An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 4): They make the job of a screenwriter more difficult
“Sometimes the formula in question has been created by someone who has never sold a script or worked as a professional screenwriter.”
Script notes. From studios. From producers. Sometimes the notes are good. Sometimes not so good. Sometimes awful. Script notes are a fact of a screenwriter’s life and you learn to just deal with them.
Hopefully, you are working with smart people. Those who understand Story. Maybe not as much as you, but that’s to be expected. They’re not the writer. You are. But between their intelligence and embrace of their role as a development executive, combined with an honest, open dialogue about the story and its issues, hopefully you emerge from the meeting with a set of script notes that are, by and large, executable and could even benefit the project.
Then there are people who do not understand Story very well. Oftentimes, this is where the specter of screenplay formulas arising from the cauldron of screenwriting gurus emerges to bite you in the ass.
You see, these books, seminars, webinars and story structure software have proven not only to have found willing buyers among aspiring screenwriters. Their influence has filtered its way up into the ranks of Hollywood development circles.
How can you know? When the notes your receive reflect the actual language system of a particular screenwriting guru.
This is not to say a script note based upon one of these screenplay formulas may not have merit. On a case by case basis, some may. But by and large, receiving notes like these makes the job of a screenwriter more difficult.
Why?
What if the story you have written does not fit into the screenplay formula at all? Then you are left trying to jam a round block into a square hole. Worse, if there are so many notes that you have to rewrite the script so it becomes another story, then you find yourself in the unenviable position of writing a screenplay to fit a formula.
Sometimes the formula in question has been created by someone who has never sold a script or worked as a professional screenwriter. So there’s that. Even if they have, this can become a nightmarish case of outside-in writing, which I describe in Part 2 of this series, where creative decisions are being made not from within the context of the story universe and its characters, but rather per the whims of some complete outsider, someone you have never met, someone who has not read your script, all they’ve done is write a book and seen their ideas somehow permeate into the consciousness of people who work in movie development.
I have talked with enough other screenwriters to know this is a real and growing issue, yet another dynamic to have to deal with when working with script notes and an additional path toward Development Hell. As I’ve said, the presence of these screenplay formulas can make the life of a screenwriter that much more of a challenge.
There’s also this. Know how you and seemingly everyone else complains about how formulaic Hollywood studio movies are nowadays? Yes, the corporations are playing it safe nowadays to an unprecedented degree with remakes, reboots, sequels and prequels, but what about the influence of screenplay formulas in Hollywood development circles on actual storytelling? Net positive? Or net negative?
What do you think?
There is one more critique I have about these screenplay formulas and that derives from a key fact: Most of the more well-known and influential systems or paradigms were born in the 1980s. And times have changed. More on that in Part 5 of the series tomorrow.
For Part 1 of the series “An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas: They are selling you a lie” — go here.
For Part 2 of the series “An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas: Formula leads to formulaic writing” — go here.
For Part 3 of the series “An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas: They diminish the craft of screenwriting — go here.
I welcome your comments and thoughts.
And for the record on Saturday, I will do a post in which I make an argument on how screenplay formulas do have a place in a writer’s life, albeit a very, very limited one.
UPDATE: Just to be clear, I’m including my update from Part 2 drawing a distinction between formula and structure.
I’ve gotten emails from several writers a bit frantic in tone, so let me make this clear: There is a difference between formula and structure. When William Goldman famously says, “Screenplays are structure,” at a fundamental level, that is true. The ultimate end point for a screenplay is the production of a movie and because of certain limitations and conventions common to movies, the structure of a script is intimately tied to the actual nuts and bolts process of making a film.
So let me be clear: I am not saying structure is bad. On the contrary, story structure is critical to the success of a screenplay.
The problem is equating formula with structure.
First off, as discussed, there is no one single formula to craft a screenplay’s structure. Stories are organic. Formulas are not. So the very premise that this screenwriting guru or that can make some claim as to the universality of their formula is false on the face of it. There are endless possibilities for stories and story structure.
Second, from what I’ve seen in the countless scripts I’ve read from writers who have been influenced by screenplay formulas, clearly their focus in the writing has been with Plot, as if Plot is the sum of story structure. It is not. A screenplay’s universe has two dimensions: The External World, what I call the Plotline, the domain of Action and Dialogue, and the Internal World, what I call the Themeline, the domain of Intention and Subtext. The former is where we see and hear the story’s Physical Journey. The latter is where we interpret and intuit the story’s Psychological Journey. Without the Internal World, a story is essentially without any meaning or emotional resonance. Therefore if the preponderance of focus in a screenplay formula is on the makeup of the External World, that is only serving one part of the story’s structure. Story structure properly understood involves both domains: External World (Plotline) and Internal World (Themeline).
Third, and perhaps most importantly, whatever story structure you end up with, one of the major points of emphasis in my teaching is how you get there. This goes back to outside-in writing, as described in Part 2, versus inside-out writing. I believe you are much more likely to find an authentic story structure, not a formulaic one, through the inside-out approach, starting with characters, immersing yourself in their lives, engaging in an active, dynamic process in which both the Plotline and Themeline emerge.
So when I call into question screenplay formula, please understand, this is not the same thing as story structure. In a sense, screenplays are structure, but that structure involves both Plotline and Themeline… and it’s critical how you go about crafting that structure.
Outside-In / Formula = No!
Inside-Out / Characters = Yes!
