I’m going to be hard at work all weekend on the newsletter so there’s no time for a Showdown today. But do not worry. I’ll be doing Second Chance Showdown next weekend. As for what to expect with the newsletter, I can confirm now there won’t be any Star Wars in it. For those of you who get angry whenever I talk about Star Wars, rest assured the newsletter is Star Wars free.
However, as long as we’re on the topic of Star Wars, I found out that Leslye Headland is making a Star Wars show for Disney Plus. Headland wrote the movie, “Bachelorette,” about a bunch of mean women being horrible to the soon-to-be bride. More recently she made time-loop show Russian Doll for Netflix. I suppose some people will like this news. But there is nothing in this woman’s work as far as I can see that would indicate she’s right for Star Wars. Star Wars is not mean. It’s not harsh. It doesn’t have angry people walking around being angry at everyone. To be honest, this choice is baffling. What criteria are they using to greenlight stuff over there? And why does Kathleen Kennedy still have a job?? It’s madness I tell you! MADNESSSS111!!!!
Okay, sorry, I had to get it out of the way. I did that so I wouldn’t have to include it in the newsletter so you’re welcome.
Let’s leave you with some screenwriting theory to ponder. A common mistake I encounter in the screenplays I read is the act of convincing yourself versus convincing them. As writers, when we want something to work, it’s very easy to convince ourselves that it works. But you’re not the person you have to convince. You have to convince the reader. And the reader has a much higher bar than you do.
For example, let’s say you’re writing Parasite (spoilers if you haven’t seen the film). You know that you want an ending where Poor Dad kills Rich Dad. So you need to come up with a reason for why that would happen. The “convince yourself” writer writes a single scene before the climax where Rich Dad yells at Poor Dad because he forgot to gas up the car. In the Convince Yourself writer’s mind, he’s done enough to justify Poor Dad raging out and killing Rich Dad.
The seasoned screenwriter, however, knows that that’s not going to fly. So he goes back into the script and writes five separate scenarios where the Rich Dad becomes increasingly disgusted by the Poor Dad’s smell. We see, in each instance, the Poor Dad getting angrier and angrier about the matter. So when he snaps at the final party, it makes sense to us.
This may seem obvious but I run into this issue at least once in every amateur script I read. It’s clear that the writer only worked hard enough to convince himself and didn’t put in the effort to make it believable on the reader’s end. And the reader’s end is the only end that matters.
HAPPY WEEKEND!
