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SCREENWRITING
– THE VALUE OF STRUCTURE by Kal Bishop
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.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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
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StoryScribe.com (URL:
www.StoryScribe.com)