Is “Manipulation” a Good Word for Screenwriters?

I know what you’re thinking. “Manipulation” is never a good word, unless you’re talking to a physical therapist. So how could it possibly be helpful to a screenwriter?

Great question, and the answer is – “manipulation” is not only a good word in the writing game, I would argue it’s an essential word, and if you’re not thinking about it, then chances are you’re writing a boring script.

Let’s all agree as writers, if we want to be paid to create, we have a certain expectation/obligation to entertain strangers. Right? So given that assumption, a key factor in delivering entertainment to people not named “Mom” is to give them an experience. An emotional ride, a good story well told, all that stuff. Which means…by definition…we are expected to manipulate our audience’s emotional state. We are tasked with making them feel stuff…no matter the genre. Horror? Comedy? Drama? Action? You name it, they all have an audience demanding to have their emotions messed with by the writer (and the actors and director etc.).

If writers are not keeping an eye on how to manipulate our audience, then what the heck are we doing? I’ll tell you. We are at risk of not caring about delivering a piece of work that entertains, which means we are probably writing self-indulgent drivel.

I know – everyone and their lobster tells you to “write what you know," and ignore the desires/demands/suggestions of others. They’ll ruin your creative vision, and tinker with the passion that drives you to the place of actually writing a story. If you start caring too much about pleasing others, then you’re pandering to the audience. Chasing them.

That advice is garbage. Total, hot, garbage.

Sure – stay true to your emotional and personal reasons for attacking this script. And if you don’t care about getting paid, then sure, go down your personal rabbit hole. I’ve certainly read MANY scripts that go there. None of them end up as movies or TV shows.

But if you, like me, hold dreams of receiving money in return for words on a page, the “write what you know” is overly simplistic, and ignores your most important people…the audience. Writing with the plan to manipulate an audience is not pandering. It’s the reverse, it’s imposing your desires upon them.

Think about it this way – you are an audience member. You watch stuff. Hopefully. You may not know it (until now), but every time you sit down to watch something – on the couch, the movie theatre, the drive-in, the phone on the subway, you want to engage with the project. You want to feel something for the characters. To root for them to succeed, or fail. To worry about them. To become immersed, if only for 2 hours (not 3 Scorsese/Nolan/Cameron, not 3), in the lives and world of people you don’t know, and actually don’t exist. Weird, huh? And yet that’s what it means to be human. We like stories. We like feeling things for the people/creatures in the stories. We crave having our emotions manipulated. You do, I do, we all do.

So why on earth would “manipulation” be anything other than a required word in screenwriting?

Every single scene you write, it would be great if you thought about what emotional response you want from your audience, and how best to maximize that response in the way you deliver your information. Like Hitchcock and the bomb under the table – if you have a scene with two characters eating dinner and neither know there’s a bomb under the table, do you show the audience the bomb and make us sweat, or do you make the bomb explode suddenly and scare the bejeesus out of us? Hitchcock always chose the first one – because he wanted the audience to squirm. He wanted us to feel nervous and powerless and concerned and anxious and thoroughly and entirely engaged and invested and…manipulated.

I’m not suggesting you put a bomb under the table in every scene. I am suggesting you apply that level of thought to your scene’s intentions. What do you want us to feel, and what’s the best way to maximize that feeling, based on how you deliver information? You have total control here. You have the power. You’re not pandering, you’re not diluting your vision, you are seizing control of your audience, and giving them a satisfying experience.

Manipulation is an important word in our efforts to be the best writers we can be. It’s time to embrace your power to create emotional havoc with your audience. Don’t fear the word, celebrate it. Because the better you get at making strangers not named “Mom” feel stuff, the higher the chance someone will pay you money to keep doing it.

If you’d like to learn more about how to manipulate your audience, and other tips and suggestions for ways to elevate your writing and make it more compelling and engaging to strangers, join Tim Schildberger in his upcoming LIVE webinar on July 11, 2024. More information here.