What is a hit? Every writer wants one. But ask anyone to define the term and you're likely to get a confused salad of mixed vague impressions. The definition of a hit in the worlds of theatre and film it seems is even more difficult to pin down. Of course we know what it means at the Box Office. But I'm asking a different question. How the devil we get from here to there.
There's one thing I know for sure. You can't have a hit without intense audience hunger for your story.
When your audience is sitting on the edge of their seats, hanging on every beat, your show is a lot closer to a hit than a bomb.
Think about it.
How many films have you watched start to finish with a full bladder? When you find yourself running as fast as humanly possible to and from the restroom during a film or before the Act break of a play or musical it's because you don't want to miss a beat.
What sort of entertainment inspires this sort of behavior? How is it that every now and then you find yourself sitting there in that darkened theatre unwilling or unable to tear yourself away, even for a brief minute?
Here's my theory:
Maybe you feel that way because what's unfolding before you (and hundreds of your fellow audience members) has landed in that sweet spot where story that is entirely plausible (as measured against everything you know about human behavior after having lived a life full of conflict) intersects with that which is wholly fresh and unpredictable. It's that feeling you get when you're in the presence of real human beings whose behavior is understandable, recognizable and somehow thrillingly unpredictable.
Sort of like life, in a way. (without the dull parts)
How do you suppose this occurs?
Is this something we can even teach?
Or is it something that can only grow in the work of a writer whose own curiosity about everything that makes humans human never runs dry?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment here. Thanks in advance.
