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QUESTION of the day: Do you feel pressure to always write a “happy ending” for a script to be marketable? Or do you embrace the often unhappy endings of foreign films?
In the world where foreign sales are so important, maybe it’s time to reconsider our definition of “happily ever after.”
Join in on Facebook for the discussion!
Jeanne Veillette Bowerman is the Editor and Online Community Manager of
Script Magazine and a
webinar instructor for The Writers Store. She is Co-Founder and moderator of the weekly Twitter screenwriters’ chat, #Scriptchat, and wrote the narrative adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book,
Slavery by Another Name, with its author, Douglas A. Blackmon, former senior national correspondent of
The Wall Street Journal. Jeanne also
consults with writers on how to build and strengthen their online and offline networks as well as face their fears in order to succeed in writing and in personal peace - a screenwriter's therapist. More information can be found on her blog,
ramblings of a recovered insecureaholic. Follow
@jeannevb on Twitter.
2 Comments
I think you’re right, Jeanne. It’s time to replace the “happy ending” with a “satisfying ending” to your script. Whatever that may mean for your individual story. If you shoehorn in a happy ending – it WILL show.
I feel that ending with a twist is the best. Yes, the protagonist should be happy, after all, haven’t we bonded after being with him/her all this time? But I would prefer a twist, one which we know about but which the satisfied protagonist doesn’t. It works best if you want to have a sequel….