Thread by @thomasjbevan1

//THREAD\\

In which we discuss the 10 #writingtips of Billy Wilder

(Arguably the greatest screenwriter and director of all time)

Essential knowledge for any #writer

CC
@Edlatimore @informichael @SamuelThews
@Integralstory @TYGRproductions

To begin with

A little context for those who don’t know

Billy Wilder was one of the greatest filmmakers of the Golden Age of Hollywood

He’s the man behind ‘The Apartment’ ‘Sunset Boulevard’ ‘Double Indemnity’ ‘Some Like it Hot’& many more

Watch them all if you haven’t

Wilder won 6 Oscars and directed 13 Oscar nominated performances.

But he never wanted to become a director.

He only did so because he ‘just wanted to protect his scripts.’

So the man was a serious #writer

And someone worth listening to.

Fortunately for us…

At the age of 93 Wilder was interviewed by Cameron Crowe

(The director of ‘Almost Famous’)

In which Wilder laid down his list of 10 rules of powerful storytelling.

I’ll give you the full list and then break them down one by one...

Tips from Billy Wilder
1/ The audience is fickle
2/ Grab 'em by the throat & never let 'em go
3/ Develop a clean line of action for your lead character
4/ Know where you're going
5/ The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer

6/ If you have a problem with the 3rd act, the real problem is in the first act.
7/ A tip from Lubitsch: let the audience add up two plus two. They'll love you forever
8/ In doing voice-overs be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they're seeing

9/The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie

10/ The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then- that's it. Don't hang around.

Let's get to it...

1/ The Audience Is Fickle

Don’t chase trends. You'll never give the audience what you *think* they want

It's much better off if you follow yr gut & write the story that fascinates &obsesses *you*

Tell it right, do it with heart and the audience will be won over anyway.

2/ grab 'em by the throat and never let 'em go

Don’t waste time at the beginning. Gain the audiences attention.

We remember the beginning & end of stories the most.

So start strong.

Drip-feed exposition later if needed

Don’t waste time clearing your throat

3/ develop a clean line of action for yr lead character

Refers to what screenwriters call ‘motivation’

What's the lead characters objective& plan for attaining it?

The arc of their story needs to be clear otherwise why would the audience care about what happns to them?

4/ Know Where You're Going

This links to the point above

If characters seem to forget what they are doing, then the audience probably will too

You need to have the structure of the story mapped out in advance

(People who just improvise are either dilettantes or geniuses...

...I don’t know about you, but I’m probably not a genius)

Remember Chekhov’s Gun:

'If you say in the 1st chapter that there's a rifle hanging on the wall, in the 2nd or 3rd chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there

5/ The More Subtle and Elegant You are in Hiding Yr Plot Points, the Better You Are As A Writer

All art is the concealment of a greater art

Like a sculpture u need the foundation of a solid armature that remains unseen

The story should unfold with an air of inevitability

By the end it should be that it could not have gone any other way. But the audience is still somehow a little surprised.

This is a difficult feat but it should be the one overarching aim.

A lot of the work must be invisible. This requires humility.

6/ If You Have a Problem with the 3rd act, The Real Problem is in The First Act.

This catches a lot of people out.

The 3rd act is the resolution where the characters arcs conclude.

It requires a strong foundation in act 1 & 2. Especially 1

(Again, Chekhov’s Gun)...

Failure to do this will make the ending feel tacked-on and unsatisfying

(Remember, that audiences remember the start and the end most of all)

7/ Let the Audience Add Up Two Plus Two. They’ll love you for it.

Don’t spoonfeed everything to the audience.

Treat them as if they have at least a little bit of intelligence and can remember something you told them a few scenes ago...

The satisfaction of solving a (simple) puzzle in a story is immensely satisfying.

This is why Christopher Nolan is so successful.

8/ “In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing”

A bit film-specific, this

But for our purposes- this comes down to ‘show, don’t tell.’

Don’t just tell me what a room looks like, show me the sensory details...

Show the audience the sensory details of the room in such a way that they can both picture the room and also grasp what kind of person occupies it.

This is what makes your story immersive.

9/ “The Event that Occurs at the Second Act Curtain Triggers the End of the Movie.”

The middle of the story is where things can often get baggy and plod towards a conclusion.

A critical event is needed, a dramatic catalyst to ‘grab them by the throat’ once more...

You need to finish strong, which means you need to start building up momentum before the finish line is in sight.

Which leads us to…

10/ “The 3rd act must build, build, in tempo and action until the last event, and then — that’s it. Don’t hang around

You only need *1* ending not multiple weak endings as often happens in novice stories

Hit them with the finale, conclude everything you want to say& walk away

So there we have it.

I hope this has been helpful to you. (RT if it has)

S/O to

@SamuelSThorp
@KathrynHoliday
@SamuelThews
@Sociopathlete
@BillyRedHorse
@drbabelovelife
@MattheWrite

@threadreaderapp unroll