If creating a successful romantic comedy really was as easy as plugging a couple of stars into a standard boy- meets-girl, boy-loses- girl, boy-gets-girl structure, the market would be glutted with genuinely funny romantic comedies. But can you remember the last truly great 'rom-com' you've seen? Only one or two in the past few years topped the box office. Microsoft Office 2013 Professional Plus 32 Bit X86 Activator Chingliu. And as a story analyst who sees-and rejects romantic comedy specs on a weekly basis, I can tell you that the ones that really work are all too rare.

Apr 25, 2012. Of course there is a lot more to writing a great rom-com (rich characters, deep emotions, solid comedy/humor and a unique story) but lets just start with the seven story beats. Billy Mernit defines the “seven basic romantic comedy beats” in his book Writing the Romantic Comedy as (its truly an excellent. Writing the Romantic Comedy. From 'Cute Meet' to 'Joyous Defeat': How To Write Screenplays That Sell. By Billy Mernit. Format: Trade PB. Price: Spend $49 and get FREE shipping on HC.com. Book Overview; Author Info. Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is 'a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily'. Another definition states that its 'primary distinguishing.

So in the interest of helping fellow writers (and good date movie-starved audience members everywhere), here's half a dozen key pieces of inside knowl edge I'd like to share. Follow these leads, and studios won't be so quick to 'pass' on your project. ~~ WRITE THE CHEMISTRY We go into a romantic comedy al ready knowing that our leads are going to meet, lose and, ultimately, get each other. So creating two unique characters an audience will fall in love with and NEED to see united is the most important key to such a movie's success. All great characters have purpose and credibility, a re empathic and complex. But romantic comedy leads have additional requirements.

They're emotionally incomplete people who get completed by their mate-to-be. One (if not both) of your protagonists should have an inner conflict that the story's romantic relationship confronts and ultimately resolves. The 'chemical equation' in 'Moonstruck' makes sense: Loretta, a woman lacking passion i n her life, combusts with R onnie, an operatic Mr. Creating such 3D leads with interlocking needs is how chemistry happens in a romantic comedy, and it's got to be on the page first, if you want to attract stars who can get a movie made. What do you think Meg Ryan's looking for in a role, a Meg Ryan type? No, she's looking for a wonderfully written, never-seen-before part played opposite the kind of suitably significant leading man that'll catch a Hugh Grant's eye.

So whether your couple be made up of opposites or two sides of one coin, write compelling characters -- who believably belong together. ~~ EXPAND YOUR GENRE What most people think of when they hear 'romantic comedy' is a man and a woman trading witty barbs across a restaurant table. But this kind of typical talking-heads fare is far from all our genre can be. Sanskrit Tools Hyderabad Hyderabad. In fact, some of the most successful romantic comedies are hybrids -- movies that have expanded their audience by cross-breeding with other genres.

Romantic comedies can be action-adventures ('Romancing the Stone'), gender-benders ('Tootsie'), sports comedies ('Tin Cup'), ghost stories ('Truly, Madly, Deeply'), political ('The American President'), satirical ('L.A. Story'), period pieces ('Shakespeare In Love'), crime stories ('The Mexican'), teen movies ('Clueless') and more. This kind of cross-genre inter-breeding has kept our genre healthy for decades, and it's something to think about as you shape your romantic comedy with an eye towards the marketplace. You may already be edging into another genre's territory in your story. If so, maximize that e lement and plunder all it has to offer. Studios are more likely to be intrigued by a romantic comedy that also promises the kind of big screen action that a crime, adventure, sports, etc.

Movie provides. ~~ AN ACTION'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS And while we're on the subject of holding the big screen, consider making your romantic comedy a MOVIE, as opposed to a stillie. G reat movies move -- and romantic comedy duds talk themselves to death. I know that many of us lovers of the form are drawn to it precisely because it's often about wonderfully pithy, sharp, deli cious repartee. But too much talk can be the difference between a pass (because what you've written is more like a play or a TV show) and a green light-because your romantic comedy can really pull people into a multiplex. How active is your script?