Three
Approaches to
Developing Your Screenplay
by Gina Vanname
Before
you sit down to write a screenplay you need to
come up with a story. What's the best approach?
There's no right approach, but there are ways
to make your life easier as you create your story.
Let's
look at three ways to approach the creation of
a story:
-
Stream of Consciousness
-
Analytical Approach
-
Methodical Approach
Stream of Consciousness
This
is when you have an idea that is not fully developed.
It may be a logline, a premise, or a few scenes
and you plunge into the script, writing one scene
after the other in a stream of consciousness.
It's almost like automatic typing, channeling,
whatever comes into your head you write it. Full
force like a steamroller.
Benefits
to this approach
- You
get to write the actual screenplay without having
to form the full story. No need to work out
plot points or cultivate the characters' personalities.
You just write the script.
- This
approach doesn't take much pondering time. Spontaneous
writing is fun and easy.
- You
activate your right brain when using this approach.
Some of the things you write will pleasantly
surprise you. Some dialogue the characters say
will also surprise you.
- Once
you finish your script you will have a better
idea about what you really want to write about.
A story and a theme emerge.
- This
approach will trigger a lot of other great ideas.
Jot them down and continue.
Problems
with this approach
- Since your screenplay will be a stream of
words, the description and the dialogue would
need to be heavily edited. No words should extraneous.
Anything in the description that doesn't move
the story forward needs to be cut. Any dialogue
that doesn't reveal character or move the story
forward needs to be cut. And it will be a lot.
- Most
of the dialogue will probably sound like ranting
or babbling. After finishing you will know your
characters better and the dialogue can be sharpened.
- There
will be no suspense. The author's foreshadowing
creates suspense and that takes forethought.
- Your
story structure may be weak or non-existent.
The plot may only be regurgitated movies you've
already seen.
- It
may be hard to rewrite. Your story may be all
over the place--knowing where to how to approach
your next rewrite becomes vague.
- It
becomes harder to cut out scenes you love. Writers
try to jam in past written scenes that have
no relevance in the new draft. You have to be
ruthless otherwise your script will not flow.
- This
approach could take longer to get the script
where you want. The story will be missing a
lot of elements and you might want to trash
the entire draft. If anything is salvageable
maybe you can create your next draft around
the most fascinating sequence.
Using
this approach
This
approach is good for writers without much patience
and who have been brewing a story in their head
for a long time.
As
you pour out the words onto the page keep your
character's objectives in mind. Ask your characters
how they would react and what would they do in
this situation. It's a good idea-even though you're
streaming-to know roughly what the ending will
be. This gives you a direction to write towards.
Read the script, find the story and work out the
plot points before rewriting. Otherwise, you will
only be rearranging a weak plot.
Analytical Approach
This
is where you develop every detail about your story
before proceeding to write the script. This approach
goes hand-in-hand with the popular screenwriting
books by Robert McKee, Syd Field, John Truby and
Chris Vogler. The plot is worked out in intricate
detail. Maybe index cards are used or a 40-page
outline written. You don't write a single scene
until you have every inch of the story developed.
Below
is the formula from Field's book:
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Beginning
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Middle
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End
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Pinch
I
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Pinch
II
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mid-point
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Theme
of action
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60
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Theme
of action
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Plot
Point I
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45
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75
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Plot
point II
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| The Set-up |
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confrontation
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resolution |
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This
approach is great for learning the craft, but
once you have learned what a plot point feels
like you need to move on as writer and write organically
and instinctually. You can always come back to
the formula if you get stuck.
Benefits
to this approach
- You
know where the story's going so you can write
a tight script in two-three weeks.
- There
will be fewer rewrites. You have already edited
and thought through the whole thing without
writing a single page.
- You
will have all the story elements incorporated:
inciting incident, hook, act breaks, twists,
mid-point, climax, resolution, ghosts, desires,
goals, theme and premise, etc.
- You can focus on the scene. Since all elements
are worked out, you can actually concentrate
on writing strong description, dialogue and
perhaps the subtext in the first draft.
Problems
with this approach
- During
the creation, you can get anxious to write the
screenplay. It may take a month to 6 months
to log every detail of your story.
- The
script may seem contrived or mechanical. Working
this approach tends to turn out a plot-heavy
story. It may seem like the characters are forced
to do what the writer wants, due to being so
restrictive during actual writing.
- Character
development suffers. There may be a great plot,
but the characters will most likely be one-dimensional.
Using
this approach
Convert
all your plot points into the first draft and
in the second draft work on developing your characters.
Do character biographies. Create backstory for
them. This may change your plot slightly or a
lot, but if action is not organic to the characters
the script's impact will always be weak-no matter
how much rewriting.
Use each draft to focus on a particular
element. Concentrate on the plot in the first
draft and character in the second. The third can
be a dialogue and subtext draft and the fourth
is really a polish, fine-tuning the description
and loose scenes.
Methodical Approach
This
approach not only combines the better of the two
previous approaches, but also seeds your story
from a well-developed premise. Using the formula
"A leads to B" you can drive the story
organically.
For
example: "Ruthless ambition leads to its
own destruction."
This
is the premise for Macbeth. The leading motivation
is ruthless ambition. Macbeth is forced into a
killing spree powered by his motivation and ultimately
dies by the sword. From the beginning to end,
the story reaps this premise in every scene. This
premise (theme) drives the story forward by intertwining
character and plot.
After
you form your premise, spend time on your main
characters by developing history, traits, fears,
and desires-that is physiology, sociology, and
psychology, and loosely develop your main plots
points. Write each scene/sequence from the essence
of your premise.
Benefits
to this approach
- You
only need to loosely develop the main plot points-inciting
incident, first, second and third act breaks,
mid-point, climax and resolution. The plot will
become more refined as you write from character
and premise.
- Your
first draft ends up being well rounded. You
will still need a rewrite, but it will be more
integrated.
- The
scene and sequences will be less contrived.
Who your characters are and how they would react
based on their own life history will build an
organic story.
- The
script is more fun to write. Since your plot
points aren't rigid, as you write your characters
will take you on a journey.
Problems
with this approach
- If you are a plot-heavy or an impatient writer
you may experience problems with this approach.
It does take effort to develop unique characters
and you will spend a lot of time on this.
- You
may have to write more than one biography on
one character. As you write the script your
characters traits and history must change if
you reorganize the plot. Everything is cause
and effect and must be fluid. You can't jam
a square peg into a round hole.
Using
this approach
If
given the effort to this approach, by far, it
will take you to a better screenplay. As with
the analytical approach you can write each draft
specifically; first draft for story/ character,
second for dialogue and subtext and third a polish.
Conclusion
Too
many screenplays are written without regard to
character or premise. These elements are ingredients
for a great screenplay and must not be ignored.
As a screenwriter you want to move your audience
and involve your reader. The premise engages a
theme (what your story is really about) and well-developed
characters with strong motivations are easily
understood. The methodical approach integrates
these elements well and if used can save the writer
a lot of headaches that comes with rewriting.
©
Script Fly 2011
