Seger Reads Screenplays Deeply

Linda Seger. 2010. Making a Good Script Great. Los Angles: Silman-James Press.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

The best editors that I have engaged have been script consultants. Their critiques of my scripts, called treatments,

“include: (1) your log line, which is the basis of your pitch, (2) the premise of your story, (3) your main characters, and (4) a very brief synopsis of the story itself.” (Baehr 2011, 190)

Linda Seger was a pioneer in the field of script consulting based on work gathered in 1976 in her dissertation.

In her book, Making a Good Script Great, Linda Seger writes:

“In my many years of experience, I’ve seen the same kinds of script problems occur again and again. Problems with exposition. Problems with structure, with shaping the story. Problems with momentum that can make the difference between a sale and another rejection letter, between commercial success and box-office failure.” (xix)

This book “takes you through the whole screenwriting process—from initial concept through final rewrite—providing specific methods that will help you craft tighter, stronger, and more salable scripts.” (back cover)

Background and Organization

Linda Seger graduated from Colorado College, received a Masters of Arts from the Pacific School of Religion on Religion in Arts, and a doctorate from the affiliated Graduate Theological Union. She is an author and screenwriter.

She writes in fourteen chapters:

Gathering ideasThe Three-act structure: Why You Needs It and What to Do with ItWhat do Subplots Do?Act Two—How to Keep it MovingEstablishing a Point of ViewCreating the SceneCreating a Cohesive ScriptMaking It CommercialBalancing Images and DialogueFrom Motivation to Goal: Finding Your Character SpineFinding the ConflictCreating Multidimensional and Transformational CharactersCharacter FunctionsA Case Study: Writer Paul Haggis in His Own Words (ix)

These chapters are proceeded by acknowledgments, a preface, and Introduction, and followed by an index and an author about description.

Good how-to books are filled with helpful advice. Two areas that promoted edits to my current screenplay, Jeez and the Gentile, were focused on subplots and moving the Second Act along.

Subplots

I have heard the term, subplot, over and over, but I have never known what to make of it. Seger writes:

“Subplots are usually relationship stories, whereas the plot is usually an action story… The plot and the subplot then interweave. A good subplot not only pushes the plotline, it also interests it.” (50)

Seger goes on to explain:

“Just as the plot has a beginning, a middle, and an end, so too does a subplot. A good subplot also has a clear setup, turning points, developments, and a payoff at the end.” (53)

Seger uses the film, Good as it Gets (1997), to highlight subplots involving each of the characters in the film (55-60). The whole film moves forwards with these relational subplots. For example, who would imagine from the opening scenes that Melvin would turn out to love the dog or offer Simon an empty room to stay in or, for that matter, get the girl?

In my own screenplay, I realized that the climax to the relationship between two characters Tom and Leo, was implied, not stated, and the foundation of their companionship was also unstated in a short, descriptive scene. In my rewrite, I added dialog to this scene that acknowledged their commonality and they shared an emotional moment together rather than simply acting together in support of the climax to the main plot. The addition was only a couple of paragraphs, but it climaxed the subplot just before the climax to the main plot much like in action movies the hero always manages to say goodbye to his friends before the finale.

Second Act Movement

Act Two in the three Act screenplay is where most of the action in a film occurs. In a 120-minute film, 60 minutes take place in Act Two with Act One and Three taking 30 minutes each. How does the author manage to keep the momentum moving?

Seger focuses on cause and effect, not speed. She writes:

“Momentum [is] the product of action-reaction scenes…An action point is a dramatic event (an action, not dialogue) that causes a reaction and, thus, drives the story forward. The reaction, in turn, usually causes another action.” (67)

This is not just another chase seen or another character gets shot. Breaking the cause-and-effect sequence are obstacles.

Seger lists complications, reversals, and twists as specific types of obstacles.

“A complication is an action point that doesn’t pay off immediately.” (72) In Tootsie (1982) Michael gets an acting job posing as a woman, but complications arise when he falls in love with a co-worker, Dorothy.

“The reversal…changes a story’s direction by 180 degrees.” (73) In Changeling (2008) Christine is told that her son, who has been kidnapped, has been found, but she learns that the boy found is not her son. However, this reversal makes the story because the boy found leads the authorities to her son.

A twist…pushes a story in a new direction because it reverses expectations.” (74) In Sixth Sense (1999) the child psychologist protagonist meets a patient who sees dead people, doesn’t believe him, but, in the end, we learn that the psychologist himself is actually dead, but he doesn’t know it—and neither do we. This twist sticks in your mind and makes the film a hit.

These obstacles to progress in resolving the plot provide detours that many times add color and real life to a story.

Assessment

Linda Seger in Making a Good Script Great has written a classic gem. Ron Howard, who famously acted as a teen in Happy Days (1974-84), wrote that he consults this book before each new film project that he directs. I believe it. Authors, screenwriters, and directors should read this book and be conversant in its contents.

References

Ted Baehr. 2011. How to Succeed in Hollywood without Losing Your Soul: A Field Guide to Christian Screenwriters, Actors, Producers, Directors, and More. Camilla, CA: Movieguide Publishing.

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