One Undeniable Script

The original screenplay of The Godfather Part II in the National Museum of the Cinema in Turin, Italy. By Eippol – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Writers often ask if they should have a portfolio of good scripts at the ready.

In case some manager, agent or producer asks “what else have you got?”

Which they definitely will.

My answer is, “Sure, that would be great if you have several. In an ideal world.”

But if they’re just decent, they mean little. Even if you have five of them.

Instead, what causes forward progress for a writer breaking in is one undeniable script.

When you have that – and it’s a rare and precious thing – doors open.

I owe this concept and phrasing to Timothy Michael Cooper of Blueprint Screenwriting Group, who recently gave a presentation for WGA members where he explained this.

It resonated as something I also felt to be true but he was able to explain it in a way that made the goal seem inspiring, not just daunting.

Here are some key elements of a script so special that it could rise to the top in this way. (From my notes on what he said.)

1. 1.  They can’t put it down. In other words, your first audience for the project – its reader – is so emotionally gripped by it (and/or massively entertained) — wanting to see what happens — that they keep turning the pages. Not out of obligation to finish it but because they want to.
   2. It leaves them thinking and feeling something powerful. There are many ways to do this and many kinds of feelings to try to create in your reader but ideally it’s focused on doing that in a big way, and delivers.
   3. It’s unpredictable – yet logical. You can’t see what’s coming miles away and yet… you believe everything that happens. It feels real.
   4. It says what you set out to say. Meaning you’re exploring something that matters to you – not making simplistic statements about what the audience should think, but fully delivering on your “why,” in your unique voice. Only you could have written it.
   5. It’s 10% different from what’s out there. I love the 10%. Writers often go for completely different. That tends to not work so well. But different in one key way that matters… that can be the sweet spot. (I talk about this in the “Original” chapter of my book.)

   Timothy emphasized that you need to give people a compelling reason to read and love reading your script. A hook of some kind that will make them want to talk about it and pass it up the chain where they work.

   That doesn’t necessarily mean a “high concept” situation. A script that really works and is a cut above like this is its own rare and unlikely concept. They just don’t happen every day. When people read them, they get excited.

   The original script for American Beauty was one such piece of writing. Alan Ball got everyone’s attention with it. It took a while to get made and the movie got its own accolades. But the script – not very high concept, really – was undeniable.

So how do you come up with an undeniable script?

It definitely starts with a core idea that really works. Which is what I tend to focus on with my clients – taking the time to get that first step right.

It’s less about the eventual words on the page and making choices that try to razzle-dazzle people than you might think.

Most of it is about having a powerful emotional situation and challenge rendered with maximum authenticity.

That means there’s something real and human at its center that hits people on a primal level and makes them care.

Yes we want it to be fun and fresh and a pleasure to read on the page, but mostly we want to grab them with the situation and central problem, and force them to invest.

That means putting a relatable character in a really trying situation where their pursuit of intentions and confronting of obstacles will matter to the reader, and feel real.

So I should endlessly work on one script to get it there?

Not necessarily. Because chances are that any one script you (or I, or anyone) is working on could lack certain core elements that would give it hope of becoming that. And we might not know it yet.

I think it’s better to write lots of different projects and try to finish solid first drafts of a couple per year.

You might not know which one has the highest chance to become your strongest script – in its best version it might not be in yet.

But with the right combination of feedback and rewriting – and seeing how others react – you can start to figure that out.

Remember, if you’re not repped by a manager or agent and haven’t worked professionally, you’re not necessarily going for something that “could sell.”

You’re looking to break in and get noticed, and ideally repped. With a great writing sample that might not even be sellable or produceable (so few scripts ever get that far) but which might announce your presence as a writer to be reckoned with.

That people will want to work with and read more from.

And even if you don’t have “more” yet that are also undeniable – because you had one, you were able to make that big leap forward.