“Every scene should advance the story”
“Every scene should advance the story.”
Advice from screenwriter Philip Dunne who knew just a little something about the craft accumulating dozens of writing credits including such notable films as How Green Was My Valley, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Agony and the Ecstasy.
Every scene should advance the story. How to determine that? Go back to that question I raised last week: What is the point of the scene? Typically a scene advances the story by fulfilling two goals: Structural (External World) and Emotional (Internal World).
Plucking a scene from my head, how about this one from The King’s Speech:
Structural Goal: To deal with the fact that Lionel is not a credentialed doctor.
Emotional Goal: To get Bertie to realize he has a voice… the voice of a King.
Time and time again in movies, we see this interplay between the events in the External World of a scene and what is happening on an emotional, psychological level.
As you pound out the first draft of your original screenplay, put each scene you write to the test: Does it advance the story? If so, how? If it does, great. Press on. If it does not, make a note, and continue on. You can deal with the scene in rewrites.
So remember:
“Every scene should advance the story.”
I encourage you to head to comments to discuss today’s questions. And for a related discussion on The Black Board, check out these topics:
The Quest” has entered Week 20! 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!
Today and every Monday through Friday for 10 weeks, I’ll use this slot to post something inspirational as GOYOQ participants pound out their first drafts.
Why not use the structure of this 24-week workshop to Go On Your Own Quest? That was an idea that gathered energy among many members of the GITS community which I described here.
For more information on Go On Your Own Quest, go here.
Plus you can join The Black Board, the Official Online Writing Community of the Black List and Go Into The Story, another free resource to help keep you inspired and on target at you Go On Your Own Quest from FADE IN to FADE OUT on the first draft of your original screenplay.
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