If you're interested in screenwriting then the first thing you have to come terms with is that film history is littered with good manuscripts that never got made. The director fell out with the producer. The star got pneumonia. The distribution company got cold feet.
It's possible to make quite a tidy sum out of writing screenplays that will be never be seen by a single paying punter. Somewhat demoralising, you may think, but before you worry about all that, you have to write the manuscript in the first place.
We asked two successful screenwriters, Shane Connaughton and Robert McKee, for guidance on how to write an effective screenplay.
Starting points - immediate advice for aspiring screenwriters
Remember that a good screenplay is a story and stories are critically important - they offer people equipment for living. Write about what is familiar to you and what you are passionate about.
"It's the storyteller - be it for the stage, page or screen, who civilises us. The art of writing makes meaning out of life. So screenwriting is not to be taken light-heartedly. It's a serious business."
Robert McKee
"Write about what you know and what you care about. I want to say to people who read my screenplays or see my films - this is what it was for me on the planet when I was alive."
Shane Connaughton
The first step - writing a treatment
A treatment can mean different things - it can refer to an outline of the plot, or to a detailed plan that you use to help you write the screenplay.
"A true treatment is something that you would never show anyone! It's an elaborate plan which describes scene by scene what the characters say and do, and what they're thinking and feeling. It should be about 80-100 pages long. It's a tool that the writer uses to build toward the screenplay."
Robert McKee
"I've learned over the course of practice that the shorter a treatment is, the better."
Shane Connaughton
How to structure a screen play
The famous French film maker, Jean Luc-Godard said, "All stories should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order."
Robert McKee outlines the structure of any story like this:
1. a key event or an inciting incident
2. a struggle against all the forces of life
3. a crisis
4. a climax
5. a resolution.
"Having a clear idea of possible beginnings, middles and ends, is a big help for me. But if the story is strong enough within you, you'll be pressurised a certain way and the story will tell itself. Beginnings and middles and ends are a very good way of trying to work it out in advance. Don't do anything on a whim or because you want to feel really fancy - it just doesn't work. Lies are soon found out. You can't fool an audience."
Shane Connnaughton
"Remember a story expresses how and why life changes from one condition at the beginning, to another condition at the end. For example, take that wonderful screenplay by Shane Connaughton and Jim Sheridan, My Left Foot: A man in utter poverty, suffering from a dreadful disease, leading a virtually meaningless and painful life, eventually finds meaning and achievement in life despite everything against him because he has an enormous will to change.
This story went from the negative to the positive; your story might go from the positive to the negative. You need a key event that throws things out of balance at the beginning of the story, then a struggle against all the forces of life, passing points of no return in terms of the central character's effort, until there comes a moment called the crisis. The crisis is when there is only one possible further choice of action for the character to achieve their desire. When the character takes that action, we call that moment the climax. Then you need a brief resolution at the end to bring things back to normal for the audience! That's the rhythm of any story."
Robert McKee
Writing exposition
The exposition is the facts of your story. It's all the facts about the characterisation, the history, the society, the physical setting and so on.
You only need to include the facts that the audience need to know at any given time - and no more!
Remember to dramatise these facts when you include them in your screenplay.
"I think of exposition as the clues to the characters and to what is going on in a film. For example, if your opening scene is a man digging potatoes in a field, you simply write: A man, Thomas Larkin, age 60, 6 foot 6 inches tall, is digging potatoes in a field. Then think of any other important details. Perhaps the field is by a river. Perhaps there's an army approaching the field. Imagine you're telling the story to a child at bedtime and you're trying to keep their interest."
Shane Connaughton
"I was given this advice by my writing tutor: Convert exposition to ammunition. For example, don't give the characters unnatural dialogue in which they tell each other things they already know about each other. The famous axiom that should guide you is: Show don't tell."
Robert McKee
Creating characters and dialogue
Write detailed notes on the history of your characters but follow the same principles given for exposition. Remember some characters will need depth; what they say and do may be very different from their secret desires.
To help you write realistic sounding dialogue, listen carefully to people around you.
Write dialogue last and remember that the real drama of a film is underneath what is being said and done.
"As I come from a theatre background, I always do build up a detailed picture of a character - I ask myself: what's their favourite colour, where did they go to school, who was their mother and so on. I always listen to people as I walk around. A young writer must listen, that's for sure. You have to have an interest in people; you have to have interest in humanity to be a writer - it goes without saying."
Shane Connaughton
"The key to character is desire. Ask yourself: What does my character want consciously and unconsciously? When you have a complex character, and you can answer those two questions clearly, suddenly your ability to create your character takes a huge leap forward. Remember that dialogue is the last step in the process of writing a screenplay, it's the frosting on the cake, because how do you know what a character is going to say until you know what that character is doing? And how do you know what the character is doing until you know what the character wants? So write your screenplay from the inside out, not the outside in."
Robert McKee
Reviewing and rewriting
Pare down your dialogue!
Read your screenplay aloud to hear if it flows well.
Remember film is all about images.
"If you don't cut down your dialogue somebody else will and they'll be less merciful than you! Cut to the quick. Cut to the chase all the time."
Shane Connaughton
"Any time you write a line of dialogue that you think is really wonderful, that's the first sign it should be cut! For the screenwriter, dialogue is the regretful second choice. Check that you have tried throughout to write in a purely visual way."
Robert McKee
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