Breaking & Entering: Breaking The Rules Part 3: Pro Secrets – The Deft Cheat

In Part One, Secrets Only The Pros Know – When To Break The Rules, I explored character introductions that defy traditional constraints – especially the big one: “Show, Don’t Tell.”

Part Two: Seize the Reader – Pro Secrets to Creating Unforgettable Script Openings is packed with examples from A-List Screenwriters and TV Writers who grab readers from Page One and set the stage for the entire story.

Now, we take it a step further.

Great writers not only break the rules, they cheat. But they do so with skill, intent, and style. My favorite cheat? The Deft Cheat.

It deliberately breaks the ironclad “Show, Don’t Tell” rule to convey something important in a few words, that in less skilled hands, would take paragraphs, and still lack clarity and impact. When well done, it plays out on the screen so masterfully that it’s captivating.

It’s a moment. It’s a mood. An unspoken dynamic between characters. It’s subtext in images instead of actions. It’s breaking the fourth wall to whisper something to the reader.

A Deft Cheat tells us something not explicitly shown but felt, something an actor can play, and an audience will see.

Above all else, it engages, drawing us into the moment.

How do you capture that delicate magic?

As in Fight Club, there are rules to breaking the rules:

When great writers cheat by telling, they do it because it is necessary, impactful, and expedient.

One of the best I’ve read? A single sentence Anthony Peckham wrote while I was running Debra Hill’s company. I wish I had that script in hand – if anyone can track it down, I’m offering a reward.

The phrase succinctly captured the essence of a relationship – distinctive, unexpected, and essential to the story. Peckham, a gifted screenwriter and novelist, has used this in other works as well.

In Invictus, a true sports drama from the Presidency of Nelson Mandela, based on the book by John Carlin and adapted by Peckham, every word on the page, every moment between the two characters, played by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, is on the screen.

Watch here and get a sense of how everyone involved in the production was able to take these slim pages and then do their jobs to the utmost, from casting to the china.

In film and television, the versatile Dan Fogelman has a talent for the Deft Cheat. This moment sets the tone for the relationship between Kate and Toby that spans the course of his successful, six-season series, This Is Us.

Fogelman also strategically calls the shots, without calling the shots, as in this big and unexpected reveal from the pilot.

Master this technique and combine it with your own voice to create moments that do more with less, making your writing feel lean, fresh, and Cinematic.

Next month we’ll explore the power of metaphor – deeply embedded in our culture, scientifically proven to enhance understanding, and infinitely more evocative than literal language.

Metaphor ignites imagination, engaging multiple regions of the brain. It transforms the concrete into something richer, illuminating abstract ideas in ways that resonate emotionally.

The tremendously talented Susannah Grant writes a delightful hero’s entrance for Erin Brockovich, glimpsing bits and pieces of her trademark scanty outfit from the perspective of onlookers. But it builds to the telling characteristic that makes the heroine distinctive and appealing:

This is why, when I work with pro writers on my projects or with my consulting clients implementing director’s notes, I insist that every word counts. I push them to find the right word – the one that conveys precisely what you mean makes all the difference.

Words have weight. 

Be deliberate. Choose active verbs and evocative adjectives. Slinks instead of walks. Stunning instead of pretty. 

Are you aiming to write an adequate sentence or a great one?

The Deft Cheats is to translate your vision onto the screen, to guide directors, inspire actors and inform every department filling the frame.

How do you know if a Deft Cheat works?

Ironclad test: Can an actor play it?

If so, it will be on the screen.

Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire, is filled with expressive Deft Cheats, especially to capture the evolving emotional complexity of the relationship between Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger’s characters. Granted, Crowe was writing to direct, but hundreds of people worked to get his vision onto the screen.

In one scene, Jerry and Dorothy, married but not truly in love, have dinner with Cuba Gooding Jr. and his wife, who radiate a deep, loving connection:

That’s a cheat. 

The writer is in the characters’ heads. But it plays out exactly like this in the film.

Could this have been conveyed in pure description? Not as precisely. Not as evocatively. Not with more emotional impact.

Later that night, in a tense bedroom conversation, Dorothy pushes Jerry to open up. Naturalistic dialogue underscores that their relationship is strained and awkward. Crowe layers in Deft Cheats, telling us what they feel, slipping in commentary that the audience will never hear but ensures the actors understand the complex and nuanced subtext.

The scene ends with:

Another cheat. And yet, when Zellweger plays it, we see exactly what Crowe described.

You can download a copy of these pages with my notes here.

The one cheat we always forgive? The one that conveys how it feels – whether it’s a character introduction, a setting, a moment, or a relationship.

It leans toward prose but remains cinematic. This might be commentary, an insight, or it might be metaphor that sparks images and evokes emotion.

Don’t bury us in minutia; give us the flavor. Instead, choose a few words that speak volumes, giving actors, directors, and many talented crew members the space to interpret and elevate your vision.

Jenny Wingfield's moving coming of age story, The Man in the Moon, does this beautifully. In a single moment, Reese Witherspoon’s Dani is brought to life in a few sentences that fuse action, subtext, and metaphor, and incorporates the powerful Rule of Threes to add meaning to the description.

The last line is a true cheat, but it tells us something essential about Dani’s inner world, making us feel it.

Conveying how it feels elevates your writing and makes for an unforgettable reading experience. When a script is visual, visceral, and evocative, it signals a writer of significant skill.

When I mentioned to Jenny I was writing about this, she explained, “It’s like a dance.”

She’s right. Writing is a fluid, back-and-forth exchange between writer and reader, a private, intimate moment that whirls us into the imaginary world. That’s what I feel when I read a wonderful script.

Shift your thinking as some rules are meant to be broken.

Uncover your distinctive voice with this fun exercise. Rework, revise, hone, and polish until your writing truly reflects you and your message.

Experiment. Try a Deft Cheat where it feels right.

Challenge yourself to reimagine your opening to encapsulate your entire movie.

Master advanced subtext to reveal character beyond surface details.

Need more encouragement? Check out these examples that propelled novice writers to awards nominees.

When you dazzle readers by both understanding the rules and breaking them, your writing will get noticed. Creating this buzz within the industry is the path to success.

One of my favorite Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strips:

It takes time to master the magical Deft Cheat. You’ll fail along the way. Swallow the bitter soap and try again.

Rules are principles, not laws. Use them – or break them – with skill, intention, and confidence.

Engage your readers. Create a movie with your words. Capture magic on the page.