I've been thinking about the differences between novel writing and screenwriting, and read somewhere that when it comes to descriptions, a screenwriter needs to trust the film-maker. We don't need to tell them every stone, brick and blade of grass, just give them the gist and trust them to make the visual decisions that will be best for the story.
So, I'm writing an gritty, urban realism thing and one setting is:An off-street parking lot, tucked between looming, half-empty red-brick buildings. The parking lot is filthy, dirty and stinks. There are four empty bottles of White Lightning in one corner and dirt and cigarette butts have gathered in filthy drifts against the gutters. A crate of empty beer cans teeters on the edge of the pavement running along the building's edge. Graffiti covers the wall in expletives and anatomy. The building itself is grimy with decades of dust on broken windows.
What I wrote, though, is:
Off-street carpark at the arse end of a Brutalist 1960s tower block. Looks like it smells like piss and pigeon shit.
From 5 lines down to the one that covers all that's needed along with the context of the rest of the story, because a locations manager and a director could read that and think, "Ah, I get it. I know what we're looking at here," and it won't be exactly the same thing that I'm seeing in my head, but it will be what the story needs to make sense.
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Good description. I like a bit more description in my scripts. But yours was great.
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I agree, Freyja Seren (she/her). "We don't need to tell them every stone, brick and blade of grass, just give them the gist and trust them to make the visual decisions that will be best for the story." Some action lines can be really detailed if the things in those lines are important to the story. I suggest writers keep action paragraphs short though (1-3 lines).
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Jon Shallit I think there's some middle ground there, somewhere. This one is particularly carved down, but it's a carpark. There isn't much to it. I was originally putting loads of description in because it felt emotionally more important and plays a big part in the story (: I'm playing around with carving things down to as succinct as possible and then adding in more if needed on redraft, rather than putting in waaaaaaay too much and then having to carve it all back
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While prose does always come down to voice, it's best to try and keep a 1pp per minute runtime on average.
The amount of action detail you write is also a great way to show pace. You can effectively create a matrix effect during a fight scene by suddenly going from sparse staccato to poetic detail.
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Don't do somebody else's job. Write what needs to be there to tell the story. Obviously remember to tell the actors what to do and give them key objects to interact with.
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Thanks Maurice Vaughan , I think it was really reading the word 'trust' - trust your team, trust your people, to be able to bring this together, that really hit home for me. I love that idea that a screenplay is just one part of a [literally] big picture
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You're welcome, Freyja Seren (she/her).
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I think the way you condensed it is fine. I struggle with this as well.
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You got it! Novel writing and screenwriting are completely opposite and like two different worlds. Both are an "art form", but it is not always easy learning the art form of screenwriting after being a novel writer. For me years ago it was difficult. But after years of practicing, reading numerous scripts and screenwriting books, as well as working with a screenwriting consultant I finally get it. One of the biggest rules of screenwriting is say it with as less words as possible, which includes the sluglines, the dialogue and the action. This rule of course does not apply to novel writing, which does the opposite and describes in detail the scenes, the action and dialogue. One more example of a rule in screenwriting is getting into a scene as late as possible and out of it as soon as possible. In novel writing you must set up in way more detail the scene, action and characters. Of course there are more rules.
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Start each act with an interesting description, where appropriate. Certainly, engage the readers imagination at the start. Get them comfy, then be as concise as you want.
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With my background in no-budget filming, I know it will often be necessary to improvise during filming. So the few details you write, the better. Because that makes it easier for the director to concentrate on those details which are important.
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Thank you Mone't Weeks ! The difference between the two styles were at first like chalk and cheese to me, but now I'm seeing that they're more like a mirror of each other. Personally, when I'm writing a novel, I go inward and explore, when I'm screenwriting I go outward and express. That sounds a lot more trite than it feels!
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You're welcome!