One of the hardest skills for any writer to learn is how to write clean, simple stories. Why? Well, as the writer, you know everything about these characters and why they do the things they do. You know what a character had for their sixth birthday and when they had their first kiss. However, the reader doesn’t live in your brain and needs to somehow glean all this information from what is on the page and then, somehow, keep it all straight in her head. So your job as a writer is to get all the necessary information across to the reader in a way that doesn’t overwhelm her. For example, even if you are writing a crazy action story where there are a ton of plot twists, sub-plots and macguffins, it still needs to be written so cleanly that the reader not only knows what is going on but also remembers it so he can turn around and pitch it to his boss.
Here are my five tips to writing clean stories:
• Cut or combine unnecessary characters. Unless you are writing The Wire (and even then not every character was in every show), not every character needs to be in the script. Cut or combine unnecessary characters so you can focus on the characters that do matter. For example, in any good action movie – there is always a side kick character or the best friend. I have read many scripts that have two or three best friends, but you only need one.
• It’s not about the number of plot twists. It’s about how good they are. Often I will read a script where a writer will try to throw in as many plot twists as he can — regardless of the quality of them. I would rather you pick three great plot twists than five mediocre ones.
• Trim down the number of sub-plots.Sure it’s great to have a B and C story for your secondary characters but not every character needs to have one. It’s far more important that you pick a few good ones that tie into the overall story than have cut extraneous sub-plots that aren’t adding to your overall story.
• Don’t be afraid to kill your babies. I know this sounds harsh and sometimes you just are desperate to keep that great line of dialogue or that amazing scene but if it is not moving your story forward — cut it. Trust me, I have read so many scripts that were longer than they needed to be because the writer couldn’t bear to trim any of his own writing. The best writers are the ones who aren’t precious with their writing and can cut whatever is unneeded. (By the way, you never need any dialogue lines like “Hi” or “Good-bye” or “Really?”) Besides, if it is a great line or scene — you can always use it for your next script!
• Every name should be different. I know this sounds silly but I have read many, many scripts where all the names sound similar. For example, in one script there was a Caitlin, a Cameron and a Connor. Sure all these names sound different but when you are reading a script and all the characters are in the same scene it can get confusing. Pick names that look and sound different.
Just remember, the cleaner the script, the easier to read and the easier to remember!
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