On Aaron Sorkin's Masterclass
Recently, I was semi-interested in scriptwriting because I was curious how it was conducted, what went into it, what its format was, etc.. In addition, I had seen many times Aaron Sorkin's Masterclass advertised on Facebook, and I had been somewhat curious to try it. Ultimately, this semester I decided to give it a shot, and out of the 35 lessons in Sorkin's Masterclass, I have viewed/completed 32 of them. I just have three left. I have completely enjoyed the class, and I found Sorkin's lessons so incredibly helpful, to such an extent, in fact, that I wanted to create a blog post on his Masterclass.
Basically, I just want to say that, if you are looking for reliable advice on crafting your writing, this is one of the better tools out there. And, if you were on the edge about taking his Masterclass, I completely recommend that you do. I was astounded at the quality of the lessons, especially since the class is only $95.00 (the price for a community college course). You will get something out of it. You will. You will.
I want to share just several of the bits of wisdom I have encountered while taking the course (quotes from Sorkin and otherwise) that have helped me either view my work completely differently or have confirmed the things that I have already found to be true when writing:
1.) The Intention and Obstacle must be set up before you can "grip it and rip it." Repeat to yourself those words over and over again. The Intention and Obstacle are the basis for any drama. The intention cannot be leisurely, and neither can the obstacle. The stakes must be the highest they can possibly be. Once they are set, then creating the rest of the book is "like hanging clothes on a clothesline."
2.) Look for a conflict of ideas in every scene, in every dialogue, in every situation. Don't leave untapped potential.
3.) Characters are born from how they react to conflict. They are born from the intention+obstacle.
4.) Write characters, not people. "Characters and people have little do with each other... Being as much like a human as possible isn't the point. It would be like a singer trying to sound like a musical instrument. It would be a cool thing to do, but other than being impressed that a singer sounds like a flute, wouldn't you rather just listen to a flute?" - Aaron Sorkin
"We are painters, not photographers."
5.) Identify with your anti-heroes. You have to write your anti-heroes as though they're making their case to God about why they should get into heaven.
6.) When an actor doesn't believe he's as much of a man as the part he's playing, he starts putting on Christmas ornaments, like changing his voice, changing the way he stands, and everything. You have to believe the arguments you are writing. If you don't, you really have the equivalent of an anti-hero twirling their mustache.
7.) The audience wants to participate. Write like Seurat painted. Seurat was a pointillist. He painted with two paintbrushes in his hand, each with a different color. He felt that the viewer will mix the points much more vibrantly in their mind than any colors he could possibly mix. Likewise, you want as much as you can for the audience to be a part of what's going on. Treat them like they're smart. They don't want to just observe. They want to put things together themselves. If you can get them to do that AND not let them see the reversal coming, you've done well.
8.) Things that ring false lose the audience. They're like little pebbles in your shoe.
9.) If you do something that wouldn't or couldn't happen, it's hard to get the audience back.
10.) Avoid confusion. Even a smidgen of confusion can be terrible. Over correcting it can be worse. Because...
11.) The worst crime you can commit is telling the audience something they already know.
12.) There's a tendency to think that art has no rules. No. That's finger painting. Rules are what make art beautiful.
13.) You are going to hear rules that are bullshit. Don't trust all the rules.
14.) The only rules are the rules of drama - Aristotle's /Poetics/. If there's something wrong with your script, it's probably because you broke one of those rules, and so understanding those rules is terribly important.
15.) A fact is that the queen died.
A story is that the queen died, leaving the king alone.
A drama is that the queen died, leaving the king alone, and it turns out the queen was the brains behind the whole thing, and now the king has to go it alone in the face of everyone trying to get him off the throne.
16.) Dialogue is music.
17.) Chip away anything that isn't the main conflict (with VERY FEW exceptions).
18.) When people give you critiques, listen for the problem, not the solution. Just like doctors listen for symptoms, not patients' ideas of what doctors need to do to treat them, you should do the same thing.
19.) The audience should be crying, not the characters. Make the audience feel what the characters should be feeling.
20.) The most common problem in a drama that Sorkin encounters is that he either doesn't buy the obstacle, or he doesn't buy the intention.
21.) As for meandering thoughts or conversations when trying to come up with a plot in a writer's room: "These conversations that don't go anywhere, believe it or not, are very important. We circle it for a long, long time, and just like cotton candy twirling in there, bit by bit, meat starts to go on the bones." - Aaron Sorkin
Basically, I just want to say that, if you are looking for reliable advice on crafting your writing, this is one of the better tools out there. And, if you were on the edge about taking his Masterclass, I completely recommend that you do. I was astounded at the quality of the lessons, especially since the class is only $95.00 (the price for a community college course). You will get something out of it. You will. You will.
I want to share just several of the bits of wisdom I have encountered while taking the course (quotes from Sorkin and otherwise) that have helped me either view my work completely differently or have confirmed the things that I have already found to be true when writing:
1.) The Intention and Obstacle must be set up before you can "grip it and rip it." Repeat to yourself those words over and over again. The Intention and Obstacle are the basis for any drama. The intention cannot be leisurely, and neither can the obstacle. The stakes must be the highest they can possibly be. Once they are set, then creating the rest of the book is "like hanging clothes on a clothesline."
2.) Look for a conflict of ideas in every scene, in every dialogue, in every situation. Don't leave untapped potential.
3.) Characters are born from how they react to conflict. They are born from the intention+obstacle.
4.) Write characters, not people. "Characters and people have little do with each other... Being as much like a human as possible isn't the point. It would be like a singer trying to sound like a musical instrument. It would be a cool thing to do, but other than being impressed that a singer sounds like a flute, wouldn't you rather just listen to a flute?" - Aaron Sorkin
"We are painters, not photographers."
5.) Identify with your anti-heroes. You have to write your anti-heroes as though they're making their case to God about why they should get into heaven.
6.) When an actor doesn't believe he's as much of a man as the part he's playing, he starts putting on Christmas ornaments, like changing his voice, changing the way he stands, and everything. You have to believe the arguments you are writing. If you don't, you really have the equivalent of an anti-hero twirling their mustache.
7.) The audience wants to participate. Write like Seurat painted. Seurat was a pointillist. He painted with two paintbrushes in his hand, each with a different color. He felt that the viewer will mix the points much more vibrantly in their mind than any colors he could possibly mix. Likewise, you want as much as you can for the audience to be a part of what's going on. Treat them like they're smart. They don't want to just observe. They want to put things together themselves. If you can get them to do that AND not let them see the reversal coming, you've done well.
8.) Things that ring false lose the audience. They're like little pebbles in your shoe.
9.) If you do something that wouldn't or couldn't happen, it's hard to get the audience back.
10.) Avoid confusion. Even a smidgen of confusion can be terrible. Over correcting it can be worse. Because...
11.) The worst crime you can commit is telling the audience something they already know.
12.) There's a tendency to think that art has no rules. No. That's finger painting. Rules are what make art beautiful.
13.) You are going to hear rules that are bullshit. Don't trust all the rules.
14.) The only rules are the rules of drama - Aristotle's /Poetics/. If there's something wrong with your script, it's probably because you broke one of those rules, and so understanding those rules is terribly important.
15.) A fact is that the queen died.
A story is that the queen died, leaving the king alone.
A drama is that the queen died, leaving the king alone, and it turns out the queen was the brains behind the whole thing, and now the king has to go it alone in the face of everyone trying to get him off the throne.
16.) Dialogue is music.
17.) Chip away anything that isn't the main conflict (with VERY FEW exceptions).
18.) When people give you critiques, listen for the problem, not the solution. Just like doctors listen for symptoms, not patients' ideas of what doctors need to do to treat them, you should do the same thing.
19.) The audience should be crying, not the characters. Make the audience feel what the characters should be feeling.
20.) The most common problem in a drama that Sorkin encounters is that he either doesn't buy the obstacle, or he doesn't buy the intention.
21.) As for meandering thoughts or conversations when trying to come up with a plot in a writer's room: "These conversations that don't go anywhere, believe it or not, are very important. We circle it for a long, long time, and just like cotton candy twirling in there, bit by bit, meat starts to go on the bones." - Aaron Sorkin
No comments have been added yet.
