September is Scene-Writing Month: Day 10
As noted in this post, September is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a prompt for writing a script scene. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. If you really want to get in the spirit of things, upload your scene here in the comments section of the original post. That way you can critique others’ pages and receive feedback on your scene as well.
Why scene-writing? Think about it: If the average scene is 1 1/2 to 2 pages long and a script is 100–120 pages, then a screenwriter writes between 50–80 scenes per screenplay. Thus in a very real way, screenwriting is scene-writing. The better we get at writing scenes, it stands to reason the better we get as a screenwriter.
Plus there’s this: If you are thinking about using the Go On Your Own Quest schedule to pound out a first draft of an original screenplay, FADE IN is fast approaching — October 21 to be precise. What better way to get your writing muscles moving than a series of scene-writing exercises.
A couple of logistical notes:
* Limit your scenes to 2 pages. First, most scenes are 2 pages or less in length. Second, out of fairness to everyone participating in the public scene-writing workshop, let’s not abuse anyone’s patience or time with really long scenes.
* I’m sure someone will post a way for you to write scenes and upload them so they maintain proper script format, but that isn’t a big deal to me. Rather the content and execution are the important thing. So as a default mode, do this: (1) Don’t worry about right-hand margins on scene description or dialogue, just keep typing until it manually shifts each line. (2) Don’t worry about character name position, rather do this:
SCARLETT: Rhett, Rhett... Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?RHETT: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
Today’s prompt: Write an action scene with no dialogue.
One implication of no dialogue is that you can end up with a couple of pages filled with scene description. You could approach the old-fashioned way as in this excerpt from the 1951 script for The African Queen:
He is in worn, rather befouled white clothes. He is barefooted
and his feet are cocked up and he is sitting on his shoulder
blades, smoking a bad cigar. He wears a ratty boater,
slantwise, against the sunlight. He is attended by two young
Negroes so tall, thin and gracile they suggest black macaroni.
One is proudly and busily puttering at the engine, which
requires a lot of attention: the other is fanning ALLNUTT,
who is feeling just fine. Allnutt speaks to the fanner in
Swahili. The young man without breaking the rhythm of his
fanning, licks out one long, boneless arm and alters the
lashed tiller; the Queen begins to swerve toward shore. o.s.,
the hymn continues, all but drowned by motor noise.
Or write it with a more contemporary style like this from the 1999 movie The Matrix:
On the roof, Trinity is running as Agent Brown rises over
the parapet, leading the cops in pursuit.
Trinity begins to jump from one roof to the next, her
movements so clean, gliding in and out of each jump,
contrasted to the wild jumps of the cops.
Agent Brown, however, has the same unnatural grace.
The metal SCREAM of an elevated TRAIN is heard and Trinity
turns to it, racing for the back of the building.
The edge falls away into a wide back alley. The next
building is over 40 feet away but Trinity’s face is
perfectly calm, staring at some point beyond the other
roof.
The cops slow, realizing they are about to see something
ugly as Trinity drives at the edge, launching herself into
the air.
From above, the ground seems to flow beneath her as she
hangs in flight —
Then hitting, somersaulting up, still running hard.
Ask yourself: Which one is easier to read? Of course, it’s the one where the writers break up the scene description into smaller paragraphs.
Moreover this approach allows you to ‘direct’ the action by using each short paragraph to act like an individual camera shot.
So as you write your action scene without dialogue to break up all that scene description, think one paragraph per camera shot.
Don’t forget: Think visual! Before you post your scene, go through every single verb and come up with a stronger, more cinematic one.
Write an action scene up to 2 pages long that has no dialogue.
Post your scene in comments for feedback.
If you don’t feel comfortable uploading your scene, that’s okay. I encourage you to do the exercise privately. Let’s face it: Any writing is better than no writing.
To learn more about Go On Your Own Quest, go here.
Also The Black Board is joining in with National Sketch Writing Month, so if you’re a comedy writer and want to check that out, you can go here.
Tomorrow: Come back for another scene-writing prompt.
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