Art of Screenwriting

Something that I find to be a great art form, and something that I find much enjoyment in, is the art of screenwriting. Basically, screenwriting is writing a script, for a stage play, or movie. It contains nothing more than the essential details, like characters actions, dialogue and potentially details that might play a role in the plot. All other trivial details are left to later production.

Although writing is a very popular art form in our culture, I find screenwriting to be much less popular, and often forgotten in the overall topic of writing. To me, this is a shame, because I find screenwriting to be one of the most unique, and potentially challenging ways to write. This is because it leaves out the small details as something to be worried about later, and solely looks at the story, characters, and most importantly to me, creating emotion in the audience. Now, one might say that a short story or novel can do this just as well, and I wouldn’t disagree at all, I find this it creates a unique challenge for the writer because if you are lacking in the core elements I previously mentioned, then you are lacking overall. There is no room to make up for poor story, underdeveloped characters and no emotional core in a screenplay. You have to hope the filmmakers can save you later on. But even if they do, you become the weak link in the storytelling process.

Now this may seem like it would be a turn off in some ways, but to me it creates an all new experience for a writer. It seems to me, that even if a writer isn’t too familiar with the art of writing a screenplay, it could help them in many ways. One major way that I believe it could help writers, is with writing good dialogue. Since dialogue is often the core of a screenplay, its is crucial that the writer have good and natural dialogue. And since it is such an important aspect, it is also just as important for a writer to learn to write good dialogue, if they struggle in that element. Putting them in the position of screenwriting, I think, can help immensely.

The second thing I think that would benefit a writer from writing a screenplay, is finding an emotional core through language. Often times I find myself reading a good novel, while not always necessarily being moved, or angered, or saddened. While I feel these emotions from a film on a regular basis. Now, in a film, actors performances, visuals and music play a role in the emotion also, but it all comes back to the writing of the script. I think that writing a scripts core is the emotion of the story, and I think that makes it a very unique way to write, and a very unique form of art.