{"id":311,"date":"2011-07-19T13:38:29","date_gmt":"2011-07-19T13:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/?p=311"},"modified":"2024-12-09T18:12:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T18:12:13","slug":"dont-get-stuck-on-an-unresolved-plot-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/dont-get-stuck-on-an-unresolved-plot-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Get Stuck on an Unresolved Plot Point"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writers\u2019 Block — It\u2019s a killer<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve all been there, happily tapping away at the keyboard at our latest and greatest movie script<\/a> in a creative stream of consciousness when suddenly we reach a dead end. A brick wall faces us and we have nowhere to turn.\u00a0 We try idea after idea but nothing makes any sense.\u00a0 We start to get frustrated but can\u2019t give up because it\u2019s such an important scene.\u00a0 Damn!\u00a0 We have<\/span> to solve this.\u00a0 The pressure mounts.\u00a0 And mounts..\u00a0 But nothing.\u00a0 Nada.\u00a0 Zip.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat am I gonna do?!\u201d<\/em> we think or perhaps exclaim out loud.<\/p>\n

The whole script hinges on this particular plot point or piece of dialogue. If we can\u2019t solve this we might as well trash the script.\u00a0 Oh my God, I\u2019m never gonna get that friggin\u2019 Oscar! Okay, okay, calm down. Really, dude.\u00a0 Take a breath.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that bad.\u00a0 There is a solution.\u00a0 All hope is not lost.. even though it may feel like it.<\/p>\n

So, the solution.. what is it?\u00a0 Simple. Actually, there are three:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s right, folks, sometimes we get so caught up in the moment and our own self-imposed frustration that our mind ceases up and can\u2019t process clearly.\u00a0 The best thing to do in those situations is to take a break and do something else.\u00a0 The script\u2019s still going to be there when you get back.\u00a0 I usually make myself a coffee and watch some TV.\u00a0 Other times I take out the trash or put the washing on.\u00a0 Whatever.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 It\u2019s simply the fact that you focus your mind on something other than writing for a while and this unclogs everything and gets the creative juices flowing again.<\/p>\n

It works.\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 Been there, done that.\u00a0 In fact, most of my best creative writing<\/a> ideas have come away from the computer.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same principle as setting yourself a problem to solve as your head hits the pillow at night and then waking up the next morning with a clear head and 90% of the time a solution.\u00a0 Somehow our subconscious brains keep on working behind the scenes and help us out.<\/p>\n

2. MOVE ON TO ANOTHER SCENE<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s right.\u00a0 If you can’t figure out the solution just move on to the next scene or rewrite an earlier scene.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same principle yet again. By doing this you will be opening your mind to new ideas which will undoubtedly present themselves once you have disengaged from the stumbling block in question.\u00a0 Sometimes focusing on another issue is the answer. Sometimes you may not get an answer right away but don\u2019t stress yourself out by creating even more pressure, that\u2019s just counterproductive.<\/p>\n

3. REWRITE THE SCENE FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE<\/h3>\n

Your third option is to rewind a few pages and then attack the troublesome scene from a new angle.\u00a0 If the hero in the original draft jumps into his car and goes to the bank in order to confront his adulterous wife, maybe he is forced to take the bus because his car won\u2019t start.\u00a0 Maybe he has an accident on the way and ends up in the emergency ward.\u00a0 Maybe he gets to the bank and she\u2019s not there.\u00a0 You see where I\u2019m going here?\u00a0 All of these ideas will give you new avenues to explore and whether or not they will end up in the final screenplay is not the point, it\u2019s the process that is important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writers\u2019 Block — It\u2019s a killer We\u2019ve all been there, happily tapping away at the keyboard at our latest and greatest movie script in a creative stream of consciousness when suddenly we reach a dead end. A brick wall faces us and we have nowhere to turn.\u00a0 We try idea after idea but nothing makes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[23,123,91,102,122,124,125,126],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dan-bronzites-script-tips","tag-creative-writing","tag-movie-plot","tag-movie-script","tag-plot","tag-plot-point","tag-script-plot","tag-storyline","tag-writers-block"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":679,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}