John August

QandA

Are parentheticals over-used?

QandA, Words on the page

questionmarkYou often hear you shouldn’t use parentheticals for things other than acting directions (“surprised”, “relieved”, etc… And even use those sparingly).

What’s the accepted tolerance for parentheticals for actions such as:

MINDY

(raising her glass)

I wish to say a few words...

or

JÜRGEN

Wait!

(signaling for the soldiers to stop)

She has the detonator!

Is this a big no-no? A small no-no? Can you get away with it once or twice in a script, if you want to shave off a few lines from a page? Or does it reek of the amateur screenwriter?

— Liam Paris

I’ve used parentheticals in situations similar to both your examples, though I’m more likely to break those lines out as scene description:

Raising her glass --

MINDY

I wish to say a few words...

But as I’ve written about before, there are other situations in which parentheticals make sense, and using them smartly can both trim pages and improve the read. It’s all to your taste and style.

You’ll find A-list screenwriters who write five-line parentheticals and others who eschew them altogether. (Anything you do in a parenthetical could theoretically be accomplished in scene description.)

Read a lot of screenplays and find a style you like. For example, you may find yourself emulating writers who use parentheticals for as-if situations…

TARA

(“damn it!”)

Puppetfuzz!

…or to establish the pacing on a joke. Try it and see what works.

Like CUT TO:’s and sluglines, the use of parentheticals comes down to personal preference. As long as you are consistent and engaging, readers are unlikely to object.

Learn more about the basics of parenthetical usage here!

How many times can a meeting get pushed?

Film Industry, Producers, Psych 101, QandA

questionmarkMeetings get pushed all the time. General meetings aside, how many pushes merits cause for concern regarding interest in you/your idea?

— Matt

Things in Hollywood are never rescheduled. They’re “pushed.” ((Pushed is always “pushed back.” The reciprocal idea of “pulling up” is less common, but you do hear it in terms of release dates.))

AGENT

You heard about ANDERSONVILLE? They’re pushing to April in order to get Brad Pitt.

Anything with a date attached can get pushed. That includes meetings. Yesterday, I finally sat down for a meet-and-greet lunch that had been pushed six times. That’s not a record for me, but it’s close. The lunch wasn’t a particular priority for either the executive or me, which is why both of us felt okay letting it slide.

Meetings get pushed for many reasons, most of them benign. Executives get sick. Unrelated projects go into crisis mode. Particularly with a general meeting, you just have to roll with it.

If your meeting on a specific project keeps gets pushed back, that can signal waning interest. The second time it’s pushed, you should expect an apologetic phone call from the second-highest person who was supposed to be in the room. If that phone call doesn’t come, you can commence worrying.

If you have an agent or manager, it’s her job to investigate. Otherwise, sack up and call. Invent a reason why it’s very important that the new date stick.

Meetings sometimes get cancelled without setting a new date. For me, that starts a 24-hour clock. If a full day has passed and there’s not a new date on the calendar, I will assume the worst.

Angles, spacing and monikers

Formatting, QandA, Television, Words on the page

questionmarkThree quick questions:

(a) I was reading over a pilot example, and I saw a lot of angle descriptions, camera descriptions, etc. I thought that was a big no-no: don’t describe angles or try to “direct” via your script. Is that less a concern these days? Or less a concern when writing for TV than film?

(b) Ditto the spacing. I was under the impression that TV scripts had to be double-spaced, all dialogue in caps, etc. Is that not true for pilots?

(c) There is already a writer working on film/TV with my name (Joshua Siegal). I’m thinking of going with J. Howard Siegal. Do I need to get registered with the writer’s guild and such with that name? Is it a good/bad idea to find a unique name to write under?

— Josh

(a) Some screenwriters refer to the camera a lot. It’s not wrong, but it can annoy directors. I try to avoid mentioning angles and camera movements unless it’s very important. As an alternative, I use “we” —

RISING THROUGH THE CHIMNEY, we reveal Kruchkov.

He pulls the pin on a grenade. Drops it with a smile.

— and you should know that some people hate “we.” I think it reads better, but to each his own.

(b) The only way to know how a show is formatted is to read an actual script from the series. Single-camera TV shows are generally formatted like feature films, single-space. Multi-camera shows (sitcoms) are double-space. But there are exceptions, so never assume.

(c) Screenwriter names are not regulated the way actor names are, but yes, it’s a good idea to have a unique moniker. For example, there is already another [aspiring John August](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/my-namesake-also-a-screenwriter).

How to write romance

Genres, QandA

questionmarkI’m writing a romantic movie, but the last days I have been thinking if the story is credible or not. What do I have to do to write a credible romantic story?

— Stefano Vettorazzi Campos
Uruguay

You have to make us care whether the two lead characters end up together, which is really two requirements:

1. **Characters we give a shit about.** They don’t need to be likable, necessarily, but they need to be compelling. We need to be curious about what they’re going to do next.

2. **A credible reason to keep them apart.** This could be almost anything — war, prejudice, a sinking boat — but if we don’t buy it, you’re toast.

I’d argue that #2 is actually more important than #1.

Cast some attractive actors and we’ll want to see them kiss. But I get angry watching romances in which the hurdles are set too low. If there’s nothing stopping the characters from running off to live happily ever after at the midpoint, why bother?