This mini-lesson from Lawrence Turman is from his 2005 book So You Want to be a Producer. Turman has produced over 40 films including The Graduate. At 93 he’s still professor and chair of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC Cinematic Arts:
“The great Ernest Lehman began writing for New York press agents, and then moved on to short stories, one of which he sold to Hollywood, starting his movie career; the classic North by Northwest was his original. He gave me a important touchstone about script development: ‘Each scene should be an arrow into the next scene.’
“Think about that, and then think about it some more, and it will make great sense. Here’s the best example I know of: Three friends are having a heated discussion, which leads to an argument, during which one pulls a knife, stabs another, and then flees. That’s pretty damn dramatic, right? Wrong. It’s theatrical. But what would make the scene a dramatic arrow into the next scene would be for the remaining person, after the stabbing, to say, ‘I’m going to get that son of a bitch if it’s the last thing I do.’ Now people are leaning forward in their seats, saying, ‘Whoa. What’s he going to do? How’s he going to get him? What’s going to happen Next?’”
—Lawrence Turman
P.S. Here’s an interview at Columbia College Hollywood where Turman talks about why they cut a scene from The Graduate that they’d shot at a great expense. (Followed by the scene itself.)
Scott W. Smith, author of Screenwriting with Brass Knuckles
I think you mean “flees”. And “it” not “ir”
Indeed. Corrections made. Thanks. Pesky fleas and typos.
Hi Scott,
I’ve followed your blog for several years and now I’m the proud owner of Screenwriting with Brass Knuckles, Book 1!
Susan
Thanks Susan. Always open to suggestions to make the book better.