How to Write a Screenplay

STORYTELLING SUMMARY

In storytelling, you build up to a change, a revelation, an epiphany.  In Hollywood movies, the protagonist usually changes and grows.  That growth is necessary for the character’s ultimate success and vicariously experiencing that growth is part of the enjoyment of watching the movie; we get to watch a character move from Point A to Point P, or Z.  

Consider a movie like Citizen Kane.  Charles Foster Kane obviously changes throughout the story.  He does not however have a typical character arc, as we are used to in Hollywood movies.  For instance, he doesn’t grow and get the girl.  He doesn’t overcome his personal demons to get the one “thing” that he has always wanted.  However, the storytelling works on the audience in the exact same way.  Maybe the character does not enjoy the epiphany and a change of understanding, but the audience does. 

When we finally learn the meaning of the word “Rosebud” at the end of the movie, we are immediately struck with the epiphany.  Our understanding of the entire movie and character changes.   This change is very satisfying. In this classic narrative, a great storyteller deftly breaks the rules of traditional Hollywood storytelling, yet still exploiting what works at the story’s most basic level: surprise and change that culminate in meaning. 

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