Sometimes, the first answer is the best.  The first answer is usually the most logical and sensible choice, therefore, it will often work very well.

The first idea is usually a cliche, the second one too.  It's better to go deeper, because 1) it's something your audience sees and says, "They always act that way in that situation," and 2) a deeper answer is really more intricate.  Her'san example provided by Orson Scott Card:

A magic king's power comes from his abstinance.  If he engages in intimacy, he loses all his power.  He has guards to protect him from escaping abstinance.  The first answer most people think of for a story is that he's trying to find some way to escape this and look for physical contact.  But no! Think deeper, and maybe he thinks he isn't restricted enough.  He reinforces his guards constantly out of fear of losing self-control.  It's a deeper answer, more insightful, makes his character more intricate, and is even more "real" and interesting than the type of king most would settle on.

Don't we already have this?

To be honest, I'm not sure why formatting is even a problem anymore; there's no dearth of software specifically made for scriptwriting. If you're an aspiring professional I guess I can see going beyond that, but I'd imagine the tools available would more than suffice for the majority of hobbyists.

As far as the actual plot tips are concerned, most of them seem alright. That said, I think a lot of the points are more general advice than the absolutes they're made out to be. For example,

Disregarding that some stories don't even have one central character, there are many times when taking control away from the main character is more effective than presenting him with a clear decision. It's up to the author to decide if the character controls the world or if the world controls the character. Whether the main character should have more at stake than anyone else is similarly debatable. Some fine stories feature main characters that never really suffer any direct consequences, but deeply impact the people around them. It all comes down to what type of story you want to tell.

I'd also be weary of diving too deep when it comes to world building, at least before you have the main structure of your film built. There's certainly merit in putting a lot of consideration into the finer points of a story, but it's fairly easy to get wrapped up in the details without realizing that the meat of what you've created is boring or not engaging. I've seen a lot of people spending time building back-stories and characters without putting any thought into the types of stories they want to tell with them (or for that matter, learning how to tell them). It generally doesn't end well.

I don't think the advice as presented is bad, necessarily... I guess I feel like more interesting work has come out of subverting established rules than following them. At present, few brickfilms have anything more than a rudimentary plot. I feel like we should be more concerned with getting people to care about telling their own stories than getting them to follow our preferred storytelling techniques. It's wonderful that you're interested in getting people to consider these things; I just want to opine that there's more to writing a great story than following conventions to the letter. Writing any story would be a good start.

Is it, though? I'm not saying people should disregard criticism, but I don't believe following these general rules is really pivotal to creating interesting stories. I honestly don't think following this sort of advice is going to substantially improve someone's writing- but it can convince them to constrain themselves to tropes. I'd argue that following high-level rules without a low-level understanding of why they exist is more harmful than initially doing your own thing, even if the former may produce less obviously terrible work. At least if someone fails a few times they might develop a sense of why these rules exist- something they might not get creating mediocre but difficult to criticize work with the write by numbers approach. I realize what I'm saying here goes against conventional wisdom; I guess what I'm getting at is that I'd rather see someone say 'forget the rules' and learn about writing from the ground up than give themselves the false impression that there are unwavering rules of writing that they should never challenge.

Anyway, I don't claim to really know anything about writing, so by all means do whatever you think works.

THe (beat.) is something that you should avoid if you're planning to write professionally.  When a screenplay is submitted to a studio, those who read the screenplays judge the format as well as the content.  When they see (beat.), they recognize the screenplay as amateur, even if it is well-written and has a compelling story otherwise.  The word (pause.) gives the actor the freedom to decide what an appropriate length to pause should be.

Squid, all that I write in the creative department are guidelines.  Guidelines aren't set in stone.  But looking for a deeper reason engages the mind.  I've rarely settled on the first answer.  The first answer usually is what the audience would expect.  Hopefully, that comes through in the characteriations. 

Two things: 1) Many stories have an ensemble cast.  M*A*S*H, for instance.  Like the pack comedy, the relationships between characters becomes the focus, rather than a main cnaracter that stands out.  Still, like Ted in "how I met Your Mother" and Pierce in M*A*S*H, a central character emerges.  Also, what I mentioned above doesn't necesarily mean that the main character has the most freedom to act.  In the original Star Wars Trilogy, Luke was the main character, but most of the decisions of Luke & the rebels were in reaction to Vader, who had the most freedom to act.  But Luke's decision to not give in to hate led partly to Vader's decision to overthrow the Emperor.  Even a little bit of ability to act can change the outcome.

At least having rules for a sci-fi or fantasy world is important.  If speed-of-light travel is not possible, colonists of a new planet would think twice about a return trip, and be more likely to rough things out.  Just decding that "Holding Our Own" takes place in a German community helped me flesh out the characteres' traits.  Story is paramount, but a well-developed world opens possibilities for your characters.

I just posted this because lately, there have been people asking for help in story ideas and scripting/ formatting.  BIM has been good to me, so I wanted to help those people get a creative start.

The guidlines are not set in stone, they are not there to restrict, and are not formulas, either.  Without the rules of Grammar, we couldn't communicate effectively.  uTy jjid? 7jiv  EwhhhRismc !cjih t edeDD

Last edited by HoldingOurOwn (April 24, 2013 (06:47am))

I don't think that's entirely true, I've read a number of professional screenplays that have used the term "beat" to identify a break in a scene. Besides, "beat" and "pause" are basically the same thing.

Incorrect. Use ALL CAPS to introduce a character, i.e. the character's first appearance in the script, but not again after that. The only other time to use all caps is to denote a specific SOUND heard in a scene.

Again, not entirely true. I'll echo Squash when there comes times in a particular film or screenplay where control or "stakes" are taken away from the principal character to a more supporting player, perhaps as a means to either increase the plight of the main character in some way or to expand the scope of the story as a whole. I think it would be hard to argue, for example, that Jake Gittes in Chinatown has more "at stake" to lose than Evelyn Mulwray, despite him being the "lead" character.

I agree that you should only write what is seen, though. The true sign of an amateur screenplay is when the writer attempts to include his own "direction" into the script, whether it be explicitly stating specific thoughts a character has or identifying how a particular line should be read using parentheticals. This is especially true when it comes to working in live-action; actors will immediately disregard lines like those, since part of their job is to take what's written and interpret it on their own (with some help from the director) rather than have them told how it's supposed to be.

Last edited by MindGame (April 24, 2013 (05:23pm))

mindgamestudios.com | YouTube | Twitter