The longer I am in the biz the more I believe that storytelling not scriptwriting is the key. Writers should simply (ha!) try to tell stories; the format – prose, script, long or short – is very secondary to the story to be told.
But for scriptwriters, there is so much emphasis put on structure by so many of the people selling courses and books that writers are forced into a painting-by-numbers and artificial way of writing that will usually result in bad writing.
This distorts the learning about writing. The truism, seldom followed, that plot comes out of character, is usually thought of after the basics of the plot have been decided. Instead, who the characters are should determine what happens, so know your characters first and worry about the three-act structure or 22 steps later.
Why am I bothering about this on such a lovely weekend? Because I am preparing for a session at the Screenwriters’ Festival on publishing. I believe that screenwriters should also consider writing prose, that novels are an important way of progressing your career as a screenwriter.
Apart from the many obvious reasons (novels generally make more money, they are easier to write, you own the film adaptation rights, you can describe what characters think and feel and so on), there are also many more novels published than films made and self-publishing is a great deal easier than making your own film (never mind so cheap with print-on-demand that it is laughable).
When I look through the lists of courses on offer that promise a short cut to being able to make a career as a writer, I am surprised how few have a health warning: “This course is almost statistically guaranteed, despite the few notable successes we have had, not to enable you to have a career as a writer, unless you arrive here with a great deal of talent, since we cannot teach you to have talent.”
Don’t get me wrong: many of the courses contribute in many ways to the lives of those taking them. The years (or weekends) with like-minded people, sharing values and friendship, is important. But you can’t learn to write in the same way as you learn either brain surgery or plumbing.
So at this year’s Screenwriters’ Festival there will be a series of TwelvePoint sessions geared to the bits not usually taught in screenwriting classes: how to network, how to market yourself be good at your own PR, how to have a better website, how to negotiate, how to write prose documents that will sell your work better and how to tell stories in another format, namely prose, where there is a proper industry (the publishing industry) that is always on the lookout for good writing and good writers, an industry that publishes over 100,000 books a year (not counting a similar number of self-published books).
And that is quite apart from over 70 other sessions. Check the Festival website (www.screenwritersfestival.com) for an up-to-date listing of speakers and events. And if you are a TwelvePoint.com member you can join our booking group and get a big discount. After 4 days you will leave having had the best masterclass in fast-tracking your career that I can think of. And hopefully a lot of fun as well. When you then see an ad telling you that this or that organization or person offers you the secret of success as a writer, you will remember what you heard in Cheltenham: there is no secret way. It requires talent and perseverance. Why 80 sessions in 4 days? So you can tailor your choice to what you need. This could be the best investment you ever make for your career. Now, why would you believe me?