QandA

When you get a great idea for a story, but you don’t know much about the setting
of the story, like the medieval times, how do you go about writing it? How
do you gain enough information about a certain setting or place so that it
sounds genuine (like Fargo) and not fake or phony (the basketball scenes from
Finding Forrester)?

–Henry

You do research. Right now, I’m in the process of writing a show for ABC about
murder in Alaska. Before I started working on it, I knew very little about
State Troopers, the provincial government structure, the Russian Orthodox Church,
tribal corporations and bush planes. I’m certainly not an expert on any of
these subjects now, but I know enough to write the pilot.

In my case, I started by reading books and Googling a lot of different Alaska
websites. The second round of research involved a lot of time on the phone,
calling the various people who actually have the jobs I’m writing about. Finally,
I’ll be making a research trip up to Anchorage to interview these people in
person, and investigate a lot of intangible details. (Such as, do Alaskans
carry over any of the strange Canadian pronunciations, like "SO-ree" rather
than "SAR-ree"? When Alaskans refer to non-Alaskans, is there a term
they usually use?)

If you were researching Medieval times, you would obviously find a lot of
your information in books about the period. But it would also behoove you to
find some experts in the field, and even visit some authentic sites to get
the most possible verisimilitude.

Just remember that no amount of research can substitute for good writing.
Knowing the exact shade of ochre in the king’s bedroom is pointless unless
you have a fascinating scene taking place there.

And keep in mind that audiences carry with them certain misconceptions about
places and times that make certain details less than crucial. For instance,
most audiences think of horses having saddles, and saddles having stirrups.
So when we see Russell Crowe and his men charging in on horseback at the start
of GLADIATOR, sandals in stirrups, we think nothing of it. Yet as many historians
(and Internet nit-pickers have pointed out), stirrups were invented centuries
later. Maximus’s advice to "keep his heels down when riding" is impossible.

Also, in A KNIGHT’S TALE, the people wouldn’t have been singing along with
Queen’s "We Will Rock You."

I’m a 28-year old writer with a very old problem. I do my best work when I’m
not consciously structuring a screenplay. I’ve found trying to shuffle scenes
around on note cards about as useful as trying to construct a meaningful sentence
out of syllables. So I’m reluctant to embrace a fully plotted mode of writing.

–Zackery West

First off, apologies to Zackery for editing his question down so much. The
original was filled with a lot of other good observations and side-questions,
but ran longer than my whole weekly column. And in cutting it down, I was doing
exactly the kind of work Zackery is struggling against.

Structure isn’t really about tacking notecards on a wall. It’s about organizing
ideas — sequences, scenes, and beats within those scenes — so that they can
have the most possible impact. You don’t just create structure before you write.
It happens inevitably with every character who walks in the door, or takes
an action that spins the story in a different direction.

I doubt there are any working screenwriters who would say they’ve adopted
a "fully plotted mode of writing." Whatever plan you’ve made for
the movie, be it notecards, an outline or just an idea in your head, it’s always
subject to change based on discoveries you make while you’re writing.

You’re beating yourself up over not plotting out your whole script beat-for-beat.
Guess what? You don’t have to. For now, just write the best scenes you can,
keeping in mind that they may need to be changed or cut to service the movie
as a whole.

The best thing about fighting with yourself is that when you give up, you
win.