The Screenwryter's Toolbox, page 1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arnold Wryter is an award winning screenwriter, right's activist, and astrology denier. Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, Arnold dreamed of a career in Hollywood that would allow him to visit home only for major holidays and the occasional funeral.
At the age of 15, a tragic car accident left Arnold in a full-body cast. Arnold found himself with no one to speak to outside of the three people in his hospital room who he had struck with his car. In order to pass the time, Arnold set out to write his first feature length screenplay by typing only with his nose. The script based on the traumatic events, titled “casr accvidnt”, inspired Arnold to take his career to the next level: the city of Angels.
Arnold moved to Los Angeles in the perpetual summer of 1992. He was inspired to write The Screenwryter's Toolbox after a night in the valley without air conditioning resulted in a vivid fever dream featuring Tom Hanks and Danny Bonaduce. The first draft manuscript sparked a bidding war between publishers which was eventually won by famed publishing house “Self.”
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
San Fernando Valley Screenwriter's Award – Winner
KAWL Festival – Finalist
South Dakota Screenwriter Union Festival – Award
West Los Angeles Filmmaker's Association – Jury Prize Winner
Script-rocket Career Launch Blast-off Teleplay Contest – Finalist
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Section 1: Basics of Screenwriting
What is a Screenplay? 6
Inadequacies of the Screenplay 8
The Greats 11
Reader of Your Screenplay 12
Importance of Screenwriting 17
Sluglines 19
Action Description 22
Dialogue 25
Parentheticals 35
Transitions 37
Sound Effects 39
Section 2: Master Level Screenwryting
Main Character 43
Character Arc 46
Hooking the Reader 49
Inciting Incident 51
Structure 53
Pacing 56
Stakes 58
Rising Action 60
Rules of the World 62
Themes 64
High Concept 66
Cliché 68
The Power of Mystery 70
Editing 72
Self-Criticism 74
Brand 75
Premise Generation 78
Writing the Fantasy 80
Contests 82
Conclusion 85
Writing Exercises 90
INTRODUCTION
The screenwriting market contains hundreds of guides to screenwriting written by a variety of authors. From industry professionals unsure if they'll ever sell another screenplay to film school professors looking to make some extra cash by forcing students to buy their book. Some authors even brand themselves as “screenwriting gurus” seemingly capable of improving everyone's scripts except their own.
These authors promise to teach their readers how to write screenplays, pitch concepts, have fun, make money, save cats, etc... Some even take their circus act on the road, speaking at screenwriting conventions and seminars and doing their best not to sound too desperate when they lean into the microphone to say “...and I'll be selling books right outside.”
So what makes this screenwriting guide special?
The answer is simple: this book is designed for the top 1% of screenwriters. The screenwriters looking to elevate their craft to the master level. This is a screenwriting book written for screenwriters.
I imagine this will alienate some readers. Perhaps you've purchased this screenwriting book because you're looking for a new hobby. Don't waste your time.
Maybe you just saw an action movie and thought: “hell, I could write that.” You are wasting your time. Maybe you've taken to screenwriting because you're pushing past middle age and desperately searching for a mental exercise that will prevent the inevitable onset of dementia. Put this book down.
This is not a book for amateurs. This is a book for experts looking to become masters. The screenwriting techniques presented here are not meant for the banal middle-American philistine trying to make a quick buck or the soon-to-be geriatric vegetable grasping at the straws of mental awareness.
This book is for the screenwriter already deep in the game.
If your office isn't the Starbucks closest to your studio apartment, don't waste your time.
If you've never brought a desktop computer to that Starbucks, don't waste your time.
If the manager of that Starbucks has never said “sir you need to buy something in order to use the wi-fi here” don't waste your time.
If your friends and family have never hosted an intervention and pleaded with you to find some stability, don't waste your time.
If the air mattress you sleep on was purchased at a store other than Goodwill, don't waste your time.
If you've never done an elevator pitch at a urinal, don't waste your time.
If you have hopes of starting a family one day or winning back custody of your children, don't waste your time.
If you've never post dated a rent check, don't waste your time.
If you've never been escorted out of a screenwriting seminar for arguing with a panelist, don't waste your time.
For those of you just now realizing this book is not for you, I apologize for the confusion as well as the no-refund policy. I recommend a more accessible book to start your screenwriting spiral. A book that will allow you to learn the world of screenwriting without destroying your home life. AKA: A child's screenwriting book. Break out the printer paper and crayons and get to work on that one great story you've been meaning to tell. You know which story I'm talking about. The one that would probably work better as a novel but why write 400 pages single spaced when a screenplay is only 100 and the standard font is Courier.
Now that we've gotten rid of the poser screenwriters, let me take you real screenwriters on a journey. A journey to the master level of screenwriting craft. The techniques in this book are for you. They separate the good from the great; the unproduced from the produced.
Well maybe not the second part. Don't get your hopes up.
PART I
BASICS OF SCREENWRITING
WHAT IS A SCREENPLAY?
Just like a painter must know the history of painting and a historian must know the history of history, all screenwriters should know the origins of screenwriting.
So where does screenwriting and storytelling come from? Why are scripts used? Who invented them? Were they invented by Mister Script? Is there a Mrs. Script? How are they doing?
The invention of storytelling dates back to just after the dawn of man. Before scripts were used, stories were organized purely with visual storyboards called “cave paintings.”
Many of these stories involved violence and fertility. Even then, they understood the marketplace.
Above you can see the cave painting that Kevin Costner rebooted into Dances With Wolves. In true Hollywood fashion, the original writer received no compensation for their work.
Once written language was invented, however, mankind needed a more sophisticated way to organize visual storytelling. And with that, the script was born.
Without cameras, there was no “screen” for screenplays to be written for. Instead, scripts were used for stage plays, sometimes called “plays.” A number of playwrights became famous for writing these, from Shakespeare to others who I'm sure existed.
Thankfully, these ancient Shakespeare documents have since been adapted to the screen so audiences are still able to experience them.
SIDE NOTE: They have not aged well.
Once the camera started being used to document stories, it was natural that written words should be used to organize these films. And thus the screenplay was born!
Silent movies date back to the early 20th century and utilized title cards in place of dialogue. Let's take a look at a popular film from this era:
The title cards were an unsophisticated storytelling technique that slowed down the story however they were still the most suitable way to convey the comedic racism of the time.
When movies started using sounds, dialogue was brought into the screenplay and ever since, the screenplay has pushed forward into the present where it is used in the creation of virtually every film.
From low key, dialogue heavy indie bore-fests to blockbuster action-adventures, screenplays boil down what is on the screen into a couple of sentences and sell for millions of dollars.
INADEQUACIES OF A SCREENPLAY
A screenplay's job is to sum up what is being seen on-screen into a few sentences. Which begs the question: How can this accomplished?
It cannot.
Think about the last superhero movie you saw. Your favorite superhero was throwing punches as lasers flew past him and the love interest yelled out his name. Even the most mediocre creative writing student could spend three pages just describing the sweat pouring down his forehead.
So how can screenwriters possibly be expected to create a comprehensive visual in the reader's mind with only a couple dozen words? If your answer to this question was “use more contractions,” please close the book an
Let's do some math.
A screenplay has roughly 175 words on each page. The average script is about 100 pages. This means the average screenplay is roughly 17,500 words.
And how many words does it take to create a movie? If a picture is worth a thousand words and there are 24 frames per second...
Your typical two hour movie requires 172,800,000 words, coming out to about 987,428 pages of script.
Now despite being a vocal proponent of the million page script myself, it is simply not realistic in today's fast paced marketplace.
So how do you solve this problem?
The first step is coming to terms with the fact that your script is not sufficient to convey the movie you are writing. It doesn't matter how good you are with words, you do not have enough of them.
But if your script isn't going to be the movie you are writing what is it going to be?
It's going to be a rough outline of the movie.
It's not an oil painting, it's a sketch.
And this is great! Because sketches are way easier than oil paintings and take a fraction of the time.
Remember that you are not selling a movie, you are selling a screenplay. You are selling a promise of the movie to come.
Think of a completed movie as an oil painting of a beautiful naked woman. A screenplay is a pencil sketch of an androgynous humanoid creature with a note attached that says “we'll fix it in post.”
Selling a screenplay is like selling a house with a pool. Convince a rich couple how much fun they'll have throwing parties and let them deal with the reality of cleaning dead squirrels out of the filter.
Selling a screenplay is suggesting your friend date a nurse because the ones in the Halloween costumes are sexy.
Selling a screenplay is inviting your friend and his ugly girlfriend to a beautiful, sunny day at the beach and letting them worry about finding parking.
Selling a screenplay is like selling a home theater system to an elderly man. In theory it sounds great but in reality he will never figure out how to work the remote.
These examples are important because they highlight an important aspect of screenwriting: selling.
As a screenwriter hoping to no longer wait in line at a food pantry, you need your screenplay to be sold. That makes your screenplay a sales document. And just like that successful marketing consultant you spoke to at your high school reunion, you are a salesman. The only real difference is you do your work in your pajamas and he can afford to go to the dentist.
And just because this sales document you've created will be turned into an enjoyable piece of entertainment doesn't change the fact that you are a salesman creating a sales document.
Most screenwriting books overlook this because it defines screenwriting as something other than artistic expression. Screenwriting gurus think it is their job to coddle screenwriters rather than giving them practical advice. They focus on a screenplay as “a blueprint of a movie.” It is an interesting analogy that would be more interesting if it was not completely inaccurate.
A screenplay cannot be a blueprint for a movie because, as you just learned, a screenplay is not sufficient for conveying a movie. A screenplay's job is to convey just enough of a movie to convince someone to buy it. Accepting this fact is the first step in the master level creative process.
And remember: just as your screenplay cannot live up to the vision of the movie you have in your head, keep in mind that your career is no different. Sure it would be great to be a successful, envied, famous screenwriter but that's not going to happen. Any brief success you have will likely be book-ended by years of discouragement and rejection.
Fantasies are great but reality is cold.
Also, love is nothing more than a combination of chemicals in the brain and there's probably no afterlife.
THE GREATS
Now that realistic expectations have been set for your screenplay, it is important to identify who you should look up to.
In order to address this, allow me to pose a question: What makes “the greats” great? What makes the masters of the craft stand out above the rest? Why is Ernest Hemingway a better writer than the schizophrenic homeless man sleeping outside the Burger King?
The obvious answer: Who said he is?
What criteria does society use to judge skill?
Ernest Hemingway is more well known than the homeless man but does that make him better? It makes his publicist better.
Most readers would likely agree that Ernest Hemingway's writing is better than the homeless man's but that doesn't mean he's better. That just means more people think he's better.
And that's the point. Ernest Hemingway's work isn't any better than anyone else's. His work is simply interpreted as better. That means your goal as a writer is not to create a great piece of literature but to write a piece of literature that others will interpret as great.
All that matters in writing is making sure your work is interpreted as good. Everything else is moot.
Every script has a batting average. What percentage of readers thinks it is a good script? And your goal as a writer is to increase that batting average.
This is the beauty of writing. It is 100% subjective which means no one is better than anyone else. An individual's skill is nothing more than what others perceive it to be.
So that homeless man might actually be ten times the writer that Ernest Hemingway is. Or maybe he's just crazy.
And if that's not comforting as a struggling writer, I don't know what is.
THE READER OF YOUR SCREENPLAY
Kurt Vonnegut believed that every author had an audience of one in mind, which is another way of saying all authors are insecure and require validation from the person they most respect. Personally I don't think Kurt took it far enough. Screenwriters are not only insecure, they are cripplingly insecure. They don't just require validation from one person, they require validation from everyone.
It is paramount that you do not let this desperate, pathetic need to be loved consume you. Because, thankfully, screenwriters do not actually need validation from everyone. Screenwriters need validation only from the people who are necessary to get their screenplay purchased.
SIDE NOTE: After selling your screenplay, it's best to wash your hands of the project since the creative machine that is filmmaking will digest your precious screenplay, crap it out, and flush it through the straight-to-DVD sewage system.
But who are these people you need to impress to get your screenplay purchased?
Well we've heard their name mentioned a couple times already. They are called “readers.”
While the term “reader” could refer to anyone who reads a screenplay, the term is not to be used that way when discussing screenwriting at the master level. “Reader” refers to the people whose opinions matter. This screenwriting book is aimed at expert level screenwriters. If you still give a shit what Aunt Molly the florist in Wyoming thinks of your work, I suggest you pack up your bags and head to night school.
Now that you've learned family members are not people you care about, who are these “readers” you DO want to impress? Well there are a few types of them:
