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This week's Answer: End
the Loose End A.
Cummings, I appreciate your letter and I know it can be a
challenge when you have to wrap up everything by the end
of a screenplay. Why do they have to make it so hard
for us screenwriter's, right? I mean, couldn't they
just let us write our screenplays the way we wanted and
leave as many loose ends as we wanted? What's wrong
with a few loose ends here and there, anyway? What's
the big deal about all this tying up loose ends, in the
first place? I say leave the ends loose if that's
what they want! Let the Loose Ends Loose! Let
The Loose Ends Loose! Sorry. I get a little
carried away with causes. Here's
a few tricks of the trade for tying up loose ends: Tricks
of the trade for tying up loose ends 1.
You can always tie up your protagonist, especially in your
third act. 2.
You can always tie up your female protagonist if she's
attractive, especially in any act. 3.
Any rope in your screenplay should either be tied up or,
if you let it be loose, you'll probably want to burn down
the building that holds the rope. 4.
Follow Roy Roger's creed: "You never let your
rope dangle (or you're bound to be run over by cattle or
something else that doesn't like dangling ropes). 5.
Write backwards. When
I say, "write backwards," I don't necessarily
mean to backup when you're writing. (Although that
could produce some very interesting stories.
Actually, I think that's how the writer of Memento came
up with his screenplay). What I do mean is that if
you are aware of all your story threads at the end
of your story, then you'll already know how to tie them
up. I guess I'm quite proficient with this subject
because I was such a proficient Boy Scout. My
first badge was in tying loose ends.
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