Writing Archives - Page 25 of 49 - Addicted to Writing

The Biggest Dialogue-Related Challenge in Screenwriting

Posted on May 10, 2015 Written by Pinar Tarhan

“Good dialogue clearly conveys emotions, attitudes, strengths, vulnerabilities, and so on, while revealing the details of your plot and advancing your narrative.”

Susan Kouguell, from her article Tips on Writing Dialogue That’s Truthful.

Dialogue is one of the hardest parts of screenwriting. Just look at its functions perfectly stated by Susan Kouguell. Good dialogue needs to do all that.

And what does good dialogue mean?

Good dialogue flows.

One way to assure that is by not writing on-the-nose dialogue.

But if it’s never on-the-nose, then you’ll also bore your audience to tears or annoy the hell out of them.

Think about five characters who never ever say what they mean and never mean what they say for 90+ pages. Frankly, I’d end up wanting to strangle them. There have been many movies where I hated the characters for this reason.

However if it’s always on the nose, then you’re destroying your chances for conflict. Also a no-no. It’s a hard balance to strike.

Thanks to some great feedback, I (mostly) dealt with my tendencies to write on-the-nose dialogue. In my defense, I don’t want to eliminate it completely because it’s not realistic then either.

Because people who do mean what they say and say what they mean, at least more than half their lives exist. Exhibit A: Me. I might have to get a little diplomatic or more polite depending on the situation, but if something is wrong, I never, ever say “nothing.” And if I’m upset or not happy about something, I never say “whatever.” Yeah, I’m weird like that.

It needs to be fresh. Witty is great too, if you can pull it off (and it fits the mood).

You can’t write a page-turner by putting the same old clichés everywhere. But then again, it should also sound natural.

All the freshness and wittiness in the world can’t save your script if your character doesn’t sound like an actual person. (If it’s not an actual person, say a robot, an alien from another galaxy or some other special circumstance, never mind.)

And perhaps most importantly, your characters should sound distinctive.

Now, it makes sense. Because in reality, we all have unique speech patterns, our preferred catch phrases, speed, ….. The list goes on.

That said, I’ve always found it easier to “separate” the voices for people who are from different backgrounds. Because the more different they are, the easier it’s to write lines that sound unique to that person.

Think about Pirates of the Caribbean, for starters.

Jack Sparrow: pirate, eccentric, (a little) nutty, morally ambiguous, witty, male.

Elizabeth: a young lady with a free spirit. She’s also well-educated and brave.

Norrington: soldier, by the book, with a distaste for outlaws, not usually able or willing to think outside the box.

How hard can it be to write their lines (and how they speak those lines) so that they are distinct? Making the lines funny and/or smart enough can be the challenge here. But differentiating characters’ way of speaking? Not so much.

The Biggest Dialogue-Writing Challenge in Screenwriting

So what is, at least for me, more difficult than writing dialogue that’s not on-the-nose, fresh and that hopefully flows?

Making my characters sound distinctive, when their backgrounds and life expectations aren’t so different.

What if your story has to have characters of the same background, identifying with the same culture, who are from the same part of the city, who are of the same sex and age?

When writing dialogue for such characters, I rely on their actions and how they respond to situations. I take advantage of their favorite words/catch , how often they swear (or not) and their personalities.

But what I often find, just not within my own dialogue but within others’ as well, is that I can identify characters according to what they say and their actions, rather than how they say their lines.

As I work on my skills to create more distinguishable dialogue, I asked some of my fiction writer friends how they handle this. Their responses are below:

Glenn Hefley:

“Physical actions are good. I like those more than catch phrases — not sure the preference of my readers, but I like them more. Having one start, then stop and think, then finish in a different direction is my favorite separator – equal to the guy who doesn’t reply for longer than is comfortable.”

Gretchen Mure Rodriguez:

“People tend to use certain words (slang or otherwise) more than others or have quirky habits- how they stand, twirl their hair etc.”

Anna Marie Spackman:

“I always think of motivation. My best friend and I may sound similar or say similar things, but we are motivated by different things, so the way we respond to a given situation will be different.”

***

We started with a quote from Susan Kouguell, so let’s end with one from her.

“Readers should be able to identify who is speaking without needing to read each character heading. Characters’ voices must be distinctive and not interchangeable with other characters.”

Susan Kouguell, from her article Tips on Writing Dialogue That’s Truthful.

Yep, no one said being a screenwriter is easy. How do you handle your dialogue? How do you ensure your characters’ voices are distinctive?

Must-Read Helpful Articles on Dialogue

Column D: Writing Dialogue -The Nose Knows by Drew Yanno

6 Reasons Dialogue Is Your Enemy by Lucy V Hay

Tips on Writing Dialogue That’s Truthful by Susan Kouguell

Dialogue Is The Least Of My Problems by Lucy V Hay

Wendy’s LA4HIRE: Best Screenwriting Tips for Great Dialogue by Wendy Kram

More Than Words: Screenplay Dialogue by Lucy V Hay

Script Mistake # 4: Fatty Dialogue by Lucy V Hay

Best and Cheapest Gift You Can Give to a Writer (Plus Alternatives)

Posted on April 19, 2015 Written by Pinar Tarhan

gifts for writers — Yep, I made this comic. When you can’t draw…you can find sites to help you.:)

Not all writers are created equal. There’re probably some writers out there who don’t like to share their work with the world, even with their closest friends and family. And some writers are okay with strangers reading their material, but not their friends.

But most writers I know, myself included, DO WANT TO BE READ.Tweet this

That’s right: we want to be read by as many people as possible. Of course there’s a sales part of it. However I believe the bigger part is curiosity: how others will feel about the words we put together, characters and worlds we have created. We spend so much time and effort on our writing, especially our fiction.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate anyone who’s taken interest in reading whatever piece I created. But reading longer pieces takes more time, and it’s a bit harder to get more people to read your longer work – before it’s published and has gained a reputation.

I love it when my friends read me. My family is optional, because well, I don’t exactly write family-friendly stuff. But being read by people we love…well, that’s just a priceless feeling. (Don’t think you have to like what you read. Constructive criticism is cool, just don’t express your feelings like Internet trolls do, and we’ll be fine.)

I’m very fortunate to have great friends who love to read, and they’re enthusiastic about my work. I love it when they push me to write more stuff and send them my drafts sooner. (Sending big hugs to Nastya and Pinar.)

Then I have some dear friends who do care a lot about me, just not so much about my work. Sometimes it’s a genre issue. Frankly, if a friend is all about horror, I’m not going to be even the slightest bit of hurt, disappointed or surprised they chose to stay away. They should.

And then I have friends who don’t really like to read that much, especially when it’s novels we’re talking about. If they haven’t even tried addictive mainstream (but extremely cool and thrilling) authors like Brown, Grisham or Child, I won’t feel entitled to their reading time. If those guys don’t get a shot, I’m okay not making the list.

But some friends do read. They read and watch stuff in the genres I write. Now, they all have jobs and lives and other tons of stuff they have to do and like to do. I get that. Writing though, is not just my job or passion. It’s a part of who I am. That’s why it means so much when they want to know more.

We feel happy when people ask us about our day, careers, families, pets and love lives (well, generally), right? Please add writing to the top of that list.

So here’s the thing: the best gift you can give most writers is that you read or listen to their work.

You don’t have to spend any money. Spare the time it takes to go into a store and choose something. Instead, shoot your writing friend an e-mail and ask for something they wrote. Then tell them what you thought. That’s it. You have no idea how happy that will make them.

Now, if you’ve asked and asked and they refused to send stories your way, it’s on them. But many writers will send it once they feel the work is ready.

Also spreading the word about their writing work online and offline is also a great gesture.

You absolutely want to spend money? Then here are some alternative suggestions (though recommended you read their work and then provide something else if you want):

– Writing equipment.

– Coverage and/or editing services. Those can be expensive, so if you’ve the budget, it will be appreciated. That said, you need to make sure of what your friend exactly needs and where they want it from. Some might have a wish list on Amazon or their blog, so that’ll be a good place to start.

– Writing-themed stuff. The funnier, the better.

– Books on writing. But make sure it’s relevant, they need it and don’t already have it.

– Writing courses

– Novels.

What do you think? What have you “bought” your writer friends? Writers, how often do your friends/family read you? Let us know in the comments. And if you like this article, please share on.

Screenwriting Problems Tackled: When No One Likes Your Main Character

Posted on February 12, 2015 Written by Pinar Tarhan

nightcrawler-poster — Did someone say an unlikable protagonist? Image via ropeofsilicon.com.

I’ve previously posted The 7 Challenges of Writing a Screenplay, and I’m proud to say I’ve tackled a lot of them successfully in my rewrites. Length is no longer a problem, and having gotten rid of a lot of exposition, my screenplay is a lot leaner.

Right now, I’m facing another problem: I have two protagonists, and one of them is deemed unlikable by half the people (professionals and friends) who read my screenplay. The good news is, some of the “dislikers” are happy with how interesting the events and pacing are, and have told me they don’t have to like a character to enjoy a story or movie.

Why can one main character be unlikable?

My character comes off as too selfish, and that makes it hard for the audience to root for him. He also doesn’t lose everything despite everything he does.

Except, he is not the only main character. His problems and behavior are central to the story, yes, but it’s a script with two protagonists: these two characters start the story as best friends, but extreme circumstances force them to be each other’s antagonist.

And the second protagonist couldn’t be more likeable. He’s strong, passionate, flawed, loyal to a fault… Yet no one seems to notice.

Yes, there are changes I can make to make the unlikeable guy more likable, but most positive changes would change the heart of the story, and I can’t allow that. Because you see, this is the story I want to tell.

When you understand that character, and he is not unlikable to you

And it’s hard for me to see the character as completely selfish, because history (meaning his back story) has proven him to be pretty selfless, or close to it, in the past. He is just having a major crisis, with a pretty debilitating problem, and is acting irrationally. This in turn suggests another problem: plausibility. Like most screenplays, mine requires a decent amount of suspension of disbelief. Not because the events couldn’t/wouldn’t happen, but they are a bit on the extreme side. But if they weren’t, the story I wanted to tell wouldn’t exist.

That’s not to say I don’t respect my readers’ feedback. I do. My last coverage evoked some great questions, and I’d love to discuss it with the reader. I just need to adjust my budget first for further consultation.

On the other hand, one professional reader not only liked this “unlikable” dude, but named him his favorite.

And I’ve just finished watching two webinars from Writer’s Store where industry experts (including Script Mag’s Jeanne Veillette Bowerman) emphasized that you can root for a character if he’s interesting enough, even if he’s evil. One given example was Hannibal Lecter. (In her webinar Creating Dynamic Characters.)

Now, I’m in no way claiming my character is that interesting (completely different genres for one. For two, my character won’t be portrayed by Anthony Hopkins:D) But in a way, my “selfish protagonist”, is the antagonist of the story in several ways.

If audiences can root for Hannibal or the killer in Se7en, they can tolerate my selfish character. Next to them, he comes off like a newborn kitten for crying out loud!

Good news: There Are Many Successful Movies with Unlikeable Protagonists

Let’s mention some recent successful movies with borderline horrible, obnoxious main characters. Please note I might spoil the movies a little.

Gone Girl: I seriously can’t decide whose character I detest more. Ben Affleck’s or Rosamund Pike’s? And it’s not like supporting characters are sweet either. Engaging movie (for the most part), great second act but come on! I’ve never spent so much time during a movie wanting to punch all the characters. I wouldn’t want them as my neighbors, friends, distant acquaintances…The cops in the film included.

Side Effects: Sure, Jude Law’s character becomes more and more likable as the story progresses, but what about Rooney Mara’s? And I definitely lost a little respect for Law’s character when he got back with his wife, no questions asked. After the way she treated him? Come on! I don’t need a long fight scene, but just give me a sign of difficulty for crying out loud!

Nightcrawler: Different and compelling movie, sure. But Louis Bloom has to be one of the most obnoxious protagonists ever written. Louis Litt from the TV series Suits is a selfless angel compared to Bloom. Seriously!

And we are never given a back story on why he is such a sociopathic prick. Actually Nightcrawler steps on and chews out so much renowned screenwriting advice, it will get its own post. (or at least another post.) The point is, the only thing I liked about that character was that it was played by Jake Gyllenhaal. I didn’t root for him. I didn’t respect his cunning. I think the fact that he’s so unlikable, and still gets what he wants (despite not being as slick and smart as he believes) is what makes the movie fun to watch.

What does this mean for you and your story?

I haven’t sold this story (with the selfish protagonist) yet. I may never be able to sell it. Maybe it’ll be optioned and/or bought and never made. Maybe I will have to wait until I have the resources to make it myself. Like all the screenplays out there, the possibilities are just too many to count.

The point is, I’m not giving up on it. It has its strengths, and it has its weaknesses, and I’m doing my best to eliminate the weak parts. I’ll do my best to sell it afterwards. But I believe in it, and I’m not giving up on it. I’m also determined to improve it without changing the core.

You might need to adapt too, but you also need to keep believing in yourself. I watched this wonderfully helpful webinar by Marilyn Horowitz (How to Sell Your Screenplay in 30 Days Using New Media through Writer’s Store) where she reminds you that you need to be your biggest fan. You need to be professional, yes, but you also need to believe. It has to be the kind of story you would pay to see. If you wouldn’t, why write it?

Write the kind of movie you’ll want to see. Be as objective as you can. Improve it as much as you can. Then start pitching and querying.

And good luck!

The 100’s Finn: Character Assassination or Natural Character Evolvement?

Posted on January 10, 2015 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Ever watched a movie or a TV series and thought: “Nah, this character would never do that?” Maybe it happened while reading a book. We’ve all been there as viewers and readers. Characters’ actions sometimes can take an unbelievable turn, and make us our eyes roll, taking us away from the story.

Currently, many fans of the sci-fi series The 100 feel this way about the character Finn, though I’m not one of those fans. While I believe they could have handled his transformation a little better or made his character take a different path, I don’t think what happened to him is that big of a stretch when you consider everything he has been through.

I’m not saying writers don’t have a tendency to take things too far for the sake of a more captivating plot or shock value. But often, writers have an emotional connection to their story and don’t just throw a big change the audience’s way just for the sake of it. They become their characters. So it is not so much crafting a path as it’s living, breathing and being that character.

Expectedly, not all of your readers (or viewers) will agree with how (or who) your character ends up to be. Especially when you have give them so many twists and complicated fellow characters, after introducing this one character much more differently in the beginning.

But traumas change people, for the better or worse. Can you tell me that you’ve gone through several significant, life-altering events in your life, and those events haven’t changed your attitude or reactions even one bit? If you say you are 100% the same, I’m going to think you are either a saint, or not being completely honest with me (or yourselves) for that matter.

So today, let’s tackle this tricky issue with the help of The 100, and what Finn’s been through. (Note: from this point on, this post will feature spoilers. You’ve been warned.)

The 100 Premise:

A nuclear apocalypse has destroyed the earth, and some survivors have moved to space stations. 97 years later, a technical problem is causing oxygen deficiency, causing the need to test the earth’s conditions a century before they planned.

On these space stations (called the Ark), any criminal over 18 is executed by floating. Any criminal under 18 is imprisoned – the nature of the crime is irrelevant. So in order to gain more time (and oxygen), they send 100 prisoners (ages ranging from kids to almost 18 year-olds) to earth, without supplies (not that they had too much extra to spare) or weapons.

thomas-mcdonell-100-finn — Finn (Thomas McDonnell) after he has seen a mutated deer.Image via justjaredjr.com.

When the prisoners land on earth, radiation doesn’t kill them. The nature looks beautiful, and they might have a chance after all. But soon, the differences in personalities, agendas and violent tendencies and lack of supplies as well as other survivors they didn’t know existed risk their lives and well-being on a daily basis (or sometimes more frequently). Finn (played by Thomas McDonnell) is one of these prisoners.

He’s famous for his crime: he has gone spacewalking without authorization, causing the Ark to lose oxygen, though it’ll be revealed in the following season that while the “crime” was his idea, the “committing” was done by someone else. (More on this later.) Finn is a fun-loving, spontaneous kid who’s not the bravest – but he’ll definitely step up eventually if he needs to save a friend. He develops a crush on Clarke, the intelligent, resilient and resourceful daughter of the Ark’s best doctor.

Finn is willing to do work when reasoned, but not disruptive and never with an authority complex. He usually provides the humor, ways to have fun and offers less disturbing ways to survive. He’s a bit of a flirt, but hey, for a teenager who has never had an adventure and only been with one girl all his life, he is doing pretty well as a human being trying to survive.

But even during the first couple of episodes that establish Finn as a fun-loving, inherently decent, flirty but smart dude with useful skills (tracking and peace-making), he goes through pretty horrifying stuff: losing friends in horrific ways, losing hope that they might ever see their family and friends in space or communicate with them, having his life and his remaining friends’ constantly in danger. With no time to get depressed or have an existential crisis, he holds up well through his reciprocal crush on Clarke.

Then his girlfriend from the Ark, Raven, comes to earth. Because of this, he loses his chance with Clarke, but that’s the least of his problems: Just think about it. Imagine being a 17-year-old experiencing the earth for the first time. Think about having been sent there to die. (The adults in space had no proof the earth was livable, so he, along with the other 99, was considered expendable.)

Think about falling in love with another girl, a girl you haven’t known your entire life while still caring the hell lot about your girlfriend – who’s both your family and your best friend. Think about not knowing who to trust apart from a couple of people. Did you put yourselves in Finn’s shoes? Good. Stay there.

You don’t have many supplies. You can die of hunger if you can’t hunt. If you are caught by the yellow acid fog, you will die a horrible, painful death, and you lose friends to this death. You see fellow campers go into “lynching mode” because they think someone in this group murdered a fellow camper. You find out the killer was a little girl who misunderstood some helpful advice. You risk your life trying to protect her, but you can’t: the girl ends up jumping to her death because she doesn’t want anyone to be harmed because of her. Aren’t you mentally a little disturbed yet?

Remember these events. Despite all this, because you’re a nice, peace-loving guy:

– You don’t mind the “grounder” Lincoln (people who kind of remind you of the warriors in Mad Max 3– people who have survived despite the radiation and formed their own civilazation) who stabbed you escapes.

– You don’t mind one female fellow camper falling in love with the grounder; instead you see the good in him and use this opportunity to make peace. Things go wrong, you barely escape.

– You find out these grounders have sent a biological weapon into your camp, killing a few more of your friends in the process and almost killing the girl you love (Clarke).

– Then you find out this biological weapon was only the initial attack. Your friends build a bomb to blow off a bridge to delay the attacks. This does delay the war, but during a hunting trip, you and Clarke are kidnapped and threatened to be killed unless Clarke saves the wounded girl. She can’t, and you only get to escape because Lincoln (the nice grounder) helps you.

– You are surrounded by warriors, but with the help of Raven (now your ex: she breaks up with you because you’re in love with Clarke), you manage to build something that will fry all grounders who come close. But you can’t make it inside the safe zone in time, witnessing a lot of people die brutal deaths. You watch people burn while fighting for your life.

– And when it’s over, you learn that Clarke along with 46 of your friends, are nowhere to be found. Maybe the remaining grounders took them. They’re probably tortured. There’s a good chance they might be dead.

Are you damaged enough yet?

– Anyway, there’s some good news as some of the space people land safely and form another camp. You are sent to find the missing, but not before you get to experience your ex’s painful, no drugs included surgery where her screams would make anyone’s blood crawl.

– During your search for Clarke, a grounder refuses to give you information, so you threaten to kill him. Then he draws you a map, but you still kill him. If you don’t, he might track you or try to kill you anyway. These people have been trying to kill you since you arrived.

Out of character? At this point, I think it’s in line with who he has become after what he has been through.

– A couple of more traumas later, you and another camper reach village where you were told your friends are. You round up everyone with guns, and have to decide if they are telling the truth. They’ve guns, but it’s 2 versus a village (though they don’t have guns, their warriors might come any second.) And then the hostage situation gets out of hand: some try to escape, some try to charge at you. You react out of panic, anger and adrenaline and you start shooting and you don’t stop until it’s too late.

Out of character? Or completely in line with what he has been through and what he felt in that moment?

I’m frankly against guns, and I’m a pacifist. But if you put me in a place where people are constantly attacking me and my loved ones, and where each day might be my last…and if you give me a gun to protect myself and my friends…And I go through one trauma after another after another…Well, I might not be that much of a pacifist after I reach my breaking point, and everyone has one.

I think Finn was suffering from major PTSD, and it’s unreasonable to expect someone to behave “characteristically” when they are in a seriously stressful situation.

What do you think? Do you think it is as unreasonable and far-fetched as some fans find it? Or is he just a kid who has gone through too much in short amount of time and expectedly lost it?

Please let me know in the comments. And what are some of the believable or unbelievable character transitions you have seen in novels, movies and TV series?