structure

Greetings from No Man’s Land!

Maximum Z characters, conflict, continuity, creativity, goals, guidelines, ideas, monsters, obstacles, outlines, payoff, plot, plot points, problem-solving, protagonist, rewrite, rules, scenes, screenwriting, script, setup, spec, story, structure, subplot, theme, writing
Lost? Of course not. Just recalculating my position.
Lost? Of course not. Just recalculating my position.

It took some doing, but I finally managed to get to the midpoint of the rewrite of the monster spec outline.

As is required for this particular plot point, my hero is now firmly committed to achieving his goal, plus not one, but two new conflicts thrown into the mix to make it that much harder for him.

There’s still a little setup-payoff work that needs to be applied to some earlier scenes, but I really like how it’s coming along.

But for now, my attention shifts forward – further into the vast wasteland that is the rest of Act Two.

To some, a staggering task of herculean proportions.  For me – not too much.

Well, maybe a little.

Act Two can be incredibly intimidating. Your script can have a killer opening and fantastic ending, but if what happens between them isn’t as good, if not better, than you’re in trouble.

What takes place in those 50-60 pages can really make or break your story. A reader or audience wants to see things happen as the characters grow (or at least change).

With such a vast canvas to work with, you might lose track of a lot of elements – supporting characters, subplots, etc. I remember reading a script that introduced what I thought was going to be an interesting subplot, but after that initial appearance, it never showed up again. It’s possible the writer just forgot about it, or maybe didn’t know how to develop it.

Take your time to plan things out. Yes, we all want to get done faster, but in this case, that’s the worst thing you could do.

Let’s assume you’ve got your plot points in place, so now it’s a matter of connecting them.  What has to happen in each scene to move things ahead to the next one?

Remember: each scene, no matter how big or small, should advance the plot, theme and character, as well as contain some kind of conflict.

It’s easy to get lost in all the details. Maybe there’s too much focus on this part, and not enough on that one. Again, take your time to figure it out.  Besides, you’ll be able to make the necessary fixes in the next batch of rewrites.

It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers right now, but there are lot of details you’re going to need to fill in as you move forward. And always keep asking “Is this the best way to have this happen?”

The journey through Act Two can definitely be a challenge, but it can be a little less daunting if you go into it prepared and knowing where you want to go.

Let’s keep things simple, shall we?

Maximum Z continuity, editing, feedback, goals, monsters, outlines, payoff, Pirates of the Caribbean, plot, rewrite, Rossio & Elliott, scenes, screenwriting, script, setup, spec, story, storytelling, structure, writing
This series was anything but easy to follow
Talk about confusing. This series was anything but easy to follow

A nice writing sprint for the monster spec outline resulted in getting to the page 45 plot point, which was great. But what it made it especially satisfying was realizing how to get there in the equivalent of a short, straight line.

No overly complicated story details. No sudden heading off in a totally different direction. Just THIS leading right into THAT, doing exactly what was intended.

One of the most important parts of presenting a story is that everything you need to know has been properly set up, and that it all flows smoothly from one scene to the next.

While you’re still in the plotting-everything-out stage, ask yourself “Is this easy to follow?” A lot of writers will defend their material as such, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is.

This thing is practically a part of you. You’ve labored over it for what feels like forever, and you know the story inside and out.

We don’t, which means there’s a good chance someone reading it for the first time might not pick up on everything, which isn’t our fault.

Maybe you’ve thrown too much information at us, or just have too much going on that it’s hard to keep track of everything.

It happens, but it’s not the crisis you think it is. Don’t see it as laboring your way through yet another rewrite; it’s actually another chance to make your script better.

Think streamlined.

Strive to avoid unwanted bloat and confusion by constantly checking and re-checking that your story elements make sense, fit where they should and play an important part in telling the story.

A one-man demolition & construction crew

Maximum Z antagonist, editing, ideas, monsters, outlines, plot, productivity, protagonist, rewrite, scenes, screenwriting, script, spec, story, structure, subplot, writing ,
Tear it down, then rebuild
Stuck in a vicious cycle of build, knock down, rebuild (repeat as necessary)

Due to circumstances beyond my control, actual work on revamping of the monster spec outline was practically nonexistent this week, but I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things soon.

In the meantime, there’s been a lot of thought about the next steps in terms of developing the story.

Since so many of the details have changed since the previous version, a lot of material was cut. I really hated to see it go, but it had to be done. As always, some of it may return in a modified form.

This, of course, left significant gaps in the story to be filled. Challenging, thrilling and maybe a little intimidating, all at once.

Working in my favor is knowing what the major plot points are. They’re in place, so the focus now is how to connect them in the most effective ways I can come up with.

Just putting a few empty lines between the plot points (each one represented by a dash) actually helps with getting from one to the next. Here’s Point A, so what needs to happen to get to Point B?

Simple, yet productive. Sometimes.

This also enables me to see how the various plotlines play out (protagonist, antagonist, various subplots), how they all connect and when would be the best time to show the latest developments, all while constantly striving to keep it all fun, interesting and exciting.

As always, fingers firmly crossed for progress in the coming days.

Getting up to speed – OR – Our story so far…

Maximum Z characters, Field of Dreams, genre, monsters, Pacific Rim, plot, scenes, screenwriting, script, setup, spec, Star Wars, story, structure, writing
An informed audience is a happy audience
An informed audience is a happy audience

As work continues with the monster spec, some of the focus has been on figuring out the backstory of how things came to be and working out the events that lead up to where the plot starts.

If this were a novel, I could just include them in the whole body of work. Not so the case for a screenplay.

In as few scenes as possible, I need to educate the reader/viewer about this world, who’s involved and what’s at stake. Once that’s done, we shift gears and dive right into the story.

A recent example – PACIFIC RIM. The opening minutes are all about what’s already happened – giant monsters showed up, we built giant robots to fight them, and we’re off.

Consider the opening crawl in STAR WARS. A few paragraphs floating in space sets everything up: here’s what’s going on, immediately followed by a space battle.

While this kind of thing is necessary for a ripping effects-laden yarn, what if your story is about normal folks in the everyday world?

Same rules apply. We still need to know what’s going on and who it’s about. Give us those parts of the story now, and pepper it with the relevant details as we move forward.

The example I keep coming back to for this is the opening of FIELD OF DREAMS: Kevin Costner narrates a thumbnail sketch about his character over a series of photographs, then we’re on the farm in Iowa.

No matter what genre you’re working in, it’s important to know what happened before page one, both regarding the story and the characters. You don’t have to go crazy with details, but at least know what needs to be known.

The big difference a little something can make

Maximum Z action, characters, cupcakes, dialogue, scenes, screenwriting, script, story, storytelling, structure, writing
Good by itself, but even better with that little extra step
A metaphor involving sprinkles – tasty and informative

For as much as we talk about crafting a story, developing characters, creating scenarios and other big-picture items, it’s also important we not forget the little things.

By ‘the little things’, I mean those tiny details that add just the right touch at that particular moment, and readers and audiences will notice them.

It might play a pivotal role in the story, but doesn’t necessarily have to. It’s hard to describe, but you definitely recognize it when you write it, read it or see it.

They can be almost anything. A one-time action. A casual line of dialogue. A fleeting glimpse of something, maybe in the background, or even the setting itself. No matter what it is, it has the amazing ability to make the story feel just a little more complete.

Just as an example, I had a scene end with a character asking for pancakes. To me, it was just a fun, throwaway line.  But to my manager’s script guy (who really knows his stuff), it was a “great example of what this character is like,” and something he could “definitely see her saying.”

All that from one line? Who knew?

This isn’t saying your script has to be chock-full of this kind of thing; more like sprinkled liberally, or at least used at your discretion.

Start out by focusing on organizing the main parts of your story so the structure’s in place. Then as you’re putting the rest of it together and filling in the gaps, you’ll discover plenty of opportunities to add in the aforementioned little things.