Interview (Part 6): Sarah Jane Inwards (2017 Black List, Nicholl Winner)

My 6-part talk with the writer of the script “Jellyfish Summer”.

Sarah Jane Inwards wrote the original screenplay “Jellyfish Summer” which not only won a 2017 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, it made the 2017 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Sarah Jane about her background, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl and being on the Black List has meant to her.

Today in Part 6 and the final installment of our week-long series, Sarah Jane provides advice for writers trying to break into the business:

Scott: Apart from using YouTube to look up videos, any other tips you have about accessing dialogue, your characters and the way that they talk?

Sarah Jane: Characters are more than just what they say. It’s how they say it. A lot of the times, with their dialogue, I try to think about where they’re coming from as well, and how they’re saying what they’re saying.

For example, do they put themselves as the passive person in the sentence, or are they the active person in the sentence? Is such-and-such doing something to them or do they have to do something to someone else when they’re talking?

That’s another thing I try to keep an eye on in terms of developing their dialogue, is — How do they view the world? Are they a victim? Are they a hero in their own eyes?

Scott: What about when you’re writing a scene? Do you have any specific goals in mind?

Sarah Jane: When I’m writing a scene — I think a lot of people do this, it’s my favorite scene to read, so I try to write it as well — get in as late as possible, get out as soon as possible. I try to do that as a general hope for the story as well. How can we jump in at the latest possible point and still be on board with what’s going on?

One thing I like to do that’s, I think, becoming a popular style is — Can the opening scene be an inciting incident? Or is there an inciting incident for your inciting incident? For my story, it’s Fallen people falling in the backyard of this girl’s family. I was like, “Why do we have to put it on page 17? Let’s put this on page five. I don’t need to see their daily life to get an idea of who they are. Let’s just put it as soon as possible.”

I try to have that same idea on a micro-level, too, with each scene. What’s the scene’s purpose? Can we put that pretty close to the front?

Scott: It is a trend. There has been definitely a compression, particularly in the setup of stories. If you look at some movies from the ’80s, like when I first broke in, nowadays, it just seems like forever to get things going. What used to be the end of Act I is now the middle of Act I, and what used to be the middle of Act I, as you say, let’s just get the thing going.

You see movies like Ex Machina and boom, you’re right into the plot. The audiences nowadays don’t need as much background, it doesn’t seem. It’s just like, “Let’s just get into the story and let’s go for the ride.”

Sarah Jane: Yeah, and I think, just personally, that fits what my taste is. I prefer those types of stories, but there are a few exceptions in my mind that I think that slower pace up front really helps to pay off later.

The first thing that comes to my mind in recent times is…I remember Manchester by the Sea has, if I’m remembering right, a pretty slow setup and that ends up really helping to set this character’s world…The point is that his life was a little intentionally mundane at the beginning.

So it’s dependent on what kind of story you’re telling and what’s going to service that story the best.

Scott: Absolutely, but just to understand that some stories can take a more, I suppose, traditional, you would say, approach where you do more of the setup, more background, but we have the potential, the freedom nowadays with audiences who are very savvy and sophisticated, wise to start things more quickly.

Sarah Jane: Yeah.

Scott: When you write a first draft, now you got to rewrite it, what are your keys to that process?

Sarah Jane: [laughs] It’s painful. I think for everyone it can be, sometimes, like pulling teeth, the rewrite process. If I finish a draft, I get back a bunch of notes, and it’s clear I’ve got to do some pretty big overhauls I always think to myself, “If I’m still excited to do it, that’s how I know I’ve got a good idea for myself.” I try to think of it that way.

It’s like a litmus test for how passionate I am for the idea if I realize I have to do a huge rewrite. I do tend to work on some treatments and outlines before I write. They usually may be a little bit more vague than I think a lot of writers do. When I have a rewrite, I tend to go back to that outline first before I go back to the actual script pages. I think a lot of people do that. That’s a little bit easier to tackle it and look at the map before you look at the actual terrain.

Scott: What’s your actual writing process like?

Sarah Jane: Yeah. I’m someone who’s a big coffee shop or library type person. I find it easier to focus if I go to a different location and set up the expectation for myself that it’s work time. I like to go to places like the Writers Guild Library, or the Academy Library is great, or different coffee shops.

I try to write every day. I usually just sit down and write for a good chunk of hours, to various amounts of success, especially in times where you’re just staring at the screen waiting for the idea to come. Any time that I’m having trouble getting the writing to flow, I’ll try to go for a walk and listen to music that reminds me of the tone of what I’m writing. That’s what I find the easiest way for me to let my brain work out the issues, by taking a little break.

Scott: Is there something in particular you love about writing?

Sarah Jane: That’s a great question. I think a lot of writers feel this way. I start falling in love with my characters and caring about them. I think it’s because I do try to write about social issues, so I feel very passionate about the protagonist’s viewpoint on those issues.

I think my favorite point in time is when I’ve typed, “The end,” and I can go back and read it. It sounds probably lame, but my favorite part about writing is reading what I wrote.

Scott: I’ve heard that from a lot of people. They say, “My favorite part of writing is having written.”

Sarah Jane: Yeah. [laughs] That’s perfectly said. I think that’s the most honest answer of my favorite part of writing.

Scott: Let me end with a question that I’m sure you’re going to be targeted with now that you’ve achieved this frontend of, hopefully, a long career as a writer and filmmaker. What advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft and ultimately breaking into Hollywood?

Sarah Jane: My two main pieces of advice are, number one, keep writing, and, number two, which is closely tied to number one, you can always grow, and you will always grow and get better.

If you start out and you have naysayers that are discouraging you — maybe someone doesn’t think you’re a great writer, or maybe you don’t think you’re a great writer and you’re doubting yourself — first off, it might not be true, but, second off, even if you are at a point where you need more work, if you keep writing, you will get better.

I think a lot of people think of the arts and creativity as either you’ve got it or you don’t have it. I really more subscribe to the growth mentality, that anyone who wants to be creative can cultivate that talent and get better and better.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

Sarah Jane is repped by Verve and Kaplan/Perrone.

For my interviews with 52 other Black List writers, go here.

For my interviews with 26 other Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting writers, go here.