So many readers, so little to say… Okay, screenwriting teachers.
January 25, 2012
You’ve heard of them, the gurus, God bless their souls.
I’ve had my work analyzed by one of Hollywood’s top analysts. Good grades all-round on a comedy and tragedy. A classical portfolio. So what do I have to say about teachers?
I stick to Lajos Egri. Listen to Syd Field, and you’re not really allowed to say anything in dialog. Or, “It should move the story forward.” Everything should. Syd is terribly behavioristic. So is Robert McKee, in a sense. Your characters should do this or that.
Syd would say action equals character, so what you say doesn’t mean anything? Or is speaking just another form of action?
Truth be told, if you’re methodical, and you stick to his method, you’ll most probably end up with something of a proper screenplay. Methodical people don’t stick to rules. So whenever they mention them, it’s a sorta-rule. My problem with Syd’s work, is that I listen to him.
Robert than, would for instance say, that people see other people in terms of what’s being said about them. I don’t think that holds true. It may allow them to team up against stronger people, but they’ll still see them as a threat. If they weren’t, why lie?
Screenwriting teachers are as good as they stick to sound fundamentals. Fundamentals are everything. That’s what you learn in art. First you learn the fundamentals, then you think there’s much more to it, and in the end, you have nothing left but the fundamentals.
Lajos Egri sticks to the fundamentals. If you learn the fundamentals, and define your screenplay as such, you’ll have no problem writing a proper play.
So screenwriting teachers? Or gurus? Be wary of anyone that’s called a guru. There’s no mysticism to anything, so the term guru should never apply.
When you listen to the recommendations, you will for instance get something like, such-and-so producer thinks this is a great book. Well, I’m sorry, but writers write, producers don’t.
Or William Goldman attended Robert’s seminar. Cool. How did he feel about it?
I mean, recommendations are recommendations. Even with good grades all-round, I still had to fix things. But the good grades all-round I made. They are physical.
So forget about the metaphysical. Forget about who attended. Forget about the gurus. And stick to sound fundamentals.
