“Less explanation — get on with it!”

One of the advantages of intersecting with as many writers as I do on a daily basis — via my blog, email, and teaching — is the wide variety of perspectives I’m exposed to about the craft, so inevitably I always learn something. For example, Philip Brewster, a U.K. based writer in one of my current classes, said this by way of introducing himself:

“I’m in this because I love writing and screenwriting suits my ‘less explanation — get on with it!’ approach.”

Less explanation — get on with it! How great is that! I feel Hollywood all atwitter as hundreds of script readers wag their head all at once: Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!

Don’t over-explain. Don’t bog down scenes with too much description. Pick out the most essential aspects of what needs to transpire, write it tight and true, clean and lean, light and lively [fill in your couplet here].

It reminds me of a quote from William Goldman:

“In a book you might start with some dialogue, and then describe your clothing, and more dialogue. The camera gets that in an instant. Boom, and you’re on. Get on, get on. The camera is relentless. Makes you keep running.”

The camera is relentless. Makes you keep running. In other words: Less explanation — get on with it.

I think we would all benefit from tacking that up at our desks.

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