#12 Path of Least Resistance
Edition #12 of the Lighthouse miniLetter!
You'll always get:
Three examples of great screenwriting
Two quotes about storytelling
One thing to think about
Plus some fun links at the bottom.
Three examples of great screenwriting
The Office (219)
Written by Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg
Characters misunderstanding each other is not only an amazing opportunity for comedy, but also a great way to reveal underlying assumptions, biases, beliefs, etc.
The Wire (Pilot)
Teleplay by David Simon
Sometimes the easiest way to tell the audience what’s going is to tell the audience what is not going on, and let them infer.
Deep Blue Sea
By Duncan Kennedy, Previous Revisions by Simon Davis Barry, Michael Frost Beckner, Clem Savage, Charlie Mitchell, and Donna Powers & Wayne Powers, Current Revisions by Akiva Goldsman
This film and this moment in particularly is often derided, but I appreciate how earnest the moment in the screenplay is. I think it’s a great combination of multiple screenwriting techniques. It’s not just that Franklin’s in a big monologue and gets eaten by the shark, but that his monologue is about how quickly things can get worse. And the way the writer (whichever one it was!) tells us it all happens fast before it happens ensures that we see the rest of it quickly. It’s a good example of establishing upstream.
Two quotes about screenwriting
“The worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt.”
“You use a glass mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul.”
One thing to think about
Are you making it harder than it needs to be?
Often, as writers we can get in our own heads about what we’re doing, especially when it feels “too easy.”
“This is obvious.”
“Audiences have seen this before.”
“This isn’t good.”
But it might only be obvious to you, because you have unique perspective.
Audiences haven’t seen your version.
It is good.
What you might see easily others might struggle with, so don’t shy away from it, because you may be turning away from the very thing that makes you you.
The Grand Canyon was made by following the path of least resistance.
Are you making it harder than it needs to be?
Have a great draft,
David Wappel