Screenwriting Tip of the Month: April
Posted on | April 17, 2009 | No Comments
It’s almost always better to have a character do something rather than say it. Why?
True, humans love to talk, but all (good) psychologists will tell you that the majority of human communication is nonverbal. We gather far more information from a person through his body language than by what he says.
For example, lets say you have an older teen as your main character. Let’s call him Timmy. He happens across a gorgeous young woman in her 20s. Let’s call her Betty. Our Timmy decides to ask this beauty out on a date and her response is simply “No thanks.” Not practicularly dramatic and fairly predictable right?
Well, let’s add in three different nonverbal cues to Betty’s single-line response and see how it plays:
RESPONSE #1
Betty laughs in his face, nearly brought to tears.
BETTY
No thanks.
RESPONSE #2
Betty looks Timmy up and down then crosses her arms.
BETTY
No thanks.
RESPONSE #3
Betty clutches her purse, pulls her jacket shut, and scuttles off.
BETTY
No thanks.
Notice how each nonverbal response gives the line “No thanks” a whole new meaning and puts a different spin on the tone of the scene?
So next time you’re contemplating giving your character a long speech to explain her feelings, think first about what information you want to give the audience and try expressing that info through the character’s actions, not her words.
Remember the classic mantra: show, don’t tell!