Quit fiddling with what's working.

The Story and Plot Weekly Email is published every Tuesday morning. Don't miss another one.

One of the primary things we do inside the Writers Lab of Story and Plot Pro is develop detailed, professional-level outlines before we go to treatments and then to script.

I used to hate outlines and treatments. I didn’t think I was any good at them and that it just wasn’t my “process.”

How I learned to love outlines and treatments is worth its own email.

We often tell ourselves we aren’t good at something simply because we’re not used to it. But being uncomfortable is not the same as, “not being good at it.”

Once I got comfortable, I found outlines and treatments invaluable and almost as fun as the writing of scenes.

That said, outlines have some of the same pitfalls as screenplays.

And one of those pitfalls is that we will fiddle. We will constantly fiddle rather than know what story we’re telling and use that to help us know what’s working and what actually does need change.

I see this often, and it happened with a member this weekend.

I will not mention Alex’s name. Let’s call him Dan.

Dan was working on an outline that was getting close. He was almost there. A few things weren’t working in 2A and some things were dropped in 2B. Not a lot. Just some problem-solving.

And problem-solving is what we do.

So, with another week under his belt, I was expecting a big step forward. What he came back with was a complete reworking of 2A, 2B, and even 3.

He didn’t problem-solve. He fiddled. And he kept fiddling.

And now he had something new. Rather than solving the old problems, he created new ones.

He developed himself backwards.

I am sympathetic, of course. I used to do this all the time! I have watched writer friends do this, and I have seen students do it.

I have seen it happen in development, too.

With my last produced movie, HAUNTING OF THE QUEEN MARY, I watched the director do it just before taking it out to cast.

He took us from shooting the film in six months to two more years of development, and the producers spent that whole time trying to get the screenplay back to where it was. It never got there. Not even close.

Writing is rewriting, as they say. And this is true.

But rewriting without purpose or direction is fiddling.

And fiddling can get you into trouble.

It can make a fun project excruciating. It can make an energizing process exhausting. And worst of all, it can drain you of your confidence, as you tell yourself, “I’m not any good at this.”

Avoid the “What if…” tree.

I refer to it as a tree because of its endless branches.

Once you ask, “What if this happens?” as a question about the plot, you’re working in the wrong direction.

This is because it leads to a long series of, “What ifs…”

Once you allow something entirely new, it creates more of the same question.

“Okay, so if that happens, what if this then happens? Or maybe this?”

You can go on and on with no end in sight because the question is about the possibility rather than the goal you’re trying to achieve.

Soon you’re down the rabbit hole.

Now you have to make room for all this new stuff, and that means getting rid of the old stuff that you like but that doesn’t quite work anymore.

“That’s alright. That old stuff was good, but it wasn’t perfect or we’d already be done, right?”

Soon, what you find yourself doing is reshuffling the deck, hoping to come up with a perfect hand.

And doing it again and again. Out with the old, in with the new.

But this isn’t poker. This is a magic trick.

You pick your cards. You don’t pull them out at random.

And the way you pick them is by asking, “What NEEDS to happen to get me THERE?”

So we need to know where THERE is.

Know where you’re going.

This is one of the keys to the outline phase.

There is a time for brainstorming, for stream of consciousness, for taking those shrooms you pulled off some cow patties and waking up with a fever dream of notes, but this is not that time. (To be clear: don’t do that.)

This is the time for intention.

Know what you want to achieve, and you will ask the refining and much more productive question: “What NEEDS to happen?”

Here are some key guideposts to keep you heading ahead rather than in a circular pattern.

The story you’re telling.

This is everything. This is your true north. Know what it is. Define it. Put it up next to your computer.

This is a story of THIS PERSON who goes through THIS and becomes THIS.

Or

This is a story of THIS PERSON who -- against all obstacles -- stays true to THIS and in doing so, changes those around them.

Every scene should PUSH toward, PULL back, or DIVERT from this change.

If you are not executing this intention better, you’re fiddling.

The emotion of the scene.

Every scene has the intention above as well as specific emotions. You cannot refine a scene until you make specific choices about this.

So know: what emotion are you trying to evoke?

As you start working on a scene, are you better executing this intention? Are you creating moments that better evoke this emotion?

Or are you just moving furniture around? Because that’s fiddling.

Your great scenes.

This is a huge concept that not enough people embrace when they first start. Know your great scenes.

What are your very cool, concept-based, trailer-made, emotional, awesome scenes?

Remember, at its base, great screenwriting is:

1. Great characters.
2. Great scenes.
3. The order you put them in.

You will discover plenty in the process, but I don’t start outlining until I have at least five of them.

It is far more important that your narrative is driving you towards these scenes rather than laying down more plot.

The end of each sequence.

This is the backbone of your structure.

• Sequence 1 ends with the inciting incident.
• Sequence 2 ends (usually) with the dramatic question.
• Sequence 3 ends with the focus turn.
• Sequence 4 ends with the midpoint.
• Sequence 5 often ends with the low point.
• Sequence 6 ends with the break into 3.
• Sequence 7 ends with the setback.
• Sequence 8 ends with the final scene of the movie.

When one sequence ends, your narrative momentum is now pointing straight to the end of the next sequence.

You just have to connect those two story points, and if you’re doing it by way of a couple of great scenes, you’re really cooking.

So are your rewrites doing that? Are you moving the story from one place to another in a more interesting way?

Did you uproot one of your story points? If you did, what are the previous sequences now pointing towards?

And does that change help you better execute the most important thing? The story?

If you cannot answer these questions in the affirmative, you may not be rewriting. There is a very good chance you’re fiddling.

How do you want the audience to feel at the end?

This is another vital decision. I didn't worry about this so much when I was younger, and entirely to my detriment.

I just wanted to close the script out! It was kind of a "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know how this ends" type mentality.

But now I come from a place of, "How do I want the audience to feel at the end?"

And that choice dictates countless decisions throughout the story. So much so, it's another guideline in my rewrites.

Do these changes help me evoke those emotions in the end? If it is irrelevant or even undermines it, I know I have a problem.

I am NOT discouraging rewriting.

Far from it. Rewrites will save you every time. But I am encouraging productive rewrites.

You must know what you’re trying to achieve when you decide to pull threads.

There is nothing wrong with writing the same scene three different ways to see which one works best.

There is an old improv adage of going with your second or third idea rather than simply settling with your first.

But you need to know how to actually judge why one incarnation is better than the other.

Otherwise, there is nothing to stop you from climbing up the what-if tree and following its endless branches to nowhere.

The Story and Plot Weekly Email is published every Tuesday morning. Don't miss another one.

​ Tom Vaughan
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