Compel Me

How do we make like a Dyson and suck the reader into our worlds? (This is, without fail, the worst opening line I’ve ever written. I promise, this blog is helpful.)

Accomplish More

I’ve been so focused on the beats of a story in my own writing. The structure that makes it a fun ride. So much of that structure involves the ending, so it makes sense most of my brain power has been utilized in that area.

This one’s got me thinking. Photo by TSD Studio on Unsplash

But now that my endings are doing their job, I’m getting notes of a different kind. I’m getting notes about my status quo.

My beginnings, where I introduce EVERYTHING, have been a bit bland. In my mind, Fellowship of the Ring starts with a peaceful Shire, and a big party coming up for some old geezer. I love these peaceful openings, I find them oddly endearing.

But that’s not at all what the filmmakers of LotR did. They start with the ring, the war of the ring, Sauron’s downfall, and so much more. It’s exciting.

So even the opening I find endearing is not the actual opening. This reveals an area of improvement I’m tackling this week: establishing the status quo.

It’s not enough to introduce a character. It’s not enough to state what they want. We need to see them in action. Now this doesn’t mean your rom com needs to start by leaping out of a plane (but it’s a cool idea, right?), but it does mean that we need to discern character by watching your character hatch plans immediately.

You see, a scene is really cooking when it’s doing two or three things at once. A scene is a great scene when it accomplishes a lot at once.

Add a dash of conflict, bring to a boil, let simmer for 25 minutes, and my ‘leap out of a plane’ opening will be delicious! Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

From Basic to Bombastic

In my first script I ever wrote, I needed my protagonist to get dumped. Why? Because he’s a serial monogamist, and he’s going to instantly be hunting the rebound.

This makes his friends, and the audience, understand that this guy is on a path for disaster. What the hell, man? Grieve! Lay low!

I remember my first few drafts of this script. I had some argument once that led to the breakup. In another, I had him discover moving boxes and learn the hard way she’s not into him. These were all fine…

But then one edit, I wrote a new breakup scene. It starts with the protagonist tied to the bed. She arrives in lingerie, holding a flogger. It’s clear they’ve never done this before, and he completely fails to get into his role.

He annoys her so much that she dumps him and leaves… while he’s still tied to the bed.

This accomplishes a lot more than the first few ideas. First, it’s way funnier, while putting him in a key spot of vulnerability. This is an aspect of him that will severely punish him, so that already does a lot of work for the script.

It also shows my couple trying new things. I get to dump him in the moment, and I get to put him in trouble immediately when she leaves. And after, when he is commiserating, it’s baffling that he’s focused on dating again.

On top of all that, my script was about being trapped in a relationship. The opening scene really took that literally, but so much of the script is set up in it.

I didn’t think this through… Photo by Fr0ggy5 on Unsplash

Thinking about it now, I need to pull this script out of its coffin and revitalize it, because that was funny!

An Aperitif to Start

There’s one other thing your status quo needs to do, aside from simply setting the stage.

It needs to show you what you’re about to watch.

The first song in a musical does this.

I have a movie about a heist. It’s conniving and chaotic and silly. My opening? It’s not those things.

This is basically me writing my openings! Am I doing it wrong? Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

People translated this into a variety of notes for me to parse. Hard to connect to the protagonist until the inciting incident. Scenes feel long. The movie doesn’t start until the inciting incident, can that happen sooner?

If I’d received all these notes at the same time, I think it would be obvious that my opening ten were a problem. But I got each note individually, often weeks apart. Only now, looking back at them all, do they clearly show me the problem. It’s all right there in my face.

Then I was told the same thing I’m telling you now: this status quo needs to be a taste of the movie we’re about to watch.

You’ve sat down to watch this movie. I need to show you that the journey will be fun. I can’t do that if my character on page 1 isn’t showing pieces of what they’ll try in Act 2. If they’re not showcasing their personality in their basic lives, well no wonder people don’t connect to them.

Anyone can stand around and talk. I need to show an audience who someone is so they can love them.

Now, now, we can’t all start our movies with images of extremely cute babies. Find your own opening! Have your characters jump out of a plane or something. It works for Mission Impossible! Photo by Nihal Karkala on Unsplash

How do we show who someone is?

I’ve mentioned this before in this lovely blog. People are revealed through decisions in action.

I have a rewrite about a protagonist who is a chaotic, stubborn, petty shit disturber, but in my first ten pages, she’s not showing us these qualities. I thought, like the Shire in Fellowship, it would be nice to see this build.

But again, I neglected the entire war of the ring. I want her situations to escalate, but the breadth of her character? I need to let her shine fully.

So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

But our status quo isn’t done yet. There’s one last thing to consider, and it’s what our blog title refers to. The writing needs to be compelling.

This was what came up when I searched ‘Compelling’. That, and a bunch of Scrabble tiles, which even though they spelled compelling, were anything but. Photo by Kyle Cleveland on Unsplash

Cinematic Storytelling

Once you’ve done all that, the writing needs to paint pictures. Not only does it have to be clear and concise, it needs to show you the exact movie you’re going to be seeing.

If you can figure out how to do all these things, your opening is going to be cooking on excellent levels.

How do you make the writing cinematic? Well, you read screenplays that have accomplished this and compare it to your own writing. Better, read scripts that are your comps!

Think about everything we discussed today and tell me you’re not excited to show the world what you can do! It’s a big job, but much like cooking, if every ingredient is given the attention it deserves, the dish will be glorious.

If the sauce is not unceremoniously dumped on top, it’s considered gourmet, and costs an extra $20! Photo by Elle Cosgrave on Unsplash

What’s your favorite opening scene in a movie?

One of mine is Casino Royale, when (SPOILER ALERT) we meet Daniel Craig’s Bond in black and white, leading into the iconic “turn and shoot the camera” bit Bond is known for.

That’s it for this week! Happy Writing!