Screenwriting: Flanking Your Story

Tarantino is one of those writers who brings a definite personality to his work.  A lot of what he does, though, is very specific to his own genre and when people "use" it - it feels like an imitation.  Even when they are really just being inspired by the same types of films he was inspired by - it feels imitative.

However, there is one thing he does well which I think can be used by any writer in any genre.

Whenever his stories reach a point where the audience can play the rest out in their minds - or even the next four or five steps - he throws a totally unexpected twist.  It's almost as if he put something in the film to surprise himself give himself a problem to solve.  It works because he continues to develop his story and reveal his character's character as they overcome the unexpected situation.

If you want to see an example of this - think of the thing that happens in Pulp Fiction which causes the introduction of Quentin's own character.

William Goldman discusses this technique in his book "Adventures in the Screentrade" at great length (and I guarantee you that Quentin read this  book).  Essentially it is the ability to play with the audience expectations.

In a practical sense, try this:  Whenever the next few things you're writing feel like "tasks" - challenge yourself.  Throw something in that surprises YOU and see if you can write yourself out of it.  The fact that you have to think about it for a while means your audience, who is watching in real time, will actually be curious how you're going to solve this problem.  Audience curiosity is key to holding their attention.  It also makes your characters and your scrīpt seem smart. 

I like to think of this as "flanking" your characters.  To Flank is to come in from the side - unexpectedly.  It's not something you have to do all the time, but whenever you feel your story has reached a predictable point - it's a good technique.

What to avoid though is belaboring your story by just throwing in a whole bunch of obstacles without ever allowing any flow to arise.  You can't break expectatioins without first establishing them.