I thought I would write a quick, but useful little post today to reassure all you screenwriters out there that it’s okay to let go. What do I mean by “let go?”
Many screenwriters will tell you that they become obsessed with their story. Indeed, they become perfectionists. They write their screenplay until they can get it as close to perfection as possible.
Unfortunately, this perfectionism can lead some screenwriters to spend years obsessing over their screenplays even down to commas and and full-stops.
Now that isn’t to say that spelling and grammar aren’t important when writing a screenplay. But any screenplay agent worth their salt will overlook a misplaced comma or full-stop if the story is good enough.
I remember, when Guy Ritchie wrote Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels it was full of spelling misstates and grammatical errors. But it didn’t really matter. Because the story was so gripping and exciting. And the dialog literally cracked and sizzled!
1) Don’t Be Too Precious
Put your work out into the world and let it go. Let other people read it. Warts and all. Don’t worry about spelling too much. Or grammar. If you’re story is good enough, people won’t care that you missed a comma.
A screenplay agent isn’t going to represent you just because you’re spelling and grammar are perfect. They won’t be wowed by this. Screenplay agents are wowed by a great story, which includes dialog and action.
2) Don’t Sweat The Details
Besides obsessing over their screenplays, a lot of screenwriters won’t send their screenplays out until they have fixed, what they consider to be “major plot-points.”
Now, these plot-points are not necessarily a bad thing. But in the screenwriter’s mind, they are awful. They are like demons scurrying across the page, ruining the plot and the screenwriter’s precious work.
Here’s what you should do. Let a friend or someone else you can trust read your screenplay and see if they can notice the problem plot-points. More often than not they won’t.
It’s a Fridge Question!
In fact, Jonathan Demme who directed The Silence of the Lambs calls a lot these problems “fridge questions.” By this he means…
The viewer goes to the cinema to watch a movie with his family, let’s say the wonderful children’s animation movie The Iron Giant. The viewer then gets home and goes to the fridge to get a beer (or a coke for little Johnny)… and a thought suddenly hits him.
Why did the general give that kid a screw as a present that was soaked in nuclear material?? Wouldn’t the screw kill the kid or give him cancer????
But since you thought of this questions when you were at home and not in the cinema—the question doesn’t matter. Why?
Because it didn’t ruin your enjoyment of the movie while you were watching it. If a movie producer or studio wants to buy your script because they love the story, they won’t let a couple of fridge questions get in the way, trust me on that!
So, while you’re writing your script. Do yourself a favor. Don’t get too precious. Have fun. Don’t obsess. And let go!
*Jennifer Sloane has worked as a screenplay agent in Los Angeles and Nashville for the last five years. Jennifer loves good movies, music and animals. A former television and movie executive, Jennifer currently heads business development at Script Mailer (a company that connects screenwriters with agents and producers in Hollywood).