Go On Your Own Quest — Week 4: Style
“The Quest” has entered Week 4! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a 24-week immersion in the screenwriting process and you can do it here — for free!
This week, we are reflecting on the subject of screenplay Style, mirroring the content the Questers are engaged with in Core IV: Style. They are working through six lectures I have written building off the 4th Essential Screenwriting Principle: Style = Voice. The lectures cover Elements of Screenplay Style, Narrative Voice, Psychological Writing, Imagematic Writing, and Action Writing.
As you would I expect, I view screenwriting style through the lens of character. Indeed the very idea of Narrative Voice is that it represents an invisible character in your script: the Narrator, the figure represented in your approach to scene description, scene construction and placement, transitions, pace, atmosphere, and dialogue. All of that combines to convey your script’s voice, or more specifically its Narrative Voice.
Ask any professional who reads scripts for a living and they will tell you how important a script’s voice is as represented in its approach to style.
For those of you who plan to Go On Your Own Quest, let’s begin this week long conversation about screenplay style with this question:
* What is the key to understanding screenplay style?
This week, you can do some serious reflection about the nature and importance of a screenplay style. If members of the GITS community really engage in a wide-ranging conversation about the subject, there’s no telling what insight each individual can gain, perhaps even a critical key to unlocking your understanding of the subject.
I strongly encourage you to Go On Your Own Quest. First off, you can’t sell a script unless you write it. Second, you can’t get better as a writer unless you write. Third, if you don’t write that script now, when are you going to write it?
So consider this your very own Call To Adventure. Will you heed the call?
I will be teaching the 1-week online writing course Core IV: Style beginning September 10.
For background on “Go Into The Story: The Quest,” go here and here.
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