It’s been many moons since I’ve last been enamored by a script. Or a movie, for that matter. It’s led me to question what the issue is. Is it everybody else? Do people simply not know how to write anymore? Or is it me? Have my standards become too high?
I’ll tell you what I’m scared of. I’m scared of becoming that Scriptshadow commenter who hates every movie. If I can no longer enjoy the movies I watch or the screenplays I read, then there’s no incentive for me to continue doing this. I’m not interested in having a website that craps on everybody. I want to spread LOVE! Not be a hater-potater.
And yet Hollywood is doing everything in its power to lure me into a hate cocoon. I commend the Marvel marketing team for their Herculean effort to convince people that The Marvels is actually good. I’m assuming they sent Chris Hemsworth out to spend a day with every critic who gave this film a fresh score on Rotten Tomatotes. But come on, Marvel has known for a year that they’re dealing the cinematic equivlanet of fentynal. It’s insulting to sell us that this movie is actually watchable.
Then we get this new Ghostbusters trailer. What is going on here?? It’s a movie about an ice villain??? Did they accidentally swap with one of Marvel’s scripts? We’ll find out a year from now when Marvel releases Ghost Thor: Who Ya Gonna Call.
I haven’t even enjoyed the Star Wars offerings. You know what’s sad (or awesome, depending on your point of view0? One of the ways I wind down is watching Youtube videos of people watching the original Star Wars for the first time. It’s so addictive seeing them experience this wondorous perfect movie for the first time ever. And every time, without fail, they always get excited at the right moments. They laugh in all the right places. In a way, it’s like I’m watching Star Wars for the first time as well.
But these days, the serious Star Wars TV shows (Andor) don’t work for me. The silly ones (Ahsoka) don’t work for me. That Madalorian episode with Lizzo and Jack Black very well may have heisted my soul and sold it on ebay for Yoda earings.
I haven’t even been able to enjoy the Oscar-hopefuls – Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie – which are supposed to be the projects that actually put time and effort into their screenplays.
So I think about this question a lot. Are my standards for screenwriting so high, at this point, that they can no longer be met? I’m biased but I don’t think they are. Still, several things have happened in the industry that have really hurt screenwriting in the past decade.
One of the issues is we don’t have that central screenwriting teacher anymore. In the 80s and 90s, it was Syd Field. In the 2000s, it was Blake Snyder. But once the internet popped up, writers stopped reading complete books on how to write screenplays and, instead, piecemealed their screenwriting education together through online screenwriting articles. So they know certain things (add conflict to your dialogue!) yet are totally clueless to others (how to build a compelling second act).
In addition to this, feature screenwriting moved away from singular protagonists trying to achieve a goal – the purest form of storytelling – to the “Marvel Ensemble” model where the writer is juggling 10 different protagonists and their subsequent storylines. Which isn’t normal! That’s not a typical story anyone would tell.
Then you have the rise of golden era television, with 1000 shows on TV, so that’s where all the writers went. And what does television promote? The never-ending story. There is no climax, which teaches screenwriters terrible habits. Cause if you don’t have to end your story, you never have to think about where your characters are going. And when those writers dip their toes back in the feature space, they bring that issue with them. Their narratives seem flighty and aimless because that’s the only kind of story they’ve had to write!
In other words, NOBODY KNOWS THE BASICS ANYMORE. They’re just making sh*t up as they go along. Yesterday’s script, which barely BARELY got a “worth the read,” is a good example. The theme of the script is messiness. The messier the better. That’s not good screenwriting. Good screenwriting requires focus and structure and planning.
So what I thought I’d do as we head into the weekend is remind writers of the basics. It’s not that hard. It really isn’t. But if you’ve never learned these things, then you’re probably writing a lot of weak-sauce material.
1 – Give us a likable character. Introduce your character in a way where we like him or her. Or, at the very least, sympathize with them. For example, if a woman’s husband of 20 years just blindsided her with divorce papers, we will sympathize with her. The reason this is so important is because nothing you do after your protagonist’s introduction will matter if we’re not rooting for them.
2 – Create a problem. A story cannot start until there’s a problem. This is the thing that jolts our protagonist into action. Think about it. If there’s nothing that forces your character to do anything, then they won’t do anything! You don’t have a movie if your main character isn’t doing anything. In one of my favorite movies from recent years, Parasite, the “problem” is very simple. The family is broke. They have no money. They need a solution.
3 – The problem introduces the goal. Once you introduce a problem into your hero’s life, you’ve created the all important GOAL. Cause now your hero has to SOLVE THE PROBLEM. And needing to solve a problem is a goal. To use Parasite as an example again, the goal is to take over the rich family’s home.
4 – The goal gives you your stakes. The reason the goal is so important is because it needs to power you through your second act. If the goal is minor or flimsy, it won’t be able to achieve this. This is where STAKES come in. We have to feel like everything is on the line for your hero. If you succeed, you get everything. If you fail, you lose everything. In other words, the bigger the problem, the more impressive the goal, which means higher stakes, which means you have more power to drive the second act. And just to remind you, NONE OF THIS MATTERS IF WE DON’T LIKE YOUR HERO. Which is why getting number 1 right is so important.
5 – Throw obstacles in front of the goal – A goal, in and of itself, is boring. Where the excitement happens is when that goal is challenged. So you want to think of your second act as the “Goal-Challenging Section.” You want to throw a bunch of things at the hero so it’s hard for them to achieve the goal. The harder it is, the more we’ll enjoy ourselves. Cause think about it: how exciting is it to watch someone try to achieve their goal with only minor pushback? To use Parasite as an example again, the midpoint has this crazy psycho dude secretly living in the basement. Talk about a challenge. How do you take over a house when you have this other guy already living there?
6 – A challenged goal makes your hero stronger – The bonus of challenging your hero in their pursuit of a goal is that it BUILDS CHARACTER every time they overcome one of these challenges. And each time that happens, assuming you got the number 1 rule right, we will like your character even more. Cause we like people who take on obstacles and overcome them. You know your second act is working when our love for your protagonist is growing.
7 – Endings aren’t as hard as you think – A good ending is less about some inventive never-before-seen plot twist and more about your hero facing their flaw head on and overcoming it. The endings that stick with us have some sort of emotional catharsis. Again, you got to get number one right or NOTHING YOU DO in the third act will matter. But, if we like your hero, and we’ve seen them struggle throughout the second act, and they overcome their flaw in the climax (Rocky overcomes his self-doubt to go the distance in the championship match), that goosebump-laced rush will shoot through the reader. Always try and think of your climax as an emotional catharsis and not as the final piece to a plot puzzle.
These tips don’t cover everything, obviously. You still have to surprise us, make interesting creative choices, write good dialogue, have a couple of stand-out characters besides your hero. You’d also like to execute your story with a unique voice or a fresh angle in order to stand out from the pack. But if you follow the above seven tips, it’s really hard NOT to write a good screenplay.
As for whether I’m still capable of being impressed anymore, I already have 10 movies that are going to make my Best Movies of 2023 list. I already have 10 scripts that are going to make my Best Scripts of 2023 list. That’s 20 stories right there. Should I really be asking for more than that in one year? I don’t think so. That’s plenty. I guess I was hoping for more stuff to blow me away this year. But maybe that’ll come in 2024.
I offer feature screenplay and pilot script consultations – the best notes in the business. If you mention this article, I will give you a $150 discount. Your script doesn’t have to be ready yet to secure the discount. You can send it in at a later date. Just e-mail me at Carsonreeves1@gmail.com. Can’t wait to read your script!
Genre: Holiday/Horror
Premise: A family’s Christmas dinner goes awry when a xenomorphic demon starts to duplicate and imitate each member of the family. What does it want? To show them their greatest fears.
About: This script made it onto last year’s Black List. The writer wrote ten episodes of the Black-ish spinoff, Grown-ish.
Writer: Kyle Dew
Details: 105 pages
Marcus Scribner from Grown’ish for Bryan?
Confession time!
I’m not a holiday-horror mash-up guy.
I know, I know.
LAAAAAAME!
Lame, Carson.
Everyone who’s anyone loves holiday-horror mash-ups cause they’re geek-chic, dude. Who doesn’t want to see Santa’s chief elf slaughter a dozen coeds in Dustin Coyle’s, “Psychotic Elf Sorority Massacre 5?” I’ve already got the first murder scene: A half-naked sorority chick with 37 candy canes plunged into her. The elf even left a post-it note on her desk: “Ho ho ho.”
Contrary to popular belief, I’m a softie. I’m more pillow than anvil. When Christmas comes around, I want to feel the warm loving embrace of George Bailey running down the street and screaming, “Merrrry Christmas everybody!” I don’t want to get stabbed by 37 candy canes.
BUT…
I love this title.
And I have never wavered from my belief that a good writer can make any concept work. Actually, I think that’s the first time I’ve said that. Therefore it might be a lie. Regardless, it’s a million times more fun to read a good script than a bad one so let’s hold hands before we take part in this script feast and say a Christmas prayer – Thout shall giveth us a great reading experience…
20-something Bryan and his girlfriend, Michaela, are flying back from LA to Chicago for Christmas. Michaela seems unsatisfied in the relationship and forces Bryan into a ton of therapy to fix it.
They get to the house where matriarch, and lawyer, Ida, is cooking up Christmas dinner. She’s with her brother, Bryan’s crazy Uncle James (who Bryan got into a physical fight with the year before). Bryan’s sister Ciarra has brought with her her very white boyfriend, Alex. Also at the dinner is Bryan’s childhood best friend, Dame.
We cut away to meet a cop named Brooklyn who gets called to their house later that night. When he gets there, we find out that Bryan has hanged himself. He’s dead. After Brooklyn asks everyone how this happened, Bryan shows up in the doorway, alive again. Naturally, everybody freaks out. Some are happy. Some are mad, cause they think he played a trick on them. But Bryan has no memory of any of this. So he thinks they’re all crazy.
This provokes a second investigation into whether Bryan is lying or not. And during this investigation, a second Brooklyn appears. When the two Brooklyns confront each other, the family tries to figure out who the imposter is. Once they do, Imposter Brooklyn cuts open his insides and starts eating his own guts until he perishes. This confirms that we have a demon in the house.
But if the demon is no longer inside Fake Brooklyn, then where is he? And what does he want? Due to an intense snowstorm, the family can’t go anywhere. So they’ll be forced to figure out where (as well as who) the demon is, and then eliminate him.
Back in Chicago, we had this theme park called, “Six Flags Great America.” It had all these great rollercoasters. But the one I liked best was “The Demon.” The thing looked like a giant spider that had been twisted and contorted into an unrecognizable maze of metal. The Demon roller coaster is apropos for today because we’re dealing with a literal demon AND this script read like I was riding on a roller coaster. It starts out sloooooow, but then it gets fun, the next second it coasted, then it was fun again, then we’d get to the corkscrews, which are never as dramatic as the loops.
I was ready to tap out after the first act. There were a lot of character introductions. A lot of dialogue that, because there was so much setup, was boring to read. I was worried this was going to be one of those scripts where we sit at a table the whole time and engage in endless dialogue.
But then Bryan commits suicide. Which is followed by him coming back to life. And, all of a sudden, I found myself turning the pages with more energy. I wanted to know exactly what the family wanted to know, which was: How is Bryan alive again? Solving that mystery was compelling enough to grab my attention.
And then when there were two Brooklyn’s, I distinctly remember thinking, “Okay, this might actually be a movie now.” Cause I didn’t think it was a movie before.
Look, I think a lot of screenwriters, deep down, want to be John Hughes or Richard Linklater or Martin McDonagh, where we craft an entire screenplay around dialogue and dialogue alone. It’s the sexiest component of screenwriting and, therefore, if you can master that part of the craft, you are seen as a screenwriting god.
But today’s script reminds us that, as lovely as that would be, you need plot. You need stuff to hook us. Cause the second we had a dead body here, my interest tripled. And then when he came back to life, it went up again. These are plot developments and we can bring them into our story at any moment to juice things up.
With that said, you still have to judge this story on its comedic dialogue since that’s such a big part of the script. On that end, the writer could’ve done better.
One of the things I’ve always found frustrating about comedy is that sometimes being cliché hurts you but other times it helps. We’ve all seen the swearing grandma archetype. That’s such a cliche low-hanging fruit character that it rarely works. At the same time, comedic archetypes can help you!
The character I laughed the most at was Uncle James. Uncle James leaned heavily into the “Crazy opinionated Uncle at holiday gatherings” archetype. Because I understood exactly who he was, his jokes always made me giggle.
Whereas with the rest of these characters, I didn’t know what their archetype was so I struggled to figure out where their jokes were supposed to come from. Because when you don’t have clear archetypes, you don’t know whose mouths to place the jokes in. As a result, you end up randomizing them. Except a line that would typically come from Roman (Succession) doesn’t work if it comes out of Tom’s mouth.
The script doesn’t stick the landing. It was more corkscrew than giant loop. But it kind of won me over by that point. It’s like a holiday horror version of The Thing. I know that will intrigue a few of you. And it’s enough for me to recommend the script.
[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[x] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: Some of these characters get capitalized intros and some don’t. That’s a big problem in a screenplay, even though it feels like a small one. Because if you introduce a character un-capitalized, that’s an indication to the reader that they’ve already been introduced. This isn’t a huge problem if the introductions are happening on page 3. But if they happen on page 15 or later, the reader’s going to question why they don’t remember this character who’s “already been introduced.” When they take the time to look the introduction up and find out the character hasn’t been introduced but, rather, the writer made a mistake, you’ve lost a ton of screenwriting credit with the reader. Since you’re an unknown, you don’t get that much credit to begin with. So losing that credit could be the difference between the reader continuing to read with focus or going into skim-mode. Their attitude becomes: “If the writer isn’t going to try, then why should I?”
Genre: Holiday
Premise: At the height of the holiday season, two strangers team up to rob one of New York’s most famous department stores while accidentally falling in love.
About: Today’s script finished high on last year’s Black List, with an ornament-busting 12 votes (“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 12 votes on the Black List…”). The writer, Abby McDonald, has one writing credit. But it’s a big one. She was a staff writer on the mega-successful Netflix show, Bridgerton.
Writer: Abby McDonald
Details: 110 pages
Somehow. Some way. The holidays are upon us.
I like what McDonald is going for here. The holidays have been overwhelmed by the Hallmarking of movies. McDonald is adding a real genre to her Christmas concept. We have a heist film on the most wonderful day of the year.
28 year old New Yorker, Sofia, is scoping out one of the city’s most opulent department stores, Sterling & Co. As she scans the place, she runs into 32 year old Nick, a charming fellow who seems to be doing the same thing. And Nick doesn’t like that.
So tells Sofia to leave the store and stop thinking of doing whatever she’s thinking of. We follow Nick home and find a bunch of goons waiting for him. Nick owes these men a lot of money. Which is why he’s planning to rob Sterling & Co. on Christmas Eve, when they’re going to have alllllllll that holiday money in their safe.
Back to Sofia, who’s visiting her mother at the hospital. Her mom, who used to work for Sterling & Co. for 20 years as a cleaner, had a stroke on the job. But the evil company claim they fired her a day earlier to avoid paying her medical costs. This is why Sofia wants that safe money – to pay her mom’s medical bills AND stick it to the man!
Eventually, Nick learns about Sofia’s mom, which means he could have access to 20 years of experience in this department store. He’ll know every unlocked door, every corner out of camera sight. He may just be able to pull this thing off! But that means, unfortunately, teaming up with Sofia. Seeing as the two kind of hate each other (but kind of love each other too), it’s a dangerous move. But it’s the only move he’s got!
Whenever you write a script, you’re trying to create the best version of that script-type that you can. If you’re writing a horror script, you gotta give us some of the best scares we’ve ever seen. If you’re writing a comedy, you gotta give us some of the funniest scenes we’ve ever watched. And when you’re writing a con man/con woman heist script, you gotta give us amazing quick dialogue and incredibly clever moments.
What most writers will do, and what I’d argue today’s writer does, is give you just enough but nothing more. So, here, we have an early exchange where Sofia and Nick engage in some witty banter at the department store. Nick looks like he came out on top. Then, several scenes later, Nick checks his pocket and instead of finding the security pass that he took from Sofia, he finds Sofia’s library card instead. Zoinks! She lifted it from him.
I’ve probably read somewhere in the vicinity of 250 of these sexy heist team-up scripts and this exact moment was in 240 of them. That’s when you lose me. The goal when writing any script should not be to meet the standard. The goal should be to exceed the standard. You may not have the chops to exceed the standard, but you should always try. Especially when it comes to those things that are important to that genre.
Dialogue is so important to this genre. It’s got to be sexy and biting and quick and clever. If it’s ANYTHING LESS THAN THAT, your script is toast.
I was just telling a writer this the other day. Every time you read through your script, whether it be to spell check or look for plot holes or see if your characters are working, improve three to four lines of dialogue. Most writers will read through a script 200 times before they send it out into the world. If you’re improving 3 to 4 lines of dialogue every one of those read-throughs, you’re gonna have some really good dialogue when it’s all said and done. If you don’t do this, you’re going to have average dialogue.
On the plus side, I liked how McDonald understood that a straight heist wasn’t going to be enough. This is true for all heist scripts. You can’t put the heist in the third act and spend the entire second act preparing for it. You need to create some additional plot threads, and McDonald does that here.
For example, they want access to the key codes that are going to get them through all of the doors in the store. So they try and steal them from the store president’s soon to be ex-wife. But then the wife catches them and wants in. So now, they need to steal an additional thing for her along with the original loot. This additional object is then used as a way to create double crosses and plot surprises later on.
Another thing I give McDonald credit for is that these characters become more likable as the script goes on. This happens to me ALL THE TIME. Every time I read one of these scripts, I initially find the main characters too polished and too slick. There’s no authenticity in their interactions. It’s more about saying the too-cool-for-school line. But once the plot kicks in and the characters actually have something to do besides talk, they grow on me. Maybe this is yet another example of the power of SHOWING NOT TELLING. It’s the characters having to act that pulls me in. So by the time these two were in the heist, I was engaged. Just not engaged ENOUGH.
My advice if you’re going to write a heist screenplay is to stay away from a straight, sexy thriller, unless you’re one of the best dialogue writers in the world. Because these movies are all about the banter between the two main characters, as well as the sexual tension underneath that banter. You can’t control the latter, because that will be up to who they cast. But you can control the former.
If you’re not great at dialogue but you still want to write a team up heist screenplay, I would suggest going in one of two directions. One, come up with a clever setup. Bad Santa comes to mind. Bad Santa is the same movie as this, but it has the more clever set up of a guy dressing up as Santa Claus to work department stores specifically so he can rob them.
Two, come at the genre in a unique way. Try to find an angle that hasn’t been done before. Parasite comes to mind. Parasite is a heist film about a family who steals a home from another family. We’ve never seen anything like that before so it’s a really interesting way to play with the genre.
You can certainly play it straight like this script. And, in McDonald’s defense, this is the most marketable of those three movies I just mentioned. But it’s also the variation that’s most susceptible to cliché and that’s where the majority of this script exists – in cliche.
[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[x] wasn’t for me
[ ] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: Prioritize the things that are important to the genre of script you’re working in. We all have a finite amount of time. We can’t work on a script forever. Which means you’ll have to prioritize what, in your script rewrites, to focus your time on. Your priority should always be the elements that are particular to that genre. So if you’re writing a comedy, spend 80% of your time improving your jokes. If you’re writing a horror script, spend 80% of the time trying to make it scarier. If you’re writing an action movie, spend 80% of your time on your action set pieces. And if you’re writing a sexy heist thriller, make sure the dialogue is electric, that we love both of the leads, and we’re desperate to see them get together.
If there’s anything I learned, it’s that not even the best logline consultant in Hollywood can compete with a brain-trust of 100+ screenwriters. You guys killed it. I personally liked Katie’s…
A repressed war widow awakens naked in the snow on a military black site and must outwit her ruthless father’s vengeful soldiers when she realizes the carnivorous feline they are hunting is her.
And DG Burton’s best…
A repressed young widow awakens naked in the snow on a military black site and discovers soldiers have been torn apart, she has no memories of last night, and she’s being hunted by the Marines’ most ruthless general – her father.
Now if you could just come up with a logline to erase daylights savings time, I would pay all the money in the world to see that movie succeed! You certainly did better than the movies at this weekend’s box office. This was supposed to be the big Dune 2 opening weekend but the film, like many others, got pushed back because of the actors strike.
It’s so hard to promote a big movie when your stars can’t get out there and make headlines for you. I enjoy the backup plan – sending directors and writers out there – because literally everything they say is more interesting than what actors say. But you can’t deny the fact that, without actors to remind us that their movies are opening, the movies don’t seem as big.
Speaking of someone who’s a writer, director, AND an actor, Sly Stallone has been in the news a lot, with his docu-series premiering on Netflix. What’s interesting about Sly is that he should be one of the richest people in Hollywood. And yet the rumor is, he’s out of money. That’s why he agreed to this docu-series. It’s why he has that Kardashian like show about his family on Paramount Plus. The guy is hustling.
Most of this stems from the fact that he doesn’t own a single sliver of the Rocky franchise. You can’t really fault him for that. He notoriously stood strong when he made that Rocky deal, insisting that he be the star. Which, if he didn’t do, there’s a good chance we wouldn’t know who Sylvester Stallone was today. But he mistakenly didn’t obtain any of the rights to the film, which means he hasn’t gotten paid a single dime outside of his acting fee from the billion dollar franchise.
Still, the dude has 75+ IMDB credits. How are you struggling to pay your bills?? Seems like there’s some serious money mismanagement there.
The reason I wanted to bring up Stallone is that he recently revealed that his first draft of Rocky had a different kind of Rocky. Rocky was a brute. Rocky was a tough guy. Rocky beat you up and didn’t feel bad about it. It wasn’t until a lady friend of his read the script and cried to him that she hated Rocky because of how mean he was, that Stallone decided to change the character into the more lovable iconic character we know today.
His very first change, which was actually suggested by the friend, was that instead of beating up the guy who couldn’t pay his loan, he let him go. The guy even offers Rocky his coat to help pay but Rocky lets him keep it. From there, Stallone just paid more attention to how Rocky acted. He wanted him to be sweeter instead of meaner. As a result, an iconic character was created.
I wanted to highlight this because there’s this erroneous belief that you win “screenwriting street cred” by creating an unlikable character. But in this case, it is literally the thing that would’ve sent this movie down a path where we never would’ve heard of it, versus what it became, which is a billion dollar franchise.
And when we talk about likability, it doesn’t have to be like in Adam Sandler movies where the ten-cent screenwriters he uses have his character save 20 lives before he’s even reached the inciting incident to MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE you love him. With Rocky, he’s just an understated nice guy who cares about people. He’s not over the top about it. That’s just who he is.
Remember that going forward. You don’t need to have your character save the world for us to like him. He can just be nice! It’s not complicated.
Shifting focus from the movie world over to the TV world, I stumbled upon the latest trailer for a Marvel TV show. It’s a show called, “Echo.” Before I get into my thoughts on the trailer, I know one of the writers on Echo (who’s an AWESOME writer by the way – one of my favorite unknown writers out there). I am not blaming him or any other writer who gets hired to write a Marvel show. I would cash that same check in a heartbeat.
My problem is more with the state of TV in general. Cause when I saw this trailer, I didn’t feel anything. There’s a woman. She had a tough childhood. Now she’s some sort of fighter as an adult. There’s an intensity behind the presentation of her story and it looks totally fine. There’s nothing wrong with this show at all. But it doesn’t stand out in any way. It doesn’t MAKE ME WANT TO WATCH IT.
Echo is a symbol for where the TV industry is today. We’ve gotten to the point where it’s nearly impossible to stand out from the pack. If Marvel, which can afford to put 100 million dollars behind a show like this, can’t get anyone excited about watching it, where are we? We are in the most saturated TV market ever where every show feels the same in the sense that there’s nothing exceptional enough that you actually label it a must-watch.
This begs the question: How do you write a TV pilot in 2023 that stands out? Is it even possible?
As far as I can tell, there are several show-types that get interest. The most prominent are the IP shows that have passionate fan bases. I’m talking Wednesday on Netflix or The Last of Us on HBO. These are useless to aspiring screenwriters, though, because we don’t have access to those properties.
Then you have the high-concept stuff, like Squid Game, Yellow Jackets, or Stranger Things. These are super-expensive but, if you can come up with one, they’re great because they’re the only ideas that can compete with those IP properties. Unfortunately, their cost scares a lot of potential suitors away.
And, finally, you have the word-of-mouth shows, the shows that become hits because of how incredibly well-written they are. I’m talking about the White Lotuses, the Successions, and the Bears. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to strategize around writing one of the greatest shows ever. So it’s yet another arrow we can’t add to our quiver.
But there is one final category which, I believe, is the one that best gives an aspiring screenwriter a shot at writing a show that stands out. And I call it, “The Voice Show.” No, I’m not talking about spinning chairs and overly charming country singers and golden tickets. I’m talking about a show that demonstrates your unique voice. Some recent examples would be Fleabag, Euphoria, Atlanta, Severance, and Beef.
There’s something unmistakably unique when you read these pilots and it’s not as difficult to pull off as you may think. Having a distinctive voice boils down to identifying what it is about how you see the world that’s unique and leaning into that as aggressively as possible. If I’m a Korean-American man who suffers from anger issues, that’s a great starting point for leaning into my voice. Which is how “Beef” was conceived. That show is less about the story than it is about its creator. And how that creator, Lee Sung Jin, sees the world.
The second ingredient to writing one of these shows is to be weird. To be awkward. It’s fine to cover your everyday existence in these shows. You just can’t do it in an expected fashion. Every interaction Fleabag gets into in her show is awkward. There’s one point where she’s in a job interview and inadvertently propositions the interviewer, then is forced to backtrack. We’re all weirdos deep down. We have weird thoughts. We get in weird situations. LEAN INTO THAT WEIRD. That’s how you’re going to make your pages read different from everyone else’s.
The third ingredient to these shows is to take from your own life. You should be using your own life to power all of your writing, of course. But it’s especially important in this type of script because one of the easiest ways to stand out is to chronicle things that nobody else has seen before. And since your unique experiences contain a myriad of specific moments, you want to mine those moments as much as possible. In Fleabag, that heartbreaking Phoebe Waller-Bridge miscarriage dinner with her sister was, supposedly, based on real life with someone she knew.
The final ingredient to writing these shows is to be achingly truthful. When you’re writing big Hollywood movies, you’re often a slave to the plot. You have to have that big twist at the midpoint for example, so you dance around in your mind for a few days until you come up with that twist. You don’t do that here. You lean into the truth. If a character in the throes of drug addiction is confronted by her friends and family, you better have that drug-addicted character act truthfully. That approach led to one of the best episodes of Euphoria when Rue was confronted and she did what any addict would do in that moment. She RAN.
There has to be an element of rawness and realness on the page to truly stand out from the pack. And, unlike movies, which work better within the construct of sexy concepts, TV is more about character and, therefore, more conducive to this sort of writing. By the way, I’m not saying you can’t succeed by writing the next CSI or the next Stranger Things. All I’m saying is that if you want to write something that has the best chance at standing out from all the other scripts that these production houses and studios read? The Voice Script is the number one way to go.
Do you have one in you?
Today, we’re going to do something different. With loglines being such a hot topic on the site, I thought I’d take you through a recent logline consultation of mine so you can see the thought process I go through when I develop a logline. This logline comes from a frequent contributor to the site, David Laurie, who came to me with his logline for, “She’s Got Claws.”
To give you some context, I have two logline consult options. The first is a basic option ($25) where I give you a single e-mail analysis of your logline, a 1-10 rating, as well as a logline rewrite. These are great if you haven’t written the script yet and you just want to know if you’ve got a good movie/show idea.
David ordered the deluxe option ($50) which is mainly for writers who have already written their script and need the best logline possible for querying purposes. The deluxe option gets you as many e-mails as it takes until we get your logline right.
I’m including David’s consult because most of my clients get what they want after 4 or 5 e-mails. But David doesn’t mess around. He gets into the nitty-gritty. And, you know what? I’m glad. Because if we have to push it to the absolute limit to get a good logline, I’m willing to do it.
If you want a deluxe logline consultation, I’ll give you a $10 discount if you mention this post. E-mail me at carsonreeves1@gmail.com. Okay, settle in and buckle up. Let’s get to the consult!
**********
Original e-mail from David Laurie
I am struggling with She’s Got Claws’ logline.
Although the script is pretty damn tight IMO.
It’s a monster movie. Basically a werewolf movie but my spin delves wayyyy back into legend. The Nephilim are an enhanced superhuman/ubermensch race mentioned in the Bible. Some translations have them as part animal.
So in my prologue, DNA extracted from a young girl in wartorn Afghanistan, is used for a serum that brings out the animal closest to your true self via a werewolfy transformation.
In the case of meek, buttoned-up, no-make-up-no-hair-products war widow HOLLY, who’s been put-upon all her life, this creature is a powerful, majestic and extremely savage LIONESS.
She wakes on a snowy roof in a rundown Alaskan town, naked and bloody, with no memory of what happened. Surrounded by soldiers hunting a wild animal that escaped and has killed several men overnight.
Holly must evade the soldiers, seek clothes, refuge and help. She soon realises the animal they are hunting is her. And the General in charge of the hunt is her father. And the rundown town is an abandoned army facility, now a blacksite. Rumours of locals going missing have been piling up.
Holly has never changed before. It is new. She knows the answers lie in the blacksite. Obvs. She would prefer to run away but the Alaskan Spring Thaw has blocked all the roads out of town. And she can’t get over the idea that her own family is involved.
So it’s an empowerment story of a woman facing up to her family, who despite being human, are the real monsters (maaan).
There’s a budding romance in there amid lashings of dark humour and super gory violence.
Tonally I am going for An American Werewolf in London eats Memento
It is pretty funny but it’s NOT a comedy. It reads as a tense, urgent, psychological thriller. As per usual for me. Lots of running around, bullets and biting heads off. The dark gallows humour matches the life-or-death situations.
What is less usual for me is the plot is pretty simple. Woman is hunted. Escapes. But turns tables and seeks out the hunter. Doesn’t like what she finds. Gets mad. Gets even. Pulls a lot of heads off. Learns to live with it.
I started a little debate yesterday on the topic of WHAT IS SCARY?
with a side of Is SHE’S GOT CLAWS a HORROR movie?
I was knocked by your #1 rule of Horror. Three scary scenes. I wondered: are the set pieces scary enough?
I have since pumped them up.
But does that make it A Horror Movie? It’s a tense, violent jump-scare-tastic monster movie with a dark emotional undercurrent, so, after a crisis of faith, I have decided yes, of course it’s fucking Horror.
But my logline is not cutting it
So. I am currently at
On a desolate Alaskan military base, a timid war widow transforms into a savage lioness. Waking up as her old self, she must uncover who did this to her and why (and if it can be reversed) before it happens again.
previously….
A timid young war widow, who awakens naked on a snowy roof at dawn with soldiers shooting at her, has to figure out who she is and what the hell happened to her last night. Fast.
All help gratefully received
David
**********
From: Carson Reeves
Title: She’s Got Claws
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Logline: A timid young war widow, who awakens naked on a snowy roof at dawn with soldiers shooting at her, has to figure out who she is and what the hell happened to her last night. Fast.
Analysis: Okay, you know with me, I’m always trying to simplify your ideas. You tend to go very in-depth, which is good in theory, but I think you would benefit from simplifying things down. Of your two loglines, the second one is better, as it creates a more urgent dramatic situation. But I would love to get the father connection in there. As soon as I read that, it made the scenario sound a lot more interesting. I don’t love the adjective “war widow.” Does that mean her soldier husband died? Or does it mean she’s also a soldier herself? It’s more interesting if she was a soldier herself. Either way, I would like to start the logline off, and the protag description off, a lot cleaner. Which leaves something like this…
New Logline: A were-lion, who awakens naked on a remote military black site, learns that she slaughtered five people the previous night and she’s being hunted by her bloodthirsty military commander father.
**********
From: David Laurie
Hey
thanks for this
War widow = husband died in Afghanistan. I’m not crazy about the term either.
Here’s how the story rolls out.
It’s a mystery and Holly peels back the layers to find the simple ugly truth.
So the logline KINDA has to hold a lot back, which is why I based it around the set up.
The REVEALS shift Holly’s understanding of what went down, of her father/family but mostly of HERSELF.
She’s not a soldier. She’s not much of anything. No kids. No job. Which is her realisation.
When her father, the General, shows up with Marines, she assumes he’s to blame for her transformation
Reveal #1 her husband PETER was not dead at all – but he is now – as of last night
Reveal #2 her soldier sister, IVY, is not in the Middle East, She’s been working on weaponizing the Afghan changeling DNA with Peter. Living on the black site – not one mile from Holly – for 2 years
reveal #3 The General had sponsored the program but Peter and ivy have gone wayyy off the reservation so he showed up to shut them down
reveal #4 last night Ivy kidnapped Holly and tortured her to force Peter to kill the General. Peter took the changeling DNA, went on the rampage and HE killed all the men in the night
reveal #5 Holly injected herself with the Changeling DNA to go after Peter and stop him killing her father.
reveal #6 Holly killer her own husband and no-one else
At least, until she woke up and the soldiers came after her
So, on awakening, the truth was: she had only killed one person and for a good/justifiable reason
Title: She’s Got Claws
Genre: Horror/Thriller
cool
Logline: A timid young war widow, who awakens naked on a snowy roof at dawn with soldiers shooting at her, has to figure out who she is and what the hell happened to her last night. Fast.
Analysis: Okay, you know with me, I’m always trying to simplify your ideas.
yep
You tend to go very in-depth, which is good in theory, but I think you would benefit from simplifying things down.
deffo for the logline
I feeeeeel like it’s a simple story.
But it’s a false narrative
It starts on a number of wrong assumptions and clarifies/builds to a final reveal
Of your two loglines, the second one is better, as it creates a more urgent dramatic situation.
yep
But I would love to get the father conneciton in there.
yep
As soon as I read that, it made the scenario sound a lot more interesting.
yep
that’s the thing
Holly is boring
Her military family is all horrible, one way or another – she is the, um, white sheep of the family.
and the story is her drilling down into her fuckedup family
I don’t love the adjective “war widow.”
same
Does that mean her soldier husband died?
yep
Or does it mean she’s also a soldier herself? It’s more interesting if she was a soldier herself.
I disagree
i think it’s more fun pitting the dowdy, dull civilian up against cops, Marines and mercenaries
only she has a secret advantage, being a “werewolf”
which she is not thrilled about
Either way, I would like to start the logline off, and the protag description off, a lot cleaner. Which leaves something like this…
New Logline:
A were-lion, who awakens
DO YOU THINK HUMAN AGAIN IS IMPLIED?
I WRESTLED WITH THIS
naked on a remote
GONNA SWITCH remote FOR ALASKAN
military black site, learns that she slaughtered five people the previous night
SHE THINKS THIS IS THE CASE
BUT IT WILL TURN OUT NOT TO BE
BUT THINKING IT MAKES IT A BIT EASIER WHEN SHE KILLS TEN MORE
and she’s being hunted by her bloodthirsty
HE’S MORE TERRIFYING EMOTIONLESS HARDASS THAN BLOODTHIRSTY
military commander father.
SO maybe
A were-lion, who awakens naked on an Alaskan black site, learns that she’s being hunted by her brutal military commander father, in connection with a string of corpses discovered last night.
BUT
for me that feels like Holly has the upper hand, being a werewolf. So that’s not good
This is why I wanted to start with the meek/timid/dowdy shizzle
A timid woman, who awakens naked on an Alaskan black site, learns that she’s being hunted by her brutal military commander father, after fifteen men were slaughtered last night.
so does that imply werelion?
I get the clean THIS IS A WEREWOLF WE ARE TALKING ABOUT opening
but the reality is in pitching this story to any exec, there’s no way it’s not preceded by THIS IS MY SPIN ON A WEREWOLF STORY
also the anatag gets 4 words
and the protag only 2
A timid widow, who awakens naked on an Alaskan black site, finds she’s being hunted by her brutal military commander father, after fifteen men were slaughtered last night.
THOUGHTS?
**********
From: Carson Reeves
Well, it comes down to: Do you want to tell the reader what the movie is about? Or do you KIND OF want to tell them what it’s about, but build the logline more around mystery? My experience is that it’s better to tell them what the movie is about.
**********
From: David Laurie
hi
Well, it comes down to: Do you want to tell the reader what the movie is about? Or do you KIND OF want to tell them what it’s about, but build the logline more around mystery?
that, as you can imagine, is 100% my instinct
the story is a mystery
but I feel there is plenty of (literal) meat on the bones at the outset
My experience is that it’s better to tell them what the movie is about.
I know, I know and I suspect you are right. It will open the logline up to more people getting it
what about?
A timid young widow awakens naked on an Alaskan black site to find she’s being hunted by her military commander father, who thinks she’s the creature who slaughtered fifteen men last night.
From: David Laurie
for me that last one builds nicely
but the implied question is
is she that creature
and
the answer, right off, is yeah, she probably is
and with a little thought, you get to she’ll probably be OK if she’s some kind of monster
**********
From: Carson Reeves
Everything and the kitchen sink version:
The reserved widow of a recently deceased soldier awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site where she is being hunted by her relentless officer father, who believes she’s responsible for the slaughter of fifteen men last night.
Edible version:
A startled woman awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site where she quickly learns she is being hunted by her high-ranking general father, who believes she’s responsible for the slaughter of fifteen soldiers last night.
**********
From: David Laurie
The reserved widow of a recently deceased soldier awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site where she is being hunted by her relentless officer father, who believes she’s responsible for the slaughter of fifteen men last night.
yep
Edible version:
as in high? (ho ho)
A startled
!
woman awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site where she quickly learns she is being hunted by her high-ranking general father, who believes she’s responsible for the slaughter of fifteen soldiers last night.
another problem is that the phrase ‘General father’ sounds weird so
A timid young widow awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site where she quickly learns she is being hunted by her high-ranking father, who believes she’s responsible for the slaughter of fifteen soldiers last night.
I think it’s either
A timid young widow awakens naked on a remote Alaskan black site, to find she’s being hunted by her high-ranking father, after fifteen soldiers were slaughtered last night
OR
A timid young widow awakens naked on a remote Alaskan black site, to find she’s being hunted by her high-ranking father, who thinks she’s the creature who slaughtered fifteen soldiers last night.
**********
Carson Reeves
I’m having issues with the word “timid” as it’s an adjective that sounds very small for a story with such high stakes (and high body count). ‘Timid’ is an adjective you would use in a comedy. That’s why I’m trying to change it.
I’m a little worried that with “Alaskan black site,” people aren’t going to know what you mean. That’s why I put “military” in there.
Thoughts?
**********
David Laurie
Deffo onboard with military
I put it back in too
And took out remote
Cos Alaska
Timid is accurate
And I hope IRONIC
A female sergeant wakes up and is accused of 15 murders…
Is not as cool as
The last person you’d ever suspect wakes up…
A timid young widow awakens naked on a remote Alaskan military black site, to find she’s being hunted by her high-ranking father, after fifteen soldiers were slaughtered last night
From: David Laurie
Also
You classed it as
Horror / Thriller
Which I think is accurate.
But I worry that, for a werewolf, it is a step too far away from Horror as a main genre.
I guess that is the bed I wrote for myself.
Btw, there’s no silver bullets etc
Instead it’s science based, DNA, CRISPR technology
**********
From: Carson Reeves
Okay, if you’re standing firm on “timid,” I will concede. :)
We need a better way to describe the father. “high ranking” doesn’t work. Can you give me his exact military title and his job outside of this movie? The wording of “After fifteen soldiers were slaughtered last night” feels a little too casual.
A timid young widow awakens naked on a remote Alaskan military black site to find that she’s being hunted by her high-ranking officer father after fifteen of his soldiers were slaughtered by a mysterious creature.
**********
From: David Laurie
Okay, if you’re standing firm on “timid,” I will concede. :)
Yay
We need a better way to describe the father. “high ranking” does’t work. Can you give me his exact military title and his job outside of this movie?
He’s a general
Based at the pentagon and charged with weapons development
The changeling DNA is being developed as a biotech weapon, supersoldiers type thing
Ivy, her sister was running the project but has gone nuts and is churning through “volunteers” and burning the bodies
The wording of “After fifteen soldiers were slaughtered last night” feels a little too casual.
Ok
The number needs to feel “significant”
A timid young widow awakens naked on a remote Alaskan military black site to find that she’s being hunted by her high-ranking officer father after fifteen of his soldiers were slaughtered by a mysterious creature.
See
I like that
But I can hear the message board pedants saying that the last bit is not directly linked to the first
Even tho, to my ears, it is
**********
From: Carson Reeves
Maybe we need to move some things around to make it sound smoother…
After waking up naked and confused on a secluded Alaskan military site, a reticent young widow discovers she’s the prey of her high-ranking officer father, who’s pursuing her following the slaughter of fifteen soldiers by a mysterious creature.
***********
From: David Laurie
hmmmm
I thinnnnk that’s a bit unwieldy, maybe a clause too many
I trimmed the one below to
A timid young widow awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site to find she’s being hunted by her father, a DC General, after fifteen of his soldiers were slaughtered by a mysterious creature.
I think the a Pentagon General or a DC General is less bumpy and more organic
plus it has:
ironic underdog protag
overmatching antag
violent monster mystery
hunted which implies a call to action
From: David Laurie
his flows a little better
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find she’s being hunted by her father, a DC General, following the slaughter of fifteen soldiers by a mysterious creature.
**********
From: Carson Reeves
We’re getting close. What I’m trying to do is link the first section with the “mysterious creature” so it doesn’t sound like it’s coming out of nowhere. If she’s just naked, does that tell us enough? That’s why I was going with, “naked and confused,” to imply that something has just happened to her and she’s scared and doesn’t know what it is. But I don’t like having two words there since it makes it longer.
The only other thing that bothers me is the dad’s occupation. It’s the clunkiest part. I wish we had the perfect descriptor there.
A timid young widow awakens naked on an Alaskan military black site to find she’s being hunted by her father, a decorated army general, after fifteen of his soldiers were slaughtered by a mysterious creature.
From: Carson Reeves
Okay, let’s give it a day. I find that it’s easier to find the path when you’ve had some time away from the logline. But we’re definitely closer.
**********
From: David Laurie
OK agreed
I’ll let it sit
did you see the one i sent a minute ago
it flows better
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find she’s being hunted by her father, a DC General, following the slaughter of fifteen soldiers by a mysterious creature.
**********
From: Carson Reeves
I think it’s a little better.
**********
From: David Laurie
re your points below
A timid young widow awakens naked and confused on a military black site in Alaska to find herself being hunted by her father, a DC General, after fifteen of his soldiers were slaughtered by a mysterious creature.
I like find herself for the same reason I like awakens
i think confused is implied.
who’s NOT confused by waking up naked in snow on a secret base?
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a DC General, after fifteen of his soldiers were slaughtered by a mysterious creature.
i like
awakens naked
after fifteen
and I especially like
fifteen of his soldiers
cos it seems like he cares more about his job than her
which he does
From: David Laurie
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a DC General, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a mysterious creature.
torn apart is more ANIMAL
From: David Laurie
military
DC General
soldiers
seems like overkill
I’d be inclined to use MEN instead of soldiers but that is a bit sexist
so if we keep soldiers, we can lose military
**********
From: Carson Reeves
I think I like “slaughtered” more than “torn apart.” It sounds more visceral and violent. But if you love “torn apart,” it’s fine. I don’t like “DC General.” Every time I read it, I wonder exactly what it means. Like Washington DC? Then why is he in Alaska? I’m sure it makes sense but you can’t take chances in these loglines. Everything has to be as clean as a surgery room.
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a mysterious creature.
**********
From: David Laurie
I think I like “slaughtered” more than “torn apart.” It sounds more visceral and violent.
Her killings are very visceral
She tears soldiers heads off more than once
I soldiers being slaughtered could be achieved with an AR-15
Torn apart sounds more claws and teeth to me
But if you love “torn apart,” it’s fine. I don’t like “DC General.” Every time I read it, I wonder exactly what it means. Like Washington DC? Then why is he in Alaska? I’m sure it makes sense
I agree
I also am not keen on the commas around it, fucking up the flow
but you can’t take chances in these loglines. Everything has to be as clean as a surgery room.
I hear you
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a mysterious creature.
I like this.
It’s accurate and it hits the tone.
it’s 35 words which is on the edge of acceptable; but I think it has maybe 3 too many polysyllabic words
which fu**s the flow a bit
the closer it is to a haiku the better, right?
I also don’t really like mysterious in loglines
like: this is the time to tell us the mystery
A timid young widow awakens naked on a black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after his men were torn apart by an unseen creature.
thoughts
From: David Laurie
Good morning/evening btw
On an Alaskan black site, a timid young widow awakens naked and finds she’s being hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after his men were torn apart by an unseen creature.
**********
From: Carson Reeves
I definitely don’t like the re-shaped version of the logline. Let’s stick with what we’ve got. I think the below is very good. Only quibble, like you, is “mysterious.” I think it works but could probably be better. “Unseen” is too weak a word for this scenario.
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a mysterious creature.
maybe…
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a nightmarish creature.
**********
From: David Laurie
I definitely don’t like the re-shaping version of the logline. Let’s stick with what we’ve got.
ok
think you missed one of my emails just now.
this loses a bunch of syllables but stays true
I think ‘she’s being hunted’ is punchier/more active
I quite like unseen, and in the story, the general has not seen what his daughter becomes.
Anyone who sees her, dies
(until she makes friends with a cop, whom she spares yadda yadda romance budding)
A timid young widow awakens naked on a black site in Alaska to find she’s being hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after his men were torn apart by an unseen creature.
A timid young widow awakens naked on a black site in Alaska to find she’s being hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after his men were ripped apart by an unseen creature.
A timid young widow awakens naked on a black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after his men were torn apart by a ferocious creature.
**********
From: Carson Reeves
I would put “fifteen” back in there. And I would put “soldiers” back in there. Both give the situation more weight. So…
A timid young widow awakens naked on a black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a ferocious creature.
**********
From: David Laurie
do you not think finds she’s being hunted is better than finds herself hunted
*********
From: Carson Reeves
how would “finds herself hunted” look in actual practice?
**********
From: David Laurie
fair warning, I am a bit of a grammar Nazi. My mum was an English teacher
so
I thinnnnnk
finds she’s being hunted means the hunt is under way, which it is
and
finds herself hunted is flappy enough to mean the hunt might start later in the story
*********
From: Carson Reeves
Yeah, but you also have to take into consideration how it reads and sounds within the context of the logline. It sounds better, in my opinion. And when I hear “finds herself hunted,” I think the hunt is happening right now.
*********
From: David Laurie
OK
might be just me being fussy
I concede it flows better
So
A timid young widow awakens naked on a black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his soldiers were torn apart by a ferocious creature
it’s definitely one of those, this is the set up not the story loglines but the setup IS the story and the whole movie is a hunt, one way or another
I think saying his men, rather than soldiers, implies a sort of paternal concern for the chewed-up guys, which is relevant
annnnnd it shortens/smoothens the last clause
but
it takes the original three army terms down to one
so
maybe
A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his men were torn apart by a ferocious creature.
I am into this version. You?
**********
From: Carson Reeves
Yeah, I liked the way you phrased “men” in this last one. It works for me. I think we’ve got it. :)
**********
From: David Laurie
yeah
I agree
thanks man
pleasure doing business
*****END OF EXCHANGE*****
And there you have it! Here are the old and new loglines!
Old: A timid young war widow, who awakens naked on a snowy roof at dawn with soldiers shooting at her, has to figure out who she is and what the hell happened to her last night. Fast.
New: A timid young widow awakens naked on a military black site in Alaska to find herself hunted by her father, a ruthless general, after fifteen of his men were torn apart by a ferocious creature.
