Reader Question: What about breaking screenwriting style / format rules?

From Jacqueline Windh:

As far as questions go… the one I can think of right now (kinda vague) would be something about breaking the rules. Seems some of the scripts we are looking at [in the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series] have broken the rules — e.g. Drag me to Hell, with huge long “action” paragraphs with little “white space? (e.g. p18–21). I’d like to know, is that considered to be poor writing, or is there something about that sequence that makes it work in spite of breaking the rules we are all told (re: white space, and short punchy paragraphs)?

Let’s make a distinction right upfront between two types of scripts: selling scripts and shooting scripts. Although the studios have in the last few years started to create cleaned up final drafts [for award consideration], generally shooting scripts are not the most reliable sources of content when it comes to screenwriting style. Oftentimes there are multiple sets of writers involved in a project, so the style can change radically from one scene to the next. And as production needs trump aesthetics, shooting scripts can come across as pretty much a mess, at least in terms of style.

A better reference point for study purposes are selling scripts. The challenge, of course, is how to find them. There are some that drift into dark corners of the web, although not as frequently after the unfortunate lawsuit by Twentieth Century Fox against screenwriter P.J. McIlvaine which — thankfully — was recently dropped. If you are willing to spend money, you can join an online resource like The Tracking Board which has access to selling scripts [with a number of restrictions about what you can and can’t do with those scripts].

All that is by way of background to the larger question: What about breaking screenwriting style and format rules? The simple answer is, yes, you can break them. Two provisos: (1) You must learn them first, their ins-and-outs, so you not only understand how to manage style and format, buy why those guidelines exist. For when you choose to alter style or format, you are not so much breaking a rule as going against the grain of a mindset. Which leads to the second point. (2) When you defy a screenwriting style or format guideline, you must be prepared for a script reader to critique you for it. You may have a perfectly good reason for doing this, that or the other style or format thing that contradicts the status quo, however a script reader is more likely to judge you negatively on the appearance of the change before even beginning to comprehend why you did what you did. Why? Two reasons. First most script readers operate on a line of least resistance mentality, that is they are actively looking for reasons to pass on your script including poor formatting and style sense. Second increasingly script readers are barely trained interns who, while they may not understand much about story, can grasp the basic elements of screenplay style and format. Thus since this is something they feel comfortable in assessing, they are more likely to comment — negatively — on a script’s style and format ‘deficiencies’ just because they can.

So let’s take the October 4, 1999 version of the script Memento [you may download the script here]. If you open the script and flip through it, you will note that some scenes are typed in normal fashion [tagged with <<COLOUR SEQUENCE>>], yet other scenes are in italics and tagged ##BLACK AND WHITE SEQUENCE##. A cursory read, say by an intern reader, may lead to a WTF critique about the italics, whereas a more thoughtful immersion into the story would reveal that Nolan uses normal font to represent one time frame and the italicized font to represent another time frame. Of course, Christopher Nolan being Christopher Nolan, he can get away with anything.

Here’s the deal: No matter what anybody tells you, there are no rules. There are guidelines. And as I said before, you have the freedom to go against those guidelines. But you should only do that if you understand script style and format, and you have a damn good reason for making the change. Assuming you do, my attitude is go for it. Because to me, the bottom line is: The story rules. Our job as a writer is to tell the story the best way possible. Period. If that requires us to bend the guidelines, bend them.

I look forward to what the GITS community has to say. It’s amazing how format and style questions can lead to firefights.

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