Reader Question: What is it like to work with a partner on a script?
From Gregaria:
Hi Scott,
First off, I really enjoy your blog. I just got into screenwriting, and I’ve learned much, if not most, of what I know now thanks to your very knowledgeable and generous posting.
I had a couple of “reader questions.” First, can you talk about what its like to work with a partner on a script? I’m finding this to be somewhat difficult because we’re working on a comedy and we don’t always have the same sense of humor. My partner likes more slapstick and sarcasm, while I like sarcasm and dry humor. There are some lines/jokes I throw in there that she doesn’t think are funny, but other people would find hilarious. Should we just do a mix of types of humor? Will this make the script seem disjointed? Also, in order to avoid “taking over” the project, I (the one writing it all out) ask her constantly about plot and characters and try to get her input on dialogue, etc. However, we both seem to be stuck on certain scenes and the final outcome of the movie. I don’t want to brainstorm without her, but I feel like I need to brainstorm in order to solve the issues. What if she doesn’t like it?
Thanks so much for your time and, again, your excellent blog!
I’ve worked with two different writing partners, so I do have some background in this regard. A couple of points. First, you have to separate two issues: The working relationship with your writing partner — and the script itself. The determining factor about what jokes or bits you include / exclude should not be determined so much by your or your partner’s personal tastes, but rather what the tone of the script is. If it’s a slapstick story, then that is the touchstone for all the decisions you make about what stays in or gets excluded. If the humor is more dry, or more cerebral, or more whatever, you and your partner have to make a decision what the story’s comedic tone is — and use that as a guideline on how to approach the humor you write.
Now, as you suggest, your partner may be drawn to ‘broader’ humor than you. You may be inclined toward more ‘dry’ humor. That fact should only matter in that you each understand your respective comedic instincts to be and that your first passes at what you write will reflect that. But again, it’s the story that determines what stays in and what goes out, not your respective tastes.
If you don’t know exactly what the tone of the story should be, you can always take a ‘throw in the kitchen sink’ approach where you put it all into a first draft. Then read it. Have a few informed eyeballs read it. See what works and what doesn’t. Hopefully the tone of the humor will emerge over time. But your goal should be to both understand the tone of the humor and write to that.
On a practical level, I always found this to be a good solution to writing with a partner: Before you write a scene, both of you talk it out ahead of time: What is the point of the scene, what is the beginning, middle, and end, what type of scene is it, and all the rest. Then you write your version of the scene, and your partner writes theirs. You take turns reading your scenes to each other. Sometimes you nail it. Sometimes your partner does. Sometimes you merge the two. But that way, both writers get an opportunity to write and be heard.
If you end up with a situation whereby you like your version and they like theirs, another simple solution: If you can’t persuade each other to fall in love with either version, then look for a third option. That is, act on the belief that there is always another way to write the scene. So you draft another version, your partner does as well. Invariably you’ll find a take that works. Or in the process of trying other takes, you shift your perspective on the original scenes, and one of them or an amalgam ends up working.
A final thought: A writing partnership is like any serious relationship of choice: You have to work hard to make it work. Both while you’re writing and the equally important time when you’re not. It’s not imperative that you be friends — although that can certainly help — but it is critical that you understand how each of you operate creatively, you look out for each other’s interest, and most importantly you respect each other. If that fundamental respect isn’t there, the writing partnership will not last.
How about it, GITS readers? Who among you has written / does write with a partner? What advice do you have for Gregaria?
Tomorrow another question from Gregaria.