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Monday, November 12, 2012
Writer's Digest Tutorial: Your Novel's First 50 Pages
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Screenwriting Structure Series Part 1 by The Unknown Screenwriter
(This is the first of a series of articles by the Unknown Screenwriter. He /She doesn't want his / her name known. The series of articles are informing, and I wanted to share them with my blog readers. So enjoy.)
Out of everything there has to do with screenwriting, I think STRUCTURE is the nearest and dearest to my heart. I am in constant search of the perfect structure and to be honest, I use my own version that works pretty well for me. Might not work for anyone else but I like it and I keep tweaking it as I write new material.
Something that I highly recommend everyone do and if not, get to know the structure that YOU DO USE like you know the back of your hand. Don't know the back of your hand? Take a look at it right now... LOL.
So Part 1 of screenwriting structure is going to be fast and loose...
How many screenwriting articles and screenwriting books have you read where they tell you something like, "structure is like building a house" or "you gotta lay the foundation before you can build." ?
Too many times if you ask me.
The above statements are TRUE of course but come on, too much reading between the lines so let's take that a little further. Let's go ahead and use the "building the house" metaphor and talk about what structure is - just like building a house, you start by FRAMING the house. Okay, let's stop right there. Think about all the houses you've seen being built at this stage. They pretty much all look alike, right? Just framing. Sure, some are higher. Some are taller. Some are longer, some are shorter.
Whatever.
But basically, when you visualize the frame of a house, you probably visualize just one picture in your mind's eye...
Cool. Let's go inside...
Now that we're inside this house being framed, we can see the individual construction elements, however, we have NO CLUE how this house is going to look once it's completed...
Ya follow?
Cool. Let's walk around...
Walking over to a wall structure, we can see that to have a sound wall, we need studs, headers for windows or doors, cripple studs, sills, blah blah blah blah blah... In other words, these are the things you probably need 98% of the time to build a good strong wall.
Of course if we don't have windows or doors, we won't need a header. We won't need cripple studs. I personally like to use fire stops in my own construction but hey, everybody's different.
But this is cool. Think of screenwriting like construction. As you complete certain steps of the building process, you gotta call the code inspector and he or she's gotta sign off on your structure before you can continue.
Right?
Right.
Suffice to say that different kinds of houses and maybe even more specifically, different kinds of rooms within that house are going to require different building elements. What the hell does this have to do with screenwriting?
EVERYTHING.
Most GOOD movies and even most bad movies have structure. Those story elements that you really just gotta have until someone reinvents the wheel i.e., comes up with something new that works.
For instance, how about your inciting incident? You really gotta have that. How about a climax? Gots to have one. How about introductions of characters? How about reversals, plot points, act breaks, etc.?
All parts of structure and when you put them all together in a certain sequence, they help form the WHOLE. In other words, there's some things YOU JUST GOTTA HAVE!
And that's where we are at Part 1 today. What are the screenwriting structure elements that we just gotta have NO MATTER WHAT? No matter what kinda movie you're writing. No matter what kind of characters you have or what kind of ending you end up with. There's just some things that you GOTTA HAVE so we can see that you're building a movie. Not a book. Not a magazine article...
A MOVIE.
Most great movies do share common structural elements but it's the HANDLING of those elements that can separate the men and women from the boys and girls.
An outstanding definition of structure that I came across last month was something Laura Reyna wrote over at her blog, WRITING & BUILDING: "Structure is the arrangement of a story's elements into a particular shape, with the purpose of eliciting maximum emotion from an audience ... or ... The shape or design of a movie that is experienced by the audience."
If you think about it, any time a movie fails to elicit maximum emotion from its audience, that fact TENDS to take us right out of the story. If and when THAT HAPPENS, the movie generally has to work even HARDER to get us BACK into the story.
Do you really want to have to do that?
I sure as hell DO NOT.
Which is why I tend to approach screenplay structure as an extension of character development i.e., my Protagonist goes through a series of MODES and within each mode, he or she must deal with conflict and through their decisions and resulting actions that deal with that conflict, we watch the Protagonist change, grow, and transform.
Of course screenplay structure ALONE, doesn't guarantee this process but I will say that if you start out with a good SOLID structure that has your Protagonist's transformational character arc BUILT-IN, you're starting out way ahead of the pack.
So how the hell do we do that?
First, we start out with those common screenplay structural elements that we just gotta have no matter what. Just like building a house or a wall within a house, we've got to have some structural elements to get the job done, NO MATTER WHAT. Same with writing a screenplay.
Your list may or may not be similar or identical, it doesn't matter. The point here is that YOU decide what structural elements YOU feel that you need to have in your own screenplay BEFORE you even begin to write.
I'm simply sharing mine:
The point here is knowing that you must, at an absolute minimum, have some absolute structural points before you start writing. I almost look at it a little like animation... i.e., once I have these main structural points figured out, I can now proceed to the TWEENING stage where I can now generate even more structural elements to make the overall structure evolve in a realistic manner for my Protagonist and his or her story.
And yes, I have lots of "tweening stages."
Screenplays
Out of everything there has to do with screenwriting, I think STRUCTURE is the nearest and dearest to my heart. I am in constant search of the perfect structure and to be honest, I use my own version that works pretty well for me. Might not work for anyone else but I like it and I keep tweaking it as I write new material.
Something that I highly recommend everyone do and if not, get to know the structure that YOU DO USE like you know the back of your hand. Don't know the back of your hand? Take a look at it right now... LOL.
So Part 1 of screenwriting structure is going to be fast and loose...
How many screenwriting articles and screenwriting books have you read where they tell you something like, "structure is like building a house" or "you gotta lay the foundation before you can build." ?
Too many times if you ask me.
The above statements are TRUE of course but come on, too much reading between the lines so let's take that a little further. Let's go ahead and use the "building the house" metaphor and talk about what structure is - just like building a house, you start by FRAMING the house. Okay, let's stop right there. Think about all the houses you've seen being built at this stage. They pretty much all look alike, right? Just framing. Sure, some are higher. Some are taller. Some are longer, some are shorter.
Whatever.
But basically, when you visualize the frame of a house, you probably visualize just one picture in your mind's eye...
Cool. Let's go inside...
Now that we're inside this house being framed, we can see the individual construction elements, however, we have NO CLUE how this house is going to look once it's completed...
Ya follow?
Cool. Let's walk around...
Walking over to a wall structure, we can see that to have a sound wall, we need studs, headers for windows or doors, cripple studs, sills, blah blah blah blah blah... In other words, these are the things you probably need 98% of the time to build a good strong wall.
Of course if we don't have windows or doors, we won't need a header. We won't need cripple studs. I personally like to use fire stops in my own construction but hey, everybody's different.
But this is cool. Think of screenwriting like construction. As you complete certain steps of the building process, you gotta call the code inspector and he or she's gotta sign off on your structure before you can continue.
Right?
Right.
Suffice to say that different kinds of houses and maybe even more specifically, different kinds of rooms within that house are going to require different building elements. What the hell does this have to do with screenwriting?
EVERYTHING.
Most GOOD movies and even most bad movies have structure. Those story elements that you really just gotta have until someone reinvents the wheel i.e., comes up with something new that works.
For instance, how about your inciting incident? You really gotta have that. How about a climax? Gots to have one. How about introductions of characters? How about reversals, plot points, act breaks, etc.?
All parts of structure and when you put them all together in a certain sequence, they help form the WHOLE. In other words, there's some things YOU JUST GOTTA HAVE!
And that's where we are at Part 1 today. What are the screenwriting structure elements that we just gotta have NO MATTER WHAT? No matter what kinda movie you're writing. No matter what kind of characters you have or what kind of ending you end up with. There's just some things that you GOTTA HAVE so we can see that you're building a movie. Not a book. Not a magazine article...
A MOVIE.
Most great movies do share common structural elements but it's the HANDLING of those elements that can separate the men and women from the boys and girls.
An outstanding definition of structure that I came across last month was something Laura Reyna wrote over at her blog, WRITING & BUILDING: "Structure is the arrangement of a story's elements into a particular shape, with the purpose of eliciting maximum emotion from an audience ... or ... The shape or design of a movie that is experienced by the audience."
If you think about it, any time a movie fails to elicit maximum emotion from its audience, that fact TENDS to take us right out of the story. If and when THAT HAPPENS, the movie generally has to work even HARDER to get us BACK into the story.
Do you really want to have to do that?
I sure as hell DO NOT.
Which is why I tend to approach screenplay structure as an extension of character development i.e., my Protagonist goes through a series of MODES and within each mode, he or she must deal with conflict and through their decisions and resulting actions that deal with that conflict, we watch the Protagonist change, grow, and transform.
Of course screenplay structure ALONE, doesn't guarantee this process but I will say that if you start out with a good SOLID structure that has your Protagonist's transformational character arc BUILT-IN, you're starting out way ahead of the pack.
So how the hell do we do that?
First, we start out with those common screenplay structural elements that we just gotta have no matter what. Just like building a house or a wall within a house, we've got to have some structural elements to get the job done, NO MATTER WHAT. Same with writing a screenplay.
Your list may or may not be similar or identical, it doesn't matter. The point here is that YOU decide what structural elements YOU feel that you need to have in your own screenplay BEFORE you even begin to write.
I'm simply sharing mine:
- Introduce your Protagonist - set up your Protagonist's ORDINARY WORLD.
- Thematic Message
- Introduce the rest of your main characters
- Inciting Incident
- Protagonist's CALL TO ACTION DILEMMA
- Protagonist's voluntary entrance into the NEW WORLD
- Subplots
- Mid-point - Your Protagonist's point-of-no-return
- Protagonist is HOPELESS
- Protagonist is HOPELESS times 2 - he or she is at their lowest point in the story
- Beginning of the END - Protagonist finally figures out how to beat the Antagonist
- Beginning of the END times 2 - Protagonist has learned all lessons of this new world - transformation complete
The point here is knowing that you must, at an absolute minimum, have some absolute structural points before you start writing. I almost look at it a little like animation... i.e., once I have these main structural points figured out, I can now proceed to the TWEENING stage where I can now generate even more structural elements to make the overall structure evolve in a realistic manner for my Protagonist and his or her story.
And yes, I have lots of "tweening stages."
 |
| Go, writers! Go! |
I have been getting a lot of request for loglines. I give different prices . Since I have so many requests for this service, I decided to set a single fix price.
Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee
A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.
Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee
A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.
Screenplays
Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee,
Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script
- Introduction
- Development
- Climax
- Conclusion
- Character development
- Mid point development
Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement.
Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.
Other services are at regular price.
Other services are at regular price.
Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee
Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee
- Evaluating formatting to industry standards
- Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.
Turnaround time:
Editing: 2 weeks
Critique: 2 weeks
Query Letters: 2 weeks
Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com or ahicks4298@msn.com.
Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.
I also critique and edit books. I am currently organizing the service prices for working on books. If you are interested in me critiquing or editing a novel you have written, feel free contact me.
*
*
Film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting services, coverage service, screenplay formatting margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, Search terms: screenplays, screenwriting service, edit and critique service, writing screenplays, screenplay format, loglines, query letter, film scripts, movie scripts, screenplay format, screenplay synopsis, script synopsis, treatment, proofreading service for writers, novels, writing services, fiction writing, film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting service, coverage service, screenplay critique service, screenplay format margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, free writing tutorials, script consultant, screenwriting jobs, film production companies
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Script Writing: Action Blocks
By Brad Johnson
As you may know, action blocks are those pesky bits of description that come between the dialogue in your script. They paint the picture of the world you’re exploring and it’s vital that you get them right. Over the years, there’s been a lot of debate about the appropriate length for an action block with the general consensus coming down to three or four lines maximum.
Anything more than that and your script can start to read like a novel or, worse yet, you can bog down your scripts momentum – both of which are a sure-fire way to get that reader you’re hoping to hook to toss your pages to the side.
But an action block is more than that to me. It’s where a screenwriter gets to truly be an artist within the pages of a script. Don’t get me wrong, dialogue is important, but if you’re doing it well you’re writing in the voice of your characters, not your own – unless you’re Tarantino or Sorkin. You guys feel free to keep doing your thing. It seems to be working for you.
For the rest of us, action blocks are where we get to show off our writing chops.
And to me, the best writers are the ones who are chameleons with their action blocks. They maintain their own voice, but still change their style to fit the story that they’re telling. What do I mean? Glad you asked.
Let’s take a look at…
Action Blocks and Alien (and a few more)
Walter Hill and David Giler’s script for ALIEN is the stuff of legend, and one of the reasons is the way they use their action blocks to enhance their story. A sparse futuristic tale set in emptiness of space, ALIEN works at instilling its characters, and its audience, with an extreme sense of dread and claustrophobia .
It’s an empty world. There’s no help. No escape from this horrible situation. In fact, I’d almost label it as a “man in a box” film – or “woman in a box” in this case. Here’s how Hill and Giler minimize their action blocks to increase that sense of tension and confinement for their readers.
FADE IN
SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE:
INT. ENGINE ROOM
Empty, cavernous.
Empty, cavernous.
INT. ENGINE CUBICLE
Circular, jammed with instruments. All of them idle.Console chairs for two.Empty.
Circular, jammed with instruments. All of them idle.Console chairs for two.Empty.
INT. OILY CORRIDOR – “C” LEVEL
Long, dark. Empty. Turbos throbbing. No other movement.
Long, dark. Empty. Turbos throbbing. No other movement.
And then when we meet our first character – Kane.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Explosion of escaping gas. The lid on a freezer pops open. Slowly, groggily, Kane sits up.
Pale.
Explosion of escaping gas. The lid on a freezer pops open. Slowly, groggily, Kane sits up.
Pale.
Kane rubs the sleep from his eyes. Stands. Looks around. Stretches.
Looks at the other freezer compartments. Scratches. Moves off.
You can feel it. The tightness. The sense of being alone. It’s all there. The words not used are just as important as the ones that are. Its style is perfect for this specific story but it wouldn’t work nearly as well for, say, an action comedy like TRUE LIES by James Cameron.
EXT. CANAL AND BOAT HOUSE – NIGHT
A dock extends into the frozen canal, just behind a large boathouse. There is a faint chirping sound. The ice breaks quietly, and the pieces are slid back. A head appears, in a
rubber drysuit hood. The DIVER slips the regulator out of his mouth and turns slowly, scanning… revealing:
A dock extends into the frozen canal, just behind a large boathouse. There is a faint chirping sound. The ice breaks quietly, and the pieces are slid back. A head appears, in a
rubber drysuit hood. The DIVER slips the regulator out of his mouth and turns slowly, scanning… revealing:
HARRY TASKER. Our hero. Harry floats with just his eyes above the surface, silent as a water snake, as a guard passes on a footpath nearby.
After a few beats Harry slips out of his tanks and fins, Letting them sink, and climbs the frozen ladder onto the dock. He moves like a ninja into the shadows of the boathouse.
Opening a WATERPROOF BAG, he pulls out a walky talky.
Opening a WATERPROOF BAG, he pulls out a walky talky.
HARRY
Honey, I’m home.
Here, the story being told is about a smooth operator – a top of the agency CIA secret operative. Cameron’s action blocks reflect that. There’s more description and it flows almost without interruption.
Here’s one more. This time from Nick and Ted Griffin’s script for MATCHSTICK MEN.
He raises the blinds, wincing at the floor of sunlight. He checks the window’s locks, re-locks it for good measure, then closes the shade again.
AT NEXT WINDOW
The ritual repeated: blinds up, window’s locked, he re-locks it.
AT THIRD
Repeated.
INT. ROY’S HALLWAY – MORNING
Three doors line the left wall; one divides the right; All are shut. Roy emerges from the nearest door on the left (a bedroom) and shuts it behind him. He crosses to the single door on the right (a bathroom), opens it, enters, and shuts it behind him. WATER RUNS and a TOILET
FLUSHES.
Three doors line the left wall; one divides the right; All are shut. Roy emerges from the nearest door on the left (a bedroom) and shuts it behind him. He crosses to the single door on the right (a bathroom), opens it, enters, and shuts it behind him. WATER RUNS and a TOILET
FLUSHES.
He reappears, shuts the door behind him, and enters the middle door on the left (another bedroom, unoccupied). He re-emerges with a handkerchief in hand, then in pocket, and a beeper on his belt, and again shuts the door behind him.
Roy is a conman with OCD, and his action blocks reflect that. The sentences are descriptive, but they’re choppy. Deliberate. Compulsive – like in their description of what’s behind the doors that Roy never goes into during the scene. We’re reading Roy’s story, so it works. The same action blocks written in a different style wouldn’t be nearly as effective. They wouldn’t pull us as deeply into Roy and his world.
Try and keep this is mind when you’re writing. Action blocks are another tool for you to utilize – another way to make your script deeper and more enveloping to your reader.
Remember, it’s not enough to have a strong voice, you have to have the RIGHT voice for each story you decide to tell.
Also please note that the action blocks only describe action. Not thoughts and feels like the paragraphs of a novel. Action blocks of a script must always be concise and to the point.
|
| Go, writers! Go! |
I have been getting a lot of request for loglines. I give different prices . Since I have so many requests for this service, I decided to set a single fix price.
Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee
A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.
Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee
A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.
Screenplays
Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee,
Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script
- Introduction
- Development
- Climax
- Conclusion
- Character development
- Mid point development
Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement.
Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.
Other services are at regular price.
Other services are at regular price.
Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee
Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee
- Evaluating formatting to industry standards
- Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.
Turnaround time:
Editing: 2 weeks
Critique: 2 weeks
Query Letters: 2 weeks
Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com or ahicks4298@msn.com.
Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.
I also critique and edit books. I am currently organizing the service prices for working on books. If you are interested in me critiquing or editing a novel you have written, feel free contact me.
*
*
Film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting services, coverage service, screenplay formatting margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, Search terms: screenplays, screenwriting service, edit and critique service, writing screenplays, screenplay format, loglines, query letter, film scripts, movie scripts, screenplay format, screenplay synopsis, script synopsis, treatment, proofreading service for writers, novels, writing services, fiction writing, film script format, writing flim scripts, screenwriting service, coverage service, screenplay critique service, screenplay format margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, free writing tutorials, script consultant, screenwriting jobs, film production companies
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
New Articles On The Way
I am working on getting a series of articles about script structure. So stay tuned the first article will appear this week. There hasn't been an article here for a while. don't worry they will return. the series on script structure is interesting and informing.
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| More is Coming! |
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