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I wanted to write a blog entry about the importance of learning screenwriting theory because of late I have read a number of scripts in my work as a script editor which have highlighted to me the lack of basic understanding people have of what it takes to make a good story.

Screenwriting theory is a big topic to cover, so where to start?

Firstly I wanna say that I do think that the more theory you learn the better your writing will be, and the quicker you will improve as a writer. Having had the privilege to go on several very informative writing courses I can say without hesitation that I simply could not write or edit scripts to any where approaching the standard I do today had I not learnt the basic of what makes a story work and what doesn’t. I was lucky to learn the basics of writing on a course devised by Phil Parker who also did the screenwriting course at the National Film and TV school, and I cant recommend him enough as someone to listen to and learn from. His particular methodologies for assessing what works and what doesn’t are some of the best tools a screenwriter can employ in my opinion. But regardless who is teaching you, and who’s methodologies you are learning, theory should help you write better stuff and isn’t that what everyone wants to do?

I would agree with what McKee writes in his book ‘Story‘; that people who shun theory by saying it is just a way of creating by-the-numbers, dull works, are doing so in the same way an every teenager shuns to the rules of society around them. They do so, not because these rules are wrong, or need changing, but because they are unsure about their identity as a newly fledged adult (or writer), and trying to move away from the established way of doing things is the easiest way for them to identify themselves as an individual worthy of attention. And just like becoming a mature adult, becoming a mature writer is accepting that things are generally done a certain way because that is the best way to do them.

I do NOT however believe that theory alone will make a good writer, and I think a lot of these people who stump up their £250 to go on a weekend seminar are mostly wasting their money because this is what they secretly hope their money will buy them. They hope to learn the magic formula to turn their crap script into a good one.

(I for one believe that screenwriting seminars, while undeniably helpful just don’t represent value for money when you are a struggling writer. You can buy the same guys exact lecture in the form on a book for less than £10 on Amazon, and in many respects a book is better anyways as you can go back to it time and time again.)

I think people should realise that theory above all else is an editing tool. It wont make you come up with ideas that don’t stink all of a sudden, but what it will do is tell you when your idea does stink, and tell you specifically why it stinks so that you can do something about it. Once you realise this then theory becomes a wonderful tool, its the thing that keeps you sane.

I have recently written a first draft of a feature film which at the moment sucks. But I’m not worrying that it sucks because I know why it sucks, and exactly what needs to happen to remove the suckyness. The theory wont tell me specifically what I need to write in the second draft, it wont do the work for me; but what it has given me is a map of where I need to make changes. Now its just up to me to use my skill as a creative person to fill in these changes with wonderfully entertaining original stuff, that’s the hard part of being a writer, but not nearly as hard as it is stumbling in the dark with no idea what needs changes, while also trying to write the “majestic stuff”.

OK, so now I have gotten what I think of theory out of the way I can talk a little about what the main theory mistake is that I come across.

Firstly I am going to say that I used to make this very same mistake when I first started writing, so I can very much identify with this mistake. But through learning as much as I can I have been able to combat this problem.

What is it?

Basically its the problem of writing a whole bunch of stuff happening rather than a story.

What I mean by this is that a story has story beats – we are introduced to a hero who’s life is either perfect or its terrible, but either way something happens to disrupt this world and the character has to go on a journey, either emotionally or physically, and the problems which the hero faces on this journey results in the hero learning something about himself.

The problem comes when inexperienced writers fail to implement these story beats and instead just have a bunch of things happening one after the other. I”ll often read scripts where are the equivalent of this.

1. A character is seen to be bored.
2. For no reason what so ever the character decides to walk to the shops.
3. The character buys a mar bar and then bumps into a friend.
4. The two of them talk about the weather.
5. The protagonist comes home again and eats his Mars bar.

Essentially this is just a bunch of stuff happening. And bunches of stuff do not make for engaging and interesting stories. It could be that instead of talking to a friend about the weather the hero instead talks to a lollipop lady about the football, it wouldn’t make any difference because it was just a bunch of stuff happening.

I am forever telling the writers I edit that the problem with their script is that there is no outside force to motivate the character to go on the journey in the first act, or that there isn’t any obstacles to them achieving the goal, or that the character has zero growth and learns nothing from his experience, or that the ending is in no way a resolution to the events that came before it. Essentially they have a bunch of stuff happening rather than specific, calculated story beats that work together to create an engaging story.

In the example above with the Mars bar is a really banal situation, but I have read script with really far out there concepts that fall in the same trap. They maybe have a really outlandish journey across outerspace fighting aliens, but the whole first act sets up that they like to go on outlandish journeys every weekend fighting aliens, and as a result they come home again having learned nothing about themselves. That’s just not a story, its a bunch of stuff! The stuff happening might be interesting in and of itself, but there needs to be more than that.

I attribute this problem as a failure to understand the basic principles of what makes a story engaging. Namely conflict, and character growth. The sooner a writer can realise that a bunch of stuff happening doesn’t make a story the sooner they can write really interesting, engaging scripts.

A note to writers: Even short films need some sort of character growth, even if it is just going from being constipated to not being constipated. You gotta have some change in there!

So how does a writer go about really getting it down and making sense of what is a story rather than a bunch of stuff? Like I have mentioned above, its a case of reading books. Its really that simple; become well read in screenwriting.

I am always really surprised at just how many aspiring writers I meet who have read 1 or 2 books at most. Im even more shocked when they say that all the books are the same so once you have read 1 you have read them all.

I find that that every new book I read I am learning something new, or at very least, I am gaining a better understanding of something I already knew through further examples and a new perspective on the same things. I find some books are great for characters, others are great for plot, some will hit you over the head with one specific point like the use of dramatic irony, or the use of sub plots, but either way I am learning all the time.

I am planning to compile a list of some of the books I have found helpful, not only as a writer, but in other film disciplines as well, in the next few days. So keep an eye on that for some suggestions of which books to look out for.

Then get yourself on Amazon and order a bunch of them and get reading! The sooner you apply what you have read to your work the sooner it will improve. Like I say, knowing theory wont write the script for you, but it will help you identify what works and what doesn’t, and since writing IS rewriting, knowing these things are going to help you no end.

But what ever you do, don’t write a bunch of stuff, write a story!