Thread by @davidwappel

Another little screenwriting thread:

My car is in the shop, so while I'm waiting, and thinking about writing, I thought I'd share some thoughts about "pre-existing relationships" & their value

I was talking about this last week at a writer's retreat, and didn't get to dig in as much as I'd like, so I'm gonna dig in now, and we'll see what comes up. This is off the top of my head, so jump in and let me know your thoughts. Anyway here we go:

First of all, what do I mean by a pre-existing relationship?

Simply put, they knew each other before the point at which we meet them.

This can be to varying degrees:

- had been married for fifteen years when they were younger

- went to the same high school and kinda remember each other

- a bartender and a regular that recognize each other

It’s not the quality of the relationship that I want to discuss, but simply the utility of having something already there.

Here are some of the benefits:

1) avoid awkward intros
2) give a sense of a lived in world
3) more natural exposition
4) audience intrigue
5) a place to draw from

There are probably more, but we'll start there.

I'll go through each one below.

1) There are instances where you want characters to introduce themselves to each other. Good screenwriters make a point of making these interesting, but in the real world they are often not. And sometimes, you don’t want to draw attention to these intros, but they have to happen-

-because people don’t just start speaking to others without first giving some context of themselves. If these characters already know each other, you don’t have to do that.

2) Characters that know each other give a sense of a world that’s lived in. The difference between a character walking in to a diner and saying, “I’ll have a cherry pie. Extra whip cream” and that same character saying, “The usual” (and recieving cherry pie w/ extra whip cream)

It gives the sense they’ve been there before, many times. And the server understands what “the usual” means, which means that, to some degree, they know each other. The world feels lived in.

3) Characters that already know each other are able to give exposition in ways that could otherwise be difficult, especially early on when they’re reconnecting for the purposes of this story. Here's an example:

Chief: Meet your new partner.
A: Actually, we went to high school together.
B: Yeah I copied off his paper so many times. Dude, I never thought I’d see you after graduation.
A: I never thought I’d see you at graduation.

Instead of having to establish the dynamic of these characters during an introduction, we learn a history and see an example of how they interact, and a glimpse into how they perceive the other.

4) One of the things that a pre-existing relationship can help with is creating audience intrigue, especially if the relationship is charged in some way. Here are two examples:

Example #1

A is a bartender, smiling/chatting up the regulars bellied up to the bar. B walks in.

A: Welcome. What can I get for you?

B: Actually, I’m here to ask you about…

Example #2

A is a bartender, smiling/chatting up the regulars bellied up to the bar. B walks in.

A drops their smile immediately.

A: No way. You get the hell out of here right now.

B: I can’t, I’m here ask you about…

The pre-existing relationship, tenuous as it might be, adds another layer of depth to this scene, and the audience is not only wondering about the scene, but what happened in the past that caused A to react that way.

5) An additional benefit is that you have a seemingly endless well to draw from if you’re hitting a wall somewhere. If these characters’ relationship extends into the past beyond the scope of what we’re currently seeing, all of that is fair game. “It’s like that time we did x…”

“It’s like that time we did x…”

“You’ve changed. I remember when you were just a…”

"I never understood why you loved your brother, but now..."

These things can reveal character, signal growth, spark plot points, etc. They are something to draw from.

To be clear, in everything above I'm NOT SAYING

pre-existing relationships > new relationships

All I'm saying is that sometimes there is a utility and benefit to have characters already know each other, even if it seems that it's not crucial to the plot, story, scene, etc. It's another tool to in your screenwriting toolbelt. Use it however you wish.

I'm always happy to hear thoughts, reactions, rebuttals, additions, etc, so feel free to share them.

And if this helped you in any way, please retweet. It might help another too.

Thanks for reading!