Paul Schrader’s take on “there are no rules to beak”

For years, I have argued that there are no screenwriting rules. In March 2014, I codified my thinking on the subject with a 15-part series called So-Called Screenwriting ‘Rules’.

My fundamental points: If there were rules, there would be rule books, and there is no such thing. Second, rules constrict creativity which is the opposite of what writing should be about.

Recently writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) tweeted this about the new indie movie Me and Earl and The Dying Girl:

Schrader frames the argument about filmmaking in an historical context. In the post-World War II era, there were rules. The next generation learned the rules, then broke them. This generation of filmmakers doesn’t know of any rules. “There are no rules to break.”

We see this in screenwriting today. Whether it’s Dan Gilroy creating zero ‘likeable’ characters in Nightcrawler (although they are compelling as hell)… J.C. Chandor writing a 31-pages feature length screenplay (All Is Lost)… or countless movies which provide scant setup or background on Protagonist characters before they are off and running in the plot (e.g., Hanna, Ex Machina), writers are stretching the presumed boundaries of conventional screenwriting.

There are conventions, common practices, and expectations. We can and should be aware of them. But there are no rules to break… because there are no rules.

Find your voice. Express your creativity. And write a damn good story. That should be your focus.

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