Why every writer should write a screenplay

At one point in their career, every writer decided on their medium. Some preferred novels, others short stories, others wrote for the screen. While some experimented between them, more often than not, people stayed in their bubbles assuming focusing on a single medium would make them more proficient at that specific medium, without considering some of the benefits of diversifying. This article will explore the benefits of exploring different mediums, particularly the gains made from writing a screenplay.

Firstly, the improvement of character voice. As a screenplay is written in almost entirely dialogue, character voice becomes a far more central component of the story writing process. Many novelists struggle greatly with creating unique character voices, usually due to the underlying subconscious process of placing your own voice in the text. Screenplays are particularly efficient at this when you begin to read them out loud. As a medium, the end goal is for screenplays obviously to be read, and when you do this throughout the process, it highlights particular issues in character voice. Usually, it will either be the voices all sounding the same, or some voices sounding unrealistic. In a novelists framework, this is much harder to spot, as there are so many other variables involved besides voice. But by highlighting it with a form that focuses on almost entirely dialogue, it becomes far more obvious.

Another key way it will improve your overall writing is through ‘showing, not telling’. In a screenplay, the writer has no method of telling. There is no prose on screen. This means that all information needs to be either passed through dialogue or actions. It’s incredibly easy to tell when dialogue is telling, as it will sound incredibly unnatural. In a novelist's prose however, telling can be quite subtle, and difficult for some writers to spot, however obvious it may be to outside readers. By practicing writing screenplays, it trains you to rely far less on telling through prose, and emphasises the importance of showing emotions and other pieces of information solely through actions.

While it’s not necessary for any writer to experiment with other mediums, those are just two of the benefits that any fiction writer can get from exploring the world of writing for the screen. I hope you enjoyed this short post, and I’ll see you soon!