Screenwriting Structure Part 14
Wow, not having a working “contact” page has been a nice vacation… LOL. Only people I “like” are sending me emails. What a fucking concept! I may have to ditch the contact page altogether.
I thought I would share a recent email communication I had with one of the usual visitors here because it really does go with screenwriting structure and to be honest, I haven’t seen it discussed like this in any books, articles, or blogs and it’s actually very relevant to the series.
I basically answered an email and for the fucking life of me, I can’t remember the actual question but if the visitor I wrote this to wants to speak up — go for it.
I hope this explains structure to those of you who worry so much about formula… LOL. I had to rewrite some of it because I had deleted the original email and a truncated version of popped up in my search results so I have taken some artistic license to bring it to you here.
Here it is:
LOL. To be honest, I kind of had the idea that this might be happening with you… Just a feeling but I generally go with my gut and it has served me well.
What you have to try and keep in mind is that your stuff IS already different. The stories are different. The characters are different. The way YOU write it is different from the way this shit is being written today.
KNOW THAT. Relish that.
Structure will pull it all together.
Remember the baseline?
This is the HARDEST thing I can get people who want to break in to the business to understand…
Now the following is SIMPLY an attempt to explain what I mean — I am not talking about you — per se.
I think you’re a really good writer. I think you definitely bring your “A” game to the game. So that aside, read the following and let it cook a few days…
Let’s say that the following are the current baselines…
———-Pro Writer Baseline———-
—-Highly Talented Writer Baseline—-
——–Talented Writer Baseline——-
————Newbie Baseline———–
Newbies and Talented writers have a ways to go…
Highly Talented Writer is almost there. Pro writers ARE at the top — “in the game.”
For newbies and talented writers, it’s often simply a matter of experience but having said that, I have read a shitload of newbie and talented writer screenplays that could have easily been elevated to Highly Talented Writer Baseline if ONLY they would have had some kind of applied structure. Now when I say that, you have to rise above the actual words that I’m using and not simply let the word or phrase, “structure” — pigeonhole you into meaning something formulaic.
We can talk for months and years about outstanding movies that break the mold. I have never argued that point but I think arguing about it online, forums, blah blah fucking blah does a disservice to newbies and talented writers because what they fucking need is structure to get them on the right path MOST OF THE TIME.
So many books talk about structure but really do NOT explain it in any real detail and show me a book, article, site, whatever that says not to use 3 Act Structure… And, for those that do, it’s almost as if the author IS IN FACT telling you to simply use the structure they give you as is.
See, the lines are extremely blurry. Anything can fit into a 3 Act Structure but I think when you call a kind of structure 3 Act Structure, it causes mass confusion because that’s what’s out there the most and if you’ve ever looked at the basic 3 Act Structure — there’s really not much to it. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. Of course it works but it was the 3 Act Structure with its SIMPLE BASIC explanation that allows those using it to be creative i.e., since it doesn’t list every possible fucking story element that could happen within the 3 Act Structure environment, you are free to be creative and do whatever you want because the 3 Act Structure is in fact so very fucking vague.
I don’t like vague.
So I started my research into structure and the first thing I found that I despised about 3 Act Structure is the twice as long 2nd act. I fucking hate that — but that’s just me.
With my background and the way I think and the way I do things — the way I was taught to take notes — blah blah blah — I like things to be nice and tidy. Meaning, I like 4 distinct acts of somewhat equal length. It just makes sense to me. It goes along with my mindset. Easy to understand. Easy to remember. It’s simply a process and a process that works for ME.
If it can work for others then ME HAPPY.
I am a non-linear thinker. I’m no less an artist than anyone writing but I realized early on that Society — at least the society that I live in and continue to live in does not lend itself toward an artist’s mentality. Nothing wrong with that but the problem is that as artists, we tend not to think like average society when it comes to the actual writing or THE ART.
However, for me — I am not speaking for you — for me — everything leading UP to the art is fairly linear to me. Preparation. Research. Notes. Whatever. It’s the actual ART that I DEVIATE from linear thinking and I have observed this with a lot of people.
But at the same time, I also know a few artists who were brought up by artists. Raised in an artist family. Lived in areas dominated by artists. Not a lot of them because there’s NOT a lot of them but they do exist. While these people usually have to find their own way to their art, they do seem to have a little easier time of it because they are not bound by the same society to which I am certainly bound…
They have evolved in a completely different way than us linear thinkers so they devise their own process.
Neither is more right than the other. Neither works better.
It’s simply what works BEST for YOU.
The 4 Act Structure I came up with works best for me and as it turns out, I would say that 98% of those people I share it with also FEEL like it would work better for them and guess what, when they write their screenplays using it, they usually end up a hell of a lot better. Having said that however, EVERYONE WILL USE IT DIFFERENTLY. You get out of it whatever you get out of it.
Some people look at it and jump to the conclusion that it’s some kind of list that you go down and simply cross off as you write that particular element into your story… The dreaded formula… LOL.
And for THOSE that want to use it that way — fine. I can explain it all I want but in the end, people do whatever the fuck they want to do.
I’ve never promoted it as some kind of end all one structure fits all structure. As I said previously, it’s simply a starting point.
It’s a “compass.”
With a compass, you are at point “A” and you know that you must head due north to eventually get to point “B,” right? But if you’re going over mountains and through rivers, and whatever, you have to take detours. You might have to go west for a few days before you can start heading north again. You then find out that there’s no way for you get over that mountain because it’s straight the fuck up and down. So now you have to turn around and head south until you find a passage… A valley, a trail, whatever… Something that allows you to eventually start heading north again.
That’s all a really good structure is… A starting point. Every writer is different but hopefully, many writers will simply let their characters take those passages… Those valleys and trails until they stumble back on the trail i.e., structure.
And although the books, articles, and even SOME of the gurus advocate using their structure in such a way that you simply follow and connect the dots, I think they do that because it’s easy to advocate.
Where I break off from that mindset is that I think every writer owes it to US to divert and let the story evolve until it has literally created its very own structure… One that is perfect for that story. Organic and germane to the story you’re creating.
In order to DO THAT however, you gotta be IN SHAPE! You have to be prepared! You have to be running the 100 yard dash in a competitive time otherwise, you have no fucking business even being at the race.
Not yet anyway.
Structure does that for you. You start off with a great structure as your compass… Your roadmap. But somewhere along the way, other adventures pop up and you go after them with a vengeance and the story goes into a different direction — hopefully a direction you never even considered before. This is growth. This is organic structure. This is YOU writing YOUR story differently from everyone else even though you may have started off with a structure similar to other movies.
On the other hand… When you don’t start off with a valid structure to point you in the right direction, you can easily miss adventures and landmarks that you should definitely not have missed and you owe it to us — your eventual audience to, at the very least, be aware that these adventures and landmarks exist.
It will be up to you and your characters to decide whether or not they really do fit in the grand scheme of things but you at least want to know about them up front so you can make that educated decision somewhere down the line.
A good solid structure is your jacklight .
But you can do it any way you like… Everybody gets to dance .
Unk
Screenwriting structure Part 13 The Protagonist’s call to action dilemma
You may or may not have heard about this… Most of us have heard about the Protagonist’s “call to action” which is followed by “refusal of the call.” And I personally believe in the Protagonist’s call to action — refusal of the call but what about right before the call to action? Remember the inciting incident? Remember how it totally kicks the Protagonist off that balance beam we call his or her ordinary world?
Well right after we make him or her lose their balance and take that fall, they’re stunned. They weren’t expecting this to happen to them. Their ordinary world is now disrupted to the point that they’ve got to stand back and take a breath… They don’t know what the fuck to do…
Time to regroup.
The Protagonist is going through a call to action dilemma. No, this ain’t the big dilemma that you might want to throw at your Protagonist later on down the line… This is a small one but to me, it’s really important. In fact, I look for it in every script and guess what?
I rarely see it.
Most books and gurus never seem to mention it but don’t let that keep you from understanding it. Most scripts that I read definitely have the call to action — refusal of the call and wow… They seem to slap that right in our face, don’t they? It’s almost like the screenwriter is saying, “Look Ma, I’m using the Hero’s Journey!”
In other words — it ain’t too subtle. No it doesn’t have to be but it just happens to be one of my pet peeves.
Oh well.
The Protagonist’s call to action dilemma is your chance — early on in your story to show us how fucked up your Protagonist is… Or maybe how fucked up your Protagonist, ain’t. That all depends on you and your Protagonist.
But make no mistake, showing us how your Protagonist handles this dilemma is important stuff. It helps clarify what kind of person your protagonist is. It’s okay to show us how fucked up your Protagonist is before the call to action dilemma because now you can redeem him or her if you’ve a mind to.
Or not.
Sure, we almost always see the Protagonist refuse to get involved in a new adventure… Geez… At this point in our lives and with all these movies — haven’t we pretty much come to expect it? They can’t get involved because they’re needed at home. They can’t get involved because it’s not their job. They can’t get involved because their pee-pee hurts.
Ho hum. Fine. Then all of a sudden their pee-pee doesn’t hurt anymore OR what the hell… Even though it still hurts like a motherfucker, they’re gonna go.
Sever that predictability by concentrating a little more on the actual dilemma that the inciting incident brings to the game. Take this opportunity to let us learn more about your Protagonist. His or her real fears and flaws. Now’s the time to show us. Now’s the time to tell us if this guy or girl is worth our investment of time, popcorn, and soda.
Don’t pass it up.
Unk
Screenwriting structure Part 12 The Inciting Incident
Been awhile hasn’t it? LOL. I just haven’t had time to write anything but that’s okay, right? I’m knee-deep in my own shit right now and today… Sunday of all days, I really need to get some more work done and you know… The more I look at it, the less I wanna work on it.
So my procrastination turns into another structure post. I had another screenwriting structure post just about completed but it’s now gone. That’s what I get for working on it ahead of time… LOL.
No more.
Winging it has always worked best for me anyway… I type all my blog posts up in a little piece of software called BlogDesk and it’s always performed flawlessly till today… Today it wouldn’t run. Something about Microsoft’s DHTML editor needing repair. So like any good Windows user, I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it and guess what? No more post.
So here, I wing it.
The last post on screenwriting structure covered the first ten pages of the screenplay and your Protagonist’s ordinary world. I won’t revisit it except to say that you really should consider showing us your Protagonist’s ordinary world and make sure that ordinary world is relevant to what’s currently happening to your Protagonist. I’m always getting asked about the ordinary world and a lot of you seem to think we’re talking about the Protagonist’s everyday life and while that might be what you need to show us depending on your story — that’s really not what we’re talking about when talking about the ordinary world.
What I usually find is that a lot of screenplays get the ordinary world just a little bit wrong… Remember, the ordinary world that’s pertinent to the story. The ordinary world that your Protagonist is caught up in right now! Show us that world and it should be easier to get your story moving along.
The Inciting Incident…
Some call it the catalyst… I’m partial to inciting incident and I’ll tell you why… It’s self explanatory plain and simple. Let’s take a look at the definition of inciting and incident:
incite
–verb (used with object), -cit·ed, -cit·ing.
to stir, encourage, or urge on; stimulate or prompt to action: to incite a crowd to riot.
incident
–noun
1. an individual occurrence or event.
2. a distinct piece of action, or an episode, as in a story or play.
3. something that occurs casually in connection with something else.
4. something appertaining or attaching to something else.
5. an occurrence of seemingly minor importance, esp. involving nations or factions between which relations are strained and sensitive, that can lead to serious consequences, as an outbreak of hostilities or a war: border incident; international incident.
6. an embarrassing occurrence, esp. of a social nature.
–adjective
7. likely or apt to happen (usually fol. by to).
8. naturally appertaining: hardships incident to the life of an explorer.
9. conjoined or attaching, esp. as subordinate to a principal thing.
10. falling or striking on something, as light rays.
And just to let you know (in case you’re interested), I’ve discussed the inciting incident here and here awhile back so you might want to read up on these as well… Here, we’re discussing the inciting incident within the context of screenwriting structure…
I personally strive to get the inciting incident going no later than page 12. Sometimes I hit that mark — sometimes I don’t but I do most of the time. Gotta tell ya… One of the first things a producer usually does is either ask the reader when the inciting incident occurs or if they decide to read it themselves, they turn ahead through the pages to see what gets things moving and if you don’t have some inciting incident to get your Protagonist of his or her ass by page 12 — no later than page 15, don’t expect a call back about your script.
Is it formula?
Nope.
It’s form.
It hits us upside the head just a little harder these days when you give us the inciting incident within the first 12 minutes of your story. The mass audience of today isn’t really interested in sitting around waiting for a half hour for something to get your protagonist’s ass in gear. Remember, these are the fucking people sitting in the audience sending text messages and even making Goddamn phone calls. You really think these are the kinda people that wanna wait a half hour or gasp — never — for your incitiing incident?
Not on your life… In fact, you may want to consider writing your inciting incident so that these rude sons-a-bitches decide to turn those fucking cell phones off till the end of your film.
Some artistes might want to argue this cold hard fact… Don’t bother arguing about it with me. Not interested.
My two previous posts above pretty much spell out what the inciting incident is… Not a whole lot more information I can add… The big thing to remember is that you need an event to happen to your protagonist that causes him or her to eventually make the decision to leave the safety of their ordinary world and remember… They won’t want to leave. They will probably try to figure out a way not to leave but eventually, they acquiesce to the fact that they gotta go on a new journey to resolve whatever conflict the inciting incident just caused.
Make note that you’ve actually got quite a bit of leeway with the inciting incident…
Try to come up with an inciting incident that we’ve not seen before… Astonish us. Grab our attention so that we lean forward in that theater seat and invest ourselves into the rest of your story. Catch us by surprise… Don’t telegraph it to us.
Come up with an inciting incident that grabs us by the throat — something we haven’t seen before (yes, it can be done) and you’re on your way to a compelling story.
Remember… You’ve shown us your Protagonist’s ordinary world. We’ve seen how he or she behaves within that ordinary world. We understand it. We understand your Protagonist. It may not be a great place (I’m not talking location here) to be but it’s one that the Protagonist is at home in. He or she is safe within that world because they know the rules and they exist and make decisions based on the rules of that world.
The inciting incident is that unexpected banana peel your Protagonist slips on. He didn’t see it coming and neither did we. It’s that drive-by that happens for no fucking reason. It’s that grenade that makes no fucking sense.
Knock your Protagonist off her or her ass and you’ve got our attention.
Unk