Serendipity and screenwriting

A screenplay, structured and the result of extensive work, is the visible part of an iceberg.

Serendipity, the art of discovering the essential by chance, enriches writing by bringing unexpected connections. Embracing the unexpected creates profound and intimate narratives, captivating the audience beyond linear storytelling.

The Structure of the Screenplay: The Invisible Iceberg

A screenplay is a document that must be highly structured, as one of its functions is to build the narrative, and thus the meaning and interest for the audience. It is also the result of extensive research and development. The screenplay is only the visible part of an iceberg, not the whole iceberg.

Serendipity: A Creative Ally

Serendipity, the art or ability to receive, as if by chance, through one’s wanderings, important things, to encounter the essential without having sought to provoke it, seems to me a rich path in the work of screenwriting. It can apply both to the final writing, offering a narrative structure that is perhaps more flexible, contemporary, complex, and enriching for the audience, and to the very process of writing.

The Unexpected as a Source of Inspiration

Serendipity always brings us things that feel just right, that come to us as obvious truths. But it requires putting ourselves in a state that makes us capable of receiving the unexpected, the unknown, this openness, or rather these openings. It can be likened to innovation, as innovation involves connecting things that had no apparent link, whose connection was not visible. By associating them, they trace a new path, rich with this newfound plurality of connections.

Entering a State of Receptivity

To enter a state of receptivity is, for example, daring to step outside while writing. It’s looking up while walking, not knowing what you might receive. It’s making yourself capable of welcoming the unexpected. It’s a highly enriching creative technique. However, it’s not at all easy to implement, as it’s neither reassuring nor legitimized. You don’t know exactly what you’ll find, and you don’t even really intend to find anything… Yet it’s often in these moments that the most important doors open.

Daring the Useless to Reveal the Essential

It’s about engaging in a process that, initially, seems entirely useless and inefficient, with no clear objective. And it’s often there that essential things reveal themselves. Daring, even in moments of great stress or delay, to open yourself to serendipity in writing is an approach that will enrich and deepen the meaning of the screenplay.

Creating an Intimate Relationship with the Audience

In the same way, within the screenplay itself, for the audience, creating atmospheres, placing them in states of receptivity, and in those moments, offering them surprising, profound, enriching, and thought-provoking elements, may allow them to build a more intimate, complex, and rich relationship with the film. A relationship that goes far beyond a simple story where everything could be explained.