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So far in this column we've been knocking down the Seven Myths of Screenwriting. To date we've exploded the first two Myths: 1)You Got It or You Don't, the myth that screenwriting talent is God-given and fully formed (it isn't.) And 2) You Don't Have to Rewrite (if you nailed the first draft.) (You do.)
Now we'll turn from the view you the writer have of yourself to the view you have of what's on the page: Myth #3 of Screenwriting is... You're Creating Art.
I'm not going to address the question of whether screenplays qualify as art or literature. Well, okay, I will briefly: There may be some screenplays that qualify as Art, but they are so few and precious that they're not too useful to talk about (other than when we admire them.) As for the question of whether or not screenplays are literature, let me supply you with a resounding and categorical "no." The explanation for this pronouncement will be supplied in a future column, I promise.
But these questions are really beside the point. Because we're talking about the way you, the screenwriter, regard your own work. And a lot of you, I know from experience, are under the impression that you're creating art (now this isn't to say that you go around ANNOUNCING that this is what you're creating; I'm talking about what you feel in your innermost soul.)
"But Stephen," you're thinking, "even if this isn't what I'm creating, shouldn't it be what I'm going for? After all, aim for the stars, reach beyond your grasp, all that stuff, doesn't that apply?" Well, no, and here's why: When you believe you're creating art, or that you should be, or that art is the end result, you're also creating, albeit unconsciously, something else. You're imbuing your writing with a layer of specialness, of higher worth, of being precious. But why is this bad? It's bad because you're building a wall around your work. You are (again, unconsciously) telling yourself that, since what you're aiming for is art, it's also to some degree immune to criticism. Your writing is a product of your heart, your mind, your soul. So any criticism of your work is also a criticism of you, your very being.
In short, thinking of your work as art makes all criticism personal, and therefore harder to take to heart and implement. But the only way for you to improve as a writer is to be completely open to criticism, to attempt to be objective about your work, to be able to tear down large parts (or all) of your creation and start over.
Before I tell you how you SHOULD think of your writing (that will be in two weeks) next week I'll tell you another way NOT to think of it. In the meantime, get over any illusions you have that you're making art. Doing so will not only help you to grow as a screenwriter, it will also make criticism a lot easier to handle. |
