Last week I attended a special creative writing class at Northwestern University to gain incites from great writers. I was the writer with the least amount of skill in the room and battled with my emotions. I could sense that by the end of the day, I’d either take advantage of the talent surrounding me to improve my skills or I’d feel bad about my ignorance and give up the craft.

What fascinated me about the class was the incredible word craftsmanship revealed as each writer read his in-class work. It was amazing. However, there was one oddity that surfaced as I read my lackluster work: It was a story, not a series of polished words with no direction.

My poor ability to wordsmith was obvious, but it was odd that I was the only one with a complete story. This was partially due to the time limit of ten minutes given to the writers, but I wondered if it was more due to focus. The writers were into words and their sounds, while I was into telling stories that evoke a response.

To help the class, the instructor had us write a one-sentence story. It was a difficult challenge, but we all dove in. When it came time to read our work, it was once again clear that everyone used eloquent and polished words, except for me. The only redeeming quality attributed to me was my story – No one else had a complete story. I happened to write a comedic story, which caused everyone to burst out laughing  – Yes, it was only one sentence long.

I concluded that most screenwriters start with their cool ideas or dive into the scenes they can easily visualize, rather than thinking through story structure, themes, and the character development that drives a story. In fact, I think it plays out for most screenwriters like this:

An idea pops into the head of an independent screenwriter and he’s off to the keyboard, typing at a breakneck pace. He pulls the paper from the printer and shoves it into his most supportive readers’ hands. They chug through the 120-page script over a few weeks and finally give feedback about the handful of scenes they loved and the story they didn’t understand.

The screenwriter takes another stab at the story and soon finds he added three more scenes that play well, but again, the story is incoherent. Returning to the keyboard again, he pumps out another 120-pages of a very different version of the story. He finds fewer readers available that are willing to give up 3-4 hours of time, but those who work through it find nine loveable scenes, yet still no story.

After another six months of pleading, looking up old friends and finding new ones to read his work, he sets the unfinished script on the shelf to dive into an entirely new concept that popped into his mind during coffee with an acquaintance. This idea is larger than life and is sure to be a box office success, so he hits the keyboard and starts the process all over again.

No matter how creative the person is, until he puts the story into a structure that makes sense, he will only have a handful of cool scenes. To help screenwriters focus on creating a functional story, I’ve listed the five steps to take an idea to a script:

STEP 1: LOGLINE. Every story worth telling can be reduced to 1 or 2 sentences. This step is incredibly important as you can test your story idea with lots of people in a short time frame without much effort on their part. If they don’t like the story, you’ve lost little time at the keyboard. And, when you’ve got an idea that peaks most people’s interest, you have a story blueprint that will help keep your story focused through all writing stages.

STEP 2: STEP OUTLINE. A stack of index cards can be used to capture one sentence for each scene in the film. Once the brainstorming of scenes are complete, they can be easily moved around the wall to help determine which scenes will be used for the inciting incident, various turning points and the climax. Cards can be quickly added, changed and tossed into the recycle bin.

STEP 3: PITCH. Testing the Step Outline with a handful of people only takes 10 minutes. By reducing the sentences to a couple pages, the screenwriter can glance at it as he shares his story with others. This is a critical step in learning what ideas or scenes captured the person’s attention or bored them.

STEP 4: TREATMENT. This step explodes out each sentence from the step outline into a full paragraph or two. It captures what the characters talk about without using dialog, as it creates the subtext of the scenes. And, to better clarify things for the first draft, the long form treatment will include the character’s thoughts and feelings.

STEP 5: FIRST DRAFT. This tool is in place to transfer the story from the literary world into the visual world. It typically has minimal dialog, descriptive action, and clear subtext. It is also the first time to determine what parts of the story work and flow with the juxtaposition of scenes and pacing.

Screenwriters understand that 90% of what they write during these steps will survive in the final screenplay, but they know that they need the process to create great story. Anyone can write a story, but few will persevere for a great story.

© 2012 By CJ Powers

Photo © alphaspirit – Fotolia.com

I’ve spoken to hundreds of filmmakers over the years and one thing still holds true: The stronger their passion, the better their film turns out. This isn’t to say the more universally accepted their film becomes. In fact, some passionate films, while making a strong point or accomplishing the filmmaker’s mission, are not received well by the public.

The passion is what sparks the creativity and drives the filmmaker to improve his craft. Without it, he only makes films that are overt, obvious or expected. This same difference used to be seen between television and movie houses. TV was cranked out so fast, the plotlines were simple and the messages weak, while motion pictures took advantage of longer production schedules and a higher attention to details leading to the message.

Today, films are based on remakes and television is constantly rerun. Passion seems to be at an all time low.

I made an eChristmas Card this year, based on a specific passion that was stirring within my soul (Chrome is having problems playing some YouTube films at this time).

I received word back from several people who had very different perspectives on what I had created. One person voiced her disappointment, while another was excited that it caused her unsaved millennial to ask questions about how the message was related to Christmas – Which was the exact response I had hoped for.

Passionate filmmakers who have numerous untold stories that must get out into the public find it hard to receive a plethora of public response. Some filmmakers can’t handle the pressures from those who disliked their work and others change their work to meet up with the praises of the people. Both types of responses dull the passion and reduce the number of films released.

The passionate filmmaker, who continues to move forward listening to his heart, is the one whose films are emotionally gripping for the specific audience they made it for. An example would be the film Courageous. The Kendrick brothers know their audience well and found their film to be a huge hit within that niche. However, people outside of their audience, didn’t understand their fans’ passion for the story.

The Twilight Series had the same affect. Millions of people went to see the films and raved about them. But those outside of the niche market couldn’t understand what the buzz was about.

There seems to be only two possibilities for the filmmaker: finding the right audience to share his passion; or, altering the story to fit a larger audience, which might risk the level of passion that makes its way to the screen. Without passion few in the audience care about the story.

It’s the passion within the filmmaker that must deliver the message, for without it, the film lacks value. Said more simply, a passionate filmmaker can present a message that changes people’s perspectives and hearts. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true: Watching a film from a less passionate filmmaker isn’t worth the admission price.

© 2012 by CJ Powers