A WRITER’S VOICE: ‘The Martian’ – Bring Your Script Home
Jacob Krueger discusses The Martian and the test question – What will it take for you to actually get to where you want to go? And are you willing to do what is necessary to get there?
The success of The Martian is extremely exciting if you’re a screenwriter, especially because it breaks so much of the traditional Hollywood dogma. Often, as screenwriters, we think that our movies have to exist within some kind of orthodoxy: that there are certain things that you are just not allowed to do, and if you do them somehow you have no chance of writing a movie that’s a hit. And yet, The Martian seems to throw all of those cares to the wind.
If you’ve taken the average Screenwriting 101 class you’ve probably been taught a couple of concepts that are supposed to be the rules for all movies.
You’ve probably been taught that structure is always built on characters’ change. Yet, here is a character who doesn’t change at all.
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- More articles by Jacob Krueger
- Plot Development: Strengthen Your Plot Through Character Creation
- Development: Missing - Compelling Characters
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The founder of Jacob Krueger Studio, Jacob has worked with all kinds of writers, from Academy and Tony Award Winners, to young writers picking up the pen for the first time. His writing includes The Matthew Shepard Story, for which he won the Writers Guild of America Paul Selvin Award and was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Screenplay. To follow Jacob’s blog or learn more about his Screenwriting Workshops, Online Classes, and International Retreats please visit WriteYourScreenplay.com.
