The Essential Screenplay (3-Book Bundle): Screenplay: Foundations of Screenwriting, Screenwriter's Workbook, and Screenwriter's Problem Solver

A formula, however, is totally different. A formula never varies; certain elements are put together so they come out exactly the same each and every time.

Do all good screenplays fit the paradigm? Yes. But just because a screenplay is well structured and fits the paradigm doesn’t make it a good screenplay, or a good movie. The paradigm is a form, not a formula. Structure is what holds the story together.

If we wanted to take a screenplay and hang it on the wall like a painting, this is what it would look like:

Good structure is like the relationship between an ice cube and water. An ice cube has a definite crystalline structure, and water has a definite molecular structure. But when the ice cube melts into water, how can you separate the molecules of ice from the molecules of water? Structure is like gravity: It is the glue that holds the story in place;

If you don’t believe the paradigm, or in the three-act structure first laid down by Aristotle, go check it out.

The paradigm is a form, not a formula; it’s what holds the story together. It is the spine, the skeleton. Story determines structure; structure doesn’t determine story. The dramatic structure of the screenplay may be defined as a linear arrangement of related incidents, episodes, or events leading to a dramatic resolution.

When you can express your idea succinctly in terms of action and character—my story is about this person, in this place, doing his/her “thing”—you’re beginning the preparation of your screenplay.

In The Art of Fiction, Henry James says that the incidents you create for your characters are the best ways to illuminate who they are—that is, reveal their true nature, their essential character. How they respond to a particular incident or event, how they act and react, what they say and do is what really defines the essence of their character.

What’s the distinction between form and formula? The form of a coat or jacket, for example, is two arms, a front, and a back. And within that form of arms, front, and back you can have any variation of style, fabric, color, and size—but the form remains intact.