When I decided to become a screenwriter I did two things – took a weekend workshop with Syd Field, and followed that with a ten-week, one night a week workshop Syd offered at his home. The weekend workshop taught me the basics; the ten-week workshop allowed me to put those basics to use.
There it is. The blank page. Or screen. It’s perfect, pristine, shimmering with possibilities. You want the words you impart on this perfect canvas to be worthy. To flow with lyrical, righteous, and passionate… stuff. No, scratch that, not ‘stuff’ – it must be classic Oscar, Emmy, Tony award winning scriptness. Wait. What? ‘Scriptness?’ And now it’s ruined. The blank page, which was once so full of hope, is now ruined. Crumple paper, or delete, delete, delete. Time for coffee.
One of the most valuable “oh, I get it!” moments studying with screenwriting mentor, Syd Field, was the first time Syd spoke about his groundbreaking Paradigm. More specifically – Syd stated that the first thing needed to begin was to know the end. As a young writer, this was a bit of a surprise.
