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About A Screenplay is devoted to helping new writers who want to learn how to craft a screenplay, and writers interested in film adaptation projects. Each week I provide tips on screenplay writing, answer readers’ questions, highlight books optioned or sold for script development, and feature a recently released film adaptation. Once in a while I’ll feature a guest post from an industry insider or an interview with a new screenwriter who has landed his or her first deal.
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Author: Robert Harris
Screenwriters: Robert Harris and Roman Polanski
Logline: A ghostwriter hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.
Read an interview with author and screenwriter Robert Harris at Ain’t It Cool.
Download a free copy of the script from My PDF Scripts.
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Are you a screenwriter or entertainment industry professional with advice and tips to share with readers of About A Screenplay? I welcome guest posts on the topic of screenplay writing and the screenwriting business. If you’re interested in contributing an article, check out the submission guidelines.
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SAVAGES
Genre: Drama Thriller
Author: Don Winslow
Screenwriters: Don Winslow and Oliver Stone
Logline: Two pals from Laguna Beach share the same girlfriend and thriving business growing and distributing high-quality marijuana. When they resist being muscled by a Mexican drug cartel, the girl is kidnapped and the ransom is every cent they’ve made for the last five years. The guys agree to pay while hatching an alternate plan to get her back, get revenge, and then get lost.
PET SEMATARY
(Remake)
Genre: Horror
Author: Stephen King
Screenwriter: Matthew Greenberg
Logline: A family trades city life for county life in Maine, then discovers that they have moved near a pet cemetery that rests on an ancient burial ground. When their toddler son is killed in an auto accident, the father takes the boy’s body to the cemetery, where it is resurrected in demon form.
INCARCERON
Genre: Fantasy
Author: Catherine Fisher
Screenwriter: not announced
Logline: A young boy lives in a prison that is a complete society; outside the prison, the world is stuck in the 17th Century and run by computers. When the boy comes into contact with the warden’s daughter they find a key that can change everything.
SERENA
Genre: Drama
Author: Ron Rash
Screenwriter: Chris Kyle
Logline: Set in the rugged mountains of 1929 North Carolina, a man named George Pembleton and his new bride, Serena, create a timber empire. When Serena learns she cannot bear a child, she sets out to murder the son her husband fathered illegitimately.
NIGHT OF THE HOWLING DOGS
Genre: Drama
Author: Graham Salisbury
Screenwriter: not announced
Logline: In 1972 while camping in the wilderness, Boy Scout Troop 77 of Hilo, Hawaii, experiences the earthquake in Halape and the subsequent tsunami.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER
Genre: Historical Horror
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Screenwriter: Seth Grahame-Smith
Logline: President Abraham Lincoln secretly battles the undead as an ax-throwing, highly trained vampire killer.
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Portrayals of the human experience reveal something about ourselves. When we see a reflection of our humanity on screen, we connect with the story. Witnessing imperfect characters struggle with change and transformation resonates with our own experiences of life.
We all know that nothing in nature is static and that change is essential for growth. Character traits that once were vital to our survival may no longer serve us, they have outlived their purpose and may even be detrimental to our well-being. When the old ways of doing and behaving no longer work, a transformation must occur. To create a story that reveals transformation the writer must first establish why the character needs to transform. Which survival trait has outlived its purpose? What behavior is prohibiting the protagonist from achieving his goal? This is the fatal flaw.
The Fatal Flaw helps the writer:
* Create dramatic conflict
* Design character behavior
* Develop character backstory
* Reveal character motivation
* Structure the plot to serve the character’s internal journey
HOW TO FIND THE CHARACTER’S FATAL FLAW
A character’s Fatal Flaw is the opposite value of the Internal Goal of the Theme. If the value of the Internal Goal is generosity, then the opposite value (the Fatal Flaw) is greed.
Here are four steps to help you find your character’s fatal flaw:
1. Identify the Theme
2. Identify the Opposite Value of the Theme.
3. Define the value that represents the theme. This is the Internal Goal. (This representation can take many forms. If ten different writers wrote a script revolving around the same theme each writer could easily construct ten different ways to present the theme.)
4. Determine the opposite value/representation of the Internal Goal. This is the character’s Fatal Flaw.
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EXAMPLE FROM THE SCRIPT “LETHAL WEAPON” (by Shane Black)
1. Identify the Theme = Embracing Life
2. Identify the Opposite Value of the Theme = Devaluing Life
3. Define the value that represents the theme. Internal Goal = Connecting with Other People
4. Determine the opposite value/representation of the Internal Goal. Fatal Flaw = Disconnected from other people
(Riggs, played by Mel Gibson, is lonely and isolated, and exhibits reckless and suicidal behavior – the opposite of “embracing life” and being “connected to other people”.)
YOUR TURN: Can you identify your main character’s fatal flaw? Does your protagonist’s fatal flaw represent the opposite value of your theme? Does the fatal flaw drive the hero’s internal journey?
Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process.
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Q: What is a release form and do I need to sign it?
A: Thanks for your question. If a production company, studio, or producer is interested in reading your script and you do not have an agent, they will often ask you to sign a release form, which protects them against claims of idea theft. The release form states that you own the material and have the right to sell it. It also states that in the event the company releases a film with a similar premise, you don’t have the right to sue them.
If you choose not to sign the release form, the company will most likely choose not to read your script. Release forms are a standard industry necessity. If the producer, studio, or production company requesting the form is an unknown entity, or if you have any concerns, be sure to confer with an entertainment lawyer prior to signing any document. Better yet, get an agent, and forgo having to sign unsolicited submission agreements.
For more on release forms, check out this post from Matt Galsor and Jesse Saivar: By Signing This Agreement Am I Giving Up All My Rights?
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Author: Dennis Lehane
Screenwriter: Laeta Kalagridis
Logline: In 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.
Read an interview with screenwriter Laeta Kalagridis from Written By
Listen to a podcast interview with screenwriter Laeta Kalagridis from Creative Screenwriting
Download a free copy of the screenplay from Script Collector
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Larry Brooks’s latest book The Three Dimensions of Character: Going Deep and Wide to Create Compelling Heroes and Villains is a valuable resource for learning how to effectively develop characters. Though designed for fiction authors, Brooks’s observations, insights, and advice can be applied equally to screenwriting. A successful author, screenwriter, and writing coach, Brooks presents the material with his usual warmth, charm, and wit; reading The Three Dimensions is like having your own screenwriting mentor sitting across the table sharing his expertise.
JUST THE FACTS MA’AM – AND NO FLUFF
Brooks skips the obvious “make your characters rich, deep, and compelling” and actually tells you how to put all the pieces together to create dynamic characters – not just in theory, but in practice. The author reveals:
* How to integrate the three dimensions of character
* The elements of good character
* The seven variables that communicate character
* The six core competencies of successful storytelling
* Understanding character motivation
* Interior vs. exterior conflict
If you’re looking for the real tools you need to construct engaging heroes and villains then pick up a copy of The Three Dimensions of Character (note: not an affiliate link).
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THE TRAVELER
Genre: Action Adventure
Author: John Twelve Hawks
Screenwriter: Alex Tse
Logline: Set in a U.S. society run by a secret organization seeking to control the population via constant observation, an almost extinct group of people called Travelers (who can project their spirits into other dimensions), and their protectors, the Harlequins, band together in rebellion.
THE UNDOMESTIC GODDESS
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Screenwriter: Aline Brosh McKenna
Logline: A workaholic female attorney, who believes she wrecked her chances of being named partner at her London firm, has a meltdown and ends up in the English countryside, After stopping at a house to ask directions, she is mistaken as a candidate for a maid position and takes a housekeeping job.
PEONY IN LOVE
Genre: Drama
Author: Lisa See
Screenwriter: Erin Cressida Wilson
Logline: Set in 17th Century China, a young woman decides to starve herself to death after falling in love with a man she fears she’ll never be allowed to wed. She develops her plan after seeing the Chinese opera The Peony Pavillion, which tells a similar tale.
ETIQUETTE
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Author: Emily Post
Screenwriter: None announced
Logline: A prissy Emily Post manners coach turns a rough-around-the-edges guy into a proper gentleman.
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The midpoint is the “high” before the fall. It provides a breakthrough point for the hero, a shift in the dramatic conflict, and relief from the relentless resistance of the first half of the second act.
WHAT’S GOING ON AT THE MIDPOINT?
As the story moves into the second act, the hero tries to solve the problem and achieve his goal in the easiest possible way – and he fails. So he makes another attempt, and he fails again. He tries something different and still he fails. With each attempt he is faced with mounting obstacles, increasing complications, and rising conflict. No matter what he does, he is unable to achieve his goal.
When the hero hits the midpoint he is exhausted. He has reached a breaking point, which allows him to experience a breakthrough. Similar to the first and second turning points, the incident or event at the midpoint creates a dramatic shift. The protagonist’s internal reaction to this event helps him understand how his fatal flaw is impacting the conflict and preventing him from reaching his goal – and the hero begins to discover how the conflict can be resolved.
In other words, the protagonist can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and how to reach it. The midpoint event may make the hero reconsider who he is and what he believes in. It forces him to re-evaluate his strategy. It motivates him to take a new approach to the problem. The midpoint clarifies and reveals the theme (through the protagonist’s actions and reactions) and shows the hero embracing and moving toward that truth.
Robert Towne creates a classic midpoint revelation in the screenplay Chinatown. Midway through the story, Jake figures out the water department is siphoning off water and redirecting it. In this scene, Gittes goes from being both literally and figuratively unconscious (when he’s knocked out) to being enlightened (when he “comes to”). The revelation causes the hero to formulate a new plan; he now knows what to do to begin solving the mystery.
YOUR TURN: What incident occurs midway through your story that shifts the conflict and sets the protagonist on a new path? Does your midpoint effectively clarify and reveal the theme?
Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process.
Q: How do I find and select an agent to query?
A: Thanks for your question. Here are three ways to find agents to pitch:
1. The Hollywood Representation Directory lists agents and managers. You can research agents who represent writers in your genre.
2. Read trade publications (such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Script Magazine, and Done Deal Pro) to learn about screenplay sales and the agents representing the projects and writers.
3. Attend industry conferences, film events, and pitch festivals where agents are speaking for the chance to connect with agents in-person.
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