Screenwriting: Getting Started & Character Introductions

Helping n00b writers is sort of a vow that I took.

I remember a time when I was completely in the dark about scripts, and no matter how many script sites I visted or how many produced/shooting scripts I read, I still didn't get it. The technical aspects of a screenplay are demanding and complex, and to a writer who is recently taking on the lexicon of creative writing tasks, (screenplays, of course), it can be simply mind boggling/nerve wrecking.

I've always said that I wanted to make this blog a helpful one, like those blogs that I love so much and have helped me greatly-- Two Adverbs and Nathan Bransford, (Nathan is amazing! Check him out..) just to name a couple. Today, I'm going to embark on that and hope to make it an all - of - the - time thing.

Getting Started
To me, the first thing needed to begin is writing experience. Listen to me, if you don't have any previous writing experience, it's just not going to work out.

Sure, you might say that some of the big Hollywood players didn't have any experience and just jumped into screenwriting and ended up making it big. Truthfully, I can't think of one who didn't have some kind of writing background, and atop that, if they did just 'jump in', then they were just born to make great films. Period. Those folks ain't a dime a dozen, k?

Character Introductions
One of the key essentials in writing a, marketable, screenplay is character introduction. These are big make or breakers. Let's have a couple of example exerpts and you tell me which is the good one, which is the bad one.

A.) Angela- twenty something. Thin, petite. Looks innocence. Long auburn hair. Denim shorts, neat t-shirt with cute logo. Hair neat in pony tail or plait.

B.) BARBARA has a kind of wholesome beauty that is mellowing well, as she approaches middle age. There's a hint of unfulfillment in BARBARA that gives her a little more of an edge than ADAM.

Now, a lot of writers, agency readers, and prodco interns will be quick to tell you what is wrong, but never kind enough to tell you why it's wrong. For the most elusive part of script writing, I'm going to attempt to break down the inner workings (and the do's and don'ts) of character introduction in a screenplay.

Choice A, above, is very wrong. Aside from the tip off that might be obvious to some, (one of my all time favorite and best films ever, Beetlejuice-- Barbara and Adam Maitland, of course) choice B is correct.

So, WHY is A wrong and B correct?

A. Angela- twenty something. Thin, petite. Looks innocence. Long auburn hair. Denim shorts, neat t-shirt with cute logo. Hair neat in pony tail or plait.

First, let me just say, I did steal this intro from someone.... I shortened it but did not re-write any of the original material, though I did change the name... for privacy reasons. ;)

The first rule of thumb that some writers will tell you to bear in mind when writing intros is, "If you can't see it, don't write it", which I disagree with to some extent. Take a look at example B. It's not, technically, filmable that Barbara has a 'hint of unfulfilment' or that she is 'wholesome'... Or is it?

Granted, professional writers who write on studio assignment have A LOT of extra privileges that spec script writers just DO NOT have, Option B is filmable. All of it. We'll get to that.

But first, let's discuss why having a description like choice A would make your script very unappealing to studio bigshot... or even his seventeen year old summer intern.

One rule that comes into play with option A is "Don't overstep your boundries". Studios hire wardrobe and costume designers and hair stylists and make up artists-- who also have to study the script and stick to it-- to handle physical appearances of your characters. Unless you are Tarantino or Lucas and you'll be directing your own film, producing it and painting the faces of your actors all the while picking out a top to match their skirts or pants, DO NOT try to tell us in the screenplay what this character will be wearing. Don't do it!

Why? This delves into another rule of screenwriting which is going to distract me from the topic at hand, so keep reading and I'll get to the "too wordy, too long" issue.

Another reason to avoid physical descriptions is that it does not establish your character. Saying that "Jane is wearing a black dress, has artificial black hair and thick black eyeliner to match her lipstick" might give the impression that she's gothic; but to really convince a guru that you're a master of your craft, you might say something like, "Jane, sullen and moody, a tortured poet". If the costume designers and director wants her to look equally as gothic, then they might go ahead and rub her down in some used motor oil just to show her "life is pain" attitude. Ok, that was a joke... the motor oil... joke.

Now, let's not write it in stone that giving some discussing of physical descript is completely bad and wrong. Once in a while you can get away with it, it really just depends on how you work it in. So let's say that, while you wouldn't give a full run-down of our Hot Topic customer Jane, you could say something like "Jane, 17, sullen and moody, hides a deeper pain under her black clothes and thick matching eyeliner". See? Physicals aren't ALWAYS bad.

Now, before we move on to character intro B, let's check our rule book for another pearl of wisdom. Each and every word in a screenplay must be there for a reason. This applies to every aspect of the project, right down to the sluglines. If, somewhere in your plot, you'll need to reference a character's outward appearance for storyline reasons, then by all means, go physical in your description.

Obviously, if you were writing a screenplay adaption of Tomb Raider featuring Lara Croft, you would want to describe her physical appearance because there are usages for it in the plot.

"Lara Croft, muscular yet beautiful, .45 cals strapped to each upper thigh, shotgun strapped to back, magnetic grapple shimmering from her tool belt...", then when it gets to the scene with the rock slide and the egyptian mummy attack, you'd reference it with, "Lara defies gravity, leaping in a triple sow-cow over and behind the head of the seven foot tall angry mummy of Tutankhamen, throws the grapple from her belt and swings over the lava pit, barely escaping death". In that shot info, you referenced her strength when she does some crazy gymnastic move over Tut's head, you referenced the grapple attached to her belt, you could have went further and talked about her shooting at his thousand year old ass, then smiling and blowing a kiss to him as she escapes out of a tiny hole in the ceiling.

See where I'm going with this? Everything needs to be in place for a reason. If there's no reason for it, then it just needs to go.

Now, as for our favorite undead housewife of all time, Barbara Maitland, her description in option B is a good one because it not only gives the actor an archetypical feel for her character, but it does provide a certain demeanor and personality for when she is playing the character on screen. In approaching dialogue, it will also be reflected in some of the things she says to Adam. See? It's useful-- it has a reason to be there.

So what did I mean when I said that you need to have previous experience? And what does that have to do with character descriptions? Ok, let's put it this way; a painter paints, but he doesn't just paint an exact image of what he sees. He uses vivid colors and tedious strokes to bring out the exuberance and brilliance in the world around him. He breathes life into the blobs and smears of paint, creating an interpretation that can speak to you, inspire you or touch you. What does a music composer do? He composes a series of notes to make a catchy tune, but that tune embodies the very essence of his subject. "The Planets" by Gustov Holst could easily have been the theme song for anyone gazing upon the beauty and supreme majesty of those mystifying 'other worlds' that share our galaxy.

The painter and the composer both interpret a world around them in a way that is not unlike concentrated orange juice. Yes. Orange juice. It's all of the main reasoning and feeling that it gives and you get, but to a level that is understandable and can be appreciated by anyone, young or old.

So what should a writer do? Well, a screenwriter needs to be able to see people and situations in a "concentrated orange juice" kind of way so that they may express the main reasoning behind the ideal or persona, thus giving the audience a clear cut path to stereotype and instantly understand what they see before them. It kind of works off of the tendency to "judge" what you see, which is, arguably, human nature.

No one can teach the talent for writing. Truth be told, you're either born with it or you're not. Some people can learn to construct intellectual sounding ideas on paper, but that doesn't mean that they're novelist material. That doesn't even mean that they're a good writer-- it just means that they paid attention in English class. Perhaps even a Creative Writing 101.

So, this concludes my first post in the series "Screenwriting: My Journey & The Tools You'll Need To Make The Trip As Well". Hope you'll check out the next entry where I discuss aforementioned issues "Too Wordy, Too Long: Ideal Spec Script Length and How To Swing It".

Until next time, auf wiedersehen, and keep your heads up!