Working backwards

 

I had a concept I was trying to flesh out many years ago, which I decided to make my new project. The premise is a bit flimsy and I don't have any intentions of releasing it at all. It seems like a big idea but I can't make it big. But when I sat down to start over, it wasn't going anywhere. The only way I could dig myself out was to literally write a 109 page screenplay (after finally finding a relatively good script writing application) where I could get the dialogue and action out before I got bogged down in descriptions.

I used this trick to pull myself out of a long spell of writer's block many years ago. I realised I had so much dialogue and scene action in my head it seemed easier to just write basic outlines in a screenplay format, and use these as drafts for when I decided to write them as prose. Some of them differed dramatically from the script in the end, and ended up just being a platform to take some dialogue from and apply to a different story. Some of them were more or less the same.

This would seem like a lot of work for a simple draft but weirdly it's helped in this instance to actually get words on the page. I'm modifying and fleshing out more where applicable, a few things have already changed. I worked through the script as I saw it as a movie in my head, which is my biggest issue as a writer: I don't read more than I watch, so most of my stuff is just me translating stuff in my head onto the page, so it's sometimes lacking in scene description. But I've always taken into consideration people complaining about other authors being over-descriptive to the point the reader skimmed this information just to get back to the action. I'm also less likely to introduce a character with a name and detailed description of their appearance, I've usually tried to litter the text with character details rather than info- dumping.

I tend to get irritated with the idea of authors offering advice when something that works for them won't work for another author. I've often said, take what you need and leave the rest that doesn't work. I think getting caught up in the idea that you didn't write a book the "right way" can really upset the process. Finishing should be the goal, how you get there might not have much bearing on the journey. You may find people saying certain things weren't clear and perhaps some better planning on your part would have rectified this. Even then, you should find your best solution for this and not force yourself to adopt a tactic that you're not comfortable with. My solution is probably a weird one that happened to work for me because I had a very vague understanding of script writing formats. I probably didn't need to actually stick to the correct alignments, I'm sure you could keep everything left aligned I just like the look of it. I've had fun reading scripts online, especially first drafts and shooting scripts of movies I've seen a hundred times.

The only aspect of the software that I found (which let me do a full screenplay without paying an arm and a leg) was the gender analysis function, that could give you statistics based on gender and how many lines each had by taking each indicated character name and listing them against three check boxes. It did include an "unspecified" option, not just simply male and female, which would be great for casting a nonbinary person, but how much representation would they have in an even spread if your goal is to keep things "equal". The template script the application used drew my attention to it in this weird exchange between a male and female character that works as a tutorial while reading like an existential nightmare. I understand this function proving useful if you want your screenplay to be inclusive, I just failed to see how it would make a screenplay "better" if the content was still essentially terrible. Okay, you passed the Bechdel test, however your characters are two dimensional, and your story makes no sense. Certain stories simply don't have a balanced gender spread of characters purely from the story being told: i.e. Dunkirk was full of white men for a reason. It also wasn't making allowances for varying races. That's up to you. I see the sentiment behind this I just don't believe it's a good solution to the problem of under-representation.

Aside from that, I'm not making this project something I have to finish immediately or make any bigger than it is. Finishing it is the goal, essentially.