Screenwriting : When a Setup Becomes the Story by Aleksandr Rozhnov

Aleksandr Rozhnov

When a Setup Becomes the Story

Friends, I have a question for you.

While developing the pilot episode of my series Grand — where each episode is a standalone case for the main character — I originally came up with a case just to introduce the hero.

The idea was simple: show right away who Henri is by letting him win a case at the beginning.

But as I started writing it, something unexpected happened.

The case began to grow.

It gained weight, tension, meaning.

And at a certain point I realized: this is not a setup anymore — this is the pilot story.

So now I’m rewriting the entire pilot from scratch, with a completely new case, and letting this one become the true narrative backbone of the episode.

Has this ever happened to you?

That moment when you’re deep into writing a script, and suddenly you understand that the story wants to go in a completely different direction — and the only honest solution is to start over?

Curious to hear your experiences.

Maurice Vaughan

That's great, Aleksandr Rozhnov! That's happened to me. I outline my scripts, but I know things will change when I write the scripts.

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