WTF with all these screenwriting “rules”?
It seems like every few months, some furor breaks out online about some supposed screenwriting “rule”. Yesterday it happened again, this time about the frequently cited commandment: Thou shalt not use “we see” in scene description. Here are a few choice tweets from that particular Twit-Storm from the perspective of working screenwriters:
In the past, we have discussed this “we see” issue and to the larger point as well a la this post: There are no screenwriting rules. But it doesn’t seem to matter what I or anybody has said. This screenwriting ‘rule’ crowd seems to have its hooks set pretty deeply into the psyches of a lot of aspiring writers and these Decrees From Gurus On High keep rearing their ugly heads in public discourse and private practice.
What happens is pretty much this:
* Somebody posts something about how there is a rule against doing this or that.
* That circulates as people bat around the idea.
* Professional writers catch wind of it, then lambaste the shit out of the thesis in question.
* The ‘debate’ fades away…
* Until the next time it arises.
* Again…
* And again…
So it occurred to me, why not just deal with it once and for all! Get every single supposed screenwriting rule out on the table, then go through them, one by one, to see if we can take all the heat that typically gets generated when one of these online snits breaks out and collectively create some actual light.
In other words, let’s make this a real learning experience and hopefully in the process, put some of this nonsense to bed for good.
How to start?
I WANT YOUR HELP!
First, I’d like to crowdsource screenwriting ‘rules.’ All of them. Here are some of the choice ones I see flitting worming their way through online conversations about the craft:
* Do not use “we see” or “we hear” in scene description.
* Do not use flashbacks.
* Do not use voiceover narration.
* Do not describe anything in scene description a moviegoer cannot see or hear [i.e., ‘unfilmables’].
* Do not cite specific song titles.
What are some of these other screenwriting ‘rules’? Please head to comments and post what you’ve got there.
Second, I could use your help in sussing out who out there is a proponent of these ‘rules’? Somebody has to be preaching, “Don’t use ‘we see’” and the like. These memes can’t just be emerging from ether or some slob’s basement apartment in Williston, North Dakota pecking away at a decrepit Commodore computer. There must be some people in perceived positions of authority with a public platform who are pushing these ‘rules’. Who are they? I would love it if you could go to comments and cite sources as well as actual quotes relevant to any of these supposed ‘rules,’ not so much to harangue any individual teacher or ‘guru,’ but rather to understand, if we can, their exact rationale for why these ‘rules’ have a reason to exist.
I don’t know if this initiative will have any traction or not, but in an ideal world what I imagine is we aggregate 10 or so key screenwriting ‘rules,’ then examine each of them thoughtfully and thoroughly with an eye, as I said, toward making this a learning opportunity.
So help out, okay? If you know of a screenwriting ‘rule,’ specifically the kind that says you can’t do something, please post it in comments.
Let’s see if we can create an informed, reasonable and definitive conversation about screenwriting ‘rules’.
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