John August

QandA

Inner struggle is not plot

QandA, Story and Plot

questionmarkIt seems a lot of my scripts revolve around a character’s inner struggle and their inner demons creating destructive physical reactions (acting out). My question is: What if the main character’s motivation is finding their way because they are lost? Isn’t this a purely mental obstacle?

I know you say to make these obstacles physical and simple but this is the complete opposite. Any help would be appreciated.

— Dallas
Staten Island, NY

Write a book. Or a song. Or a poem.

Sure, many great movies feature characters struggling against their demons, or attempting to find themselves. But it’s invariably played as subtext against a more external conflict — the one that actually drives the plot. You need to be able to point the camera at something.

There’s nothing wrong with internal struggle. Just pick a medium that can handle it.

Are glossaries a good idea?

Africa, Formatting, International, QandA

questionmarkIf a screenplay has a good amount of foreign words sprinkled throughout, is it OK to attach a glossary of a few pages? Or is that an amateurish way to handle it? These foreign words would appear both in action/description and in dialogue (NOT to be subtitled.)

I just think that it would make for a smoother read to NOT have explanations of each word as it comes up in the screenplay.

— Alejandro
Caracas/Los Angeles

My hunch is that you won’t need it. When you need to use the foreign term in action, put the translation in parentheses right after the word. When you’re using a bit of the language without subtitles, it’s still a good idea to provide a parenthetical to help the reader:

Merry stirs a pot of kholowa (sweet potato leaves), while the children play tag. She fakes a smile as her neighbor NYANDO walks up. He’s fifty and blind in one eye.

MERRY

(how are you?)

Muli bwanji, Nyando?

Have some English-speakers read your script, and if they’re truly perplexed, a glossary might be in order. If there are five really crucial terms, you could put it at the start of the script, right after the title page. If there are more, a glossary at the end might be better. In any case, keep it to less than a page.

Why aren’t adaptations ok for competitions?

Adaptation, QandA, Television

questionmarkWhy can’t I find any screenwriting contests that accept scripts that are adapted from another source — in my case a book that I’ve got the option rights to?

Do you know of any? It seems everyone I see only accepts ‘original’ material.

— Matisse

Two reasons:

1. **Apples to Apples.** With an adapted screenplay, it’s not altogether obvious what awesomeness came from the screenwriter, and what came from the underlying material.

2. **Legal Awkwardness.** Let’s say a screenwriting competition gives first place to an adaptation of the third book of the Twilight series. Do you think Stephanie Meyer (or her business people) would be delighted?

One exception to all of this: television. Writing spec episodes of current television series is an accepted industry practice, and several competitions feature this, including [Austin](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/new/screenplay).

Pilot School

Reading, Television

Pilot scripts for just about every TV show you can think of, [all in one place](http://sites.google.com/site/tvwriting/).

An absolute gold mine. If you’re thinking about writing TV, clear your schedule and start reading. (Thanks to [Jim Campolongo](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2153286/) for the link.)