Straight A's: 5 Ways How Strong Characters Can Launch Your Screenwriting Career

If you've read through some of the previous entries here, you'll know that I'm a big believer in the idea that strong characters form the basis for a high-quality script. Regardless of your genre, plot, theme, or setting, the measure of your ability as a screenwriter comes from how well you can create memorable characters. When you create a script that has powerful characters who overcome tremendous obstacles while pursuing meaningful goals, you'll earn a lot more than straight “A”s in your next screenwriting class.

Awards
One important way for you to get attention for your script is to win awards from screenwriting contests. Industry professionals are always looking for the best available scripts, and screenplay contests are valuable resources for agents, producers and directors who are looking for top-notch writers. Your ability to develop multi-dimensional characters can mean the difference between a script the contest judges can't stop reading and one they can't stop reading fast enough.

Agents
Contrary to the popular belief among many new screenwriters, an agent's job is less about nurturing you as an artist and more about selling your talents as a product. A major reason that new screenwriters don't land an agent is that an agent needs a quality product to show off the writer's skills. When you create characters that compel readers to turn the page to see what happens to them next, you've made a product that agents will find irresistible and will give their utmost efforts to sell to producers.

Angel Investors
An “angel investor” provides the start-up capital for a new business in exchange for a portion of the equity. These investors often look for high-risk, high-reward opportunities. While the practice of angel investment started with Broadway plays nearly a century ago, independent films have also attracted their share of angel investors. A script with strong characters can attract angel investors, as many of these investors will often see the characters as reflections of their own adventurous personalities.

Actors
Actors are constantly seeking out that star-making role, whether they're new to Hollywood, on the comeback trail, or looking to break the chains of typecasting. Why did Matthew McConaughey, star of such rom-com bombs as Failure to Launch, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and The Wedding Planner, accept a “minuscule” paycheck of $200,000 for the lead role in Dallas Buyers Club? In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said that he “got (his) self-satisfaction” from the role. If your characters can give A-list actors the “self-satisfaction” they're looking for in a role, your success is all but assured.

Audiences
If you ask an audience what a movie is about, you probably won't get answers like, “love conquers all” or “war is hell” or “conformity is a prison.” You're more likely to get answers like, “it's about a washed-up boxer who gets a shot at the title” or “it's about a girl who fights her oppressive government with a bow and arrow” or “it's about a woman who fights back against her abusive husband.” Audiences don't pay to see messages or themes or platitudes. They pay to see characters. Make them want to pay to see yours.

If you want to write a script that will earn you these “A”s, contact us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We can work with you in building your characters, developing your story ideas, and fleshing out your concepts through in-person and online consultations tailored to your needs. Check us out on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our YouTube channel.

Why Do We Write Screenplays?

If you're reading this, you must have an interest in screenwriting. You could be an aspiring writer who's never written a script, or an experienced writer with several films under your belt. You could be a director looking for a writer to develop your ideas, or you're a producer who's looking for a writer to create a product you can sell to investors. You might be an actor looking for insights into how scripts are created, or just a film fan who wants a deeper understanding of the screenwriting process.

In any case, you may have contemplated the question of “why do writers write screenplays?” Out of all the possible creative endeavors, why do writers choose to sit in front a screen, open up our word processing software, and bash our heads into the keyboards until our brains spill out? Why do screenwriters choose to isolate ourselves from friends, family and fun, only to write out words that very few people will ever read? The reasons for such self-inflicted torture can be as varied as the scripts sitting on the shelves of the hundreds of Hollywood production offices, but most of them boil down to a select few.

“I want to be rich and/or famous!”
If you chose to get into screenwriting to be seen on red carpets, trade jokes with Jimmy Fallon, and get the VIP treatment at the hottest clubs, you're barking up the wrong tree. Unlike the world of live theatre, in which the playwright is royalty, the film industry ranks screenwriters below directors, producers, actors, crew members, craft service workers and janitors. Also, for those of you who think your “million-dollar idea” for a script will be your ticket to a Beverly Hills address, go back to the first entry of this blog to quickly disabuse yourself of that notion.

“I want to tell the world that ...”
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the “fame-seeking” writer is the “message” writer. If the intentions behind your script are to deliver a message that will change the world, take the advice of the late, great producer Samuel L. Goldwyn: “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.” Save your deep philosophical musings on the nature of life, love and loss for your fanfic novel or, better yet, a bumper sticker. At least no one has to sit through reading a long, boring, self-indulgent bumper sticker.

“I want to tell a story no one has heard before.”
I got three words for you: No. Such. Thing. In his book The Seven Basic Plots, Christopher Booker holds that there are as few as seven unique stories in all of literature. In Save The Cat, Blake Snyder narrows it down to ten, including “Monster In The House” and “Dude With A Problem”. Since you can't tell a unique story, you have to know how to tell an old story in a unique way. That's why you'll often need a script consultant to help you shape your concept into a story that has blends the familiar elements with your unique voice.

“I want to provoke an emotional response from the audience.”
If you're writing a comedy, you envision the audience howling with laughter. If your script is an action-packed shoot-em-up, you dream of the audience cheering the Hero when he vanquishes the Big Bad. If horror is your genre, you want to see the ticket-buyers scream, jump, and cover their eyes at the frightening images your writing has conjured before their eyes.

BINGO! Now you're getting somewhere! The reason we write for the screen is to sit in the back of the darkened theater, watch the audience, and know we're taking them on a ride through our sick and twisted imaginations. Novelists get more praise as “writers”, but they don't get the immediate feedback from the reader. Directors get awards for bringing the images to life, but those images had to come from our fevered minds. Actors get the red carpet treatment for their performances, but they'd still be waiting tables without our scripts.

So, dear fellow screenwriter, the next time you sit down at your favorite writing spot and ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?”, remember that audience. They're waiting for your script to make them laugh, cry, cheer, boo, and take them on an emotional ride.

If you want to create a script that tug at the emotions of producers, directors, and agents, get in touch with us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We work with new and experienced screenwriters in developing their characters, story ideas, and concepts through in-person and online consultations tailored to your needs. Check out out us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our YouTube channel.

5 Reasons Why Screenwriters Need to Know Their Character's Favorite Food

One of the tools I use, in both my own writing and as a tool with my clients, comes from the wonderful book, The Screenplay Workbook. This book uses a two-page “Character Development Worksheet” to help readers flesh out their characters. In addition to filling out details on the character's physical description, family history and educational level, the worksheet includes lines such as “Favorite Place to Visit”, “Favorite Movie/Book”, and “Favorite Food”.

While assigning favorite foods to your characters may seem like a trivial exercise, the most useful aspect of these worksheets comes with the question that follows: Why?

• Why does your main character prefer cheesecake over chocolate?
• Why does your antagonist love Big Macs but hate filet mignon?
• Why does your love interest believe that broccoli is the Food of the Gods, while pizza is the Devil's work (besides the obvious insanity)?

Reveal Aspects of Your Character
As most screenwriting experts (including this one) will tell you, every letter of a screenplay must serve either to move the story forward or to reveal some vital aspect about your characters. For instance, you can use a specific type of beer to reveal aspects of a character's age, his upbringing, his social standing, even his political leanings. A character who sips microbrews shows to the audience that your character is either sophisticated or pretentious, while one who swigs down a twelve-pack of no-name beer shows the viewer that he's less interested in taste and more concerned about getting smashed as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Create Conflict Between Your Characters
In an earlier blog entry, we looked at conflict as the fuel for every scene in your screenplay. As your characters reveal their preferences to the audience, they can also reveal them to each other. When characters show similar preferences, they can create bonding moments in your scenes. When they show different preferences, they can create moments of conflict as those common bonds break. For example, a male character takes a date to his favorite steakhouse, only to find out she's a vegan, can lead to either a comedic “oops” moment or a full-blown debate over the ethics of meat-eating.

Destroy Your Writer's Block
Many writers who suffer from “writer's block” claim that their blocks stem from not knowing what to write next. These blocks often occur when the writer does not have a deep understanding of the characters. When you know your characters so well as to know their favorite foods, books, and movies, you create that understanding and can develop scenes from those preferences, even if they aren't used in your final script. A useful exercise to destroy writer's block can involve writing a scene around the character's first memory of Grandma's house and the smell of homemade apple pie.

Make Your Characters Memorable
From Kojak and his lollipop, to four turtles and their pizza, all the way back to Eve and the apple, food has allowed storytellers to create iconic characters. These choices can make your characters unique and can allow actors to deliver more powerful and memorable performances. The more memorable your characters are, the better the caliber of actors you will attract to your script. When top-notch actors show interest in your script, top-flight producers are more likely to want to make your script into a film.

Examine Your Own Preferences
An exploration of your characters' preferences also allows you, as a writer and a human being, to examine your own likes and dislikes. If too many of the character's preferences line up with your own or with someone close to you, you may be in danger of creating a “Mary Sue”. If you can create an interesting story behind why a character has preferences different from yours, the story can act as an avenue for you to expand your own tastes.

Now, if you'll excuse me, all this writing about food is making me hungry!

If you're hungry to create a script that producers, agents, and actors will find both delicious and nutritious, contact us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We work with new and experienced screenwriters in developing their characters, story ideas, and concepts through in-person and online consultations tailored to your needs. Check out out us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our YouTube channel.

Wants vs. Needs: How Screenwriters Approach Character Motivation

One of the biggest mistakes rookie screenwriters make is to confuse a character's needs with his goals. They think in terms of what the character “needs” to achieve instead of what he actually “wants” to accomplish. While the two components share a symbiotic relationship, you should focus on illustrating the character's needs by showing what he really wants.

Wants Are Concrete
In the earlier post where we discussed the “VOTE” method, the V stood for “Victory”. The Victory serves as the character's specific primary goal.

• The baseball player wants to win the game.
• The housewife wants to find her missing daughter.
• The detective wants to catch his wife's killer.

The character's goal should be clearly visible to the audience, in that it clues them in to what the character truly wants and how his actions take him closer to it or further away from it.

Needs Are Abstract
The final component of the VOTE method is the “E for Energy”. The Energy represents the emotional need the character fills by accomplishing the Victory.

• The baseball player needs to earn his father's respect.
• The housewife needs the love of her family.
• The detective needs revenge and closure. 

The character's need should be clear during your writing process, even if it remains hidden to the audience.

Wants Drive The Plot 
A strong understanding of a character's specific goals will also solve many problems writers encounter, including plot planning and “writer's block”. The character's desire to achieve his goals will drive him to make choices and take actions. These choices and actions will reveal the nature of the character to the audience and drive the story forward to its conclusion.

Needs Drive The Theme
Here are some common examples of themes:

• “Love conquers all.”
• “Money can't buy happiness.” 
• “It's what's inside that counts.”

Too many beginning writers worry about how to depict the “theme” in their stories. While a strong script can carry a serious message, the primary intention of your story should be to entertain the audience. When you determine what your character needs, the methods you choose in how the character meets those needs will demonstrate your theme.

Wants Are Unique
If you're worried about how to make your story stand out, give your character a unique goal.

• A washed-up boxer wants to fight the world heavyweight champion. (Rocky)
• A World War II-era super-soldier wants to adjust to life in the 21st Century. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
• An alien female wants to kidnap and seduce hitchhikers. (Under the Skin)

Unique goals make for memorable characters and interesting stories.

Needs Are Universal
Regardless of genre, period or budget, each successful film portrays a character pursuing a universal need. The character's need can be as basic as day-to-day survival, as deep as true love, or as dark as attaining power at any cost. When you find your character's need, you have found the key to how the audience will relate to that character.

If you want a script that fulfills the wants and needs of producers and agents, contact us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We conduct face-to-face or online consultations with new and experienced screenwriters. You also check out out us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our YouTube channel.

Masters of Screenwriting: How A Great Story Resembles Great Sex

The Showtime series “Masters of Sex” dramatizes the groundbreaking studies in human sexuality conducted by Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and his assistant, Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan). The Masters and Johnson studies broke down human sexual response into four phases of a cycle: Excitement, Plateau, Climax and Resolution. Even if your story has nothing to do with sex, you can still follow the structure of this cycle to get a “rise” out of your audience.

Excitement: Get the Audience's Attention

According to Masters and Johnson, the signs of the “excitement” or “arousal” phase include a rise in heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. The sensory stimuli that trigger this phase can include a stolen glance, an enticing smile, a whispered word, or a favorite song, depending on the individual.

In a conventional three-act script, Act I of your script should include visual images, sound cues or dialog that attract the audience's interest and get them excited for the story you want to tell.

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INT. ALPHA BETA GAMMA HOUSE – NIGHT
FRAT BOY drinks beer and laughs with a group of FRIENDS. The new fraternity pin on his jacket catches the light.

SORORITY GIRL enters and looks around.

Boy looks up and sees Girl across the room. Girl notices Boy and smiles at him. Boy smiles back and turns away.
====

Setup: Boy and Girl at a college party.
Inciting incident: Boy sees girl smile at him.
Debate: Does Boy ask Girl to dance or does he stick with his friends?

Plateau: Build the Tension

Rather than the “flat” image the word conveys, the “plateau” phase involves the increasing tension and anticipation of the sexual encounter. Once you've engaged and attracted the audience in Act I, you must use Act II to build the tension and push the audience to the brink of either release or frustration.

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INT. ALPHA BETA GAMMA HOUSE – NIGHT
Friends encourage Boy to approach Girl. Boy takes tentative steps toward Girl.

Girl shuffles her feet, twirls her hair, suppresses a nervous giggle. DJ plays a SLOW SONG.

Boy reaches for Girl's hand. Girl looks down, then back up into his eyes, then takes his hand.

Boy leads her to the dance floor. They hold each other close as they dance together.
===

The tension builds as Boy debates whether or not to approach Girl. Girl also debates as to whether or not she wants to dance with Boy. Boy takes the initiative and Girl responds. They build a closeness that ramps up the tension between them and builds on what can happen later that evening.

Climax: Release the Tension

In the Masters and Johnson model, the climax phase releases the tension and creates a sense of euphoria. At some point in your script, the audience can't take another page of the building tension and wants a release. Act III serves as the payoff to all the tension that you've built up in the preceding acts.

====
EXT. DELTA EPSILON ZETA HOUSE – NIGHT
Boy and Girl hold hands as they walk toward the front door. They step up to the porch and exchange nervous glances.

He unclips his fraternity pin and pins it to her collar. She smiles, gives him a quick kiss and enters the house.
====

The climaxes of your scripts need not be so literal in their interpretation of the word, but they must show that the old world has passed and a new status quo has taken hold.

Resolution: Take a Breather

After the climax, the participants enter the “resolution” or “afterglow” phase, in which the heart rate slows down and the blood pressure drops. The last few pages of your script should also allow the audience to take a breather, assess the situation and walk away with a sense of satisfaction.

====
INT. BEDROOM – DAY
An OLD WOMAN adjusts her black dress and hat in a mirror. She goes to the dresser and adjusts several framed photos of herself and an OLD MAN.

The photos include a retirement party for the Old Man, a college graduation with her, the Old Man and their SON, a five-year-old's birthday party, and a wedding photo of the Boy and Girl.

She picks up a small jewelry box and opens it. The fraternity pin catches the sunlight.

She removes the pin from the box, pins it to her dress and smiles.

Her son enters the room, wearing a black suit and a somber expression. He sees his mother and the pin on her dress. He gives her a curious look.

She smiles, pats him on the chest and leads him out of the room.
====
While your script doesn't have to be about sex, it does have to take the audience on the same journey of excitement, tension, climax and resolution. As with any good encounter, you want the reader to leave with a smile and a warm memory, not with a sense of regret and a “walk of shame”.

If you want a script leaves the reader with a smile, contact us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We give new and experienced screenwriters face-to-face or online consultations on their story ideas, outlines and finished scripts. You also check out out us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and support us on our Amazon store.

"Stone Cold" Screenwriting: Arrive. Raise Hell. Leave.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, no one in the offbeat world of professional wrestling was a bigger star than “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Although his chief in-ring rival, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, became an international movie star, Austin was much more popular in his role as the anti-hero who beat up his boss, flipped off the crowd, and poured beer down his throat.

So what does pro wrestling (or “sports entertainment”) have do to with screenwriting? Among the numerous merchandise items designed for his character, Austin had a T-shirt printed with the motto: “Arrive. Raise Hell. Leave.” As a screenwriter, you would do well to keep that motto in mind when writing each scene.

Arrive (Late)

Many rookie screenwriters write their scenes as if they need to fill in every detail. Instead of having your character leave the house for work, your scene may show the character showering, brushing his teeth, getting dressed, eating breakfast, grabbing his keys and wallet, and heading out the door. Unless these actions reveal some specific aspect of your character or relate directly to your story, you should cut these extraneous activities and get to the meat of the scene as quickly as possible.

Raise Hell

In a previous post, we looked at the reasons you should add conflict in every scene. Conflict can serve one of two purposes: it either moves your story forward, or it reveals aspects of your characters. Conflict moves your story forward by showing the barriers between your protagonist and his goal. It also reveals important aspects of your characters by showing what your protagonist will do to overcome those barriers and achieve those goals. If your character doesn't “raise hell” to get through those barriers, your scene (and the entire story) will fail to capture the audience's attention.

Leave (Early)

In each scene, every one of your characters should have a goal in mind. Your character either achieves this “scene goal” or comes up short. In either case, your character should not take a lengthy period to discuss, analyze or recap what just happened. Your characters (and the audience) know what happened, so your best choice is to move on to the next scene. The following scene can involve either the next step in your character's arc, or a strategy session to develop a new plan where the previous one failed, but you need to get out of each scene and onto the next as quickly as possible.

Open Up a Can

In his interviews to promote an upcoming match, Austin often promised to “open up a can of whup-ass” on his opponents. Although he didn't always win every match, he kept his promise for giving an exciting and impactful performance every time. Shorter scenes also allow you to create emotionally powerful moments in your screenplays. With longer scenes, especially those that take their time getting to the point, you risk losing your audience before you can open up a can of emotional “whup-ass”.

Deliver a “Stone Cold” Stunner

While filmmakers are always on the lookout for strong stories, they also must keep an eye on the expenses involved in scouting, casting, setting up, shooting and editing each scene. Short scenes show producers that you can write an economical story, in terms of both time and money. When your scenes can convey the action of your story in short, powerful bursts, you're on your way to delivering a “stunner” of a script.

If you want a script that kicks ass, gimme a “Hell Yeah!” Or, you can contact us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We provide face-to-face or online consultations for both new and experienced screenwriters. Whether you want to polish your script for contests, prepare it for agent meetings or hone your skills for pitch fests, we can help. You also check out out us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and support us on our Amazon store.

Short Timers: Writing Scripts Under a Deadline

Napoleon Hill, the 20th Century American author of motivational books like Think and Grow Rich and The Law of Success, once wrote, “a goal is a dream with a deadline.” Thousands of screenwriters have the goal of seeing their works on a big screen in front of a receptive audience, but too many of them either put off developing their scripts or over-edit their scripts (and themselves) to the breaking point. These writers preserve their “dreams” of becoming successful screenwriters at the expense of actually achieving those dreams.

Make a Film in 48 Hours?

For the past three years, I have had the privilege of working on the 48 Hour Film Project, a contest in which a team must write, rehearse, shoot, edit and deliver a short film in 48 hours. The project organizers give the team a genre, character name, occupation, prop and line of dialogue, all of which must be included in the final product. This year's result was "Dreamland Murders", a dark comedy of lust, betrayal and murder set in the Roaring Twenties.

Deadlines: Restriction or Resolution?

Many rookie screenwriters view deadlines as a restriction on their freedom of expression. However, professional screenwriters understand that dozens of jobs, thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars depend on them delivering the best story they can within a specific deadline. These writers practice their craft to the point that they can take the specific elements that a producer or director give them and turn those pieces into a complete picture.

Deadlines and Dollar Signs

Writers who can't write under a deadline are hobbyists, not professionals. Hobbyists can take their time and enjoy the writing process in their time away from their “day jobs”. For professional writers, writing is our “day job”. We need to write to pay the rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table. Most professional screenwriting contracts have deadlines that range from 8 to 12 weeks for first drafts and 4 to 6 weeks for revisions. Writers who consistently deliver on those deadlines often get more and better assignments, while those who can't deliver get left behind.

Find Writing Deadlines

Since many of you are not professionals (yet), you may need another source of motivation to force you to meet deadlines. With so many screenwriting contests, pitch fests, and film festivals available worldwide, writers certainly don't lack for either motivation or deadlines. If your script needs work, work on it as much as you can between now and the deadline. However, don't stress out if it doesn't meet your idea of perfection. As Lorne Michaels, long-time producer of “Saturday Night Live” told the Harvard Business Review, “Knowing the deadline is real. That focuses people’s thinking. We don’t go on because we’re ready. We go on because it’s 11:30.”


If you need help in delivering your script under a deadline, contact us at StoryIntoScreenplayBlog [at] gmail [dot] com. We offer one-on-one consultations for rookie screenwriters and can prepare your script for contests, agent meetings or pitch fests. You also check out out us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and purchase products through our Amazon links.

Story Into Screenplay also has a new YouTube channel, where we recently posted recordings of comic book legend Stan Lee's appearance at Houston's Comicpalooza convention.