A Writer's Job Is To Create Questions, Not Give Answers - Pat Verducci
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- Опубликовано: 14 мар 2022
- Writing Coach, Teacher, Mentor and Screenwriter Pat Verducci teaches two Advanced Screenwriting courses at UCLA TFT. She has written scripts for Touchstone Pictures, Witt-Thomas Productions, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. She has also worked as a story consultant for Disney/Pixar. She wrote and directed the feature film True Crime, starring Alicia Silverstone, and her writing credits also include documentary shorts for HBO and Showtime. She co-produced Somewhere Between, a feature documentary about four teenaged girls transracially adopted from China, and served as a story consultant on the Tinkerbell franchise for Disney. She is currently the script editor on several feature film projects for Film Victoria and Screen Australia, and is writing Citizen Bella, a documentary on the life of modern dancer Bella Lewitzky. Verducci serves as a mentor at Cinestory and the Meryl Streep funded IRIS/New York Women in Film and Television’s Writer’s Lab for Women. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America.
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I think she's simply saying that the heart of a story is in its journey, which is where interesting questions are created and explored, and enriching this area is key before getting to the destination. This doesn't necessarily mean she's advocating for the Abrams Mystery Box, because the "transformation" she also sees as key isn't really possible without a destination. I think compelling stories know how to create compelling questions throughout while maintaining forward momentum toward resolution to the essential questions.
Thanks for posting AP!
Thank you so much for for the succinct summary.
I think a perfect balance is to answer some questions, but leave others open. You give the audience a taste, but you leave them wanting more.
Exactly
That is what she is saying.
That just makes the plot confusing.
@@uanime1 that depends
The difference between a plot hole and ambiguity is needing to know information, and wanting to know information.
About Beth and the orphanage - I read the script for The Queen's Gambit the other day and it's pretty clear from the start why she's there. Her mother dies on the 2nd sequence, and she is taken there pretty quickly afterwards.
If you only create questions without answering them you will make the audience mad. The TV series Lost became hated because the people watching the show thought the writers did not know what they were doing. Lost kept creating more questions with no answers. There are way too many unanswered questions in Lost. When an author does not answer the questions they created the audience thinks that the author does not know the answers either and is messing with them.
Not true. If you have any questions about Lost, just ask. I'm here.
Catharsis is needed.
not alwasy true I hate shows that just give you answers and don't let you figure stuff out yourself most of my favourite films or TV shows don't answer all questions but I can put things together based on what the show you. Lost was just bad writing not that they were always just asking questions they did a trope move where you like it was all dream and their dead. Most shows that set up questions do give you the tools in their scenes for you to find the answers.
@@dbj1852 balance is also needed lol
@@dbj1852 They were not dead.
Can we send this to J.J. Abrams, Lindeloff, Ryan Johhnson, and the dimwit duo writers of Game of Thrones???????
This is so validating! Thank you. Main characters do need a transformation regardless of the current advice given in some mystery niches nowadays. And not everything needs to be revealed in "The First Six Pages". Grrr...
The Queens Gambit was probably the best mini series I've Ever seen. I was so amazed how good it was.
I think what she meant is to do a story that is dot-to-dot, not a full picture. Audience wants to feel smart, they want to figure it out themselves, they want to work for it. It makes them more engaged. Just give them enough dots so they can figure it out. If everything is spelled out, it's just boring. Give them a little suspense, let them be detectives. We love being couch detectives, don't we? It's so much fun!
Also, there are 2 types of questions. Those that relate to plot, see above, and there are those big life questions like "should you forgive your father after he left you and your mother", "are you responsible for your adult children's actions" "should a priest reveal what he's heard during confession" etc. Good movies as good books make you think and ask yourself big questions like that.
I don't watch movies much, hardly any, but books and movies are similar in some aspects, that's why I watch this channel. It makes me think in new ways.
Exactly. Even with all the small questions, every good story has a big question that is asked, that the story is centered around.
Many questions need answers. JJ Abrams is a fantastic example of how not to leave loose ends or drop setups without payoffs. To revise this a little, it’s ideal to create questions that can have many interesting answers.
I agree! Making questions without giving the audience clues to which form possible answers to, makes the reader unsure IMO.
All of the main questions setup on Lost were most definitely answered by the show's end, and the lore of the island was consistent
@@chrisjfox8715 can't weigh in on The Lost since I've not seen that show, but I'm sure he's demonstrated some exceptions in his body of work. My original comment was more in reference to his recent Star Wars films as well as his TedTalk on utilizing Mystery Boxes.
Mystery Boxes aren't about making a character or plot interesting through some unanswered question, it's bringing attention to a question via some gimmick then refusing to answer it.
@@KenoshiAkai bingo. If you're a screenwriter wanting to push out a script quickly covering a story without much rewatch value, mystery boxes are a great way to go.
The answer to a question should create more / new questions.
Hero's Journey = main character changes. The alternative is 'A stranger comes to town' = main character changes others.
Stranger comes to town movies are typically titled with the name of that unique character: Norma Rae, Forrest Gump, Napoleon Dynamite, Kung Fu, Amelie
I feel that a great experience, as a writer, is when the questions I ask lead to answers that lead to questions that I didn't before think of asking.
Balance and pacing of the reveal is key. But different people are going to have different levels of patience for how much they want plot and/or character spoonfed to them
But if all you do is raise questions and never answer them, all you get is almost everything J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindeloff created
For example?
I love your view about transformation not being limited to the main actor but those he passes through. It's more like my idea of writing.
Same goes with a writer creating questions in the minds of her audience than answering them all. It leaves room for the audience to make their own analyses, evaluation and conclusions.
Never thought of it this way, and yet when I leave a movie that I really loved, I often remark “I loved the questions that it asked!”
I have to admit I have never said that to myself.
James Bond gets the chicks and brings down the bad guy. To whomever makes the next Bond movie, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
While I applaud the sentiment, I applaud even more strongly your correct use of 'whom'. ;)
If a main character doesn't change, they must be challenged.
Starting off slow with character development is a tough one for me. In some of my stories, I like to take my time establishing a character so that the eventual conclusion is cathartic, but if I take TOO long, readers can get bored before the story is even underway. I've also tried having more bombastic characters, characters that made an immediate impression from the moment they're introduced, and that can be fun too.
I agree with the idea that a story is like a trail of breadcrumbs, as long as there's some actual bread at the end of it. And the bread doesn't necessarily need to be all at the end, at the climax. I think it's good to have exciting, dramatic things happening all throughout the story, instead of saving everything for that big finish. The big sword fight in The Princess Bride happens pretty very early in the story, and it establishes that the movie is more than a sappy love story, like Fred Savage's character fears it is.
I'm really glad she mentioned the change-the-world-around-them part.
In my current project, the characters hardly change at all (heck, it's hard to do that in only 44 pages) but their mission is to hunt down a device which was stolen, and which would change their world for the better if they can just get it back.
A MacGuffin...? Sure.
But it also establishes their world's changes by the end, and sets the scene for a continuation (in graphic novel form).
Sounds like a horrible story.
@@TomorrowisYesterday Back to your cave, troll. Back! Back!
@@BionicDance Do you want to know why that plot description sounds like a horrible story? Hint: 44 pages is a lot of time.
@@BionicDance If you want to write a story about a macguffan device that's supposed to save the world, the first thing you do is you don't write a story about finding a macguffan device that will save the world.
If you want to write a story about a farm, you don't write a story about a farm. You write a story about anything other than farming and let it take place on a farm.
If you want to write a story about magic, you don't write a story about magic. You write a story about a mystery that takes place in a school of magic.
If you want to write a story about dinosaurs, you don't write a story about dinosaurs. You write a story about the cycle of life and have it take place on an island with dinosaurs.
If you want to write a story about a macguffan device that saves the world, you write a story about the certainty of death and use the macguffan device to tell that story about the certainty of death.
I will respectfully go back to my troll cave now.
@@TomorrowisYesterday And a lot happens in those 44 pages; perhaps you shouldn't judge a script based on a one-sentence synopsis.
In those 44 pages, old friends meet up and discuss their plans, they find a hidden secret in an asteroid, they find and fight space pirates both in fighter craft and by infiltrating their ship in order to retrieve the missing device. They meet a few interesting characters along the way, a few unexpected twists and turns.
The project is currently 20 minutes long after having animated 369 shots; I'm about to get to work on shot #370 right now.
I think she means questions that lead the audience to be curious and guess what will happen next
What do you think is a writer's job?
One of the characters in my current project says about the bar he owns and runs, "I built the place I would most like to go; that other people like it, too, is a bonus!"
And that describes my writing style, too: I write the scripts I would most want to see on screen; if people enjoy it, too, hooray!
I don't particularly agree with the take of creating questions. If a character is well fleshed out to the point where their actions make sense for them, I won't have any questions, but that, to me, is the peak of good writing - knowing and loving your characters. It's an extremely rare thing, though.
Questions keep the audience wanting to continue if that makes sense.
Nothing wrong with knowing about your character. But it's like when you meet someone and they immediately tell you everything about themselves before you've even figured out how long they're gonna be around or what impact they'll have on your life. If you've ever shared your trauma and your every thought with others you will have certainly experienced how it has the opposite effect with most people than intended. Instead of bringing you closer it makes them pull away. Or comes across as less genuine. Or even cringey.
You want to pique the reader's curiosity that leads them to ask the questions you will give answers to later. And not give in an oblique way. But in a contextual way. More subtle. Show don't tell. The reader then feels like they've come to their own understanding, having raised a question on their own and answered it on their own. It makes the relationship between character and reader a lot more personal by taking the "facts" around your character and turning them into experiences instead.
There's the moment that the reader realizes your character longs for love, raising the question of whether or not they'll ever find it. You don't say yes or no to this. It happens or it doesn't and the reader answers their own question.
The beauty of this is that if you use the lens of trying to get the reader to ask certain questions you can guide them whether or not you have the answers. Whether or not you have the answers. This is important because you might not always have the answers. The story might propose things you hadn't considered or that might make you reconsider. In these moments you won't get stuck because the act of writing has always been about raising questions not knowing answers and in this way you can be a passenger in your own story, your very first audience member, reader number one.
@@dm_ex_machina3395 Beautiful Analogy👏👏👏
I luv her so much
Gump does change and learn during the story. But Gump is a nice guy, and he does not need to greatly improve as a person.
This was so good!! Love love love it 😍
This conversation echoes sentiments discussed in an M John Harrison interview with a younger colleague whose work he respects. They write some weird next level shish, but I love it. ❤
ruclips.net/video/A42SClp-9fI/видео.html
Thx for the link
Answers don't matter only questions is the Jar Jar Abrams way.
best video yet!
Thank you so much! We appreciate the super thanks. Glad you're enjoying the videos. More excellent segments with Pat Verducci coming soon. :)
Not all audience are equal. Some audience are not situated in America. It will depends on the society and educational backgrounds of the majority.
In some cases, you really have to show the audiences with an answer " That's really bad"!
But ask question first then give answer later is a good story telling process.
Some war movies already tell the audiences war is horrible right from the beginning.
Not everybody in the audience has the same standards when it comes to the challenging experience of comprehending a complex plot, structure, story, etc. Some people love 2+2=4, some love 2+2=? and some just love to break their minds trying to figure out a far more complicated equation (metaphorically speaking).
I personally love the stories where there's so much more encoded deep within and between the lines, rather than the apparently superficial ones that unfortunately prove to be just, that... superficial. Nothing feels worse than hoping there is a hidden gem beneath the obvious surface, only to find out there was never anything else :(
I like those kind of stories, where you can keep exploring and discovering things about it beyond the original product (movie, book, song, etc.) Where there is additional content created to stimulate that curiosity further, and encourage you to look closer, go deeper and get that acclaimed reward that you then share with the rest like you. It's wonderful in my opinion.
The White Lotus, Yellowjackets, The Shining are all very good at this. You have to do some work and pay attention
As a person who gravitates towards anti-hero journey stories, I love the point about transformation of any type being in the story not just the one that has been made popular through conventional wisdom.
None of ya'll in the comments can listen or read, the question was about the importance of starting the introduction of characters slowly. She basically says that you don't have to give everything away cause you need to make the audience wonder about the character, what's their deal, which is definitely solid advice.
Exactly this people aren’t getting it! This is about character building not giving everything away, giving pierces and allowing the audience to learn more over time and you create interesting complex characters that people want to follow.
If the audience doesn't understand then the advice is badly explained.
@@uanime1 up to a point. The problem that I don't think she anticipated is all the Lost people associating endless mystery with basic narrative techniques designed to cause the audience to wonder what will happen next.
@@uanime1 the "audience" are writers and I'd say most writers listen and build context...both of which would make this statement easy to understand...just look at all the people in the comments that DO know what she's saying and are echoing it back. It's not a problem with her explanation. Sometimes it's the readers fault for having short attention spans. Are you automatically a bad writer because you don't change your style to be understood by every single person in the entire world? Should we all write spartan prose and use essay formats for our fiction? Make sure the paragraphs are small and the words aren't multisyllable? The only way you could not know what she was talking about is if you either weren't paying attention to the context and the question or if you're projecting your own ideas into what they're saying. Either of these options is a personal flaw and not the prerogative of the writer to cater to. Sometimes what you're trying to say just isn't meant for a particular type of person. And if you can't see where you added your own assumptions and if you can't understand a question, well then the subject material of this interview was never gonna help you be a better writer anyways. You've got some fundamentals to work on first. Like learning to read and process what people say instead of what you're thinking all the time.
@@uanime1 the audience didn't read or listened to the question, thus taking the answer out of context.
Sorry guys, but for me, this seems JJ Abrams mentality. No thanks.
4:55 👌👌👌
Fundamentally a story is: 1) Something happens 2) How does this affect our protagonists and/or the world around them?
Even when the story comes full circle, as with the classic hero's journey, the point of that ending is to show how the hero has changed and matured and no longer acts/responds the same way they did at the start of the story.
A narrative without change feels lacking because it's missing the core element of storytelling. This is why so many long-running sitcoms and comics start to feel stagnant and boring: every episode may be action-packed, but if it doesn't affect the characters or setting at all, you're just spinning your wheels in the mud and going nowhere.
"A Writer's Job Is To Create Questions, Not Give Answers" - no
I saw the title and I came to say that I heavily disagree with the sentence:
"A Writer's Job Is To Create Questions, Not Give Answers"
It's a hallmark of terribly written modern mainstream media that the writers are unable to give proper, functional, logically sound answers to the plot holes they introduce.
How do you do that when you are writing a short film?
Is it not more or less the same? Instead of info dumpin*everything you've written about a character you reveal their traits, flaws, and dreams as natural or necessary, right?
Film is a different media, and a lot can be said by what is shown on screen rather than explicitly said out loud. For instance showing a character looking at a framed photo, or a photo in a locket. That shows the audience that there's some connection between the character on screen & the person in the photo. We know the person in the photo is important, but we don't know who they are or why they're important.
What if you don't want the story to be about just one guy?
What if you want your audience to identify with a group of people who cannot be individually active, because they are too numerous or because they lack the agency?
{edit} I ask because I think Pat Verducci would have decent and intelligent answers to these questions. (not that I am expecting her to reply to random comments)
This channel rules. I don't write, but I like learning about what makes certain art compelling and others a waste of time. I wonder if placating to the slowest audience member in the theater has ruined a lot of potentially great screenplays... Directors that lose creative control to focus groups, "diversity" initiatives, and political correctness. Some movies shove their ideas down your throat instead of making a case for them or even better, prompting you, the viewer, to reflect and answer questions that come from the film.
Fantastic Video, like always .
In our 2018 Video ,the Museum of modern Acting,we made this statement our Polaris.
The system makes us think that we need to find all the answers , know all the tricks and must find all the solutions in life and entertainment.
Truth of the matter is tough that nothing is more appealing to the human brain,than mysteries,unsolved enigmas and Myths as well as big questions that still need to be answered.
That’s the beauty of our investigative mind,that’s whywe love the Batman so much or Indiana Jones.
Hitchcock once Said something very similar and since I heard this in drama-school, I kept this mantra like a compass inside of me.
Every time I have to choose as an actor where to go in a scene or in the script, always choosing the hardest part of creating that genuine question that makes the audience wonder WHY the character is reacting in this or that way.
Of course I adapted this also to my coaching endeavors when I’m working with actors and creators and the feedback is always amazing because this method recognizes the audience as being smart and entitled, not treating fans and the public as a dumb mass that we need to cater all the answers right away and by doing so creating dull stories and flat characters.
We need to risk we need to dare as creators we need to baffle and astonish not lecture,film is entertainment not math,or political science.Precious
A movie should always start with a story plot point to draw people into the story and world. And THEN, we can get the slow paced get-to-know-the-characters..
Like in Jurassic Park. The perfect beginning with the caged Dino getting out of control.
And UNLIKE Jurrassic World, where they start directly with the character stuff, which is why it feels so long in the beginning
Personally, I have to disagree with this one. A level of ambiguity is great, and not every question SHOULD be answered, but I do believe that most questions you present should have SOME kind of answer to them. Because I also believe that too many unanswered questions can lead to various story problems.
The problem is that over explaining is as anathema to the audience as JJ Abrams's mystery box bullshittery
@@QueenAleenaFan Hence storytelling 101: Don't present a question you don't already have some kind of answer to, even if you have no intention of answering it within the narrative. I guess Abrams missed that lesson. The trick is knowing WHAT to tell at any given time.
@@moviemadness2536 Well said.
@@moviemadness2536 fair.
@@Eidolon1andOnly Thank you very much.
I am the original creator of Jainy Bond 007*****
Didn't even watch the video, but I'm pretty sure a fiction writer's job is to entertain people.
If people like what you write, you did a good job. Period. Full stop.
Man, I thought music snobs were bad. but even they understand that a songwriter's job is to entertain people. They might try to tell you what is good music, but they don't try to dictate how every musician should go about their art. Plus, music snobs tend to like it when musicians do something different and creative.
I prefer my main characters to be female and to have their arc be from being the best there is to being even better. Down with the patriarchy.
This woman sounds like she has the JJ Abrams "mystery box" problem, where the writer is so interested in setting up hooks to get your attention but never bothers to actually have those hooks lead to something. What's the point of a mystery if you never give us enough information to SOLVE the mystery so we can reach that aha moment and can feel the same sense of elation or dread the characters feel when they get to the same conclusion? Never mind the fact that the premise seems flawed to me from the start, as a writer you're asking the question and giving your answer to that question. Pretty much all science fiction is built on that "Suppose X" style of philosophy that goes as far back as Plato and going on a journey to see how said "X" would play out if implemented.
But some audiences get bored if they don't get answers of the cause of a problem.Clarify this one just seeing someone killing people for no reason for eg.
Poorly written title. Alternatives:
A writer's job is not *only* to provide answers, but to raise questions.
A writer's job is to build intrigue as well as answer questions.
The importance of why a writer doesn't need to answer _every_ question.
The way the currently written is actually a hallmark of bad writing, making it terrible advice.
Do not listen to this lady. Audiences want to be entertained. They never want to feel stumped.
I think it really depends on your genre and audience. Stumping your audience is certainly something to avoid, though.
Regardless, generating a/some questions with good timing (for an obvious example, in a closed room murder film) without giving the final correct answer straight away makes the film more entertaining. Of course, if your film audience is 10 year old kids, you wouldnt have many unanswered questions (at least not for too long) otherwise you will most likely leave them stumped.
The examples I gave here are exagerated, as one would want to avoid answering 'who is the murderer' or leaving many questions in a kids film, but it was just to help the point of this video across.
Maybe audiences need to be challenged more.
Nevermind a film, try giving someone a screenplay loaded with questions.
speak for yourself. plenty of people, consider being challenged as entertaining and engaging.
@@jeremiahnoar7504 keep in mind, those cerebral films are usually written and produced by the same people