Heart First, Formula Second (Matthew David)

Formulas can be very important, but only when used at the proper time.

Remember to keep the heart first in this equation.

Hollywood screenwriters love their script formulas. From Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey (see the below video for a refresher) to Blake Synder’s Beat Sheet in Save the Cat!, they use all kinds of maps for creating scripts.

But not all screenwriters love them indiscriminately. In fact, my instructor told us to NOT use them. At least not in writing the first draft. It’s because when you’re in the initial drafting phase, what’s more important is saying everything that you think needs to be said, everything you feel makes the story come alive. If you discard a scene or plot point before you’ve even completed the first draft because it does not seem to fit the established formula, you might accidentally throw away the heart of your story.

It’s not that she didn’t use the formulas at all. It’s that she taught us there is a time and a place. Formulas are life savers for strengthening and shaping existing scripts by giving you a critical thinking tool for examining them.

Here, at the ABT Institute, we take a very similar approach. For first draft ABTs, we give very little coaching. Just get the 3 words right: AND, BUT, and THEREFORE. Beyond that, we tell students to put in whatever they think is necessary. As ABT trainers, we understand that if we’re too restrictive at first, we might accidentally coach our students into sucking the life out of the narrative. We’d rather they go overboard during the writing process by throwing in everything they think is important. Then, using the tools we’ve developed, we apply group critical thinking to help shape the narrative.

To sum up: Step 1. Throw your soul into the story without a care in the world about formulas to ensure it keeps a beating heart. Step 2. Carefully shape your story using the ABT Template to make it as strong as you can.