- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Eastern Eye Staff
Screenwriting is an art that takes a lot of practice. An expert screenwriter is like a magician, whose fingers weave stories that tinkle the emotions of the audience.
The screenwriter brings a story to life. Hence, a screenwriter has to be both the jack and the master of all trades.
The field of screenwriting, however, has undergone massive changes over the past decade. With technology by one’s side, screenwriting is no more a problematic affair as it used to be a decade back.
Luckily for you, a novel writing software is no more than a click away and can give you the perfect launchpad you need to kick off your career as a sought-after screenwriter.
Read on to discover the character traits of a successful screenwriter and learn about the screenwriting trends that are creating the right buzz in 2020.
The following are the skills you cannot ignore to become a successful screenwriter. These skills can also help you to identify trends before they hit the limelight.
Creativity is all about reiterating already known things in a better way. No story, for that matter, is new. A screenwriter makes it appear fresh out of the box.
Take any theme, and you have likely seen at least one hundred movies with the same concept. But, if anyone asks you to mention the one that you liked the most, you would say the one that appeared better than all others. That is the task of a screenwriter, in a nutshell.
By making creativity your bread and butter, you can identify trends even before they get a name.
Despite creating the best story, there might be times when there are no takers. As a screenwriter, you should accept it as a part of the game.
Barring a few, almost all great screenwriters face rejection during the early days of their lives.
By knowing the latest and future trends, you can stay one step ahead in making your screenplay cater to the modern and futuristic audience.
Passion is what drives all successful screenwriters to go beyond their comfort zone. To be a great screenwriter, you must be willing to receive information that might seem irrelevant at the moment.
As the field of screenwriting is a dynamic one, what is in vogue today might not be relevant tomorrow. Be open, be brave, and take in whatever you come across in your journey as a screenwriter.
As you read and watch, your passion will drive you to find out trends, even where they don’t exist.
Now that you know the skills that all successful screenwriters, worth their mettle, possess, let’s get started on the trends you may spot in 2020.
2020, the COVID year, has upturned existing conventions and made things, that were hitherto invisible, trends on their merit.
In an age where Facebook and YouTube rule the show, viewers prefer stories that are short and crisp. Hence, you must factor in that while preparing the script. To be precise, consider yourself to be venturing into uncharted territory if you are writing anything beyond one or two pages for one scene.
Gone are the days when a story had to begin with ‘once upon a time…’. As viewers and readers have become smarter than ever before, they like more content and less fluff. Hence, as a screenwriter, you must cut short the exposition and get straight to the crux.
Today’s audience like to be thrown into the action, right from the beginning. Rather than following the same old structure of screenwriting, improvise the story in your own way. As action catches the fancy of viewers instantly, you will have plenty of time at your disposal to make them stay hooked to your story.
A screenwriter has to be much like a scientist, who lives in the present, and yet talks about the future. If you plan to devote your attention to done-to-death concepts, then 2020 might not be the right year for testing your skills. Look at what the future holds and think about ways to make that relevant to the present generation.
If you need more motivation, scan the list of 20 blockbusters that made it to the top in 2019. All of them are either superhero movies or animated flicks. If these trends are any indication, then the future is for the futuristic screenwriters.
Let’s understand the difference between business trends and production trends first.
Business trend gives more value to viewers’ interests. So, if viewers like meaty content more than less-meaty stuff, then the business trend will quickly adapt itself to deliver the right stuff. These can most often be low to mid-budget films.
Production trends, however, rely more on time-tested stories and themes. If you get back to the list you found while scanning the top movies of 2019; you would be quick to guess that all of the stories have been written by renowned writers. As a production house usually bets on big money, they rarely take far-fetched risks.
Hence, before diving into script-creation, consider your target market and the potential takers.
Traditional broadcasters and cable networks are passe. The mantle has passed on to streaming companies like Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. Watch a few videos to get an idea of the content that is creating the right buzz.
As a modern-day screenwriter, you should go with the flow. Be there where the crowd is, and you will never have to spend a day without work.
Going by the 2020 trends in screenwriting, we can only assume the future is awesome.
Sooner than later, we might see screenwriters see their stories playing in front of their eyes, as they write. The next-generation coding technology can see the writers and coders working together to craft movies as they create realistic video games.
It is the task of a screenwriter to make the future come to life in its most vivid form. Just in case you need help to let your creativity spread its wings, the best screenwriting software can be your best friend on your journey as a screenwriter.
