Screenwriting : Two things that make an engaging screenplay by Phillip E. Hardy, "The Pro From Dover"

God knows, as do some of you forum dwellers do, that Uncle Phil strives to bring you interesting articles and topics. I found this short article today about writing engaging screenplays by J. Gideon Sarantinos. In his article, Mr. Sarantinos puts forth the premise that screenwriters get too hung up on two things:

1) Performing too much research

2) Striving for perfection

Now these are two things Uncle Phil never does. I always say do enough research to where you feel comfortable writing your chosen topic or subject. For example, I'm working on a whimsical comedy and needed some information on the California Lottery. I spent about five minutes to learn enough for what I needed. In other words, I researched while working on the script. But that doesn't mean I don't do upfront research when it's required. But only enough to get me going.

I also see writers laboring for months to make their script perfect. And changing things their writing friends tell them don't work or how to improve they can improve their story. And many writers also tend to stick with what's formulaic. They suffer from what the writer calls a clinical approach where we stick to familiar patterns because it's comfortable. I admit that I'm sometimes guilty of that one aspect.

So without further ado. Here's the link to the article. This guy's website is also pretty good. I couldn't find out much info on the guy but maybe some of you are familiar with him.

https://gideonsway.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/what-makes-an-engaging-scree...