Dealing only with closed chapters

     My last post (“The risk of self exposure”) made the case for mining your own life experiences and inner emotional life when looking for potent story ideas. But I ended with stating there’s one cautionary note you should keep in mind.  Here it is:  As possible ideas start presenting themselves, be sure the specific experiences or episodes you're drawing on from your own life are truly in the past and not issues you're still right in the middle of emotionally.

 

     Several years ago I made this mistake.

The risk of self-exposure

     Here’s another basic principle of the craft that writers early in their careers often have trouble putting their arms around. Simply put, if you're going to write meaningful, gripping scripts, you have to make available your inner, private secrets and not be afraid to deal with them.

The negative and positive premise

     If you've been following this series of posts on premise, I hope you're starting to get a sense of why it's important to add this tool to your toolbox.  Here's yet another consideration.

     There are basically two kinds of workable dramatic premises. The first conveys a lesson by showing the negative consequences of a certain mode of behavior or action.  It leaves the audience wiser about what not to do if they want to avoid the central character's fate:  ruthless ambition leads to destruction, jealousy leads to ruin, suspicion leads to disaster, chasing after worldly success leads to disillusionment.  A good number of classic plays and films contain this type of premise.  The best of them are enormously powerful and have the potential to affect audiences profoundly.

More thoughts on premise...

            In all my years working with playwrights and screenwriters, the one thing that’s helped the most in getting to the heart of a script’s problems is focusing in on what the writer really wants to say.  Without a clear sense of where you want to land with your story it’s almost impossible to proceed in figuring out how to put it together or rearrange it so it will arrive there.  Successful invention happens because the inventor has a passion for creating a specific thing that, once made, functions in a specific way.  It’s no different with a successful script.  This is why giving some serious thought to your dramatic premise early in your writing process is worth the effort.  

            Here are some further tips to keep in mind as you work at formulating your premise.

Why think about your premise early on?

     There’s a somewhat silly argument swirling around out there about the importance of thinking about what you’re trying to say with your piece as you start developing a new story idea.  Silly because it’s obvious that there’s an interrelatedness between theme and structure.  That it’s important early on in the development of any story idea to attempt to come up with—as accurately and as simply and clearly as possible—the universal truth you think you ultimately want to communicate.  In scriptwriting this is generally referred to as the dramatic premise.

It's all in the story

Recently there’s been a lively discussion on my production company’s Facebook page about the scriptwriting process and the order in which writers should learn the elements of the craft. 

 

Of course, the difficulty in learning the skills necessary to write a good play or screenplay is determining where to start.  All the basics are important.   However, towering over everything else is the story you want to tell and how you want to tell it.  It all starts here.

One-day Scriptwriting Workshop

I’m offering a special workshop on Saturday, May 21 in Keene, New Hampshire.  Here’s the basic information: 

SCRIPTWRITING MASTER CLASS / WORKSHOP

                  WITH BUZZ McLAUGHLIN

An intensive and lively one-day scriptwriting workshop for playwrights and screenwriters that will take participants through the A to Z process of writing a play or screenplay:

·        laying down the basics and formulating your dramatic idea

·        In-depth character exploration

·        Analyzing and charting out dramatic structure

·        Format and techniques of good dialogue

·        Writing the first draft and beyond

Utilizing numerous exercises and handouts to guide you through the writing process as it unfolds, the day is designed for both beginners and more experienced writers looking for a solid review of the basics. 

WHEN:  SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2011  10am - 5pm

               (with 1 hour lunch break in downtown Keene)

WHERE:  EITHER/OR FILMS OFFICES

                 7 MAIN STREET, KEENE, NH

                 #11, THIRD FLOOR

COST:  $125

TO REGISTER:  CALL 603-313-4872

                           or email buzz@eitherorfilms.com 

Join us if you can! 

those hidden I-beams

     I’m amazed when I hear of writers who say they don’t draw up a structural framework before plunging into writing a first draft.  More power to them, but I don’t know how they do it.  And I privately wonder how many hundreds (or thousands)of pages of exploration they have staggered through to come up with their workable draft.  I believe (as do most folks working in this business of writing plays and screenplays)that drawing up a set of plans or charting out a road map before the actual writing begins is a much more beneficial, efficient and practical approach and I can think of no better way to get a grasp of the importance of this than to look at the process involved in constructing a large building...