Screenwriting advice from Greta Gerwig
Director Greta Gerwig finds herself in a coveted position as one of Hollywood's leading female writers and directors. In 2017, she released her first work of independent director and screenwriter "Miss Bird", which occupied the year-end lists of many media. The film brings together some of Hollywood's most promising young stars such as Saoirse Ronan, Timothy Chalamet, Lucas Hedges, as well as Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Lay Ci and other small screen senior actors, jointly presented an autobiographical chronicle of the growth of young girls. "There's one thing that I find super awesome as an artist -- it requires everyone to work together and really be storytellers," Gerwig said. "That's what I love about movies."
Greta Gerwig played a little bit in high school and considered herself a part of the theater in college. She originally intended to be a playwright, but was rejected by the screenwriting MFA program she applied for. She switched to acting, and started making movies with friends — ultra-low-budget, improvised scripts (mostly literary, these types of movies emphasize dialogue over plot, often focusing on 20s and 30s multi-year-old personal relationships), everyone involved in every aspect of the production—it was her first steps in the indie world and the munblecore movement that would later make her known.
Language should be natural and unpretentious
Although she grew up in the "mumblecore" genre films, which often used improvisation, Greta's script was actually very fixed and sounded just improvisation. For her, it's using her impulse to improvise to write dialogue that doesn't sound like it's written on purpose. She said, "I like mundane but poetic language, words that the characters don't find beauty in themselves. I worked hard to write lines like that when I was working with Noah Baumbach, and I still do. I like beautiful and natural language, neither deliberate nor contrived."
Take the time to prepare
She has always wanted to direct independently, but wanted to spend time honing her writing skills through writing projects and productions.
The structure of the story is embedded in life
She talked about the idea of using familiar type structures, but embedding them into more original stories and characters.
you have to take a big step
Taking this step, whether as a director or a writer, will be the most important step in forcing you to learn quickly. As Greta talks about other aspects of her journey, it's critical for anyone looking to find ways to learn and motivate themselves.
Do not judge and deny your own work
When asked about writing advice for young screenwriters, Greta starts by suggesting as much writing as possible. Beyond that, she points out that screenwriters shouldn't be the only judges of their own work, and should send drafts to friends and peers to hear what they have to say.
listen to your role
A key point of this discussion is the writing process. Greta made a startling comparison of how actors approach their performances by listening to their characters, and she thinks screenwriters can do the same.
Treat each character like they could all make a movie on their own
Whether she's talking about making the actors feel that way or writing each character this way, the clear message is, yes, your character, even a supporting cast, should be developed and written in this way: Each character can have its own story. When you do, all of your characters look worthy of whatever spotlight you give them - big or small.
A great script should be like poetry
"Make the most impact with the least space." This is perhaps one of the best and most precise script advice you can hear or read. That's where great scripting makes the most impact when using the smallest amount of space.
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