I recently watched Robert Benigni’s The Tiger and the Snow (La tigre e la neve) and I was struck by a particularly great scene where Benigni’s character, the poet Attilio de Giovanni, tells his daughters why he chose to become a writer.
Films and shows, as outrageous as they can be, still operate under believable human motivations. If a character’s reasons for acting don’t translate understandably to the viewer, the story could be disregarded as unbelievable, even if it’s set in a galaxy far, far away.
But what can a screenwriter do to compel the audience that a character’s motivations are strong enough to motivate momentous action? What could make our hero leap off cliffs, face dragons and take down space tyrants?
In Robert McKee’s Story, the established screenwriter describes this subject as “the principle of antagonism”:
Neil Gaiman’s American Gods follows the exploits of Shadow, a man recently released from prison to find his world gone. A mysterious stranger offers him a job that ultimately leads him down a path straight between a war brewing in the heart of America between two very old and mythic groups.
Following the success of Game of Thrones, the story was recently picked up by HBO and is in the process of becoming a six-season show produced by Tom Hanks’ production company.
Gaiman, no stranger to incorporating mythology into modern settings, is known best for his work on the Sandman graphic novel series, Neverwhere, Stardust, Smoke and Mirrors, Coraline and Anansi Boys. Below, we gather some writing tips from Gaiman himself in his thoughts behind creating American Gods.
No one knows more about the art of storytelling than those writing and producing stories for a living. The first in a continuing series, we’ll be picking the minds of talented storymakers around the world to collect some of the best practices and tips associated with creation. If you’d like to be featured in a future post, please send a hello email to keane(at)deluxis.com. And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more exciting Deluxis news.
Who is Craig Phillips?
I’m a Bay Area based writer of and about film, among other hats. More recently I’ve been both teaching screenwriting and consulting individually with people in various stages of the script process. I first became interested in screenwriting after high school, and when I went to San Francisco State to study film I ended up emphasizing screenwriting. I wrote several terrible scripts that can only come from someone creative who also has no idea what he’s doing and very little life experience or perspective on anything. But I got those out of the way and then was a finalist in a national teleplay writing contest. I later moved down to LA for a spell where I did every kind of film job imaginable, mostly low end and horrible. But I did get a chance to be a script reader for several studios and from that I learned a ton about what works and what doesn’t. I started a historical script that would take me the better part of four years to write and which I optioned to a producer and then a prominent director came aboard, it got out to actors, came close… and then, as with so many projects, especially independent ones, it fell apart. I’ve since written a couple of other scripts but have recently returned to that one with the belief it could still happen.
From your work as a screenwriting consultant, what are some of the most common mistakes people make?
Mistakes vary wildly, many of which I’ve done myself at times, but some of the most common include not properly outlining, mapping out, a script before writing a draft and then it becomes obvious when the writer hits snags in plotting, paint themselves into a corner, or have characters go all over the map because the writer didn’t fully get a sense of who those characters are. I also just see scripts from people who are clearly trying to strike a hot market (which will no doubt cool off well before anyone sees their script) instead of just writing something they really believe in and are attached to. On a smaller scale, I see a lot of formatting mistakes; sometimes writers think the script is so great this won’t matter but I assure them that if they have too many format goofs that just gives studio readers an excuse to toss that script aside.
What inspires you when you hit a roadblock in creativity?
I try to at least stay in the frame of mind by watching films that may inspire that particular script project, and reading scripts for the same. And having more than one project to go back to helps me, too. If I’m stuck on one, no reason to not write at all if I have a second idea in the works I can switch to that one, or come up with a new idea. Of course that can backfire when one is a bit ADD as I am and suddenly you have too many unfinished projects, so moderation is key. Mostly I try to just take breaks but keep close enough to it where things keep percolating.
What are you working on now?
Two scripts (just two, I swear!), one a horror/black comedy (I wanted to write something that would creep me out so hopefully it will others too), the other a rewrite of a sort of action-drama about firefighters. While also doing some revising of my WWII script and lastly trying to finally find a new agent to represent me on all these suckers.
Website: Notes from Underdog.
Twitter: @craigary
As we continue our examination on effective storytelling, we cannot overlook the phenomenon that is Harry Potter. First published in 1997, the robust series of young adult books has transcended itself into the hands of old adults and onto the big screen, becoming the highest grossing film franchise of all time.
Author J.K. Rowling’s manner of writing aids the digestibility of her stories. Like the pop music of literature, she utilizes carefully produced and interwoven plot lines. Sentences are flowing — almost poetic — and thus lend themselves to silver screen transfer. The books, in and of themselves, were already cinematic.
Of course, one could write a complete volume on writing style. Here, we share some of the more outstanding elements.
