“Unlocking Creativity: Why Following a Formula Could Be the Death of Your Screenplay”
In the world of screenwriting, there’s a provocative truth echoing through the ages, thanks to the witty words of William Goldman: “Screenplays are structure.” But have you ever wondered—how much structure is too much? As our beloved storytelling medium has evolved, the pursuit of the perfect script often feels more like navigating through a maze of predefined formulas rather than an art form bursting with creativity and passion. It’s almost as if screenwriters are handed a recipe book and told, “Make your movie just like this!”—and who wants to watch a film that tastes like a bland casserole? This article dives into the complexities and contradictions of screenplay structure, exploring how the search for a “perfect” formula may actually stifle innovation and lead us down the perilous path of formulaic storytelling. So, pull up a chair and let’s unpack this together! If you’re eager to explore this topic further, click here to LEARN MORE.
William Goldman has famously written, “Screenplays are structure.” That is true in a tangible sense because at some point, a script becomes a blueprint for the production of a movie. And in a very real way, everything hangs on the structure of the narrative — how one scene flows to the next, how the beginning is shaped, how the middle is crafted, how the ending plays out, even the designations of scenes — Exterior, Interior, Day, Night — shape the nature of a film coming to life.
So Goldman’s assertion is true.
It is also problematic.
Somewhere along the line, screenplay structure started to become routinized. In part, this is because a certain segment of the screenwriting ‘guru’ caste generated some takes on what that structure is supposed to look like, each with their own system where this key plot point ought to land between these pages and that major plot point needs to hit between those pages, a script needs X amount of acts, sequences, beats, etc.
Over time, structure was reduced to paradigm. Paradigm transmogrified into formula. And that contributed to perhaps the most common complaint among those in the Hollywood movie development arena foraging through mounds of submissions: formulaic scripts.
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