Three Things About Screenplay Structure

Do not let page count concerns stifle your creativity… or your story.

Recently, I have had quite a few emails from writers concerned about where certain events hit in terms of page count. Or worried their first act is too long. Or their third act is too short.

I wrote response and here it is: Three Things About Screenplay Structure

1. There isn’t one right way to tell a story. No single formula or screenplay paradigm to fit all stories. However, due to the influence primarily of Syd Field and Save the Cat, there is a certain amount of conventional wisdom about how and when certain things should happen. Ultimately, that is bull shit (I’m talking from a purely creative standpoint). Yet, it’s something we have to be aware of.

By the way, this is one of the downsides of the preponderance of various screenplay formulas. Script readers and creative execs, who may not have much in the way of training with regard to Story pick up these formulas and assess scripts on that basis. The problem is while one paradigm may work for one story, it doesn’t work for another. So you have readers critiquing stories based on a narrow formulaic take on script structure.

My point: Be aware of these prejudices — and finally, that’s what they are — but DON’T LET THEM RULE YOUR CREATIVITY!

2. Write your story the way YOUR STORY NEEDS TO BE TOLD! If your first act absolutely needs more setup so it ends on 35, so be it. If, on the other hand, your story demands you leap into Act II by 15, go for it.

Stories are ORGANIC. This is one big honking reason why writing to formula is so dangerous because you can strangle the creative energy right out of your script.

That said, you have to be confident about your connection to your story to verge significantly away from general expectations on the part of Hollywood readers. Don’t think of page count as restricting you rather as touch points to make sure your story absolutely needs to veer from the norm.

If it does, you must write it that way. In all things, the STORY rules. Not the formula. Not the paradigm. Not the conventional wisdom. Not the prejudices. The Story is King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Duke, ruler of all. Ultimately you are…