Styles and Genre
May 12th, 2010
I’ve recently understood my style and genre of writing – drama. I think I always knew it deep down inside but I’ve had to accept it. I wanted so badly to write an action flick with all the explosions and one liners but alas… it is not my specialty. Car chases and fight scenes struggle to write themselves on the page. I’m not saying that I can’t write an action flick but it doesn’t flow out of me like a dramatic piece with lots of subtext dialogue.
I wondered… why? What makes me so much better at drama?
Experience. Write what you know.
Growing up I had nothing but dramatic subtext dialogue thrown at me from every side. Not to mention, my whole life is a self-discovery self-mastery adventure psychoanalyzing myself and the journey. Makes sense why I’d right great character driven stories. It’s what I know. It’s what my whole life experience has been about so far.
Maybe if I go on some crazy action seeking adventure then I’d come back with a hell of an action sequence. It’s a thought.
The point I’m getting at is how powerful the writer’s own experiences are. Don’t discount them. I’ve had countless people in the business tell me – write what you know. I just never thought that would be the psychological interaction between people. I heard that and thought about my countless jobs. Thankfully, I’ve seen the forest through the trees and have realized it’s my personal self and relationships that I know.
Some things are so simple. It’s just getting out of your head and seeing the forest from the trees.
Filed under: screenwriting