Despite the long layoff between scripts, Coppola’s writing process has not changed a bit over the years. His most famous method is that once he begins a new script, he never goes back over pages to re-read or rewrite until he finishes the first draft. This unique process, which is often cited by his longtime friend George Lucas as the best rule about screenwriting he ever received, works for Coppola because it frees him of any doubts he may have about the work. « You have a lot of doubts when you read in unfinished fragments' », he explains.
Once he’s about 15 pages into his draft, Coppola will stop and, again, without going back and judging what he’s written, take stock as to where he’s going from here. « I might do a small step-outline from that point to a foreseeable point I’d like to get to, » he says. « Then, after maybe 60 pages in, I’ll do another step-outline that gets me through to the ending. » Though the outlines helps him get organized, he refrains from over-plotting. « I really don’t like working it all out in advance, » Coppola continues. « I want the actual working on it to give me more flavors and allow intervention to take place during the actual writing sessions that I do. »
From the May-June 2009 issue of Creative Screenwriting Magazine.
I tried writing a novel with an outline. I couldn’t do it! (Ended up with a more stream-of-consciousness novel, completely different!)
I do find I need an impetus, though. To motivate myself to write, I need some impulse. For the blog, I have pictures. Once I have one I can use, it orients the post. But I’ve yet to find a similar mechanism for fiction writing. One that works for me, I mean.
This « process » is precisely why Coppola has produced so few scripts over the years. It’s nothing but a guessing game.
I’ve tried all methods: no outline, a basic outline and a detailed outline. I find that detailed outlining – or as we call it in Quebec « le scène à scène » – kind of kills the pleasure I have in writing. It feels like a boring game of fill in the blanks or worse, homework, and since I’m a good girl who always does her homework, I tend to feel bad when I don’t stick to the outline.
No outline at all? Could be fun… could be a big waste of energy.
I recently tried the Coppola method, but I started with a (not too detailed) outline. But I tried not to read back and just focus on going ahead, with adjustments at key pages, just like Coppola described. It worked great for me! But this was for a personal project, a feature script I wanted to have fun to write by letting myself explore and wander a bit more than usual.
The most interesting part for me in this text is this section: “I want the actual working on it to give me more flavors and allow intervention to take place during the actual writing sessions that I do.â€
You could plan the hell out of a script or a novel. But the true creative stuff happens in the writing and if you are too diligent about sticking to your outline, you might not be able to let the « flavor » in.
Also, an outline is just that: an outline. It always puzzles me when people read an outline and give you notes that sound like: « I’m not feeling it. There’s not enough emotion/drama/heart ». That’s what the script is for! Outlining is just the bones.
Screenwriting without an outline is no doubt more of an adventure than novel writing without an outline!
I guess the problem is finding exactly how much of an outline (how detailed) we need. But since, as you pointed out, that can change depending on the project…!