriting, but it also shows aspiring writers how to visualize what is actually written on the page. The best writers master the art of visual storytelling. Below are a few benefits of the practice:

Writers get more bang for the buck. Visuals make more impact with fewer words.
Too much dialogue or exposition can slow a story down and bore the audience.
Visuals are more entertaining than dialogue. They allow for subtext and a deeper story.
Visual storytelling is easier to remember. 90% of the information our brain takes in is visual.

Visual storytelling allows writers to entertain the mind’s eye. Movies are all about stirring our audiences’ imagination and allow us to engulf our audience into our make-believe world.

A majority of moviegoers attend movies to escape from reality, perhaps this is why many of us long for a movie night during this extended pandemic. The best writers allow the audience to feel through what they see, hear and sense on screen.

Show Versus Tell!

Regardless of what you write, most writers know the golden rule of show versus tell. Exposition (telling) can make or break a story. When writers lack the creativity to show, they bog the audience down in dialogue and exposition.

Visual storytelling always enhances an audiences’ movie-going experience. How many times have you seen a beautifully shot movie and been transported into the make-believe world? Below are a few movies that always help me escape through stunning visuals:

The best writers are artists who use visuals to tell stories. Recently my favorite artist used visual storytelling to add depth to his latest song. If you watch the video, what you see will help you connect the dots—that is visual storytelling!

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 Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Tags Movies, screenplay, screenwriting, Show don't Tell, visual storytelling