A few years ago one of the first posts I ever wrote was titled Everything I learned in Film School (Tip #1). It took me 1,434 words to say what Neil Simon says in one paragraph. Well, he is Neil Simon. We should expect more. After all the Emmy—Tony—WGA—Golden Globe—Pulitzer Prize winning (and four time Oscar—nominated) screenwriter and playwright has had one of the most amazing careers of any dramatic writer in American history.
One time he had three plays he’d written running on Broadway at the same time. Think about that—three broadway plays running at the same time. And I’m sure tonight in many cities, towns, and villages around the world actors will be performing words written by Neil Simon from one of his more than 30 plays. (I’m sure some of those words were written three or four decades showing the enduring impact of his work.)
But in defense of my 1,434 word essay, I did boil down the essence of everything I learned in film school down to one word; conflict. Here’s how important conflict has been to Simon’s success:
“In Broadway Bound I wanted to show the anatomy of writing comedy—with the older brother teaching Eugene, which was the case with my brother Danny and me. Stan keeps asking Eugene for the essential ingredient in comedy, and when Eugene can’t answer, Stan says, ‘Conflict!’ When he asks for the other key ingredient, and Eugene can only come up with, ‘More conflict?’ Stan says, ‘The key word is wants. In every comedy, even drama, somebody has to want something and want it bad. When somebody tries to stop him—that’s conflict.’ By the time you know the conflicts, the play is already written in your mind. All you have to do is put the words down.”
Neil Simon
Playwrights at Work
I’ve mentioned before meeting Neil’s brother Danny in 1987 and regret not being able to take a writing class the older brother was giving in Los Angeles. If anyone has any notes from Danny’s teachings I’d love to see them, so please pass them my way. Neil’s Broadway Bound was made into a 1992 TV movie and if anyone knows of a way to view that I’d like that info as well, and will add it to this post.
The play is avalible in book form from Samual French or Amazon. And in 2009 there was a audio book dramatization of the play produced that you can find on iTunes.
Side note: What Simon calls wants/conflict, playwright and screenwriter (and recent Oscar winner) Aaron Sorkin calls intentions/obstacles—and he says he clings to that like a life raft when writing.
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[…] A few years ago one of the first posts I ever wrote for this blog was titled Everything I learned in Film School (Tip #1). It took me 1,434 words to say what Neil Simon says in one paragraph. Well, he is Neil Simon. We should expect more. After all the Emmy—Tony—WGA—Golden Globe—Pulitzer Prize winning […] Original Source… […]