| |
| |
|
Writing Information |
|
|
|
Screenwriting - The Value of Structure
Structure in the form of frameworks, work processes and goals enhances creative output: a) Short term goals (incremental productivity) produce more output than a "do your best" approach. Writing four pages a day completes a words-on-paper first draft screenplay in one month. A "do your best" or "waiting for inspiration" approach can take months or years. Witness the untold number of people with unfinished manuscripts under their beds. b) Work processes such as separating creative from critical thinking and other techniques help to a) unblock the mind, b) tap into tacit knowledge, c) trigger the mind into working at various cognitive levels and d) apply a) and b) and c) to the areas of problem identification and idea generation and evaluation. c) Frameworks reduce complex problems into their component intellectual parts. For example, story structure can be reduced to three or four acts or The Hero With A Thousand Faces (Campbell, 1973). Frameworks increase output by reducing complex problems into smaller, more manageable problem solving exercises. Frameworks tell the screenwriter where to start, where to finish, what to write and what should be happening at a particular stage of the story. Additionally, a structured approach improves performance in a number of ways, including: a) Structure triggers prolific production and simply being prolific improves performance and quality. The single best creative product tends to appear at that point in the career when creator is being most prolific. Experience refines knowledge and methodology towards optimal levels. b) Structure triggers engagement and simply engaging in the tasks results in problem identification and stimulates the mind into working on those problems at various cognitive levels, resulting in inspiration. Screenwriters often find that their best ideas come to them when they are in the middle of writing a screenplay. c) Structure triggers problem identification which in turn triggers incubation. Problems incubate until answers become apparent. Increasing the incidence and frequency of problem identification increases the incidence and frequency of insight. d) Increased problem identification (coupled with motivation) increases the incidence of solution seeking, through active search for stimuli and intellectual cross pollination through networks and collaboration. e) Radical shifts (originality) occur through sustained incremental change. By incrementally modifying output, the distance between the original and final versions increases. Radical shifts sometimes result from dramatic events or conditions but the vast number of gains accrue from continuous incremental improvement. f) Quality gains, measured on many levels, are result of sustained incremental changes. The Hero's Journey and various story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com. You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site. Kal Bishop, MBA ********************************** You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained. Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Writing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Mixing and Mingling: The Door to Publication? Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that you should NEVER let slip by. Here are some tips from my own experience to help you make the most of your conference:1. Get Noticed! Eight Tips to Catching an Editors Eye The first five pages of a novel are critical.Editors make quick judgments. Get Published: The Nuts and Bolts of Good English, and How to Impress a Publisher (1) Not all writers write good grammar. That's a fact. Hey Cient, this is Me! Find Your Writing Voice and Sell Yourself In a crowded market, clients will be seeking personality as they read what you've written -- they'll click right past pages that feel "been there, read that." They're looking for a voice that says, "Hey, client, this is me!"They want to know not just what you deliver -- but how. Write Possibilities We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. What Is The Single Worst Writing Mistake? The following answer sounds simplistic?but think about it. The single worst writing mistake is "not starting. How to Avoid the 11 Biggest Mistakes of First Time Authors "If you want to change your life," Harry Beckwith wrote in The Invisible Touch, "write a book." But writing a book can also be tremendously frustrating and unrewarding. Ten Quick Tips for Inexperienced Writers One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is simply knowing how to get started. If you've unsure of your writing skills, then here are some quick tips to help you get started. How To Stay Fit While Writing Day after day, writers tend to sit for hours writing that novel or story, and over time, this can become a potential problem. Their metabolism may slow down and the pounds can inch up. Generating Nonfiction Book Titles Without a Hassle The process of developing a working title for your nonfiction book can be a hassle sometimes. You first have to brainstorm a few titles, and if the results aren't to your liking, you are practically forced to brainstorm more possible titles --- or do you?One way to shorten this process is to have a book title bank at your fingertips that will include trigger titles, such as the ones listed below:Techniques for ----One Way to ----How to ----Handbook for -----Protecting ----Investing for ----Saving Your -----Finding Security in -----Fixing -----Getting -----Each of the sample triggers above has one or more missing words for you to fill in. Think Market! Griselda spent hours polishing up her resume. No detail was too small: type face, layout and spacing. Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals Freelance writer STANLEY BURKHARDT has a passion for animals. He loves animals so much, he crafted himself a new career. You Dont Need Inspiration! Or do you?Writers write. You shouldn't wait around for inspiration to come. Nonfiction Idea Generators The hardest part of nonfiction writing is finding a subject to write about. Unless you're a student or a professional writer no one is going to select a topic for you. Tell the World About You You have a new website, or a new business, or both - or your site isn't getting the kind of traffic you want and need. How are you going to tell the world about what you have to offer and where to find it?If you have deep pockets, you can start buying ads in newsletters and ezines and hope somebody reads them. Memories Dont Fade Like Hair Does: Memoir Writing Help for You, Our Elders, to Tell Your Story ~~~Old age, to the unlearned, is winter; to the learned, it's harvest time. ~ Yiddish saying~~~You can tell your life story by biography, which is a whole book that starts from the start and ends at (or near) the end. Mumblings The self-indulgent writer listens only to the mumblings of sycophants, toadies, and flatterers, thus failing to heed the valid criticisms of editors, critiquers, and reviewers.Since improvement involves the time to review, to edit, to revise, and to rewrite, the self-indulgent writer avoids or neglects to do this. Personal Journaling - Strategies To Make It Easy Recently I was watching the Oprah show and it was about doing something really great in someones life. Was it buying them a special gift? Or taking them out? Not really. 8 Quick Tips on Creating Vivid, Memorable Characters These 8 tips on using characters in your stories will help you make sure that readers are involved with your story people right from the start.Tip 1: Make sure that the reader knows as early as possible who the viewpoint character is in any scene. Use Real-Life Templates For Writing Success At some point along the way, most of us have used what are commonly called "fill-in-the-blank" writing templates. We might have used them to write a letter, format an essay, or set-up a resume or CV.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
