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Adverbs not allowed???

There are two independent reasons to avoid adverbs.

1) Quality: As stated before, an adverb can often be unnecessary, or can be doing a job far better and more elegantly done by a verb. This doesn't mean they should be banished, but that they should be specially considered before leaving them in.

2) Commercial: A very small group of people have the power to buy your script. If they don't like a particular font, it doesn't matter if it's a perfectly good font, they have oceans of screenplays to wade through, and no time to waste on people who don't follow conventions.

Past films may be littered with adverbs. A few reasons for this,

A) The culture and preferences of those who select them have changed.

B) Many of those scripts were written by accepted industry insiders, they don't have to impress anybody and get to do things their way. Peter Shaffer, to use calebprime's example, had already been nominated for an Academy award for screenwriting when he wrote Amadeus. He sure as hell didn't need to impress anyone.

Similarly, if you're a young writer who's never worked in the industry, you should show up to any interview dressed damned well. But Spike Lee can show up in shorts and a T-shirt, he doesn't need to get his foot in the door.
 
Cavemonster said:
There are two independent reasons to avoid adverbs.

1) Quality: As stated before, an adverb can often be unnecessary, or can be doing a job far better and more elegantly done by a verb. This doesn't mean they should be banished, but that they should be specially considered before leaving them in.

2) Commercial: A very small group of people have the power to buy your script. If they don't like a particular font, it doesn't matter if it's a perfectly good font, they have oceans of screenplays to wade through, and no time to waste on people who don't follow conventions.

Past films may be littered with adverbs. A few reasons for this,

A) The culture and preferences of those who select them have changed.

B) Many of those scripts were written by accepted industry insiders, they don't have to impress anybody and get to do things their way. Peter Shaffer, to use calebprime's example, had already been nominated for an Academy award for screenwriting when he wrote Amadeus. He sure as hell didn't need to impress anyone.

Similarly, if you're a young writer who's never worked in the industry, you should show up to any interview dressed damned well. But Spike Lee can show up in shorts and a T-shirt, he doesn't need to get his foot in the door.
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No. The movie industry is a closed, protectionist bunch. About the ONLY group that's more closed is the television screenwriters' group. Why do you think all the movies and television programs (in the USA) tend to be the same old plot with a new hat? The same inside group has been writing them for decades. One dies or retires, they bring in a protege' of the group to replace them.

Industry" readers" tend to be frustrated screenwriters, and look for any reason to crap all over another person's work. Adverbs appear to be the current "let's crap" theme.

In the end, it's a pure crap-shoot miracle a screenplay by an independent ever gets sold. A lot of critiques of my work have boiled down to "we want it hot, but cold; dry, but wet; family-oriented but with more skin; a lot more like a comedy, but, you know, serious-like."

But, I digress. The game is definitely fixed against your favor, but (for now) it's the only game there is. You don't want this level of abuse? Try writing a novel. The level of suckiness is lower.

Beanbag
 
Why do you think all the movies and television programs (in the USA) tend to be the same old plot with a new hat?
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Because there are only so many plots...or because market research indicates that those types of programs sell ad time...or because, in the post modern age, all there is left to do is recycle last years hits?
 
You should contact Noblecaboose - I understand she majored in drama and theatre history and theory at university. So I'm guessing she will have relevant input!
 
Beanbag said:
No. The movie industry is a closed, protectionist bunch. About the ONLY group that's more closed is the television screenwriters' group. Why do you think all the movies and television programs (in the USA) tend to be the same old plot with a new hat? The same inside group has been writing them for decades. One dies or retires, they bring in a protege' of the group to replace them.

Industry" readers" tend to be frustrated screenwriters, and look for any reason to crap all over another person's work. Adverbs appear to be the current "let's crap" theme.

In the end, it's a pure crap-shoot miracle a screenplay by an independent ever gets sold. A lot of critiques of my work have boiled down to "we want it hot, but cold; dry, but wet; family-oriented but with more skin; a lot more like a comedy, but, you know, serious-like."

But, I digress. The game is definitely fixed against your favor, but (for now) it's the only game there is. You don't want this level of abuse? Try writing a novel. The level of suckiness is lower.

Beanbag
Click to expand...

Just about this, not about the overwhelmingly important discussion--I read a book by David Mamet where he has a chapter on this. The gist was that the whole purpose of script readers is to eliminate scripts, so they develop a whole psychology devoted to that, rather than to reading them.

http://www.amazon.com/Bambi-vs-Godz...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

The comparison to dressing appropriately for getting a job is quite apt. (At a place like Berklee, with a lot of people chasing a very few jobs, the purpose of the hiring process is to eliminate candidates, it's not to look for bright people or original minds, particularly. This is inevitable, but discouraging from my end.)
 
In On Writing, Stephen King suggests that use of adverbs be minimized (not eliminated), as most are unnecessary and can actually impede the narrative flow. But he wasn't talking about screenplays.

Have you ever read Jane Espenson's blog on writing for television? It's good reading, and a lot of what she covers is probably transferable to film.
 
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