... that Are Killing Your Creativity

http://www.scriptquack.com/3/post/2012/09/7-screenwriting-rules-that-are-killing-your-creativity.html

I thought this was useful and thought I'd share.

I'm also posting it on MoviePoet.

Hm, I remember when I first started writing... for some reason I could never finish any of my scripts.  I had index cards of notes, story plots, ect, and still I kept running into all these roadblocks.  This went off and on for two years.  It was pretty frustrating.

Then...I started doing more research, reading more pro scripts, blogs, listening to podcasts, networking and I realized my problem;  the "so called" rules were pouring hot sauce on my ice cream.  So I made a decision... I stopped following the rules and dumped almost everything I learned from those screenwriting books... except for basic formatting and storytelling.

And once I did that everything just started fallin' into place.  It was very liberating actually. I finished two of my features within six months and my third, four months later.

Just sayin'.

Disclaimer; I'm not saying there's anything wrong with following the rules.   To each their own.

Thanks for posting...

Ghostie

Nice article. You always see it too often "Don't use VO, flashbacks are bad, nobody uses supers anymore! Why is your inciting incident on the last line of page 11?" Although some of this advice has its pros, all these things are there for a reason. If somebody can use them right, then go ahead and stop following the crowd.

I never knew there were books out there telling us how to do this.  :-)  I think it would take the fun out of writing for me if I ever did read any of those books.  However, I do like some of the formatting books out there that give more than one example about how certain things can be formatted.  Those have come in handy for me while trying to discover the easiest way to get ideas across.

Thanks for posting, ABS, (and long time no see by the way).

Hm, a couple of points that I can toss in regarding this. First, adhering to page count forces creativity; it doesn't kill it. When you are given any kind of limitation that you have to follow, you have to give it twice as much thought to make the story fit into that criteria, whether that be pages, budget, character limits, or anything else that doesn't allow you to take your first option in telling the story. Limits of any kind actually enhance, not limit, creativity.

Second, character and plot always need to go together for a singular reason. The plot is what sells the movie; the characters make it a success. When you put out a logline, you tell next to nothing about a character, but everything about the plot. Someone wants to watch a movie about a down on his luck dude overthrowing the megacorporation using bombs and sci-fi gadgets, but if we can't accept the characters (no matter how they are), we'll condemn it for being something we've seen before (even though we went in knowing we'd seen it before).

Really, if you find yourself stuck behind rules, then you are doing yourself a disservice. Like the Pirate Code, it's more of a set of guidelines than laws. However, if you want to go into an industry that works a certain way, then you have to adjust yourself to that industry and whatever it is doing at the moment. Page counts and beats are important to the audience, whether they know it or not. Watch your favorite movie and see if the game changing event doesn't happen about 20 minutes in (it almost always happens). See if the main character doesn't get his ass handed to him about 20 minutes from the end before he sets out to take down the baddie. Sure, it doesn't always happen that way, but enough to notice for someone who does know the "rules."

Quoted from George Willson Hm, a couple of points that I can toss in regarding this. First, adhering to page count forces creativity; it doesn't kill it. When you are given any kind of limitation that you have to follow, you have to give it twice as much thought to make the story fit into that criteria, whether that be pages, budget, character limits, or anything else that doesn't allow you to take your first option in telling the story. Limits of any kind actually enhance, not limit, creativity.

This is BIG TIME seconded for me!

I look at it like low budget film making...
Constraints begets creativity.

To that end I forced myself to only two lines of action description per thought.
It was the best way to get lean on the page.
And you want to be lean and fast in town when no one knows your work.

I also give myself "story rules" for individual screenplays.
They are designed to force me to work in a tight space...

For Zombie Playground, I wanted no maiming violence.
So, I had to come up with rated PG ways for the kids to prevail.
That rule helped me create a better family adventure.

Regards,
E.D.

Brett, I agree with you pretty much.  2 line max per passage to me seems a bit extreme, but a w all know, if you can pull it off where it reads well, you're golden.

Also want to say and tell you all that I truly believe this and use it in everything I say.

If you come up with a great story and plot, that's awesome.  But, if you can't put it down on the ciber page in a way that brings your readers in, you're kinda fucking yourself.

This is why I always am very serious and harsh on simple errors that shouldn't be there.

Rules can ad always will be broken, but when you want to smash them...make sure everything else is rocking, and you've invented a new usable and successful template.

But, understand...that template or those templates that everyone thinks we have to follow, don't matter one bit when you deliver on your own template.

Understand what works and either go with it or make a decision based on your beliefs and write a good script.

I own a lot of screenwriting books, but to be honest, I've only read one. "How Not To Write A Screenplay". The rules I follow are those that have been pointed out to me over time by people here at SS, for the most part.

Don't go over four lines in your action descriptions. Avoid 'ing words, don't be too descriptive, keep it terse. Avoid the word "and" whenever you can. A new line for each shot. And on and on. I do listen to everyone's comments and the style I have come to use is all based on feedback from you guys. I think my style is lean, borderline terse, but people often tell me I'm a fast/easy read, so maybe that's a good thing...

Quoted from Dreamscale But, understand...that template or those templates that everyone thinks we have to follow, don't matter one bit when you deliver on your own template. Understand what works and either go with it or make a decision based on your beliefs and write a good script.

Yup, I agree here too on when to deviate from those lean rules.
For instance, there's a feature producer here in town that loves Clone Wife.
So, I'm developing a page one rewrite based off of our meetings.

I tailor this draft to his likes and pet peeves.
And even try to play up the characters he likes the best, etc.

You're always tailoring the script.
All that changes is whom you're doing to for! ;D

Regards,
E.D.