Screenplays may most often evoke the idea of film script but there are many other types.
As those involved in the process of drafting a script know, there is a lot of organisation, planning, creativity, stealing, writing and inevitably rewriting. But is it the same for Film, TV, Web series and Videogames and what are the processes that can never be neglected?
"Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright." Aaron Sorkin
An oldie but a goodie
Whether you like to call it 'Pity, Fear and Catharsis', 'Set up, Confrontation and Resolution' or simply 'Beginning, Middle and End' there seems to be a common thread that ties all good stories together. Jung hinted to the presence of universal stories or archetypal myths deeply ingrained in our collective unconscious that continue to teach, warn and prepare us for life ahead. John Yorke argues in 'Into the Woods' that a Free Market like model decides which stories will survive and which ones will fade into oblivion.
Whatever the genre, successful scripts for TV, web or games all possess structure and have a message, that is to say, they rehearse us for situations, elicit a cathartic reaction, speak the unspoken and raise us to to the godly heights of an deeply involved observer, who looks down on the sorts of our protagonist. We accompany them on their struggle and our minds activate wildly to imagine all possible outcomes and resolutions.
So Sorkin's provocation may serve as a reminder to decipher, dissect and emulate stories that have been with us since long before anyone could ever jot them down. If anything, it is a permission slip from a modern master to learn the structures which are paramount to telling a good story. As writer's we have the duty to carry this torch further down the road and add our own fire to it before we finally pass it on.
Yet, it is an elusive craft; even after observing thousand of dramas, comedies and tragedies most viewers would fail in identifying the key structures and techniques employed by the writer nor would they usually know his/her name. Furthermore, despite the incredible creativity and skill required to write a script the credit for a noteworthy production almost always goes to the director.
In the first chapter of Screenwriting, History, Theory and Practice, Steven Maras addresses the pitfalls of the Auteur theory and highlights the tendency we have to applaud the interpretative skills of the director over the creative skills of the writer. For this reason, it may be time for writers to employ the services of the public relations industry as dubbing artists in Italy have done to great effect, with many of them becoming household names that are better known than the Hollywood stars they dub! If, for no other reason, it would be fairer for to see a writer having more say in the creation that they ultimately brought forth.
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