It’s an often repeated cliché, but it’s true “You learn something new every day.” In the case of Wired Wednesday, I was taught some vital information that had previously not come my way.

As a comic producer, script assessment is a big part of what I do- I look at people’s scripts and assess both how the visuals will work and the economy of the speech. There is never a lot of room for eloquent speeches in a comic and so everything needs to be sharp.

The Wired Wednesday script writing course used excellent set texts to introduce everyone to the key part of scriptwriting- structure. Regardless of whether it’s a coming of age story or an epic fantasy quest, there is always a beginning, a middle and an end (though, as Jean-Luc Godard, put it, not necessarily in that order.)

At the heart of any story, you should ask yourself the following

- What do my characters want?
- How do I express that?

I think it’s pretty much “as simple” as that. The argument of whether character or plot is more important is non-existent as both come from structure. If the events in the characters life are “believable” and fit with the character, then the audience will go along with it. Likewise, if the characters are believable, we will appreciate their actions are true to what they intend to do. That’s not to say our characters can’t be flawed or surprise us, but they must do so in a way that’s “unexpected but inevitable” (a good example of this is The Usual Suspects).

To illustrate this, I will take an example from Reynard City. AK Girl is a superhero whose powers come from her mind. Her weakness is caramel and that causes her to inflate.

Now, in terms of real life, this idea is ludicrous. On the other hand, light-sabers, time travel and bumping into movie stars in the middle of Notting Hill are pretty ludicrous ideas as well.

However, I’ve now established a rule in my story for me and my writers to follow. So, if at any point in the story AK Girl comes into contact with caramel, her body must inflate. This is now a rule in my universe.

If at any point she doesn’t inflate on contact with caramel, I need to have a good explanation, or essentially I’ve cheated my audience. A convention has been established, and to break it violates my silent agreement.

Now, I can’t just leave it at her having a funny weakness. So, how does she get
out of it? Those who were paying attention would have spotted the use of the word “psychic”. AK Girl can break the blimping and restore herself to normal by focusing her mind (the idea behind it being based on the holistic theory of the mind affecting the body.)

Once overcome, AK Girl goes on to defeat the bad guys and save the day. There may be a moral lesson in there as well (I admit early 90’s cartoons were an influence,) but the most important thing is the structure- a roller coaster is perfectly safe, but there must always be the illusion of danger.

I could go into more detail (though Robert McKee and Christopher Vogler do it better,) but this course was a great introduction to these concepts. Many years’ worth of narrative research was condensed into a couple of hours, and taught with great aplomb by Keith Tutt of Red Fox Productions.

The other side of it, and one I benefited from a great deal, was the art of presenting and promoting scripted work. I had not realised the amount of detail that has to go into the presentation of a script, nor realised the importance of the various stages involved (synopsis, outline, treatment etc).

This information was precious to me, and has meant I have been able to promote my own work more effectively. In short, if you wish to progress as a creative professional, I would highly recommend this course.

By Will Turner

Will Turner is a writer/producer for Polycomical Studios. Their first comic Reynard City is available via www.reynardcity.co.uk (where there are also contact details for interested writers/artists)