Episodic

Has your script ever been called “episodic”? This is a subset of a narrative problem. We talked about narrative a few posts ago, remember? About how the narrative is the delivery system for your script? And that the narrative should be like a rollercoaster going up up up and then releasing into a thrilling ride with many twists and turns, gaining speed as it goes? VERSUS the moving sidewalk. Well, the episodic epithet is related to the moving sidewalk. It means that your script feels like a series of episodes which don’t necessarily feel connected to a larger build or big enough stakes.

The cure for an episodic script lies first in reexamining your premise full stop. In fact, I’ll go on record as saying that taking a bird’s eye view of your premise is the first thing to look at when any big problems arise in the script. But we’ll talk about that another day. Check and recheck the premise for the over-arching conflict facing the main character. What is at stake? Is it pretty huge relative to the character and the character’s world? Is your premise unique and uniquely entertaining?

Now think about your scene work. We know each scene needs a beginning, middle and end – setup, conflict, resolution – complication, resolution, new conflict – and so forth and so on during each scene and in each sequence and in each act. But there’s the thing, as you resolve something toward the end of one scene, that same resolution kicks something else into gear in the next. Scenes are causal; linking to one another, always causing something else to click into motion.

The visual that really helped me get this concept was one of those wooden Jacob’s Ladder toys. You know the little square wooden pieces strung in a row by two strips of cloth tape? And you hold it one way and clack clack clack all the wooden squares tip one over the other til you reach the end? That’s how scenes should work.

Ask each scene: What is this scene a result of? What is this scene leading us to next? It’s kind of like the opposite of living in the moment. You know in life when you find yourself being in a situation but instead of really focusing on that all you can think about is what’s for dinner or what the next errand is or when will you see this person again? Instead of really just being present? I could write pages about my fight with and victory over that – but when evaluating your scenes you really do want to do the opposite – what came before, what comes after? Be 100% present when you write the scene – but take a different tact when evaluating your scenes for causality, movement and connection to other scenes.

In poorly written, episodic scripts, characters move from one slugline to the next but what they are actually doing doesn’t build. It becomes like reading a diary of what someone did that day. I went to the gym. I took a shower. I drove to work. I had lunch. I went home. I had dinner.

As opposed to: I went to the gym and stubbed my toe. I took a shower and slipped because my foot was hurt. I drove to work and got in a fender bender. I had lunch at the insurance office. I went home. I hacked up my wife.

Now, Rouge Wavers are smart and know that when I talk about these things I am always using the most broad examples. Yes, in LEAVING LAS VEGAS, Nicholas Cage in some ways might be appearing to be repeating the same beat over and over – the build is slow and pretty soft – he’s going to drink himself to death. Each individual story will dictate the way in which the build will work. I am talking about straight up, mainstream standards for scripts; there are always exceptions.

Think about this:

Esther does this
Then she does that
Fred meets her and they talk
Esther does this
Then that
Then this

Versus:

Esther does this BUT
She stumbles into that AND
THEN she discovers this
WHICH leads her to overcome THIS
And eventually she learns THAT
EXCEPT she will have to sacrifice THIS

The emphasized words indicate turning points in the scene. Surprises, setbacks, reversals. Static scenes guarantee a static story. You only have about 100 pages, people, so light a fire under it. And don’t get accused of having a soft, episodic script. Because that’s just another way of saying PASS.

If you enjoyed this post, follow me on Twitter or subscribe via RSS.