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| To boldly go! |
For me, personally, the most wonderful moments in screenwriting are when you don't know everything beforehand. When you truly live with your characters and you just write down what they do and say as you accompany them on their journey. I've laughed and I've cried when unplotted things suddenly happened - had to happen - because they came out of the story, out of the truth of each character - totally honest, just there, live. Pure bliss.
I've come across a fitting quote by Paul Theraux on Tom Browne's website (Screenwriter-Sales Guy):
"It is fatal to know too much at the outcome: boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as to the novelist who is over certain of his plot."
Well, I wouldn't go as far as to call it "fatal" - but the man's got a point!
As mentioned above, I've also had this experience once with a commission. Unbelievable but true - I pitched an idea, the network loved it. Next they said "the contract's on its way" and "we don't want a treatment, unless you want to do one." I couldn't believe my ears. Of course I did a vague sort of treatment for myself - but when I had the direction, had all the important bits sorted out - I just let it flow. I had so much fun - coming up with the weirdest things, twists, turns, dialogue ...
... and here's the punchline - all of that very unusual stuff not only made it into the film - it also led to the film being Grimme Prize (Germany's top TV honor) nominated. And this same film is still, out of a series of almost 800 crime features - consistently named among the best 5 of all times. I wish there were more such free-flowing experiences in my future - alas, unless I write specs, I'm don't expect to be in for a lot of uncharted script journeying anytime soon.
But if you're a fresh writer and you write specs (and you better be writing specs!), you have the time and the passion and you crank them out - please, please do not plot your passion/weirdness/oddity/originality to death. Get the main points clear - then dive into that world, hold on tight and enjoy the ride!
2 comments:
Another reason for going crazy with the plot might be some weird fear that "otherwise nothing is happening in my story". At least I am hearing that in script consulting sessions with unexperienced writers a lot. They forget that most times something happens inside the character first that triggers the character's actions (or the reaction to something). On the other side: It is not easy to craft strong, rich characters. And they might surprise you with their actions along the way! Pure plot seems easier to handle on the first look. But in the end it boils down to the "simple story, complex characters" thing. At least for me. And for most genres.
Hi Ines - you're making an excellent point - plot shouldn't take precedence - rich characters, to start with, are pure screenwriting gold. As you say, they will surprise us with their actions because a rich character's actions will invariably be strong.
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