Writing screenplays can be tricky. Especially if you are drawn to the surface sights and sounds of movies.
You love the look. You love the lines of dialog. The music, the score, the Special FX. You love the weapons, the costumes, the set pieces, the explosions, the blood, the sex, etc.
But that's only half the story.
The fact is that the hidden half of screenplays is all about social interactions. And unfortunately we can't see social interactions the same way we see all the cool, funny, scary, etc. stuff.
The hidden half is about how characters relate to each other. Relationships. They are about how characters ally with each other and how they enemy and attack each other.
They are about social status. They are about how characters react emotionally to what they do to each other, why they are in the situation they are in, how they caused it, how they didn't. This engine. This social aspect of a screenplay is the foundation. The concrete slab on which the genre set-pieces accentuate and style.
So you see if you don't have that social mindset when you are writing it can be hard to create a story that makes sense, makes a point, connects with your audience. You can end up writing a half-baked story. Like building a house on settling soil, or sand, it quickly collapses in on itself. The reader puts it down. The movie never gets made.
How can you develop that social - relationship mindset when you're screenwriting?
One way is to note during your day to day life how interactions with other humans affect you. Who annoys you? Who turns you on? Who scares you? Etc. And how and why do they make you feel that way.
Another way is to watch other people interact and intuit who's dominant, whose in love, who's fighting. How are they showing it.
If you have had goals...Reflect on the ups and downs you went through to achieve those goals. And if you don't have goals or never really tried to reach one, make one...and notice how some people become your allies and some become enemies. Notice how you deal with setbacks and failure....do you cry? Do you whine? Do you not say anything to anyone?
When someone says "write what you know", draw from what you know concerning relationships and how people treat people when they go after goals.
Screenplays at their core are about people and how they treat and mistreat each other.
When your story doesn't ring true... is it because the people who populate it aren't behaving in a true way? Is a character an ally and then suddenly an enemy without it ringing true? Are the characters motivations clear to you?
The character's goal of your story is on the surface. But the motivation of the character is underneath the surface.
Again, this way of thinking is work. It's not easy and it's not pretty. When you look at a house you don't stare at the foundation and say "That's some beautiful concrete." You notice the color of the house, the decorative elements. You notice the surface stuff.
To further the house analogy - Think about the beautiful rooms in the house. Then think about how each is used. In most houses you have a kitchen, bedrooms, living room etc. And in these rooms there are certain types of behavior that are allowed, expected, or set by the family. In one family, the parents might have sex in their bedroom which they chose to put down the hall from their kids. In another house the parents might have sex in a bedroom next to the living room when their kids are watching TV. These "rules" and behaviors are the social interactions that take place in that house. Maybe the kid is trying to impress some girl and suddenly his parents are grinding away on the love seat. How does their behavior affect his goal?
Even more, when you look at food you won't likely say "Those amino acids look delicious and the fish oil...Mmmmmm." yet these are important and act as the foundation for an edible meal. If food was a character you would not only show how good it looked but show how the components of the food interact and relate to your digestive system, arteries, nervous system, etc. How some components help you grow, give you energy, keep you from getting sick and how some do the opposite.
So, are you too focused on the sights and sounds of your screenplay? Are you able to use a social, relationship mindset to write your screenplay?
****************
If you have any tips to help young writers switch their mindset from visual and aural to social, please post in the comments.
