First Draft: Think Outside the Box With These Five Resourceful Screenwriting Career Moves

4. Marry Your Smaller Story or Character Piece to a Bigger Genre

Some screenwriters are more drawn to smaller character studies—whether it’s a small romantic relationship piece or a quirky comedy where characters reflect on life while showcasing peculiar traits and odd but hilarious dialogue. Why not blend that within a more accessible genre that appeals to the masses—which also means that it will appeal to a wider variety of industry insiders that can actually get you, your writing, and those small stories and characters noticed?

It’s not about “selling out” your smaller stories. It’s about giving them a more unique spin. The film industry is full of small independent comedies or specific dramatic fare. When you take those elements and place them in fantasy, science fiction, horror, post-apocalyptic, or adventure genres, you elevate those stories and offer more originality.

Consider the underrated Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

The original logline for this unique post-apocalyptic movie was:

As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.

The small quirky drama version of this story would have a logline that simply read:

A man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.

Those could very well be two different movies. The end-of-the-world setting gives an added angle to an otherwise simple story.

Now let’s try the reverse of that hybrid. We consider the celebrated indie film Before Sunrise.

The original logline for that film was:

A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

An alternative logline when you place them in a genre setting could be:

A young man and woman find themselves as the sole people left behind after The Rapture. They travel to the places they’ve always wanted to visit as they discuss life and learn why they weren’t taken with the rest.

The same, but different.

It’s all about looking at your screenplays, the stories, and the characters and asking yourself, “How could I think outside the box and put a unique spin on this story?”

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