Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, 2nd Edition

6

The Discovery

As you learned in the Mood Exercise, the most frequent moment of change in our lives and our characters’ lives is the discovery. Learning. Finding out. Realizing.

The best stories are patterns of discoveries that make a difference, however subtle, to the characters, like the discovery Hannah makes in Lena’s Spaghetti:

INT. HANNAH’S BEDROOM—LATER

Hannah jumps on the bed. She flops onto her stomach, picks up the comics, looks them over with a straight face. She turns the page and sees the personal ads. She brightens as she reads.

INSERT—PERSONAL AD

Like to write? Single male seeks unique female for pen-pal. Please write: Herbert Mack. 8013 Duck Lane. Savannah, Georgia 41256.

MUSIC SWELLS.

Though small and simple, this discovery ...