So-Called Screenwriting ‘Rules’: 15 Part Series
Here it is, all 15 parts:
1. The Organic Nature of the Screenplay
2. The Emergence of the Selling Script
3. The Evolution of Screenplay Format and Style
4. There are no screenwriting ‘rules’
5. There are expectations
6. We See / We Hear
7. Unfilmables
8. Action Paragraphs — 3 Lines Max
9. CUT TO (Transitions)
10. Parentheticals
11. Flashbacks
12. Voice-Over Narration
13. Sympathetic Protagonist
14. Protagonist and Shifting Goals
15. Certain Events By Certain Pages
A few reminders:
* There are no screenwriting ‘rules’ because there is no universally accepted codification of said rules. No book. No stone tablets delivered from on high. There is conventional wisdom, which is amorphous in nature. There are prejudices for and against, again amorphous. There are trends, yet again — amorphous. But there are no rules.
* Screenplays are organic in nature. They have always been in a state of change since the form’s roots back in the earliest days of cinema. So even if there were rules, they would constantly be in a state of flux as the style and approach to screenplay structure changes.
* Screenplay style is moving away from a formalized approach which arose in the studio system era, wherein a script was essentially a blueprint to make a movie, filled with camera angles and directing jargon, to a more literary feel, stripped of production lingo and freed up for a more expressive, colorful, and engaging read.
* The single best thing you can do is read scripts. Lots and lots of movie scripts. Especially ones written in the last 5 years or so. This will not only help you in finding your own voice, it will keep you up to date as to the latest in style and substance in the screenwriting marketplace.
* Conventional wisdom is still a powerful reality. Readers will carry certain expectations and assumptions into any script they crack open. If you want to do something that goes against custom — and you are free to do that! — it is critical you learn the craft. Write artfully, with style and with confidence. How to do that? Again: Read scripts.
* Trust professional screenwriters over so-called screenwriting ‘gurus’. Why? Because there are aspects of the craft only people who have been working writers can know.
Finally there’s this: Tools, not rules. If nothing else from this series, that should be your takeaway. Rules are restrictive and inhibit creativity. Tools facilitate creativity. Rules lead to formula. Tools lead to innovation.
My hope is the next time one of these goofy debates about “we see” or “unfilmables” springs to life somewhere, folks will now have a link they can point combatants to which will shed some light on the debate.
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