Writing for people who hate to read

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  • Writing for people who hate to read

    Scent Of A Woman was on today. Out of curiosity I looked up the screenplay, and read the beautifully constructed pages of a 138 page masterpiece by Bo Goldman. Loved every minute of it.

    Wouldn't it be nice if it wasn't beaten into us that everything has to be done as quickly as fvcking possible? This by page 10. That by page 12. No big chunks of paragraphs please. It seems like some readers loathe to read. In fairness, I realize they can be brutally overwhelmed, so saturated by screenplays that anything that takes a little time is taking too much.

    It's just an observation, but I hope when you're writing your movies, you don't strip out that beautifully evocative description of a world or line of dialogue or moment simply to get there quicker. I really appreciate the movies and scripts that take the time to get there right.

  • #2
    Re: Writing for people who hate to read

    "If I'd had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." -- Mark Twain

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    • #3
      Re: Writing for people who hate to read

      Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
      "If I'd had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." -- Mark Twain
      bah! lol

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      • #4
        Re: Writing for people who hate to read

        Originally posted by madworld View Post
        Scent Of A Woman was on today. Out of curiosity I looked up the screenplay, and read the beautifully constructed pages of a 138 page masterpiece by Bo Goldman. Loved every minute of it.

        Wouldn't it be nice if it wasn't beaten into us that everything has to be done as quickly as fvcking possible? This by page 10. That by page 12. No big chunks of paragraphs please. It seems like some readers loathe to read. In fairness, I realize they can be brutally overwhelmed, so saturated by screenplays that anything that takes a little time is taking too much.

        It's just an observation, but I hope when you're writing your movies, you don't strip out that beautifully evocative description of a world or line of dialogue or moment simply to get there quicker. I really appreciate the movies and scripts that take the time to get there right.

        Some of the shortest scripts I've ever read seemed to go on forever. The same with some movies I've seen -- back when I was silly enough to think that I had to watch a movie to the end just because, you know, somebody bothered to make it.

        On the other hand, I've seen many movies that were three hours or more but which didn't seem long at all -- and I've read long or densely written screenplays that didn't seem that way.

        There's really only one thing that you need to do as quickly as possible and that's involve the reader and keep him involved. So long as he keeps wanting to read more, so long as he's submerged in the world of the story and has no desire to come up for air, you can get away with almost anything.

        And if you don't, following all of those "rules" won't mean a damned thing.

        NMS

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        • #5
          Re: Writing for people who hate to read

          If you have 138 pages, but only 110 pages worth of story, you have a problem.

          If you have 110 pages, but 138 pages worth of story, you also have a problem.

          The trick is to have 110 pages of story, and a 110 page screenplay. Or 138 pages of story, and a 138 page screenplay. JMO

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          • #6
            Re: Writing for people who hate to read

            I guess I'm in the minority, but I tend to prefer screenplays with somewhat more description than the bare bones style of writing I see in many scripts. Again, only if the writing is good, and the writer knows what they're doing. Sometimes it depends on the type of story it is. But I want the writer to paint me a picture of their vision, and let me hear their voice - as long as they aren't color-blind, pitchy, and verbose. Sometimes more description can help set up the world, set the tone, or introduce the theme in subtle ways.

            But then again, I'm not a reader whose job it is to slog through tons of dreck every day, searching for story gold.
            "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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            • #7
              Re: Writing for people who hate to read

              I like lean myself, because I don't even like to read my scripts over and over... .just imagine reading a script with no info going in.

              Reading a great script from a great movie is a whole different ball game then just reading a script cold... most scripts aren't that good.

              And there's a reason they PAY readers to read screenplays. Most people are in the movie business (look at me) because they didn't like to read books -- they liked to watch movies.

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              • #8
                Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                >>And there's a reason they PAY readers to read screenplays....

                Which opens up a whole other can of worms..
                How much do they pay? this could be the reason why readers rush through? at 25 a pop, or less... Readers might want to crunch through the screenplay assembly line, thus stumbling and getting derailed if the screenplay is not of the incite-by-page-10 variety.

                I don't think readers are reading as a part time job, so the faster they churn (or forbid the word..skim) through, the more they can meet their month's-end financial target.
                Not a dig at readers, just looking at how a balance might be found where screenplays don't end up all looking predictable.

                But I'm now looking at it another way- a moral if you will:
                If you're still in the process of breaking in, you better have a script that is "read-down" friendly (eyes travelling down the page). Try everything else, After you've broken into the system.
                |The DIRROGATE:Website, and Escalator pitch

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                • #9
                  Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                  Yes, I agree the love of reading has taken a hit in the last decade or two. Likely due to electronic communications. Even texting has seeped into spoken language. To hear people actually speak in acronyms like OMG and BRB or LOL disturbs me a bit.

                  With this said, when it comes to writing, I think one must be careful with prose because it takes a lot of practice to do it well, whether you're writing screenplays or novels. (BTW: Scent of A Woman was adapted from a novel which had been previously adapted for the screen in Italy.)

                  When we read beautiful, evocative prose it may seem effortless but that's only after a lot of refining and practice. It's one of the reasons I think good writers are undervalued. The average person reads well-crafted sentences that flow seamlessly and thinks, "How hard can that be?"

                  Good writers make it look easy to produce effective prose because that's their job. But it's far from easy.
                  Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                  • #10
                    Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                    Originally posted by sc111 View Post
                    When we read beautiful, evocative prose it may seem effortless but that's only after a lot of refining and practice. It's one of the reasons I think good writers are undervalued.
                    +1

                    (Oh oh! I went and used 'net lingo now, didn't I?)
                    |The DIRROGATE:Website, and Escalator pitch

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                    • #11
                      Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                      I always write for people I hate.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                        Originally posted by Richmond Weems View Post
                        I always write for people I hate.
                        The judges... will accept that.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                          All good points everyone and good reminders. And it's a given, the content has to be great or people will pass. But it does raise the question, if you can do something shorter, something more efficient, should you?

                          Does it inhibit designing the best story? Do you find yourself losing a line here, or a line of dialog even, just to make that page break?

                          Sometimes you have to. Per a producer's polish recently - I edited a draft from 115 down to 107.

                          I fought for certain things. Others I had to lose. In the end, I didn't miss those words, though at the time I thought I would. Aren't you amazed after a couple months, when you revisit that script you wrote, how many things feel extraneous?

                          Seems like all the requirements of novel writers still exist, plus many more requirements you don't have to contend with as a novelist - brevity being one. Producer's passes being another.

                          Rambling, sorry. I should have edited this more haha.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                            Originally posted by madworld View Post
                            if you can do something shorter, something more efficient, should you?

                            Sometimes you have to. Per a producer's polish recently - I edited a draft from 115 down to 107.

                            I fought for certain things. Others I had to lose. In the end, I didn't miss those words, though at the time I thought I would.
                            Yes, if you can do something shorter (without weakening the story), why wouldn't you do it? Especially if it's equally or more effective?
                            Look at it from the reverse angle...if you only have a 107 page story, why would you want to add 8 pages of extraneous crap?

                            I always think each story is unique and has its own unique theoretical page count, that if you wrote the perfect screenplay, what would the final total be? It might be 104 pages for Script A, 149 pages for Script B, 112 pages for Script C, 122 for Script D, and so on. I'd worry about aiming for that perfect screenplay that readers can't put down and stop worrying about the rest.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Writing for people who hate to read

                              Can someone retweet this thread? It's way beyond 117 characters. I don't have time to read it. Tx!

                              Thx. THX!

                              Oh how I hated people at the company where I worked who used TX instead of writing out "thanks" in their emails. 3 more characters you ungrateful phony ass bastards.

                              That aside...

                              I do feel like I have to earn a reader's patience.
                              #writinginaStarbucks #re-thinkingmyexistence #notanotherweaklogline #thinkingwhatwouldWilldo

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