Interview (Part 6): Elizabeth Oyebode (2016 Nicholl Winner)

My 6-part chat with the writer of the winning script “Tween the Ropes”.

Elizabeth Oyebode wrote the original screenplay “Tween the Ropes” which won a 2016 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Elizabeth about her background, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl has meant to her.

Today in Part 6 of 6, Elizabeth offers advice to aspiring screenwriters.

Scott: Continuing with some craft questions, how about when you’re writing a scene? Do you have any specific goals in mind?

Elizabeth: I’m a big advocate for scene polarity. I like the idea of coming into a scene with one expectation, leaving with a different one, and of scenes with conflicting character goals and motivations.

When I go into a scene, I aim to present it in a way that is unexpected.

Scott: How about rewriting? What’s your process there? You get the first draft done and…

Elizabeth: Hopefully.

Scott: [laughs] That’s the first thing. Right?

Elizabeth: Yep.

Scott: Get the damn thing done! Now you’re faced with rewriting. What’s your process like, or do you have one?

Elizabeth: Yes. Getting through the first draft can be a strangely painful [laughs] experience. The rewrite is awesome because pretty much everything’s there already. And if something happens to be missing, its absence is pronounced enough to encourage discovery.

When I rewrite, I do it iteratively…multiple passes focused on different structural or character-related components. And also passes to ensure that the characters’ actions help move the plot forward and raise the stakes. Part of that involves eliminating extraneous scenes that don’t advance the plot or that don’t add any character dimensionality.

Scott: That’s interesting. I interviewed Ava DuVernay. She said that she would actually do rewrites where she would rewrite it from the perspective of a specific character each time. I think for “Middle of Nowhere” she had seven characters. She did seven drafts, each time from a different perspective of a different character. I thought that was quite interesting.

Elizabeth: I would love to see all of those movies.

Scott: Yeah, exactly. What’s your actual writing process like? Are you an everyday type person, sporadic bursts, or do you go to coffee shops, work in private? Do you listen to music or not? How do you write?

Elizabeth: Music is key for me. I also prefer to be in control of whatever space that I am in when I’m writing. I don’t tend to write in coffee shops. I typically write at home or somewhere quiet.

I tend to research, deal with cards, and outline during the day. But, when it comes to actually writing, for some reason when it’s darker [laughs] out, there’s no traffic, no leaf blowers, no dogs barking, I’m more efficient.

Scott: Maybe left brain during the day and right brain at night?

Elizabeth: Yes, typically, when I’m writing a first draft.

Scott: I’m a night writer, too, so I salute you. I’ve got two questions left. One question is the one that you’re going to undoubtedly be asked along the way as you move along in your career and that is ‑‑ What advice can you offer aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft and breaking into Hollywood?

Elizabeth: Apart from reading screenplays both new and old, it’s important to determine your strengths, so you can play those up and have something that is a throughline for you as a writer early on. Whether it’s figuring out that you’re great at character development, or plotting, or dialogue, or if it’s a certain genre.

Also, even if an idea isn’t commercial, if it’s sticking in your mind, try writing it out for your own critical growth or to help define your voice. Then you’ll have more headspace to get into the next story.

Lastly, I think it’s important to finish your first draft. [laughs]

Give yourself permission to just finish it, errors and all. You’ll be much better off improving it once it’s on the page.

Scott: Yeah, zero draft.

Elizabeth: Zero draft, exactly. Then step back from it, clean it up, and once it’s ready to send out, be open to the feedback you receive.

Scott: We’ve started off the conversation with a quote from your Nicholl Fellowship acceptance speech. I’d like to end it with one. You said, “Movies are one of the few things that unite us all. They remind us about empathy and hope.”

I thought, given where we are culturally and, certainly, politically right now, I can’t think of two more important attributes that we need than empathy and hope. I’m wondering if you could expand on that a little bit.

Elizabeth: Well, in this moment, we’re going to have to get our bearings on what constitutes right and what constitutes wrong. What freedom should look like and what it means to stand up for what we believe. We’re going to have to remember our history. And I think the stories we tell onscreen are a great way to do that, to imbue our present with both history and mythology in a way that embraces empathy and hope for the future.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

For Part 2, here.

For Part 3, here.

For Part 4, here.

For Part 5, here.

For more of my interviews with Nicholl winners, go here.