The Write Tools

I learned a lot of things in my high school shop class, such as hub caps make excellent Frisbees; don't put your face under an oil pan who's drain plug you are removing, and creepers + icy driveway = luge racing.

But the most valuable lesson I learned in shop class, came courtesy of my instructor's mantra; The Right Tool For The Job. He said this constantly, and I guess it worked, because whatever it is I might find myself doing (fixing the lawnmower, replacing the water filter, writing a screenplay) - if I'm struggling, I ask myself, am I using the RIGHT TOOL?

Obviously, using a hammer when a screwdriver is needed, will not give you the best results. But tools are not limited to hardware.

I first heard of the concept of a writer's tool box, when reading Stephen King's incredible book, On Writing.

If you don't own this book, you should. No writer (screenwriter or otherwise) should be without it. There are many, MANY, books on writing - I should know, I've bought enough of them - but this is one of my favorites. Early on, King talks about his "writer's toolbox" and it really connected with me. I love the notion of a well-crafted, aged and oiled tool box, containing all the secret weapons of a writer.

The first thing I added to my imaginary tool box:

A bookmark to Dictionary.com

With the combination of Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedia, all in one place, this tool is unbeatable.

But how about some of the more specialized tools?

Jeff Kitchen's book, Writing A Great Movie: Four Advanced Tools for the Dramatist, helped me stock my tool box with some amazingly powerful and specialized tools. Two of them I use constantly.

• The 36 Dramatic Situations
• The Enneagram

The 36 Dramatic Situations is a development tool that was first used over 300 hundred years ago by the Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi. Jeff refers to the "36" as the Periodic Table of the Elements for writers. It basically distills all dramatic potential down to 36 situations. Some examples would be:

(#3) Crime Pursued by Vengeance

(#8) Revolt

(#15) Murderous Adultery

(#22) All Sacrificed for a Passion

(#36) Loss of Loved Ones

It's a great way to get your mind thinking about the dramatic potential of your story.


The Enneagram is a very power tool for character development.
Using a combination of modern science and ancient wisdom, the Enneagram breaks down human personality into nine distinct types. Understanding which of these types applies to your characters, can give you a tremendous amount of insight into how those characters should respond and interact with each other. It's fascinating stuff.

I don't start a script until I have identified the personality types of all my main characters. I find it an invaluable resource for fleshing out believable, three dimensional characters.

Next time I'll talk a bit about software programs I use in my daily writing.