Jarrett Rusnak is a Canadian screenwriter who has been an accountant for North American movies and series. He lives in my building and organizes a group of screenwriters who gather to critique each others’ work. I am not a screenwriter but Jarrett knows how passionate I am about writing and that I have written a few novels, none of which have been traditionally published. He invited me to join the group.
We are a small group and nobody holds back. Our comments to each other are delivered with honest but friendly remarks. When we believe that a person’s story needs tweaking, we say so, often backing ourselves up with suggestions about how they can improve their work.
Recently, I wrote a novel about a school shooting, from which I submitted the first 20 pages to our group. I was impressed by the amount of comments that people gave me and that guided me in revising my draft. For those of you starting out in the writing field, you must have a stony resilience. Be prepared to take criticism; be prepared to know that you might be creating a complete makeover of what you have previously written. My writing has been rejected countless times and yet I still love to write. If one can do that, then they are a true writer.
At last night’s meeting, Jarrett shared with the rest of us some notes about a recent screenwriting workshop he had attended. The one note that stuck out the most for me is that your leading characters must have an objective: what do they want to do? What do they want to accomplish? And this objective has to be big. It can’t be as simple as Protagonist A wants to find his lost cat. There must be an objective that may even be life-changing. The objective isn’t easily achievable and is impeded by events and antagonists in the story. The author must be specific about what the objective is and what the consequences are if the objective is not attained.
Having conflict in a story is vital. If an objective is reached too easily or without conflict, then the reader will get bored and soon lose interest in your work.
Interestingly, while Jarrett explained these things to the group, I told him that these very observations were raised in a webinar that I attended a week ago. The American writer, Jeanne Lyet Gassman, who happens to be a novelist like myself, repeated what Jarrett had heard at his workshop. One of the comments I remember her saying is that a book is “complete if the protagonist reaches a goal or doesn’t quite but still learns from their journey.” Also, “solutions should always have a consequence.”
Jarrett and I have discussed the differences between screenwriting and novel writing but, as you can see, there are many similarities between the two. What we should all strive for is good writing. Writing that grips the reader from page one. Writing that is not chichéed. Writing that has conflict.
In a month, I will present to the group my newest revision of the novel about the school shooting. I anticipate more suggestions about how I can make it better. Be prepared, everyone. Writing is not easy.
Screenwriter Jarrett Rusnak
