If you write for the screen you’ve no doubt pondered the High Concept, what the heck it is, and how you can spur your latest creative endeavor into being that High Concept.
Why?
Because high concept by definition appeals to a wide audience and we all want that, right? If not all of the time, then at least some of the time because after all, in appealing to that wide audience the concept must be unique and fascinating. I’d venture to say that means you’re being creative and original. It also means great box-office potential. That’s a key ingredient to spurring a successful screenwriting career. All that’s good!read article
I hear it all the time:
“Do I have to write a synopsis?”
“Why do I have to write a synopsis?”
“What the heck is a synopsis?”
Answers:
“Yes you do.”
“Because.”
“You better do a little research – seriously.”
Okay, plainly a synopsis can be a very different animal for every writer. But who it is for doesn’t change. It’s for the reader whether a script reader or a novel reader. It has to be short, succinct and really hook ‘em.read article
Um, it’s a map, without borderlines. Get it? An outline without boundaries.
by Peggy Bechko
All right screenwriters, TV writers and writers of all stripes. Have you ever thrown all concepts of structure to the wind, all outlining directives out and just written something on the fly?
Really. I recommend it. For a while forget the novel ‘structure’, forget the 3-act structure. Forget all those rules and directives you’ve been told and have been following.
Just sit down with an idea and write…and write…and write.read article
OMG! Writers have to do all this too – but with words!?
by Peggy Bechko
Writing descriptions for characters in TV and film scripts can be very tricky. We’re writing tight and yet want to transmit something about that character, something that will make an “A” list actor or actress salivate at the thought of playing that character. At the same time it has to be very visual. Unlike novelists, script writers can’t get inside the heads of their characters – at least not when it comes to descriptions. It’s a little like someone off-stage whispering instructions.
If you’ve read a lot of scripts, and if you’re writing them I assume you have, then you’re no doubt all too familiar with a description like: Carmen Smith (20s), slender and graceful, waits impatiently at the bus stop.
Okay, it paints a picture of sorts and we’re told time and again not to over describe, but is that the sort of description that would grab a star? I mean all we’ve said here is that Carmen is thin, impatient woman in her 20s. And, of course your script has to make it past the hurdles and pitfalls of a myriad of other folks who read your script such as readers, agents, maybe producers and others unless you personally know an “A” list movie star. Few of us do. And even if we do, would that person welcome reading your script…and then would that description captivate that person?read article
