Non Negotiables
Last week, I promised I’d discuss some of the must-haves your screenplay needs to shine. This is a decision that, one year ago, I would have never made in a blog!
A Spoonful of Mindset Medicine
There are a few things your story needs to rise above the competition.
I say that, but the previous sentence is a fat lie. If you want to be a professional, you’re not really competing with unpaid screenwriters. You’re competing with the paid ones. You’re rising INTO the competition.
This was a mindset that I found challenging to comprehend. I don’t want to be the best boxer in the minor leagues, or in regionals. I want to be able to go toe to toe with Muhammad Ali himself.
Really wrap your head around this. If you want to write movies that make top dollar, you need to write top dollar work.
Everything else is practice. Training. Useful, if we apply the lessons we learn from it.
Screenwriting professionals in Hollywood aren’t using script hosting sites. They’re not entering contests. They’re not seeking validation. If we want to join their ranks, we need to adapt these mindsets and get out of the industry that turns our hope into their dollars.
We need to truly understand the craft, and ensure we deliver on the stories we promise.
To that end, we first look to the basics of story.
Screenwriting Solutions 101
Your story, whether you’re writing a graphic novel, a book, a script, anything, needs to have some sort of point to it. Why does your character go on your journey? Well, the journey creates meaningful change. This impacts us as an audience.
The cleanest way this happens is through the protagonist. They are different at the end of the movie than they are at the beginning. Alternatively, the protagonist can be stalwart and remain faithful to their ideals, but they change the people around them.
Either way, this change is crucial. It’s the reason screenwriting is so powerful.
So how do you show this change?
The simplest way, which is something Tom Vaughan says often (which is why I follow him, and so should you), is to have the character make a choice at the beginning of the film. Then, at the end, have them make a similar choice, only this time they choose an option that they’d NEVER do at the beginning of the film.
Does your script do that?
Prove it. Write down the first choice. Write down the last choice. Show a stranger (this will make your bus rides more interesting for both you, and strangers). If it’s a clear change, they’ll be able to tell you, if they weren’t already getting as far away from you as possible.
What if you have a stalwart character?
Simple. The world around them, the characters that fill that world, continually make those choices instead. The more main characters you have, the more people we need to see make those choices. Again, the people in this world do something they’d never do at the start of your story.
That’s change. That’s Screenwriting 101. If you have nothing else, have that.
But Wait! There’s More!
For the next section, I want you to take big swings. It’s really helpful, especially when you’re learning, to take big swings first and foremost. It helps you learn how to steer the ship of your story.
First, your character lives their life. They want something. What do they want? Did you write it down and show your bus buddy? Where on the page do we really know what they want?
Then, something happens. An inciting incident happens. This is completely unexpected, and it happens to your protagonist. It needs to be visceral. It needs to force them to react. It needs to prevent them from getting what they want.
After your character hems and haws about what to do next, they will decide to go on an adventure, and enter some form of a new world. They’ll learn to navigate that world, they’ll make efforts to fix the issue, but that’s when they’re hit with a big, fat midpoint twist.
We’re cooking. We have a beginning, with a want, and a choice. We have an inciting incident that forces a decision. We have an adventure, with a twist that changes the trajectory of the character’s story. We have a choice at the ending - signifying change.
That choice at the end should ideally be the solution your character implements to solve the problem. Want triple bonus points? Of course, we need those bonus points to rise to the competition. Well, then your character needs to improvise once the final plan fails, and make this choice on the fly.
This may sound trite or formulaic or boring, but even as I type it, the hair on my arms rise. Transformation is extremely powerful, and these basic building blocks facilitate them.
Not to brag, but I’ve read a lot of scripts. At least ten. Maybe even twenty. Some from great writers, some from writers who will be great. These aspects are what held me back to some degree or another, and they will for others.
So investigate everything you’ve ever written, and write these crucial elements down for each of them. Then ask yourself, “could these things be improved in this story?” and start coming up with ways how. You might have a lot of fun!
A while back, I was asked a clever question about how to give notes on a script. When I’m reading, these are the immediate things that I’m hoping to track. If I can’t, my notes are going to ask a lot of questions to (hopefully) lead a writer to these answers.
Cut, Print, That’s a Wrap! … Right?
No. We’ve got more to go.
This is actually one of the reasons I love screenwriting so much, and why it’s so damn hard to teach. It’s hard to teach because even if and when we nail these basics, there’s so much more a script needs to be doing.
Your script’s transformation is the spine of the script. Those fun characters and side stories you added in there? If those aren’t creating dialogue with the spine, they’re problems. In fact, every choice you make needs to be related to that transformation. It’s THAT crucial.
One of my screenwriting buddies stands on random street corners in LA and gives lectures about how the character quadrant accomplishes this to any passerby who will listen. He does this because you, writers, need to understand this.
Writing is so wonderful, because as all these aspects come together, you literally create magic within the hearts and souls of others. Getting there takes time. This is what I’m here to help you with.
So let me know. What aspects of screenwriting are holding you back? Or, are you like me a few years ago, where you had no idea what was holding you back? If so, let’s chat about it.
I have a lot of big news coming your way FAST. Not about my own projects, but about how I can help you level up your writing in a myriad of ways. Can you feel the winds of change blowing? They practically picked me up and tossed me off into the distance, and I’m in for it. And I’m taking you all with me!
So, stay tuned. Do your homework. Make a bus buddy.
And as always, Happy Writing!
Still here? Great! This is my year of growth, and if you’re willing to share one of my articles, I’ll put you in a draw. At least once a season, I’ll draw a name. If its yours, I’ll read your script and do a consultation with you. These are worth every effort. If you liked this article and can pass it along, that’d be AMAZING.
See you in a week!