Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

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  • Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

    I've heard about "writing in your voice". The thing is -- in screenwriting you should write "plainly", without flowery language as in novels so how do you see that a screenwriter has his own voice? Give me an example of 2-3 phrases from some pro screenwriters who have their own voice.

    From all the (pro) screeenplays I've read, I haven't observed differences between screenwriters, except for Davis S Goyer who writes in an exaggerated voice ( He uses too many sounds interjections and words like " hell", "damn".etc when describing an action,object or person)

    Most of the screenplays I've read have a simple writing style. I observed that there's a certain pace that makes you read them, rather than a certain voice.

    How did You figure out that a pro screenwriter has a certain voice when you read his script??

  • #2
    Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

    Here are three shows about cops with very distinctive creators' voices: The Wire, Brooklyn 99, True Detective.

    Have a friend take ten pages from an episode of each one and black out the character names and any references to the city it's taking place in, then hand them to you.

    Are you saying you would have no idea which script was which? That you wouldn't be able to identify which one was from the creators of Treme, and which one was from the creators of Parks & Rec?

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    • #3
      Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

      Originally posted by BrainDestroyer303 View Post
      I've heard about "writing in your voice". The thing is -- in screenwriting you should write "plainly", without flowery language as in novels so how do you see that a screenwriter has his own voice? Give me an example of 2-3 phrases from some pro screenwriters who have their own voice.

      Ha. I am way too lazy to give you more than one example.

      "Voice" has very little to do with word choice (although specificity and detail are of paramount importance) or style.

      Here is a character intro of a senior partner at a law firm from the script Michael Clayton:

      MARTY BACH looks up from his papers. He’s seventy. It’s
      his name on the door. Big power. Sweet eyes. A thousand
      neckties. A velvet switchblade.

      We don't even know what Marty looks like, but we can tell this is a writer who knows things about people. Secret things. He sees right through them, and I want him to tell me more.

      He does not give a care about the 'rules' of screenwriting, either, because he's busy making his own.

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      • #4
        Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

        Originally posted by BrainDestroyer303 View Post
        Give me an example of 2-3 phrases from some pro screenwriters who have their own voice.
        Somehow this hadn't registered with me the first time I read your post.

        There's a very common misconception among beginning screenwriters (myself included) that goes like this: since some of the most memorable parts of movies like Big Trouble In Little China or Reservoir Dogs are clever one-liners, and in my everyday life people often complement me on my bons-mots, then all I have to do to write a screenplay is write them all down until I've accumulated 110 pages worth, throw in a car chase or two, and I'm done.

        The result is a lot of amateur writing that is "quippy". Interchangeable zingers that might as well have been said by anyone else in the scene, by a cowboy or a janitor or a congressman or a vampire in a completely different movie, that don't reveal character or drive story. If you go back and read all the entries in the Three Page Challenge, you'll start to develop an ear for this.

        In reality, clever turns of phrase are maybe 5% of what makes up a screenwriter's voice. It's the the things that make you say "this is the kind of thing I'd see in a script from X".

        "This sounds like an Aaron Sorkin walk-and-talk."

        "Oh, this is another 'grossout movie, but with a heart!', like Judd Apatow would write."

        "Gee, another spec from you about an angsty teen with brooding sexy vampires/poltergeists/gremlins."

        "Nice work on those Adam-Reed-esque prelaps and postlaps."

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        • #5
          Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

          Originally posted by Staircaseghost View Post
          Here are three shows about cops with very distinctive creators' voices: The Wire, Brooklyn 99, True Detective.

          Have a friend take ten pages from an episode of each one and black out the character names and any references to the city it's taking place in, then hand them to you.

          Are you saying you would have no idea which script was which? That you wouldn't be able to identify which one was from the creators of Treme, and which one was from the creators of Parks & Rec?
          Treme? Parks & REC? Sorry I'm not a fan of TV series. In fact, it's the first time I hear about them, but to answer the question:
          In screenwriting, if I read more scripts in a genre, I observe a difference between screenwriters style with difficulty(I have to pay attention very well) while If I read two novels in the same genre, I can pick up the difference between the writers' styles very fast. For example -- if there are two dramas that have sad endings, i can still see which writer identify more with the sadder,calmer characters and which one finds himself in the more vivid, full-of-hope characters. It's hard to explain. I think that It has to do with the more permissive style in writing.
          I also find a fault in myself when trying to see the writing style differences in each screenwriter, because I find it difficult to focus on details. I'm more of a big-picture person.
          I don't say that there are no differences in writing styles, but they are harder to spot than in novels... much harder.

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          • #6
            Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

            While learning the craft, not sure it's something to worry about. You seem to have competing "shoulds" in your head. Developing a voice usually requires getting rid of those other voices. If you learn to write well and clearly, and have a point of view on the world, voice emerges. To be self-conscious about it, may not be helpful.

            I seem to recall a Scriptnotes podcast that talks about voice, but don't remember which episode.

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            • #7
              Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

              If you look in the archives here, you will find long threads about voice. It's really not as much limited to writing style as the term "voice" might cause you to believe. Novels are more about writing style because the readers are the end audience. You can show off and find admirers for your ability to turn a good phrase in a novel. But in screenwriting, the words tend to disappear more. The idea is to tell a good story, keep the pacing right, create great instant mental pictures of your characters and what's going on without the words taking too long or being noticed too much. You're creating moods and pictures that instantly let us see a moving story in our heads. Words are just your paint. Your view of the world, your view of people, your tone, your mood, your favorite themes, genres and worlds, all that is part of your voice, your unique you-ness as a screenwriter.

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              • #8
                Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                Originally posted by Joaneasley View Post
                If you look in the archives here, you will find long threads about voice. It's really not as much limited to writing style as the term "voice" might cause you to believe. Novels are more about writing style because the readers are the end audience. You can show off and find admirers for your ability to turn a good phrase in a novel. But in screenwriting, the words tend to disappear more. The idea is to tell a good story, keep the pacing right, create great instant mental pictures of your characters and what's going on without the words taking too long or being noticed too much. You're creating moods and pictures that instantly let us see a moving story in our heads. Words are just your paint. Your view of the world, your view of people, your tone, your mood, your favorite themes, genres and worlds, all that is part of your voice, your unique you-ness as a screenwriter.
                Yup. This.

                I'd only add -- voice is how you choose to explore the themes in your stories.

                Strive to understand THEME and VOICE happens organically.
                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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                • #9
                  Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                  Originally posted by BrainDestroyer303 View Post
                  I observe a difference between screenwriters style.....I can pick up the difference between the writers' styles......I think that It has to do with the more permissive style
                  Voice =/= Style.

                  Voice is the authority and talent of the storyteller behind the words.

                  This seems like a semantic argument and I am trying to answer a question that was not asked.

                  Carry on.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                    Pretty interesting replies. Thank You!

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                    • #11
                      Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                      I agree with the others who are saying that looking for "voice" in particular quotes misses the point. You're only going to capture the most obvious aspects of voice if you l look at stuff like, say, the opening scene of the Wire, or Sorkin's deer-hunting speech from Sports' night, or Tarantino's cheeseburger speech.

                      Rather, I would suggest that your voice is the sum of the things that you think are important. What do you notice when you walk into a room that nobody else does? How do you see the world working that's different from how anybody else does?

                      I mean, look at these speeches. What can you say about the world-view of the writer:

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zyOhZsvIzI

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4r7hIWln7Q

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO3igOkOk

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTG5p4wEAAM

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU_bGFG8Xiw

                      Some of them are obviously by the same person (the openings of Studio 60 & The Newsroom). Some of them, a little less so. But in a way that doesn't have anything to do with the specifics of the language being used, can you get a sense that all of these are connected by a certain world-view?

                      And, I mean, all of those are political, sure. But what about this one?

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXv8IeojFOY

                      Can you see a connection between the end of the hunting scene (Robert Guillarme's speech) and that?

                      Your voice is an expression of what is important to you in the stories that you're telling.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                        Imagine if we gathered ten random writers into a room and we told them we wanted a scene written about a couple breaking up.

                        For sure you would get handed back ten different scenes that all hope to show their version of the same concept.

                        What makes them all so different is the writer's voice.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                          voice = perspective. the individual, unique lens one views life through. at least that is my interpretation of voice. Wrote a song about it. Like to hear it...here it goes...
                          Last edited by bjamin; 12-22-2014, 07:36 AM. Reason: *changed here to hear

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                          • #14
                            Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                            Originally posted by Joaneasley View Post
                            Your view of the world, your view of people, your tone, your mood, your favorite themes, genres and worlds, all that is part of your voice, your unique you-ness as a screenwriter.
                            I think this is a great description of what "voice" encompasses. I don't think it's exactly the same as style, which can be broken down into word choice, phrasing, etc. It's a bit mysterious and yet unmistakable when it comes across.

                            A while back the Nicholl posted first pages from successful writers' screenplays on their Facebook page, they may still be up. It was fascinating to read just those pages, in various genres, and get the writer's voice immediately in most of them.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Screenwriter's voice.... Confused

                              I lean toward Joaneasley's description, but there have been long discussions / debates on this board where even some professional screenwriters have insisted that it's what you write about rather than how you write it. I think it's a combination but with more emphasis on the latter. It's a difficult concept to get any consensus on but perhaps the simplest and best way to think of it is in terms of the characteristics that make your writing distinctive and notable. Beyond that there's really no point in over-thinking it.
                              "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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