Return to Earth, which I’d put on the back burner for NaNoWriMo is now back in the forefront of my mind, especially after the interesting news I got from Ben the other day. 

While I was working through all my notes for the second draft, I came to the realisation that even with one and half drafts under my belt, which more or less hit the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet note for note, I really wasn’t happy with it.  

Some of the reasons I could put my finger on – mainly cost and complexity of production, but there was something else… it felt flabby.  Perhaps there were too many characters not doing enough?  Some got given the heave-ho, but still no joy.  

As chance would have it, I’d randomly signed up for Chris Soth’s ‘Screenplay by Phone’ call about his Mini Movie method which, whilst not mad enough to stay up ’til half past three in the morning to dial in, I did listen to via download later that week.

And inspiration struck!

I’m not saying Chris has struck gold with his Mini Movie method; I don’t think he gave enough detail away on the call to say either way, but what he did impart was enough for me.

Now, I love Blake Snyder’s STC! methodology.  It works – some of the best films and books hit the beats spot on. But both of the screenplays I’ve completed in the past year or so just didn’t do it for me.  They needed something more.

So I started pondering whether Soth and Snyder couldn’t snuggle up in bed together, see if the two models didn’t overlap a little.  And whaddayaknow?! They do. Kind of.

It’s not a perfect marriage, but for me, using Soth’s Mini-Movie method (effectively splitting the story up into smaller sub-movies) means my little brain can get a much better grip on the story as a whole.

Now, as much as I like it, I do find the STC! methodology a bit lacking in the middle.  Blake says a lot about how to start and how to end, but I’ve always struggled with the whole ‘Discussion – Break Into 2 – Fun and Games’ bit.  Soth’s method gives that area a little more structure, enough for me to get my head round better.

By adding Chris to the mix, along with my own take on Dramatica, Blake’s key beats are still there, but rather than trying to just satisfy story logic, the story is now looking after itself, driving itself forward with purpose that I’d never been able to capture with STC!s 40 beat structure alone.

It’s worth checking both methodologies out (along with Dramatica), but I guess this kind of proves that there is no panacea for Screenwriting, no magic pill for the perfect screenplay.

It’s just a case of keep doing it until you find what works for you, and then keep going… and going… and going…