The script is everything
“To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script.” – Alfred Hitchcock
I’ve tried writing feature films before. Tell me if this sound familiar: I intrinsically know what makes the start of a movie interesting as well as have plenty of ideas where it should go from here. I get stuck on the second act and fall back to refining my first. Now with a perfectly-tuned first act I still can’t nail the second. For anyone else stuck in this cycle, it happens a lot. Why? Because knowing what makes a movie exciting is not enough. Perfecting your first act can actually be harmful to your script if you don’t know where the screenplay is going.
Having finished draft three of my feature “Soulmate” co-written with award-winning writer/director Jay Palmieri Jr, I am proud to say we finished writing a feature screenplay in only a few months. I want to offer writers some insight into how we did this and engaged in a healthy collaboration process.
Step 1: Talk it out.
“There is no point in having sharp images when you’ve fuzzy ideas.” – Jean-Luc Godard
Talk about the idea with a collaborator, colleague, significant other, or to your pet. Speak it out loud and your thoughts will process. Talk about themes, character dynamics, similarities and differences to other films, where you want it to go and where you don’t. Be open to new ideas. Your initial idea or core message may change for the better.
Keep up this process, especially when you feel derailed. Reading a script can give you tunnel vision. Meetings where the script isn’t in front of you to nitpick or defend are crucial to figure out what the overall story should be. One line can be made perfect through infinite revision, but where does it fit in the grand scheme? Revisit Step 1 throughout the process.
Step 2: Outline.
“Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters’ theses.” – Stephen King
Thanks Steve, but outlining worked for us. It may not work for you, but when writing with a collaborator you need to keep track of what’s going on. We agreed that before we wrote a word of action or dialogue we’d write a few sentences to organize our story. The discovery process was just as exciting.
We actually took it a step further afterwards to write single sentence descriptions of every scene in order. This very much helped with organization and allowed us to quickly scan through the entire movie by reading only few double-spaced pages. New scenes emerged and our plot points ended up shifting for the better, but we kept track of our story throughout the process with a solid outline.
Step 3: Write (and don’t edit ’til you’re done).
“I’m first and foremost interested in the story, the characters.” – David Lean
With a solid outline in place it was time for us to write. Emulating the outline scene by scene takes the pressure off. You know where you start out and where you need to go. This was freeing because the creativity is all put toward the way you tell your story, not having to worry about writing yourself into a corner helps keep you in the flow state.
You can jump around and write whatever scenes excite you, knowing it will fall nicely into place. My writing partner came up with some brilliant new scenes that weren’t in our original outline that posed an exciting challenge to shift and accommodate them. Keeping an open mind allows for creativity to flow in a more rigid structure.
And I didn’t forget about that second part. Don’t make edits until you’re done. Remember that cycle of getting stuck and falling back into revision mode? With an outline there is no excuse to be stuck. Think of it this way: writing generates pages, while revising may add a few lines. Revising is easy when there’s something to revise. So challenge yourself to write it all first and revise later. Finish the scene, then the next, and the next…
Step 4: R&R: Read & Revise.
“I handed in a script last year and the studio didn’t change one word. The word they didn’t change was on page 87.” – Steve Martin (Introducing the best adapted screenplay at the 2003 Academy Awards)
So you finished a script? Treat yourself to something nice. Most people don’t make it this far. The successful ones rewrite because first drafts are a mess. They’re meant to be. They’re coal to be crushed into diamonds. So the first step is to read through your creation.
Knowing the end, there might be something you can allude to in your beginning, or something that never fully came back around at the end. Start patching this up and get as nitpicky as you like. Adjust pacing issues, strengthen characters, and add conflict.
Remember how I said perfecting the first act early can be harmful in the long run? Your first act sets up the story and your final act (usually the third) finishes it. These two acts must work in tandem for a satisfying script. To an audience, nothing beats your characters overcoming an obstacle they weren’t prepared for earlier. Character growth is hard, because it happens over a long period of time.
The outline can help you see from a God’s eye view, beyond time. Test your character in increasingly difficult situations. You lose something placing an easy situation after a hard situation. Flop those two scenes and constantly build the stakes. Get your screenplay to a point where you’re comfortable sharing.
Step 5: Peer review
“Worst script I’ve ever read.” – Peter Mullan (on Braveheart)
I hope you have at least one or two writers in your network, because you’ll need them. Friends may respond with “this is great” or “can’t wait to see it,” but this isn’t the kind of feedback we’re looking for. We’re looking for other creatives who can tell you what works, what doesn’t, and maybe offer suggestions of their own.
Checking your ego during this process is a must, but never take notes at face value. You are the master of the story and no one knows it better than you. A note may be given that really is a reaction to a problem elsewhere. This is where you get to play detective in comparing notes.
As a writer/director I often leave location descriptions vague because I’m open to opportunities of what I can get, but a reader might not have the faintest idea where the characters are and their experience suffers. If something keeps popping up from multiple sources, you must address it. To things unclear be a sculptor, carving away those uneven surfaces into chiseled details.
Chances are the average person is unfamiliar with and will not want to read a screenplay. You don’t want this feedback anyway. Look for people who will see the potential in it and have maybe been through the ringer once or twice on their own.
How do I get off this staircase?
“You can’t fix a bad script after you start shooting. The problems on the page only get bigger as they move to the big screen.” – Howard Hawks
Repeat steps 4 and 5 if necessary and don’t forget Step 1. Is that more than 5 steps? Not really, just a weird way to climb a staircase. As someone who produces their own work, I would rather spend a few extra weeks on a script than an extra day in production or the editing room solving a script problem that could have been resolved earlier.
“The script is what you’ve dreamed up–this is what it should be. The film is what you end up with.” – George Lucas
Wrapping up
So what did I discover through this process? A perfect first act can never change and this is the problem. Focusing on crafting a perfect first act without knowing where that story goes is like constructing a dam and expecting water to flow downriver. Don’t be a beaver, be one with the water and go with the flow.
Screenwriting is both a craft and a calling, it’s a process which is far from easy and pleasurable at times. Creation is not easy or forgiving. This method may not work for you, but even if you apply one approach I hope it helps you view the process in a new way.
All creativity needs is a spark.