Your First Draft: Breaking Free of Structure Paradigms
by Michael Adams
I met a friend a while back whom I hadn’t seen for some
time. We caught up and regaled each other with our
respective screenwriting adventures. I guess mine sounded a
bit better because he ended up asking me to take a look at
his latest effort and giving him my thoughts on a rewrite. I
said, “Sure send it over”. He asked me what paradigm I
wrote with. I said, “Whatever works”. ‘Oh” he said, “I use
the Vogler Paradigm” disappointed in my lack of commitment
to what he considered were the 10 commandments of
screenwriting.
Now, I’ve read Christopher Vogler’s book, THE WRITER’S
JOURNEY, and I think it’s a terrific piece of work. So is
Syd Field’s SCREENPLAY and Robert Mckee’s STORY, but I don’t
recall any of those books, or any of the other insightful
books on screenwriting available and worth their price in
salt, gold or rap video bling, ever promising me that if I
followed their formula to the letter I would become a
successfully produced screenwriter.
I’ve also read uncountable numbers of interviews with
successful screenwriters who unvaryingly admit that if they
do commit to a certain story structure or paradigm, it isn’t
until the most important creative task, the first draft, is
done. After the first draft is complete, if a particular
style or story structure is formally considered, it is the
needs of the story that dictates what structure is chosen.
The creative process is MORE IMPORTANT than any structure,
formula or paradigm. You wouldn’t create a story within a
certain structure anymore than you would choreograph a dance
in a phone booth.
Can’t put it any simpler than that.
The Jan/Feb 2007 issue of SCRIPT magazine has, among other
excellent articles, a wonderful piece by Michael Arndt,
screenwriter of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. When asked what
advice he would give to aspiring screenwriters, Arndt’s
reply was one of the most realistic and eloquent I’ve heard.
He related a series of studies that were done to
differentiate between good professionals and great ones.
These studies applied to all types of professionals,
including writers. The results boiled down to this key
difference between good and great – 10,000 hours.
10,000 hours of dedicated study, practical application and
executing your craft; the equivalent of 4 hours a day, 5
days a week for 10 years. That sounds about right. It took
me about eight years and ten screenplays before I really
started liking anything I wrote. And I think if we take a
look at the so-called ‘overnight successes’, a substantial
history of learning and doing would be revealed.
So now what? How does that relate to breaking free of
structure paradigms? Do we just toss out all the books and
structure theory? Do we stop writing screenplays and study
for the next ten years?
Not on your life. If anything, write more and study harder.
Stay hungry for the knowledge that helps you improve your
craft.
Vogler, Field, McKee and many other excellent mentors
including Michael Hague, William Froug and Pilar Alessandra
have done their 10,000 hours, and then some. Why wouldn’t
we want to benefit from their knowledge and experience?
The question that follows then is not, “WHAT structure
paradigm should I write my screenplay with?” but “WHEN
should I apply structure theory to my screenplay?”
The simple answer is – after your first draft.
The more complex answer is, all the time, but, as a
conscious effort – after your first draft.
Okay, so how does that work?
Let’s agree on a couple of things; first, we never stop
learning, and second, directed or focused learning is more
effective than a laissez-faire approach. If we incorporate
dedicated effort to learning story structure, not just one
but all of the paradigms, studying the work of great and
successful screenwriters, analyzing scripts and taking note
of script to screen transitions, we will find that as we
write our own stuff, we have to think less about formal
structure and we’ll be able to concentrate solely on the
creative flow.
The Buddhist concept ‘satori’ or sudden enlightenment has a
practical application – to act without thinking. One can
achieve satori by practicing the basic tenants of something
over and over to the point where, when required to act,
rather than thinking then acting, one acts without thinking.
So then, as we write, we’re aware of story theory without
having to stop and think about it. This is pure creativity.
When you write your first draft, forget about structure.
Forgetting about structure and theory liberates your
creativity. You want your first draft to be all about that
one resonant emotional chord that inspired you to write the
story in the first place. Write from your heart and soul.
Take your character on a journey that moves you. You can’t
do that if you’re stopping to think, “Oh, I’ve got to have a
plot point on this page!”
Your first draft is the place where you get to break all the
rules. If it helps you, don’t bother writing it in script
format. Write in any format you like as long as the format
allows you the utmost freedom to create. Eventually, you’ll
become so adept at writing in script format anyway; it will
become the format that unleashes your creativity most
effectively.
After your first draft, do a rewrite dedicated to story and
structure analysis. You may find that you don’t want to
change a thing, you’ve broken all the rules and you still
have a compelling, resonant, fulfilling story. Fantastic;
move on to looking at your characters. But if you see holes
in your story, if the emotional journey of your lead
character isn’t resonating a strongly as it could, if the
impact of your story could benefit from changing or adding
plot points or using a different time structure, do that
now.
By adjusting your story in the first rewrite, until it truly
resonates with you, you’ve laid the foundation to work on
all the other elements in your story. You wouldn’t want to
do a rewrite pass on the relationships between your
characters without having the architecture of your lead
character’s emotional journey laid out.
So after all this, how do we ultimately break free of
structural paradigms? We embrace them.
We learn so that we can forget. We forget – so that we can
do. This is breaking free – this is creativity.
———————————————————–
Michael Adams is a screen writer and script consultant who
lives in Vancouver, Canada. He has been writing for 12 years
and has written or co-written 19 feature length screenplays.
He has also been consulting for 8 years. Michael’s clients
range from producers looking for new material or a complete
rewrite on an existing project, to new writers looking for
help with their first script.
Producers and directors who are looking for new scripts or
help with an existing project can reach Michael by email at
mailto:solperro@shaw.ca
Copyright (c) 2007 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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