NAKED WRITING: Reversals

Some novelists prefer the screenwriters’ approach to writing scenes, which is slightly different from the Dramatic-Reflective—or Scene-Sequel—process we usually employ. You might want to try it.

A scene is a dramatic unit of time, but for screenwriters it also must occur in the same setting. Every movie scene usually requires an adjustment of cameras and/or lighting.

So a key practice of screenwriters is this: Whatever the situational attitude going into a scene, whether positive or negative, that attitude reverses at the end. Keep in mind that a scene in film often lasts only 30 seconds and rarely more than 7 minutes. So let’s again look at the famous Scarlett-Rhett scene.

It opens with Scarlett rushing down the stairs fearing that Rhett will leave and trying to stop him. After his “I don’t give a damn” line, he walks away, leaving Scarlett at the door crying. Then a close-up shows her saying to herself, “There must be some way to bring him back. I can’t think about this now, I’ll think about it tomorrow.”

So the scene opens with despair but ends with hope.

One famous scene from Jaws starts with Brody bored and argumentative as he throws dead fish into the water to attract a shark that won’t show itself. Then it does. Brody jumps and backs away into the cabin, where Quint is working. Afraid but now convinced, he says, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

That scene opens with doubt and ends with conviction.

Try this screenwriter technique and see if it works for you.