Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect

1. The Core Purpose: Human Connection in Storytelling

This book is dedicated to the proposition that connecting — to oneself and to others — is the source of great screenplays, regardless of length.

Beyond mere conflict. For centuries, drama has been defined by conflict—will meeting obstacle. However, this perspective is incomplete. The deepest, most resonant stories, whether on stage or screen, are equally about human connection and disconnection. This underlying emotional tide, the ebb and flow of human ties, is as essential to storytelling as conflict itself, providing profound emotional power.

The Screenplay Paradox. A screenwriter's ultimate purpose is to connect with the audience. This involves navigating a paradox: readers want to see themselves reflected in the story, yet they don't want to see their exact lives, which would be boring. The solution lies in crafting stories that are both unique to the writer's vision and universally relatable, demonstrating that "though our lives may be different, our desires, our needs are the same."

Shared emotions bind. Great screenplays transcend cultural and personal differences by tapping into universal human desires and needs. They create shared emotions, acting as golden threads that connect the audience to the characters on screen. This communion, where viewers feel deeply engaged and transported, is the true magic of cinema, making us feel less alone in the "godawful difficult business of being alive."

2. Unearthing Your Unique Voice: The "Le Menu" Approach

The best short screenplays are deeply felt and highly specific.

Tap personal wellsprings. To craft unique and resonant screenplays, writers must connect deeply with their authentic selves. The "Le Menu" exercise encourages self-analysis by prompting writers to list their top five to ten responses for categories like "What I Love," "What I Hate," "What I Fear," "What I Believe," "What I Value," "What I Want," "What I Know About," "People Who Made a Difference," "Discoveries That Made a Difference," and "Decisions That Made a Difference." This process uncovers passions, perceptions, and experiences that will energize their work.

Specificity fuels originality. While broad concepts like "hating nuclear war" are too vague for short screenplays, drilling down to specific, personal connections—like a childhood fear of dying apart from parents during a bomb drill—can spark compelling narratives. The goal is not necessarily autobiography, but rather finding an authentic point of connection to the material, allowing the writer's unique perspective to shine through.

"Depart the donnée." Once germinal ideas are identified from personal experience, writers are encouraged to "depart the donnée"—the given—and fictionalize. This means using personal insights as a springboard to create new characters, situations, and plots. The most valuable offering a writer has is their unique vision, rooted in their direct experience of being human.

3. Mastering Your Creative Process: Space, Time, and Rituals

In order to create art works of any worth, each artist must have something to say, some values, some attitudes, some store of experience — a vision.

Optimize your environment. Understanding one's individual creative process is crucial for consistent output. This involves solving the "Space-Time Conundrum": identifying when and where you work best. Whether it's early mornings, late nights, a bustling coffee shop, or a quiet rural retreat, finding and cultivating your "magic place of all places" can significantly boost productivity and creative flow.

Cultivate supportive rituals. Small, self-devised rituals can help dispel doubts and fears, fostering a conducive mental state for writing. These might include sharpening pencils, making a specific beverage, or listening to certain music. The key is to find what works for you and your muse, creating a consistent routine that signals to your brain it's time to create.

Embrace imperfection, just do it. Writer's block is often a symptom of exhaustion or perfectionism. It's vital to prioritize self-care—eating well, getting enough sleep, and taking breaks. Remember that "the first draft of anything is shit," and that "perfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead." Trust the process, make mistakes, and allow your unconscious mind to work on problems, knowing that consistent effort, even in small increments, will eventually lead to materialization.

4. Screenplays as Patterns of Human Change: Surface & Deep Action

Simply defined, action is human change.

Story is dynamic change. At its core, a screenplay is a "film unfolding on paper," a story told in scenes to be seen. The most useful definition of story is a "pattern of human change." This change can be subtle or grand, but it must be significant, making a difference in the character's life. If a story doesn't answer "How is this day different from any other?", it risks eliciting the dreaded "So what?" from the audience.

Dual layers of action. Every compelling story operates on two levels: surface action and deep action. Surface action refers to the external pattern of change—the visible events and plot points. Deep action, also known as the character arc, is the internal pattern of change occurring within the character in response to these external events. The best screenplays interweave these two, showing how external circumstances force internal transformation.

Small is often better. For short screenplays, "smaller is better." Instead of trying to cram a feature-length plot into a few pages, focus on a simple yet meaningful pattern of human change. This allows important moments to "breathe," preventing "narrative cram" and ensuring that every event, however subtle, resonates deeply with the character and, by extension, the audience.

5. Crafting Moments of Change: Discoveries and Decisions

When you can finally let go, it’s tough turning back.

Pearls in the oyster. Scenes are the "bonework" of drama, and within each scene lies a "pearl"—a precise moment of change that serves as the scene's reason for being. These "moments of moment" create momentum, driving the story forward. The most frequent types of these pivotal moments are discoveries (learning, finding out, realizing) and decisions (making a choice).

The dance of change. Life and drama are a complex, interconnected dance of discovery, deliberation, decision, and doing. A discovery often precipitates a deliberation, leading to a decision, which then results in action or "doing." This dynamic interplay creates the emotional rhythm of a story, ensuring that events are not isolated but flow logically and emotionally from one to the next.

Zigzagging for richness. A scene without change is a "dead scene." The best scenes, like the famous "flower vendor" scene in City Lights, contain multiple "pearls"—numerous discoveries and decisions that create tiny reversals or "zigzags." This micro-plotting reflects psychological reality, where hopes and fears alternate, and situations can change drastically, keeping the audience engaged and creating suspense.

6. The Dynamic Duo: Conflict and Connection

Rooted in the same Latin prefix (con—together), conflict (from the Latin confligere—to clash or strike together) and connection (from the Latin connectere—to bind or tie together) are complementary forces.

Conflict as a byproduct. Conflict is not the starting point of drama; rather, drama is the starting point of conflict. It arises when a character's strong "want" (will, desire, intention) meets an obstacle. This clash, whether internal or external, creates dramatic tension. The most compelling conflicts often involve two wills at war, where one character wants something badly that another character does not want to give—a "boxing match."

Connection as sustenance. Just as essential as conflict, human connection is the "substance of story." Moments of connection, however fleeting or improbable, create ties between characters and provide profound emotional power. These are moments "that create ties between us," fostering shared understanding, humanity, and communion. The best stories weave both conflict and connection, recognizing them as complementary forces, like yin and yang, that form the "double helix of drama."

Improbable but plausible. Crafting an "improbable connection" involves establishing initial disconnection or even revulsion between characters, then gradually building a believable bond through a series of "connection beats"—discoveries and decisions that bring them closer. This process requires emotional realism, showing how characters overcome assumptions and find common ground, leading to a profound shift in their inner landscapes.

7. Bringing Characters to Life: The Art of Incarnation

Screenwriting is an incarnational art (from the Latin incarnare, which means “make flesh”).

Beyond the cliché. Creating dimensionalized, complex, and compelling characters is the heart of screenwriting. Shallowly drawn or generic characters reveal little about themselves but much about the artist. It's an artistic and ethical imperative to avoid clichés and stereotypes, as they can perpetuate prejudice and limit the story's emotional depth.

Observe and listen. To "make flesh" your characters, hone your powers of observation. "People Watching" involves closely observing appearance and behavior for telling details that reveal inner life. "People Listening" focuses on unique vocabulary, cadence, and dialogue that intentionally or unintentionally reveal character and story. Research, especially direct engagement with real people, can provide invaluable insights and details for characters unlike yourself.

The "I Want" speech. Understanding what a character wants or yearns for is key to knowing their "heart." The "I Want" speech, where a character articulates their deepest desire, can be a powerful tool for character development, even if it doesn't appear verbatim in the final script. Additionally, a "3-D I.D."—a brief, vivid description of what the character looks like, how the world perceives them, and how they perceive themselves—can bring a character to life on the page from their first appearance.

8. The Power of Subtraction: Writing Economically

What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?

Less is more. In screenwriting, especially for short films, the art of subtraction is paramount. "Narrative cram"—trying to pack too many big events into too few pages—suffocates important moments and makes nothing seem to matter. The goal is to tell a small story that makes a big difference, focusing on the most essential elements.

Hit scenes late, leave early. Unlike plays, screenplays leverage the "story leap," moving effortlessly from one significant moment to the next, leaving out the "boring stuff." This means hitting scenes late, just as the dramatic action is beginning, and leaving them early, once the dramatic purpose is served. This technique, exemplified by films like Kosher, creates a fast-paced, fluid narrative that keeps the audience engaged.

Visual storytelling first. Film is a visual medium. Instead of relying on exposition or lengthy dialogue, strive to convey information and emotion through images and action. A picture can speak a thousand words, and a character's nonverbal reaction is often more powerful than dialogue. Every word in the narrative description and every line of dialogue should work hard, contributing to the story's visual and emotional impact.

9. Dialogue That Travels: Beyond the Obvious

Really good dialogue “says it without saying it.”

Dialogue as music. Good dialogue possesses rhythm, pace, crescendos, and rests, much like music. It avoids monotony by varying sentence length and incorporating natural speech patterns like interruptions, fragments, and pauses ("beats"). While some emphasis can be conveyed through capitalization or parentheticals, overuse can pull the reader out of the story.

Subtext is key. The power of dialogue often lies not just in what is said (the text), but in what is implied or felt underneath (the subtext). This "dye marker" approach allows the audience to actively participate in deciphering meaning, creating a deeper connection. Instead of characters explicitly stating their emotions or intentions, their words should hint at deeper feelings, motivations, and relationships.

Listen and learn. While some writers have a natural gift for dialogue, this skill can be honed through diligent practice. "People Listening" involves paying close attention to how real people talk—their unique vocabularies, cadences, and the telling lines that reveal character and story. Reading plays and screenplays by master dialogists like Clifford Odets, Nora Ephron, or Quentin Tarantino can also provide invaluable inspiration and instruction.

10. Screenwriting is Rewriting: Embrace the Process

Revision, Kurt Vonnegut reminds us, “can make a fool look like a genius.”

The iterative nature of craft. Screenwriting is fundamentally rewriting. The first draft is merely a starting point, a "shitty first draft" as some call it. The true work lies in successive revisions, where the writer refines, cuts, adds, and reshapes the material. This iterative process, often involving numerous drafts, is essential for transforming a raw idea into a polished, compelling screenplay.

Seek constructive feedback. Getting responses from trusted readers—those who care about your work and future—is crucial. Focus on feedback that identifies what's working, what's unclear, and where the emotional flow might be broken. Listen for consensus among critics, but ultimately, filter all suggestions through your own creative vision. Setting the script aside before rewriting allows for fresh perspective and lets the "elves" (unconscious mind) work.

Clarify the core. During rewriting, it's easy to lose focus. A powerful technique is to define the "deep subject" or theme of your screenplay in a single word. Additionally, clearly articulating your "surface action" (external plot) and "deep action" (character arc) in concise sentences serves as a compass, keeping your story on track. Every scene should, on some level, serve this core purpose, ensuring coherence and resonance.

Last updated: August 14, 2025