And how can I teach it to wannabe screenwriters?

I first walked in their shoes, I remember my teachers lessons – and what was the most useful to me. I tried to reproduce it, but I also wanted to add what I learned once I got my degree and jumped into the shark-filled-pool.

So, last 2 years, I tried to structure what I would like to say about structure (and plots and characters).

First lesson, write, write and write. And then, do it again, Sam.

I think books and lessons on screenwriting will not help writers to write the first draft. I believe they are very useful toolboxes for rewriting.

Yet, books and theory cannot replace discussion, they cannot trigger nor nourish the creativity that is flowing when discussing a script.

Writing is juggling with ideas, feelings, images, and taking into account  your readers’ notes. Writing is knowing (or at least searching for) what you’re writing about, and why you do so. It may take times before you really spot it (what an epiphany 🙂 ) and you may need to listen to what people have read and understood in your work.

The best (and only) way to learn how to write is to expose your work to readers, to listeners, to a would be audience. Then, and only then, you get an idea of what you’re doing. Then and only then, you learn wether you’re using the right tools, to tell your story.

That’s why I suggest to all my comrades to find writing mates. That’s why I give them exercices where they have to write and rewrite, to rewrite soe else story, or hand in structured reader’s notes.

Hence they can test their writing. And when they do not get the expected result, they may have to think twice, about what they wrote. Maybe the reader did not like the script, did not understand the script, and they will be luckier with another reader. Maybe the writer did not tell their story the best way for the reader to jump on the bandwagon.

Eventually, there is only one thing to know : writing is rewriting.