The Rhythm of Great Storytelling
Some writers are natural-born storytellers and very good at translating their thoughts onto the page. I recently got to read a true professional's screenplays. I noticed something about the writing that stood out. Now I have read more scripts and manuscripts than I can count. When I read this writer's work, I was impressed and struck by a clear and distinct rhythm or "beat" to his ability to tell the story. It was in musical terms "pitch perfect," and as educated reader it stood out in an organic and unforced way. It is really hard to explain without showing an example, and it's not the sort of thing a simple example will explain anyway. I will try though. Each of the acts of the screenplay had a natural progression like going over a bell curve. As you "drove" up and over the curve, each point was punctuated right where it should be. I would say it's almost like building up to a mini-climax of sorts and then coming back down, but that is no...