Screenwriting for Not-Quite-Dummies

            In the first thirty-four pages of Michael Keane’s How to Write a Selling Screenplay, Keane was able to resonate with me on multiple points, despite the fact that he made many references to movies that came out twenty years before I was born. Considering that this is a “how-to” book, I was impressed by Keane’s ability to make me think about what it means to be a storyteller. Unlike Screenwriting for Dummies by Laura Schellhardt and John Logan, How to Write a Selling Screenplay teaches its readers to do more than just regurgitate a step-by-step process. With language that’s easy to follow and content that satisfies, the first few chapters of How to Write a Selling Screenplay have succeeded at gaining my interest.

            Despite what you might think, I’m not secretly a blogger-spy whose job it is to sell this book. I admit that my love of reading in general might make for generous reviews, but what really influenced my opinion of the book was a profound comment that Keane made in the very first chapter. Keane argues that a good story is not driven by the plot, but follows the lead of the main character, or the “hero”. In order for a character to determine the plot of a story, the author must surrender any godlike power they might have over the world they’ve created. When I first read his argument, I didn’t get what he was saying. How can something you created drive the story somewhere that you didn’t predict? In order to wrap my head around this idea, I knew that I would need the assistance of some heavy drugs. (Just kidding Mom!)

            In all seriousness, what I walked away from this chapter with was the notion that an author must be flexible when writing a story, no matter what form it takes. The best way that I could understand this was by comparing in to a dog’s choke collar. The more an author tries to pull the story along, the tighter the collar around his or her neck becomes. To me, this meant that I needed courage when sitting in front of a blank Word document. I needed the courage to commit words to paper, and also the courage to let my mind wander out loud. While I’ve never fully accepted the art of meditation, Keane has gotten the closest to proving its importance to me.

            Keane also encourages his readers to write on a daily basis. If they couldn’t be militant with their characters, they were allowed to be militant with their writing schedule. Keane’s argument here can be summed up by the tweaking of a popular phrase: “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Keane stresses the importance of committing words to a page every morning, afternoon, or night. While he also condemns the use of clichés, the idea that “practice makes perfect” also encompasses his point. While you can’t teach someone how to come up with unique ideas, you can help them reach their full potential with practice. This helps authors, playwrights, and screenwriters alike develop their voice, discover their limits, and try to break them.

            What intrigued me about Keane’s approach to introducing the topic of Screenwriting was his lack of specificity. All the advice he gives in the first thirty-four pages can easily be applied to all forms of writing. While this is a roundabout way of getting to his main point, it helped me understand that a story is just a story, and therefore a novelist can easily make the transition to screenwriting with a little bit of practice.

MOVIES WATCHED: 0

SCREENPLAY PAGES WRITTEN: 0

NOVEL PAGES WRITTEN: 38

PAGES LEFT IN ATONEMENT: 215
            PAGES LEFT IN HOW TO WRITE A SELLING SCREENPLAY: 271