Improve Your Writing Style (pt 1)
By “screenwriting style” we’re talking primarily about how you write description. There’s a definite chance to impose your style of writing on dialogue too, but in this post we’re going to concentrate on description because it seems there are many writers out there who pay little or no attention to it.
Your screenwriting style is more important than many think. Often writers are so busy grappling with the dynamics of their story, what page their act breaks are falling on, the inner lives of their characters, they forget to address the most immediate indicator of talent—writing style.
A great, cinematic, visually interesting style serves two major functions:
1. It immediately communicates to your reader that you are at a certain level in your writing. That you haven’t just woken up one day and thought, “I know, I’m going to write a script and sell it for $10,000,000.” From the very first sentence, a reader is able to place where a writer is in terms of ability. As with formatting, a reader knows straight away whether they’re in the hands of an amateur or a professional, and it’s important to try and fall in the latter category! If you can create a great first impression with your script through your writing style, then you’re half way to convincing the reader that this script has potential and is worth reading past page ten.
2. It creates a clear image in the reader’s mind of exactly what you want them to see. Clear, interesting, precise, vivid images help the reader get into the heart of your story. It draws them in by piquing their interest and making them feel they are part of a unique world; an interesting, rich and visually vibrant world. And this of course is exactly what you want.
Why risk telling your story using a bland, uninspired writing style and boring your reader, when you could put a little more effort into it and keep them entertained? In Hollywood you don’t really have a choice. Many production companies have two recommendation boxes at the end of every coverage report—one for the script and the other for the writer. By this they mean execution and style. So, even if your story isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, with a rocking writing style you could still get hired to do re-write assignments.
In our next post on screenwriting style, we’re going to look at some actual examples from popular screenplays, and how the writers have used style to make the images jump right off the page and into your head. See you then!
