Here's a confession. For years, with the exeption of a handful of favorite writers, when I would pick up a new script to read, nine times out of ten, I'd hate it. And it took me years of reading and hating to finally figure out that it actually wasn't true that nine out of ten scripts I read were awful. The problem was me.
What I figured out (about a decade ago or so) was that if I open every script I read with a load of unconscious expectations that are based on my own personal style and approach, chances are my disappointment will come quick and forcefully. The silly thing is, I'm convinced many writers I know suffer from this same skewed view.
Once I recognized that my frustration with many scripts had more to do with individual stylistic choices at odds with my own than with actual bad writing, I was able to relax and find much to admire in many of the scripts I read.
What are these biases? It took me awhile to recognize them and there may in fact be more than the few I've been able to identify but I will list them here.
- I like to write scenes full of surprising twists and unexpected shifts in relationships between characters.
- I like to write scenes that happen to my characters rather than the other way 'round. [In other words, I love putting people in situations they didn't expect and cannot control.]
- I like my characters to make the most important discoveries with the help of someone else in the story.
- I like to take my time clarifying the who/what/where/when of my story so the audience has to work to piece it together longer.
- I love irony.
- I need humor. No matter how serious a drama, I like to find humor in the way my characters face or fail to face the tough stuff.
- I like plays and films with more than one super smart character at the center of the story.
- I hate gratuitous cruelty. I don't shy away from cruelty but it needs to be grounded in pain or fear.
So, whenever I crack open a new script I take a moment to remind myself of this list. I find that reminding myself of my preferences and reminding myself that they are simply that--preferences--helps me be a more open and responsive reader of other people's scripts.
Of course it's probably no accident that some of my favorite writers seem to share many of these preferences. But these are not essential. They are just one way. And the more I read work that goes about its storytelling another way, the more effective I think I can be as a teacher or even just as a friend offering feedback.
Oh. There's one more thing I forgot to put on that list.
9. I love dialogue that is obviously going to be fun as hell for an actor to deliver.
Curious to hear from some of you whether you also do this sort of thing. Of course what I'm talking about is completely different from reading poorly written stuff. There are, of course, certain essentials... particularly for scriptwriting. Here's my list of what I consider essentials:
- Camouflage of exposition. Audience should figure out what's going on through conflict between characters rather than through people repeating information they already know.
- Ear for dialogue. People should sound authentically human. There's a fair amount of room here but it's pretty obvious right away when a script has been written by someone who's not listening carefully enough to the way we speak.
- Character development grounded in human psychological truth.
- Each character sounds like themselves, not like the author.
- Command of suspense. The unfolding of the story keeps us curious.
- There is a discernable dramatic shape. It need not always be the same. But something should change from beginning to end. I would argue that in some intentionally static pieces in which the characters do not change over time, the audience does.
- Action through conflict. A character who is able to do and/or get whatever they want without any obstacles will deliver a dead evening of theatre or film. Robert McKee perhaps put this most succinctly. I'm paraphrasing. But he says that we go to the movies or to theatre because life is by definition a struggle. We are not at peace. And we go to see others struggle through it in order to better make sense of it for ourselves. I think this is absolutely true. And quite brilliant.
Have I missed any? I trust you'll let me know.
