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In the film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), "A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." The same can be said about writers.
This newsletter is late because I've been actively working on the first draft of my screenplay. When you get engrossed in a book, a movie, or a TV show, you don't want to stop until you find out the ending. That happened to me with this script. In a first draft, we as writers are telling ourselves the story. I couldn't wait to see how this one ended. Now, I'm finished and started making revisions.
Here are some discoveries I made while writing this screenplay. You can learn more in a recent post.
"Show, don't tell" is important in storytelling
This well-known writing axiom is especially true in scriptwriting. I don't have to tell an audience how dire the living conditions are in a community. I can show it through characters, weakened by a lack of food and water, staring at their empty pantry. An audience can see and hear what is happening without being told. This builds a greater emotional impact because an audience can experience a situation through what they see.
Make large issues personal
In early drafts, I had a character give a big emotional monologue when she finally gets the point of the story. While I'm a fan of great monologues, it didn't work in my script until I made the stakes for my character personal.
I tied this revelation to the character's biggest heartbreak. In place of a monologue, I wrote an intense dialogue with another character who helps her realize the truth. This made the scene more powerful. The character earned her growth, and the audience makes this realization with her.
Profanity, violence aren't necessary
When I finished my draft, I posted the following on my social media.
I have no problem using profanity in my novels, but I didn't use any in my screenplay. It's not because I'm shooting for a PG-13 rating. I didn't need those words to tell the story.
The same goes for violence. Scriptwriting is the art of the possible. Action scenes require stunt people and trained armorers (who can avoid tragedies like what happened on the Rust set). The amount and type of stunts and special effects determine the budget of the film and who I can pitch to. So I think about what is necessary to tell the story. This doesn't limit my creativity. Instead, it helps me focus on what is really important to tell the story.
Next steps
I'm making revisions to the first draft now. I plan to have it ready for beta readers soon. If you are interested in giving feedback on my screenplay, especially if you have experience in the movie industry, please let me know. |
