One Friday, the students on the tour were not connecting with him. The group was a couple of years younger than previous groups, so he tried making his presentation more simple.
When this didn't work he stopped and said, "You may not understand everything I'm saying. It's like someone is handing you a spoke, a wheel, pedals, a handlebar. It doesn't make sense; you're thinking 'what is this?' And one day you'll say, 'I have a bike!'"
Screenwriting classes were like that for me. I'd read about 14 books to get ready to take screenwriting classes. With each class I'd learn something that I knew was important, but I didn't need it for the exact project I was working on. But I kept collecting the tools and gems, knowing they would be important later.
Even after finishing the MPW degree/emphasis screenwriting, screenwriting was the most fascinating puzzle. I knew I wouldn't be happy doing anything else, and I was determined to continue until I reached my goal of becoming a full-time screenwriter so I continued taking screenwriting classes (USC allows alumni to take any class, with permission of the department, how cool is that?).
A major breakthrough came when I took Ron Friedman's beginning screenwriting course. Beginning screenwriting! That was the first class that the School of Cinematic Arts approved for me to take; everyone has to take it, I was told. Two or three weeks into the semester, I remember telling Mr. Friedman that I loved screenwriting but that writing screenplays was still like struggling with an octopus. He reassured me that I could tame the creature. I treated the class like a master class in screenwriting and for the first time I began to draw on the various tools I'd learned. For the first time I saw the entire bike and had fun riding! At the end of the class, he told me he was confident I had the skills needed; and that he thought I was ready to 'go for it.'
Storytelling and the elements of good screenwriting helped me recently as I wrote a 500-word feature about a hospital in Haiti for an annual report. I'd done research about the hospital and the staff that would be featured, and the earthquake. I went to the CIA Factbook and learned about the country and the people. I interviewed the hospital administrator over the phone. I struggled writing that article; there were so many things I had to leave out that were interesting!
After I had finished writing I thought about what I'd had to cut and what made it into the final piece. I realized that the following elements of powerful storytelling had helped me craft the article:
- Something happens so that the protagonist's life will never be the same again; and he or she can never return to the way things were before.
- Create distinct world/worlds where the story takes place.
- Answer: Why are these characters unique; what makes them different from anyone who has lived, or who will ever live?
- Don't save the best for the second sentence or hold it until the last sentence. "The curtain rises, and the reader is seeing your characters for the first time as if on stage."* How fun is that? That's what I live for!
- Use the senses/sound. Use things the reader/audience can connect with. Write stories that show our humanity and ability to change and connect.
Each story uses different storytelling elements but those are a few I used to decide what to include to tell the Haiti hospital story within the 500-word limit.
I'll always want to take more classes, to join writing groups. And whether working with professionals who have written, directed or acted in movies that have been seen by millions of people, or with eager writers who are beginning their first story, I will treat each as a master class.
