Which Comes First? The Structure or the Story?
I tried out the 5 Act structure and was excited to see how it played out. It helped me to rearrange some things in the script and put them in a better order. It also helped me identify where the script was lacking. I think just viewing the script from a little different angle was helpful. However, what it didn't do, is help me fill in those gaps where the script is lacking.
After playing with the 5 Act structure for a while I discovered that it's not much different from the four act structure that I'd been using. Scenes and sequences build from the least amout of tension to the most amount of tension until they reach a climax and a resolution. And that fact remains true no matter how you stack it. 4 acts, 5 acts, 8 acts 12 acts, still true.
I think I've been going at this all wrong. I think I've been concentrating on the structure too early. I've been trying to cram my story and my characters into a particular structure. Maybe I need to develope the story and the characters first then tweek the structure to fit them. Or maybe I have been thinking of the structure as a solid brick foundation on which to build a story, when I need to think of it more like a flexible skeleton. I don't know which it is.
I think part of my problem is that this is basically a rewrite. This is a story that I started, got lost in, then put aside. Now I'm picking it back up with all the preconceived ideas from the first draft. I know I should be looking at it with fresh eyes, but it's like the judge telling the jury to disreguard that last statement. Too late! I already have the visual! Now I have this horrible script, okay it's not horrible, it has potential, I think it has lots of potential, but it plays out in my head a certain way and I'm having trouble seeing it play out any other way.
I'd like to tell myself to just put it aside and come back to it again later. But, been there! Done that! I took 5 or 6 months away from this script to write the last one. Crap!
Is it possible that some stories just don't want to be told? Nah! I just haven't figured out how to tell it. But I will. So help me, I will!
After playing with the 5 Act structure for a while I discovered that it's not much different from the four act structure that I'd been using. Scenes and sequences build from the least amout of tension to the most amount of tension until they reach a climax and a resolution. And that fact remains true no matter how you stack it. 4 acts, 5 acts, 8 acts 12 acts, still true.
I think I've been going at this all wrong. I think I've been concentrating on the structure too early. I've been trying to cram my story and my characters into a particular structure. Maybe I need to develope the story and the characters first then tweek the structure to fit them. Or maybe I have been thinking of the structure as a solid brick foundation on which to build a story, when I need to think of it more like a flexible skeleton. I don't know which it is.
I think part of my problem is that this is basically a rewrite. This is a story that I started, got lost in, then put aside. Now I'm picking it back up with all the preconceived ideas from the first draft. I know I should be looking at it with fresh eyes, but it's like the judge telling the jury to disreguard that last statement. Too late! I already have the visual! Now I have this horrible script, okay it's not horrible, it has potential, I think it has lots of potential, but it plays out in my head a certain way and I'm having trouble seeing it play out any other way.
I'd like to tell myself to just put it aside and come back to it again later. But, been there! Done that! I took 5 or 6 months away from this script to write the last one. Crap!
Is it possible that some stories just don't want to be told? Nah! I just haven't figured out how to tell it. But I will. So help me, I will!
posted by Jeri at 9:35 AM
4 Comments:
same thing here, I just dusted off my first stab at writing, the concept is phenonenal, all my peers and friends said it was the one to do. But I didn't think I was ready. Now two scripts later I am back trying for another angle, 15 pages into it (started Tuesday)
Good Luck Moviequill. 15 pages already? You're off to a good start.
I have the same problem quite often. The trick, I believe, is to not think of character, story and structure as separate things.
Structure will always be the sequence of events that happen to your characters.
Characters will always (in a good script, anyway) be the ones that trigger the events. These are not seperate things. They are merely examined on their own so we can further understand each's unique functions. But still, they're just story.
My advice is to just let go creatively if you can, even if it's a rewrite, and try to answer the specific problems without getting lost in the formal rules of screenwriting.
I wish I could always think without using those rules as a crutch, I'm probably worse than you are, which is why I understand what you wrote: you know the rules, so put them in the back of your mind. Just get down, get creative and solve the problems.
Good luck!
Afonso, thanks so much for your comment. I think you're absolutely right. I need tolearn how to relax, quit dissecting the story into parts and just let it happen.
That's so much easier to do when the story is flowing smoothly. That's when I love being a writer. But when I get stuck on something I always resort to my anal, scientific mode to try to figure it out, and it's the worst place in the world to be. I just can't stop myself. : }
I've decided I simply don't know enough about my subject. I don't know what kinds of things can go wrong, so I'm having trouble creating the conflicts I need to keep the story moving. I think it's time to put my anal, scientific mode to better use and do some research. : )
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