A system revealed one step at a time

You can't learn screenwriting by reading about screenwriting. It's why books are so ineffective at taking you through the process. Books are best used as reference material — jump to the section you need when you need it. You can only learn by writing. By physically DOING the job.

Writing is an experiential process. You formulate ideas, you write them down, you polish them up. It requires action. Taking that action is a phyiscal experience. To truly experience the process of writing, you must physically do it.

An experience is an event that leaves an impression on you. Acquiring experience means gathering knowledge or skill over a period of time. You don't gain experience in one sitting — by definition it must unfold. It must be revealed.

That's why this system is revealed one step at a time.

 

Reveals create epiphanies, which create emotion

One of the most powerful lessons in screenwriting is the art of the reveal.

A "reveal" is when a piece of information not previously known is shown to the audience.

A reveal is the essence of EXPERIENCE. In life, we don't know what's coming. As we move through our day, the moments that affect us the most — the experiences we remember — are those moments that were revealed to us.

In screenwriting, we use the Reveal to surprise and engage the audience. If an audience is connected to your story and eager to see where it's going, a Reveal adds a whole new layer of meaning to what's already happened and to what's yet to come. These are the moments that give your screenplay its emotional power.

A well-designed reveal — one that is natural and organic to the story — can give the audience an epiphany. An epiphany is that "aha" moment of insight which snaps something into place, or opens up a whole new area of conflict, or reveals a deeper layer of meaning.

A genuine epiphany causes an emotional reaction in the audience that delivers a pleasure response in the brain. It becomes an EXPERIENCE the audience will always remember.

 

Don't be a storyteller. Be a story revealer.

To be a great screenwriter, you need to design reveals into your story. As you take the audience on a journey through your movie, you can delight them with moments of happy surprise — deliberately and by design. You can scare them with moments of unexpected horror. You can get their adrenaline pumping by revealing a moment of suspense.

It's such an important concept, you might even consider thinking of yourself not as a storyteller, but as a story revealer.

Don't just tell your story — "This event happens, then that event happens, then the other event happens."

Instead, reveal it! Take your audience along for the ride, and then dazzle, delight and entertain them by revealing powerful story moments at just the right time.

 

Reading is mental, experience is visceral

The art of the reveal is a great concept — essential for any screenwriter to understand. But like any great concept, it's much more powerful if you experience it.

Think of the last time you saw a movie that made you jump out of your seat. Or the last time a movie's twist was so powerful, you gasped audibly.

Experience is visceral. Experience is what locks a memory into place in your mind.

That's why FAST Screenplay is designed as a reveal. You'll only get one step at a time. Do today's step and don't worry about what's coming tomorrow. When it's revealed, if you've done the steps leading up to it, each subsequent step has the power to surprise, delight and inspire you.

The epiphanies you'll have along the way will connect you emotionally to the art and craft of screenwriting. Plus, they'll help you EXPERIENCE how "reveals" work, enabling you to create them in your own work.

By designing FAST as a reveal, the experience becomes a part of you, ensuring that you'll master the craft every time you use it.

 

Focus on the now

The other great power of the reveal is that it keeps you in the present moment.

If you were to read the last page of a book, you would know how it ends. If you then started from the beginning, it would change your understanding of everything along the way. Books (and movies) are designed to be read in the order of their design. The writer places each moment carefully to deliver a complete experience to the reader.

In FAST Screenplay, each step builds on everything that came before, and sets up everything that comes later. If, for example, you were to read the Payoff Phase before doing the Focus Phase, it would change how you do the Focus Phase. You would skip things that seemed irrelevent to your story, or ignore things you thought you already knew. You would miss moments in the Strengthen or Tweak phases that build upon the experience you were supposed to have in the Focus Phase.

Screenwriting is a big, complex craft of subtlety and nuance. You can't master the whole thing in one sitting — it would be overwhelming to even try. So we focus on one step at a time. Focus on today. Focus on NOW. Focus on this one step, and focus on it completely. When you do, the reveals of the system will cause epiphanies that etch the experience into your mind.

Once you've mastered the process one step at a time, you'll be ready to move through it more fluidly. And that's the greatest reveal of all.