Chapter 38

When Ye Wei held a pen and paper and returned to the wooden steps of the back garden, he immediately got to work, thinking about the script while jotting down all his ideas.

Now, the two main characters were set: a little girl and her dog. The little girl would be named Annie, and the dog would be named Toto.

What theme? About courage, friendship, and mutual protection...

He watched Dodo and Toto playing joyfully, as if watching the muse. The train of imagination started moving along the pre-designed track, and the scenery along the way kept emerging. The pencil began to write on the white paper, and after a while, the outline of the story was completed:

Little girl Annie and her dog Toto grew up together, with a deep bond. They loved dancing together, and their adorable dance performances were well-known in the local community, making them everyone's joy.

Finally, the community theater invited them to perform on stage. However, a sudden traffic accident left Annie without her right leg, and she had to use a wheelchair and crutches. She was very depressed, and the once lively angel lost all her vitality. Everyone was at a loss, and could only look worried.

At this moment, Toto encouraged Annie with positive actions, showing that even without one wing, they could still dance. This successfully awakened Annie's strong will.

So, on this day, on the stage of the community theater, Annie and Toto danced again. The audience clapped thunderously, deeply moved.

"OK, not bad." Ye Wei smiled and nodded. There were several touching and tear-jerking points in this story, especially when Toto encouraged Annie and Annie regained her spirit.

He then wrote another sentence on the edge of the manuscript: "Without wings, can she and her little dog still fly?"

This was just an outline, a framework. There was still a long way to go to turn it into a good story.

Ye Wei first thought about the rhythm and structure. Since he was the director, editor, and composer, he could consider many things during the scriptwriting stage. Should the story be told in chronological order, or with flashbacks and flash-forwards?

He thought of an opening scene: the courtyard, Annie sitting in a wheelchair, looking at the distant sky with a sad expression.

Under gentle and melancholic music, a montage would show the previous story without dialogue, especially focusing on the bond between Annie and Toto. For example, her happily picking up a puppy from a cardboard box, the puppy jumping around, and her jumping with it, the puppy watching her get hit by a car... With a bark, the music ends, and the scene returns to the present.

This would be a good way to shoot a short film, as it would easily get high praise and stand out in various short film festivals. This is because short films have limited length, and it's hard to tell a new and profound story in just a few minutes. Playing with film language and evoking emotions is more likely to leave a lasting impression.

However, this wasn't suitable for his current situation!

Ye Wei reaffirmed this in his mind. The skill he wanted to showcase wasn't playing with narrative techniques, but another one, the ability to shoot a 180-page feature film script. For a feature film, a sense of rhythm is far more important than a few technical tricks.

"Tell the story in chronological order." He wrote this down, aiming to build a complete three-act structure story within 10 minutes to demonstrate his control over the story's rhythm. In the language of martial arts novels, this is called: "The heavy sword has no edge, the great skill is simple."

After determining the rhythm and structure, he began to do self-questioning on paper to delve deeper into the characters and the story.

Q1: Describe Annie more?

A1: A lively and happy little girl, kind, sensible, and fond of dancing. She is joyful and can infect everyone around her, like an angel, with almost all the beauty. She is her parents' and the community's treasure.

Q2: What is this character's initial desire? What does she want?

A2: In the first act, she likes dancing and wants to perform on stage for everyone. She also values the applause and praise from the audience and the pride of her family, the sense of achievement like being a star.

Q3: So at the beginning, does she value the external more than the internal?

A3: Yes, her attitude towards dancing is more about gaining applause than sharing joy.

Q4: After the turning point, what does she pursue?

A4: She pursues a new attitude towards life. The most important thing is not the dance moves but the joy and happiness they bring to herself and others, the inner feelings.

Q5: What does she need in the second act to achieve success in the third act?

A5: Courage, optimism, positivity, and never giving up.

Q6: Who gives her this inspiration? Who is the mentor?

A6: The dog Toto. It makes her realize that the most moving part of dancing is the vitality, energy, and joy it shows, not the dance moves. Life is the same.

Q7: Is there any particularly important visual prop? As the prop for the second turning point?

A7: Annie's little dance shoe, one of them.

Q8: Was Annie's accident self-induced? Is it a result of her way of looking at the world?

A8: It should be. Pain is self-created, and redemption is also self-completed. She didn't have any blameworthy faults, just a divine punishment.

Q9: What happens to her in the end?

A9: She changes, recognizing her inner self. Even without wings, she and her little dog can still fly!

...

After writing more than thirty Qs and As, Ye Wei had a strong feeling about the story, as if he could touch the characters and see what was happening. He knew it was time to write the draft. He picked up all the papers and called out, "Dodo, big brother is going back to the room to write something."

"Okay." Dodo responded and continued playing with Toto.

Ye Wei also told his mother and then returned to the second-floor room, sitting in front of the computer and opening Word.

Word wasn't a professional scriptwriting software, but there was no Movie-Magic-Screenwriter or other professional software on this computer, so he had to use Word first and format it professionally when printing.

Regardless of the medium, the first step in formally writing a story manuscript is to write a draft, pouring out the ideas that have been brewing in the subconscious without overthinking, just writing. After finishing the draft, the second step is to revise it, and there's no set time for how long it will take to be satisfied.

Ye Wei looked at the time, 11:05, and about an hour before lunch. He decided to create the draft of the script within this hour.

He placed his hands on the keyboard, slowly closed his eyes, and revisited those ideas and feelings. Gradually, something changed in his mind, and the left brain no longer dominated the information; the right brain took over!

The sound of rapid typing suddenly filled the air. He typed "The Angel's Dance, Author: Ye Wei" and then began to write:

"Fade in

1. Exterior, Backyard of the House, Day

In the backyard of a house in a middle-class neighborhood, a cute little girl, about seven to ten years old, is dancing with a fluffy small dog. She is Annie, and the dog is Toto. Toto's dance moves are a bit clumsy, and when he tries to jump over her back, he bumps into her, making her laugh.

Annie: Hahaha, Toto, you silly, did you forget what I taught you?"

...

"35. Interior, Theater, Night

(The music continues) The theater, which can accommodate over a thousand people, is full. On stage, Annie, with a prosthetic leg, and Toto are dancing passionately. The audience claps thunderously, and Annie's parents in the front row smile brightly."

An hour later, the document on the computer screen was filled with pages of text. As his mother called from downstairs, "Wei, come down for lunch," Ye Wei took a deep breath, and his burning hands slowly stopped, still trembling with the subconscious's wild imagination.

He continued typing a few more lines, "Fade out, Credits, The End," completing the draft!

"Wow, you're really good, aren't you?" Ye Wei smiled contentedly, grabbed the mouse, and scrolled through the document. He had written 35 scenes, all the fruits of his labor.

But they still needed to pass the test of the left brain. Writing doesn't mean keeping everything, and having long hair and a beard doesn't make one an artist.

Many scenes would definitely need to be cut, the redundant, counterproductive, and useless ones... all mercilessly deleted. If necessary, some new scenes would need to be added. Each scene must have its own power, and together they should form a greater force; otherwise, they are useless.

As the author, he must be clear about this. Storytelling is a kind of magic: controlling the emotions of the audience.

To control, one must be clear about what each scene, each line of dialogue, and each action will make the audience feel, and then give it to them, like building a precise spacecraft. All the details determine the quality of the story, whether it's a pile of garbage or a beautiful scene that lingers in the mind.

"Wei, come down for lunch!! Did you hear me!?"

"Coming!"

Ye Wei quickly saved the file, turned off the screen, and walked out, knowing that his mother was in a bad mood.

After a simple lunch, Ye Wei locked himself in his room again to continue revising the script. Besides streamlining the scenes, he needed to strengthen the story's tension, polish all the dialogues... There was a lot to do.

When one is deeply engaged in writing, time seems to fly. It felt like only a short while, but the alarm on his phone suddenly rang, 15:40!

So quickly, three hours had passed? Ye Wei turned off the alarm, a bit reluctant to leave the chair, but if he didn't go, he would be late, and he would be angry too.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and his efficiency was already decreasing. Continuing to revise wouldn't yield much. It was time to stop for now, go out to breathe some fresh air, and enjoy the scent of a girl.

Ye Wei saved the document again and closed it...

Soon, the wooden stairs creaked.

"Mom, Dodo, I'm going out on a date!"