Screenwriting is not easy and I’m sure all of us screenwriters can benefit from the insights, wisdom, and advice that screenwriters who have been writing for decades can give us. They’ve been through this forest for a while so it’s definitely worth hearing what they have to say.
At the same time, I do believe there is a delicate balance between seeing what makes a “good screenplay” and what makes something you personally like. They can be the same thing but not always. I am under the impression that at the end of the day, your intuition transcends all else.
More of my thoughts about this balance and how I think it’s best to process screenwriting rules and tips like these can be found at the end of this blog.
I have compiled a list of 5 pieces of screenwriting advice from writers who you may have heard of before (some household names in here). These have helped me a lot with writing when it comes to cultivating my creativity in the face of fear and mental constraints. I hope these help you too!
Let’s get right into it
Tip #1: from writer and director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women, upcoming Barbie movie) – “Think character, think plot, think theme. But when you sit down to write a scene, feel.”
When you’re writing a scene and you have a very strong vision of how this scene should play out, don’t worry about how it needs to fit into the overall narrative. Don’t think about how meticulously written it needs to be. Don’t worry about the thematic implications. If you have an inexplicably vivid sense of how this scene plays out in your head, just write it… now!
Act on that inspiration and just write.
There are many times when I’m writing and I have an idea for a scene but I don’t know how it would fit into the overall story. But I feel strongly for the scene and I write it anyway. Then I come back to it and say to myself, “Oh that’s why I had that idea.” It makes sense only after I see it in the bigger picture.
A lot of writing is subconscious.
I believe that writing is not creating puzzle pieces but finding them within. I think the strongest scenes I have written are ones of pure intuition that come to me as strong feelings and not as logical conclusions.
You know your story better than anyone else. There’s a reason why you are feeling those visions and instincts inside of you. So trust them and act on them. Like Greta says, feel it out.
Tip #2: Quentin Tarantino – “By the time you get to the middle of the story… Now you know so much more. The hope is that the characters just take it from me.”
The way I use this piece of advice is I ask myself,
“What does the character want?”
Allow the character to have a life of their own. Let them write the script. If you do this, you can get more authentic and realistic writing. The writing will align with the world and characters you have set up.
Somewhere else I heard that you need to write what the characters want to do, not what you as a writer want to do with the characters. Stephen King described his writing process as him setting up his characters in situations and seeing how they get out of them. He says he does not help them as a writer, he just watches.
I think of these ideas almost like a wind up toy. You wind it up (a writer setting up the story) and then you let it go. It moves on its own.
Allowing the characters to write the script can help you with overthinking and overanalyzing. Try to lean into the character’s genuine wants and desires rather than the meticulous thematic elements that all need to fit perfectly together for the script to “work”.
Tip #3: From the writers of South Park – “You come up with an idea and it’s like ‘okay this happens and then this happens.’ No no no, it should be, ‘this happens and therefore this happens but this happens and therefore this happens.’”
Basically as you describe your story beats, you want “buts” and “therefores” between each scene. You don’t want an “and then” appearing in between your scenes.
For example: Billy was in the store. And then Sally walked in. And then Billy tripped over.
V.S
Billy was in the store BUT Sally walked in THEREFORE Billy tripped over.
It’s a completely different story. In the first one, there isn’t even really a story happening.
This piece of advice has really helped me when I feel like things are going slow in my story where I don’t want it to be. So I focus on this concept as it applies to my scenes.
I find that my scenes don’t have that domino effect happening. So I go back and rework how my scenes can fall into each other and have a more direct relationship to one another.
Focus on the escalation of conflict and stakes.
Tip #4: Steven Pressfield (from his book Put Your Ass Where Your Hearts Wants to be) – “When we say put your ass where your heart wants to be, we mean station your physical body in the spot where your dream work will and must happen.”
The simple act of just moving your body into the physical space has a tremendous power. This forces something to happen no matter what you are thinking.
I tell myself,
“I’m only gonna start writing if I feel good about it…”
Or
“I’m only gonna start writing that script once I have an idea…”
But if you just force yourself to open that laptop, open that script… you can have a lot of faith in that simple act of moving your body. Why?
Because you are mastering your mind.
You are moving your body and your mind will follow. Your mind is holding your body back when you fear writing. So if you move your body no matter what your mind is saying, then your mind and imagination will likely follow afterwards.
Next time you feel that resistance to start writing, move in the face of it anyways. Move into that physical space and you’ll see some magic happen.
Tip #5 – David Fincher – “I like characters who don’t change”
Pretty simple. Doesn’t even seem like a piece of advice but I take it as a huge one.
All we know about characters and screenplay is that character has to change due to the conflict of obstacles and desire. Pressure forces change. But even this can be flipped on its head.
There are so many different rules, constraints, and structures when it comes to writing a screenplay. I believe many rules have a lot of great things to benefit from. They are things that have stood the test of time and proved their value in certain aspects. They can help us realize why we don’t like our script.
If a scene in your script feels off, you can look to a screenwriting rule (like Tip #3 with the “buts” and “therefores”) and say, “Ah that’s why I don’t like my script. It’s missing that.”
If you feel strongly about a scene in your script and you feel it is creativity right but it contradicts a screenwriting rule you read about, don’t allow that rule to transcend your intuition.
While Fincher is on topic, anyone remember that line from Fight Club –
“The things you own end up owning you”
Well…
The rules we make end up ruling us
Okay maybe not as cool but you get my point. Use rules, don’t let them use you.
To wrap up this point and to touch on something important when it comes to screenwriting and thinking about rules and advice from some of the biggest writers…
Look to rules as things that can help you understand why you’re not feeling a certain part in your script.
But don’t let the rules control your art. You have to do whatever you feel is creatively right at the end of the day.
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